Like Mother, Like Daughter?
Ezekiel 16:44
No doubt you have heard the phrase: “Like father, like son,” or “Like mother, like daughter.”
This is actually a phrase found in Scripture, at least the latter one is (Eze. 16:44).
Israel is likened to the daughter, while the Hittites are called her mother.
Ezekiel is speaking figuratively here—otherwise there would be a contradiction.
It is clear he is using this in a satirical sense.
Whatever the case, Israel, as the daughter of a Hittite, is an unfaithful spouse.
Again, a figure showing her infidelity to the Lord.
But the point is, at least the point we see later, is that she doesn’t have to be like this.
Many of us are very much influenced by our parents.
How they raised us is a big part of who we are.
Their failings often become our failings.
Even certain genetic or personality traits we tend to pick up from our parents.
Caroline must have things in a certain way—it took me decades to grow out of that, and even then not entirely.
But there comes a point where we must take responsibility of our own actions.
We can’t blame our parents anymore for our own foibles.
Your dad was an alcoholic, drug addict, or abuser? Doesn’t mean you have to be.
Your mom was a lazy adulteress? Doesn’t mean you follow in her footsteps.
Your parents got divorced? Doesn’t mean you must.
While Israel was “like her mother,” she, too, had a to take personal responsibility.
Ezekiel recounts another parable (Eze. 18:2).
That parable means that when the father does something, the children pay the consequences.
In a sense, that’s true—if my father invented something and became rich, I would reap the rewards of his success.
On the other hand, if my dad squandered all that he had and did little else with his life, then I would have to work a lot harder to get by.
Worse even, if he were a criminal, people might treat me as one—could you imagine if your last name were Hitler after 1945?
They felt that because of their fathers’ actions, their idolatry and other immoralities and atrocities, they were being punished with this captivity in Babylon.
But God reveals something else here.
You see, in the ultimate sense, this is a false parable.
God does not judge you based on your parents’ actions, but on your own (Eze. 18:19-20).
You may be facing some of the earthly consequences of their actions, but your soul shall live!
On Sunday, we talked about how God was going to judge them according to what they deserve.
The good news is, He normally doesn’t do that.
He gives all mankind a level of grace and mercy, a chance to make things right.
We see that here as well (18:21-22).
You see, with every breath, we have a chance to repent, to turn from all our sins and do what is right, we will live!
This is a promise God gives to the wicked, always giving them opportunities to turn their lives around.
Why? (18:23) Because He does not delight in the death of the wicked.
But beware, you righteous (18:24).
If a wicked man repents, he shall live.
If a righteous man turns wicked, he shall die.
It doesn’t matter what either of them did previously, they are judged by what they were when they died.
That’s great news for the wicked—turn and do what’s right!
That’s chilling news for the righteous—stay on that right path!
The Lord is accused of not being fair because of this (18:25).
God turns it back on them, practically saying they are the unfair ones.
You see, His judgments are perfect. He gives His reasoning (18:25-29).
Then God concludes with an invitation, the same invitation we extend to you (18:30-32).
Belief was assumed of those who were listening to God through Ezekiel, but it is not assumed in the Christian age, as many Gentiles are told to believe in Jesus.
Without faith, we have no cause to repent—that which He calls us to do.
We are to turn from our sinful ways toward Him.
The only way we can cast away our transgressions is to be baptized into Christ.
Paul was told to wash away his sins by being baptized (Acts 22:16).
We can only receive that new heart and new spirit, a regeneration, being born again once we’ve been baptized.
Recall Jesus’ words in John 3:3, 5 – “Unless one is born again [regenerated], he cannot see the kingdom of God,” and “Unless one is born of water and the spirit [the means by which one is regenerated, receiving a new heart and a new spirit], he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
The Lord doesn’t what your soul to die—He takes no pleasure in it, and neither do we!
Some like to think faith is passed down—and it is to some extent.
“Like mother, like daughter”?
Ultimately you must make the decision to be a child of God or not.
The Lord said if we don’t love Him more than our family, we are not worthy of Him (Matt 10:37).
While we are to honor our parents, if they are not on the right path, it is not our responsibility to join them!
Become a Christian today, or as it says here, “Turn and live!”