The States of the Soul
Ezekiel 18
By Dr. J. Michael Strawn
PART 1: THE FOUNDATION OF THE SUPERSTRUCTURE.
#1. Why have things, like cultural circumstances, developed as they have in the United States? Why the burning of cities? The destruction of businesses & even private homes? What explains the rejection of the American constitution, in favor of human political ideology? And other things like sexual promiscuity? Transgenderism?
#2. Some might believe that all of this can be explained by HISTORY. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS are a sufficient explanation for such social conditions & other forms of deformation & diversity.
#3. However, the prophet Ezekiel ( Chap. 18) has other ideas.
#4. To be immediate, the prophet lays blame at the feet of the SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF SOUL. “Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘What do you mean by using the proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers eat the sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge’”, V.1, 2.
#5. The inference is this: circumstances in Israel could be explained by generational relations. That evil conduct is handed over from the fathers—>to the children along with the guilt of it. But that proposition is not true!
#6. Ezekiel corrects this misconception. “Behold all souls are Mine, the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die”. V.4.
#7. Sin is a willful kind of thought, speech & behavior. This links soul & mind together, as one piece! It is the soul that is the center of consciousness. And that is the FOUNDATION OF THE SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE.
#8. HISTORICAL CONDITIONS are not as causal as many presume them to be. What is causal is the individual state of soul. Culture is considered to be the driving force behind the SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE. It precedes, it is here before we are and culture leads to comprehend our place in the larger scheme of things.
#9. Still there is something stronger than & that can transcend CULTURAL IMPERATIVES: and that is the RIGHTEOUS SOUL! This is so because it does not bend to the winds of cultural force & influence. See V.5-9.
#10. Evil is first personal & then generational! To change the state of affairs one must repent of sin & submit to the REVEALED “statutes & ordinances”. That soul shall live! And with it, the nation!
From Ezekiel 18. THE FOUNDATION OF THE SUPERSTRUCTURE
PART 2: PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
#1. “But if a man is righteous and practices righteousness, and does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period— if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, if he does not lend money on interest or take increase, if he keeps his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between man and man, if he walks in My statutes and My ordinances so as to deal faithfully—he is righteous and will surely live, declares the Lord God”. V.5-9.
#2. The language of the text indicates that there is an equivalence between the soul & the mind. The soul is invisible but it is not abstract. These words address the TRUE NATURE OF A MAN.
#3. To pursue righteousness is the HIGHEST HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY is of PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE.
#4. The soul has a methodology that affects the whole man. Soul & body are connected, of course, but it is the soul that carries more significance than the body.
#5. The soul represents MAN in MATERIALITY & HIS BEHAVIOR. PERSONAL BEHAVIOR, according to the text, is rooted in the soul! No matter the CONDITION OF THE SOUL.
#6. It becomes clear that the soul is the source of representations about all things SPIRITUAL, TEMPORAL & MATERIAL.
#7. We must always remember that the soul & the body are incommensurables (not at all alike). It is a somewhat mysterious relation between the two. They are united by the REVEALED WORD OF GOD.
#.8. There are TWO CONDITIONS OF SOUL, (1) Righteousness or (2) Sinfulness. It is one or the other, but not both.
#9. Paul’s teaching asserts that the soul governs the body! The soul appears in the Scripture as a complex of things: incommensurable ideas, spiritual realities connected to the body, sociology, conduct.
#10. At its most basic level the RIGHTEOUS SOUL ABHORS THE “ABOMINATIONS”; the SINFUL SOUL LOVES THE “ABOMINATIONS”, V.12, 13.
#11. The body is the surface form & the soul is the super conscious element. THE CRITICAL PART IS THE STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE SOUL.
From Ezekiel 18. THE FOUNDATION OF THE SUPERSTRUCTURE
PART 3: THE PRIORITY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUL.
#1. “…a workman who does not need to be ashamed…”, 2 Timothy 2:15.
#2. Every TYPE OF CONTEXT SETS THE CASE FOR SHAME. Violate the rules of the CONTEXT & SHAME OF ONE SORT OR ANOTHER IS FORTHCOMING.
#3 EXAMPLE: Today, in the U.S.A. & Europe IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS HAVE BEEN & ARE BEING FORCED UPON US (believers). If one subscribes to BIBLICAL TEACHING regarding human sexuality, then disapproval immediately surfaces, right on cue.
#4. Believers who follow the REVEALED TRUTH are ridiculed as biased, unjust & behind the times, on the wrong side of history (which is a myth). “We should be ashamed to object to the happiness of another”, some might say.
#5. This is especially predicted if one believes in a world of ABSOLUTES. For ABSOLUTES are not permitted!
#6. All IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS ARE INHERENTLY DESTRUCTIVE TO HIGHER VIRTUE. Any rejection of the enforced IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS WILL LEAD TO INEVITABLE TROUBLE TO THOSE WHO PUT THEMSELVES IN OPPOSITION TO IT.
#7. Transgenderism has almost become normalized in the western world. Such practices or ways of reasoning are not to be disturbed! By anyone! IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS ARE SYMPTOMATIC OF A SHIFT OF MORALITY, PROPRIETY & CUSTOM & that among other things.
#8. The ONLY TRUE BIBLICAL CONTEXT, as well, sets the case for shame. A principle causation of shame is directly associated with how one relates to the “word of truth” (REVELATION). The integrity of the word of truth cannot be compromised by any IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXT PUT BY MEN.
#9. And that has already happened as to how some recognize Scripture. The word of truth transcends human wisdom, intuition & certainly the various human inspired IDEOLOGIES. So, in part, “handling accurately the word of God means to bring the Scripture to bear on all human reasoning!
#10. This is how believers avoid “…worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness”, 2 Timothy 2:16. Giving in is just the first step in the downward spiral to complete ungodliness. RESISTANCE is the only textual way of PERSONAL CONDUCT IN AN IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXT. It is to this truth to which we have been called
Ezekiel 18. THE FOUNDATION OF THE TEMPORAL SUPERSTRUCTURE
PART 4: THE BOTTOM LINE: RIGHT OR WRONG.
#1. Ezekiel tells us that everything boils down to “right” & “wrong”; not psychology, intuition nor feelings!
#2. “Yet you say, ‘The ways of the Lord are not right.’ Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right?’”, V.25.
#3. Contemporary ideology as per Jacques Derrida (a French intellectual), who contended that there is NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH PUSHED INTO THE WORLD, FROM A GOD OUTSIDE OF TIME & MATERIALITY. That, of course, is an opinion and not a fact!
#4. Ezekiel starts his exercise of reasoning with ULTIMATE REALITY & ITS WITNESS TO MANKIND, especially to the church!
#5. Something is either “right” in the eyes of God or it is “wrong” in the eyes of God. There is no middle ground!
#6. “When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and died because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die”, V.26.
#7. Consequences of life & death, ensue. There is no reason to believe that this death is symbolic nor analogical. Death is a real-world consequence for direct disobedience to the word of God.
#8. Death is, by the way, an empirical direct (if not immediate) outcome of such “treachery”. Men may flaunt this revelation about life & death & some do. By the personal pursuit of psychological happiness over the importance of achieving the state of being called “the RIGHTEOUS SOUL”, we will die.
#9. It occurs to one to think that FEAR IS, in fact, a PSYCHOLOGIZATION OF EVENTS & HISTORICAL CONDITIONS.
#10. “Again when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness he will save his life”, V.27.
#11. The Lord is anxious to save & redeem! He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, V.32.
#12. Why is the man saved? Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die”, V.28.
#13. This is the nature of man in time & materiality! We are free to choose life or death! Why not choose life??!!
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