His Own Blood on His Own Head Text: Ezekiel 18:10-13
Introduction: The Sour Grapes Rebellion
We live in an age that is allergic to personal responsibility. It is an age of blame-shifting, an era where every man looks for a scapegoat for his own failures. This is not a new invention; it is as old as the Garden. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. And in the time of the prophet Ezekiel, the children of Israel had perfected this art and turned it into a national pastime. They had a little proverb they liked to toss around: "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge."
What they meant by this was simple and self-serving. "The reason we are in exile in Babylon, the reason our lives are a wreck, is not our fault. It's our fathers' fault. They sinned, and we are paying the price. We are innocent victims of generational injustice." It was a convenient, self-pitying excuse that allowed them to continue in their own rebellion while pointing the finger at the previous generation. It was a theological get-out-of-jail-free card. And God, through the prophet Ezekiel, will have none of it.
The whole of Ezekiel 18 is a divine repudiation of this blame-shifting. God lays down a principle with the force of a sledgehammer: the soul who sins shall die. God's justice is not a clumsy, scattershot affair. It is precise. It is individual. While it is true that sin has corporate and generational consequences, and that God's mercy extends to a thousand generations, it is also bedrock biblical truth that every individual is accountable to God for his own actions. You do not get to ride your father's coattails into heaven, and you do not get to blame him for your ticket to hell.
This chapter presents three case studies. First, a righteous man who obeys God's laws and lives. Second, his wicked son, who rejects his father's ways and dies in his sin. And third, the son of that wicked man, who sees his father's evil, turns from it, and lives. Our text today focuses on that middle case, the case of the violent, rebellious son. This is a man who had every advantage. He had a righteous father, a godly example, and a clear path laid out before him. But he chose rebellion. He chose death. And God makes it abundantly clear that the responsibility for that choice, and its eternal consequences, rests squarely on his own head.
The Text
"Then he may have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother (though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines and defiles his neighbor’s wife; he mistreats the afflicted and needy, commits robbery, does not return a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and does abominations; he lends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has done all these abominations; he will surely be put to death; his blood will be on himself."
(Ezekiel 18:10-13 LSB)
The Profile of a Covenant-Breaker (vv. 10-11)
We begin with the description of this wicked son, born to a righteous father.
"Then he may have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother (though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines and defiles his neighbor’s wife;" (Ezekiel 18:10-11)
The first thing we see is that righteousness is not genetically transferable. A godly father is a tremendous blessing, an incalculable advantage, but it is not a guarantee. This son is described first as "violent" and a "shedder of blood." This is not just a man with a bad temper; this is a man who despises the image of God in his fellow man. He rejects the sixth commandment at its root. His sin is not private or subtle; it is public and destructive. He does violence to his "brother," which underscores the covenantal nature of his rebellion. This is not just crime; it is treason against the family of God.
The text then gives a parenthetical clarification that is absolutely crucial: "though he himself did not do any of these things." The "he" here refers back to the righteous father. God is drawing the sharpest possible line between the character of the father and the character of the son. The father's righteousness does not cover the son's wickedness. The son cannot borrow from his father's spiritual bank account.
The son's rebellion is then detailed in a series of charges that represent a total repudiation of God's law. First, "he even eats at the mountain shrines." This was a flagrant violation of the first and second commandments. These high places were centers of pagan, idolatrous worship, often involving ritual prostitution and demonic ceremonies. To eat there was to have fellowship with idols, to declare allegiance to other gods. It was a direct assault on the exclusive claim of Yahweh.
Second, he "defiles his neighbor's wife." He breaks the seventh commandment. This is not a sin of weakness; it is a sin of arrogant entitlement. He sees, he wants, he takes. He tramples on the sacred covenant of marriage, which is the bedrock of social order. Notice the pattern: his rebellion is vertical (against God) and horizontal (against man). You cannot separate the two. A man who will not honor God will not honor his neighbor.
A Catalog of Injustice (v. 12)
Verse 12 continues the indictment, focusing on his social and economic sins.
"he mistreats the afflicted and needy, commits robbery, does not return a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and does abominations;" (Ezekiel 18:12 LSB)
Here we see the man's contempt for the vulnerable. The Mosaic law was filled with protections for the "afflicted and needy." God's people were to be characterized by mercy and generosity. This son does the opposite; he preys on them. He sees weakness not as an opportunity for compassion, but as an opportunity for exploitation. He "commits robbery," which is a blunt violation of the eighth commandment.
He "does not return a pledge." This might seem like a minor infraction to us, but it reveals the depth of his callousness. Under the law, if a poor man gave his cloak as a pledge for a loan, it had to be returned to him by nightfall, because it was likely the only thing he had to keep warm (Exodus 22:26-27). To keep it overnight was to show a complete disregard for the man's life and well-being. It was to value money over a human being made in God's image.
And lest we think his sins are merely horizontal, the verse concludes by reminding us of the root of his behavior: he "lifts up his eyes to the idols and does abominations." All social breakdown, all injustice, all cruelty, is ultimately a theological problem. It flows from a heart that has turned away from the true God to worship worthless idols. When you worship a god of power, you will crush the weak. When you worship a god of greed, you will rob the poor. When you worship a god of lust, you will defile your neighbor. Your ethics are always a reflection of your theology.
The Unavoidable Verdict (v. 13)
The indictment concludes, and God asks a rhetorical question before delivering the sentence.
"he lends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has done all these abominations; he will surely be put to death; his blood will be on himself." (Ezekiel 18:13 LSB)
The final charge is lending on interest, or usury. The law forbade Israelites from charging interest on loans to their fellow poor countrymen (Exodus 22:25). This was another mechanism to prevent the exploitation of the vulnerable. This man, however, sees his brother's need as a business opportunity. He is a loan shark, profiting from misery.
Then comes the question that hangs over the entire chapter: "will he live?" Can such a man, despite his righteous father, expect God's blessing and life? The answer is swift and absolute: "He will not live!" The covenant promises are not automatic. They are not magic. They are attached to the conditions of faith and obedience. This man has systematically broken the covenant, and he will not receive its blessings.
The verdict is death. "He will surely be put to death." In the theocracy of ancient Israel, many of these crimes were capital offenses. But Ezekiel is speaking to a people in exile, where the civil mechanisms are not fully in place. The ultimate meaning here is spiritual and eternal death. He is cut off from God, the source of life.
And the final phrase is the theological linchpin of the entire passage: "his blood will be on himself." This is the doctrine of personal culpability. He cannot blame his father. He cannot blame his circumstances. He cannot blame the Babylonians. The guilt for his sin, symbolized by his blood, is his and his alone. He made his choices, he committed his abominations, and he will bear the full weight of the consequences. God is just, and He will not punish one man for another's sin.
The Gospel of Individual Responsibility
Now, it is at this point that our modern sensibilities can get tangled up. We hear this stark language of individual responsibility and death, and we might be tempted to despair. If every soul must answer for its own sin, then who can be saved? For we have all, like this violent son, broken God's law. We have all, in our own ways, eaten at the mountain shrines of our own idols, whether they are made of stone or of ambition, money, or self-righteousness.
And the answer is that no one can be saved on the basis of their own righteousness. The law, as laid out here by Ezekiel, serves to stop every mouth and make the whole world guilty before God (Romans 3:19). This passage demolishes our excuses, strips away our blame-shifting, and leaves us standing naked and accountable before a holy God. It forces us to agree with the verdict: "He will not live!" That verdict is true of this wicked son, and it is true of us.
But this is precisely where the glory of the gospel shines brightest. For God, in His infinite mercy, provided a solution to this intractable problem. He maintained His perfect, individual justice by sending a substitute. The principle that "his blood will be on himself" is perfectly just. But what if someone else, a perfect and righteous man, willingly took that bloodguilt upon Himself?
This is exactly what happened at the cross. Jesus Christ, the truly righteous Son of a righteous Father, lived the perfect life that we have not lived. He fulfilled every demand of the law that this wicked son, and that we, have broken. And then, on the cross, He stood in the place of the guilty. He became the violent son. He became the idolater. He became the adulterer and the thief. God took all the abominations we have done and laid them on Him.
The verdict "he will surely be put to death" was executed upon Him. His blood was shed, not for His own sin, for He had none, but for ours. The justice of God was satisfied. The principle of individual accountability was upheld, but it was upheld in our substitute. And because He died the death we deserved, we who trust in Him can receive the life we did not earn. God looks at us, and because we are in Christ, He sees not our sin, but Christ's perfect righteousness. The sour grapes of our sin were eaten by Him, and by His stripes, we are healed.
Therefore, do not try to blame your parents, your past, or your society for your sin. Take responsibility. Own it. Confess it. Agree with God's verdict that you deserve death. And then, run to the only one whose blood can cleanse your own. Run to Christ, in whom the perfect justice and the fathomless mercy of God meet and kiss.