March 8 2026, Sunday School Lesson

The Way of the Lord Is Just

Lesson Text: Ezekiel 33:12-20

Related Scriptures: Ezekiel 18:1-32; Isaiah 57:11-13; Romans 3:1-20; Matthew 3:1-10; 21:28-32

TIME: between 593 and 571 B.C.

PLACE: Babylon

Golden Text “Yet the children of thy people way, the way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal” (Ezekiel 33:17)

Introduction

Ezekiel 33 marks the end of Ezekiel’s mission before the fall of Jerusalem. Although he would continue his prophetic career for at least another sixteen years, his tone and purpose shifted from warning to hope. Chapter 33 recalls the start of his mission. Verses 1-9 repeat his prophetic calling from 3:16-21 when God called Ezekiel to be a watchman for His people. In these bookend passages (chap 3:33), the Lord detailed the obligations associated with Ezekiel’s call. If a watchman saw an army approach his city and warned its people, he was innocent of the bloodshed that might follow. The inhabitants would be responsible for their failure to respond (33:5). But, if the watchman saw the army and failed to warn the city, he was guilty of their deaths (vs.6). So, it was for Ezekiel and his prophetic mission. Ezekiel knew that destruction was near. He was responsible for warning his fellow exiles, even if they would not listen.

Ezekiel’s final message addressed the faulty thinking of his contemporaries. Individuals were judged according to their own actions.

LESSON OUTLINE

1. The Divine Monologue – Ezek. 33:12-16

2. The Divine Dialogue – Ezek. 33:17-20

QUESTIONS

1. What does Ezekiel 33:12 teach about a person’s previous and current life in regard to judgment?

2. What choices did Moses set before the Israelites as part of their covenant renewal in Deuteronomy 30:15-18?

3. What hopeful message did God offer to the wicked in Ezekiel 33:14-15?

4. In what way did the Mosaic Law protect borrowers from predatory lenders?

5. What was the Mosaic Law’s remedy for theft?

6. What critical information did Ezekiel add to his comments about the wicked dying and the righteous living?

7. What did the Judahites claim was the basis of their good standing with God?

8. What accusations did the Judahites make against God?

9. What did the popular saying about sour grapes and children’s teeth set on edge mean?

10. What significant historical event occurred after the conclusion of Ezekiel’s message in 33:12-20?

ANSWERS

1. Before God, a wicked person cannot appeal to his former good actions for acquittal. Likewise, God’s justice will not hold good people accountable for their former wicked actions if they truly repent of them.

2. Drawing to the conclusion of the covenant renewal, Moses declared that he set before the people life and death (30:15). If they obeyed God’s commandments, loving Him and following His instructions, they would enjoy the life He promised (vs. 16). But if they failed to do so, they would face death (vss. 17-18)

3. But just as the divine monologue offered a critical nuance to the life that righteousness offers, so it presented one to the death in which wickedness ends. If the wicked turn from sin and pursue what is lawful and right, they will live.

4. When the Israelites loaned money to anyone, Moses exhorted them to do so in a fashion that extends respect and compassion toward the borrower. In Israelite society, an individual would give a collateral deposit to the loaner to guarantee that he or she would repay – a “pledge.” To ensure that the disadvantaged would maintain agency and proper dignity in the transaction, Moses required the deposit be returned if it served a needed role in the borrower’s household, such as a cloak worn at night (vss. 12-13).

5. Likewise, Ezekiel cited robbery as a practice that the wicked must emphatically reverse, for the sake of life. Notably, the prophet did not merely require the end of robbery. The thief must return what was stolen, reversing the harm he or she caused to another.

6. On the day of judgment, those who previously acted righteously can in no way depend on their previous actions. Likewise, those who were once wicked are not doomed to die; they can repent and live.

7. In other words, they assumed their good standing based on previous “good” actions.

8. They accused God of being arbitrary, unpredictable, and nonsensical. His actions were erratic and capricious. As long as someone suffered, God was happy. He did not care if the right person paid the price.

9. People believed they were suffering the consequences of previous generations’ sins. They were experiencing the punishment for their parents’ and grandparents’ wickedness. On a shorter timetable, they even applied this idea to their own lifetimes. Their former sins made punishment unavoidable. Destruction was already determined. They could do nothing to stop it.

10. In verse 21, Ezekiel recounted the news that Jerusalem fell.