Sour Grapes challenges our instinct to blame our past, our parents, or our circumstances for the choices we make today. Rooted in Ezekiel 18, this episode confronts a culture of excuses and points listeners toward personal responsibility before a just and merciful God. Part 1 is a piercing and hope-filled introduction that invites honest self-examination that sets the stage for a deeper conversation about the possibility of real change.

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Welcome to the Fortifying youg Family podcast.

It can be daunting to navigate through an anti marriage and family culture.

Our teacher will expound biblical principles to help fortify our families and keep these sacred institutions strong.

And now, here's this week's teaching from Sam Wood.

I want to speak on the topic tonight.

Sour grapes.

So turn with me if you would in your Bible to Ezekiel chapter 18 and I want you to look with me.

I want to read verse one through verse four and if you would and you can physically stand tonight in honor of the Word of God, would you stand.

Ezekiel chapter 18 and verse 1 through verse 4.

I want to thank everybody for coming out tonight.

What a great crowd it is here on a Monday night.

After everything yesterday just to come back tonight.

Just a great crowd here tonight.

Thank you.

Ezekiel chapter 18 and verse 1.

The word of the Lord came unto me again saying what mean ye that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge.

As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion anymore to use this proverb.

Israel, behold, all souls are mine.

As the soul of the Father, so also the soul of the Son is mine.

The soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Perhaps we've never lived in a time like today in America where we blame anyone, everyone or anything for our sins.

Many people today I believe, including Christians, feel that they are what they are and they cannot change.

They feel they are victims of their family upbringing and victims of their environment.

I get mad and angry because my dad was mad and angry.

I'm a drunkard because I inherited the genetic makeup of my father.

I'm into porno and sexual sin because I have sexual disorder syndrome.

I can't help it if I can't pay attention because I've inherited attention deficit disorder.

I'm fat because of fat producing metabolism that I inherited from my mom and dad.

I have same sex attraction because of my genetic disposition or God made a mistake.

I have gender dysphoria.

I'm trapped in the wrong body.

Many, many excuses that we blame on anyone.

Anything.

Something else John Killinger tells about the manager of a minor league baseball team who said this.

He was so disgusted with the center field's performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself.

The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth.

The next one was a high fly ball which he lost in the glare of the sun until it bounced off his forehead.

The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms.

Unfortunately, it flew between his hands and smacked his eye.

Furious, he ran back into the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the uniform and shouted, you've got center field so messed up that I can't do a thing with it.

You know, now we like to blame, we like to rationalize, we like to make excuses.

The one person we don't like to point at is who we don't want to point at ourselves.

And you know, we got this.

This is not something abnormal, but this is something we inherited from the first couple that lived on this earth.

I remind you of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 11 it says, and he said, who told thee that thou was naked?

God is speaking to Adam.

Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat.

And the Lord God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done?

And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me and I did eat.

Blame, blame, blame.

Man has inherited, of course, that sin.

Man is depraved in his sin.

And we like again to blame everybody in everything.

Ever since the first sin in the Garden of Eden.

We want to excuse ourselves for whatever we've done.

It's not my fault, it's my parents fault.

He did it, she did it.

It's an environment that we grew up in.

This is what the Jews were doing in Israel during this time of judgment by the hand of God.

In verse two, when they say, the fathers notice again have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge.

The Jews in captivity under the punishment of God and desiring to justify their sinful actions.

So they use this proverb to do it.

But you say, what does it mean?

Well, what it means is our fathers sinned.

That is, they ate the sour grapes.

They're the one who ate the sour grapes.

They're the ones who sinned.

And we're inheriting the bitterness.

Our teeth are on edge.

We're getting the bitterness.

And they're saying, it's not my fault that we're sinning.

It's all because of dad.

It's all because of our ancestors that I'm doing what I'm doing.

Often hear people say, I come from a dysfunctional home.

Have you ever heard that before?

I come from a dysfunctional home.

What they're really saying is, it's not my fault for what I do, it's my what?

It's my parents fault.

It's my ancestors fault.

Now the fact is folks, we all come from a dysfunctional home.

We're all living in a dysfunctional home and we will all produce a dysfunctional home.

Because every home that has sinners living in it is a dysfunctional home to some degree or the other man is always trying to rationalize away his sin.

Denny Burke says to rationalize is to commit the sin of suppressing the truth that God has revealed in order to justify the conscience.

Every time you rationalize your sin, you harden your heart, you put a callus on your conscience and you put your soul in mortal danger.

Listen folks, our dysfunctional family does not have to define us, but it should rather drive us to repentance and dependency upon God.

You ask, how did they, how did these Israelites come up with this proverb?

They're referring back to what God said in Exodus chapter 20, verse 4.

Turn back there with me if you would hold your finger in Ezekiel chapter 18, but turn back with me if you would, to Exodus chapter 20 and verse 4 and look at it with me for just a moment.

This is where this proverb originated.

Exodus, chapter 20, verse 4.

It says, you shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Ye shall not bow down to them, nor serve them.

For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep commandments.

Since they were using this verse as an excuse for this proverb about sour grapes, let's pause and look at it for just a minute.

This is a very important passage of scripture to really understand.

And I really think there's a lot of misunderstanding in regard to this passage of scripture.

So we'll just take a moment and look at it.

I believe the key to understanding this passage of scripture is in the middle of this passage where God says, for I, the Lord your God.

A what?

I am a jealous God.

It's very interesting that God calls himself a jealous God.

You say, what does this mean?

Well, majority of the time that we use the word jealous, we use it in a very negative connotation.

And many times in the word of God, it's used in a very negative sense, except when it comes to God.

God calls himself a Jealous God, you say, well, why is that?

Well, the word jealousy in the Bible is kind of like the word similar to the word we might say fear in the Bible in that many times when you talk about fear, you talk about it in a very negative sense.

But yet when you connect that word fear with God, you start talking about the fear of God, the fear of the Lord standing in awe of God, recognizing who God is and the majesty of God, and being taken back as you are fascinated at the attributes and the person of God.

And certainly God being a jealous God is one of his attributes.

And just like fear is associated with the fear of God, and fear normally is taken in a negative sense, jealousy is normally taken in a negative sense, but here it's connected with God.

And God is saying this, listen, normal jealousy is sinful and describes someone who is envious or of someone or something.

You can remember Saul and when he came back, they were singing.

And Saul heard this.

Saul heard them saying, he has slain his thousands, but David has slain his what, ten thousands.

And Saul was moved to jealousy.

He was jealous of what they were singing to David instead of himself.

One writer says, and I love this.

Godly jealousy is angered love.

That stays love.

I like that.

Godly jealousy is angered love.

That stays love.

He goes on to say for God to say, I'm a jealous God.

To say, I don't want you to treat me the way you treat other gods.

I want the exclusive commitment.

I want to be your exclusive commitment in your life, you to love me.

As when the scribe came to Jesus and asked him, what is the greatest command of all?

And Jesus said, you to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.

He said, I want an exclusive commitment.

He goes on to say, I want to be at the center of your life, and I want it to be a love relationship.

Therefore, relating to me is more like a marriage.

So God's jealousy describes his exclusive covenant love relationship between himself and between his people.

And that we see in the Bible over and over again that what provokes God's jealousy, something called idolatry.

And we see that in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 4 when he says, you're not to worship these other gods.

God says, if you love anything more than me, then that's an idol.

It's standing between you and me that provokes my jealousy.

Why?

Because I love you.

Because I made a covenant with you and you're committing spiritual adultery against me.

God hates idolatry.

God hates false worship and resents everything in worship that looks like or leads to idolatry.

So God looks at idolaters, as it says in these verses, as haters of God, even though they may pretend to love Him.

He knows their heart, and he knows what they worship.

He knows where their heart is.

And so he says, I will visit the iniquity of the fathers.

To the third and fourth generation.

You say, well, preacher, what does God really mean by that?

Now, I've heard a lot of different people say different things about this, but after I really got into this and studied this, I believe what God is saying is, since you broke covenant with me through idolatry, your idolatry will affect your children for three to four generations.

Come.

Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

But children would feel the impact of breaches of God's law by their parents generation as a natural consequence of its disobedience and its hatred of God.

Children reared in such an environment would absorb and then practice similar idolatry, thus themselves expressing hateful disobedience.

The effect of a disobedient generation was to plant wickedness so deeply that it took several generations to reverse it.

So in this verse, God is not saying that the descendants of these parents who practice idolatry are doomed to eternal punishment or eternal damnation, but because they had practiced idolatry, that sin of idolatry would affect them in God's punishment, God's wrath against their parents practicing idolatry for three to four generations to come.

But you know what's overlooked in these verses?

A lot of times you hear this verse, but what's overlooked often is verse six.

I like this, but I circled it in my Bible.

But look at verse six.

But showing what church?

Mercy.

That word mercy is a wonderful word there because in the Hebrew it is hesed.

It's describing God's hesed love.

It's translated in the Old Testament, in the Psalms and other places, as God's steadfast love, God's everlasting love, God's covenant love towards his people.

But showing mercy or showing hesed this everlasting, steadfast covenant love to thousands.

And what he's saying there is to thousands of generations, to those who what, love me and keep my commandments he says, listen, parents who are idolatrous and are haters of God, it can affect their children for three to four generations to come.

But he says, those who love me, I'm going to show my hesed love to them for thousands of generations to come.

Wow, what a God.

What a loving God.

So the people of Judah were using this proverb though they were themselves wicked and though they were themselves idolatrous.

Instead of confessing their own sin and repenting of their sin, they condemned God and justified themselves by blaming their ancestors, saying, our fathers have eaten sour grapes.

And because of that our teeth are set on edge over we're reaping the consequences of our fathers.

But look at God's reproof in verse three.

As I live, says the Lord God, you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.

God says, I'm sick of hearing this.

I don't want you to use this proverb any longer.

Don't let me hear you saying it anymore.

Tired of you using this rationalization.

I'm tired of you using this excuse that you've been using.

Then in verse four, God gives a reason why he's sick of hearing it.

Look at it.

He says, behold, all souls are mine.

The soul of the Father as well as the soul of the Son is mine.

And then he says, the soul that sins shall what shall die.

Notice in God's reproof that he first declares his absolute sovereignty over the souls of men.

God is saying that every soul is his.

All were created by him, all souls were, and for him, for his glory and are accountable to him.

Our earthly parents are only the fathers of our flesh.

God is saying, our souls are not theirs, their souls are God's.

And folks, God is good, God is just, and God is sovereign.

So who are we to quarrel with God Defending the sovereignty of God In Romans chapter 9, Paul says this in verse 20 who art thou that replies against God?

Shall the thing form say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?

Once God establishes His absolute sovereignty in the beginning of this verse, it is like he sets it aside for a second and shows his love and mercy by saying, but only the soul that persists in sin shall die.

Now what God does the rest of this chapter is give a strong argument that each individual is responsible for their own sin and will stand before God and give an account for their sin.

To illustrate this, in verses 5 through 17, God shows us three generations of Father son relationships.

So look at it with me tonight for just a moment.

The first generation that of a righteous man in verse five.

But if a man be just, notice that this is a just, righteous man.

And do that which is lawful and right, and hath not eaten upon the mountains, Neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel.

Notice he starts out here by saying he has not worshiped false idols.

He has not worshipped false gods.

I think it was Luther who said that we only will obey the rest of the Ten Commandments after we have obeyed the first two of the Ten Commandments, that is, worshipping God and God alone.

Then he goes on to say, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel.

Neither hath defiled his neighbor's wife, neither hath come near to the mistress.

Woman hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment.

He that hath not given forth upon usury or interest, Neither hath taken away any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, Hath walked in my statues, and hath kept my judgments to deal.

Truly he is just.

He shall surely what church live, saith the Lord God.

So the first example that God gives is of a righteous man who loves God and is walking with God, is not idolatrous in his relationship with God, is obeying the commands of God because his heart inclined toward God, and his heart is right with God.

And then he moves to the next example of a wicked man who is the son of this just man, who was just described in these verses we just read.

Look at it in verse 10.

If he, this just man, beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things, that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, or he's worshiped false gods and defiled his neighbor's wife, hath oppressed the poor and needy, has spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination, hath given forth usury, and hath taken increase, shall he then live?

He shall not live.

God says he hath done all these abominations.

He shall surely die.

His blood shall be upon him.

So the son of this just man, who is very righteous before God, has this wicked, very wicked son that God says, because of his sin and his sin alone, he shall surely die.

Now, so far we've seen a very righteous father who has a son that's very wicked.

But look at the third generation here in verse 14.

Here is a righteous man who is the son of this wicked man.

You have listened to the first part of a two part message by Evangelist Sam Wood.

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