We find that the teaching given in Ezekiel 18 is repeated more briefly in 33: 10-20. The fact of its repetition indicates its place of importance in the teaching of the prophet. The issue of corporate guilt and individual responsibility was obviously a very serious one amongst the exiles.

If we look back over this teaching, we see that the prophet was trying to change a wrong attitude in his fellow exiles which prevented them from understanding the real nature of God and God's concern for them. But we also see that there were aspects of the problem of evil and suffer-ing which Ezekiel did not in fact deal with. He does not come to grips with the question which Jeremiah raised: 'Why are wicked men so prosperous? Why do dishonest men succeed? (Jeremiah 12: 1). The kind of man described in Ezekiel 18 : 10-13 does not necessarily die quickly in shame; he may prosper and live to be an old man. Conversely, the good man described in 18: 10-13 might suffer and come to an early death at the hands of his enemies.

The problem of evil and suffering is a deeper one than it appears to be in Ezekiel 18 and 33: 10-20, but the really important teaching of these passages is about God's concern for each individual. This laid the foundation for great hope and encouragement in a situation of difficulty and despair. However hard the situation and surroundings were for an individual, a personal relationship of love and obedience with God was possible. An evil inheritance did not cut a person off from God, neither did conditions of poverty and hardship. This idea points towards the great teaching of Paul in Romans 8:31: 'If God is for us, who can be against us?' In this chapter, Paul affirms that nothing at all can separate us from the love that God has for us.

Ezekiel preached at a time when man's relationship with God was understood entirely in terms of his earthly life. No teaching about a meaningful life after death had developed. A long life was seen to be evidence of God's blessing; a sudden early death was seen as a disaster, particularly if a person died too young to have left children. Ezekiel's assurance of God's concern for the individual raises questions which are left unanswered. If God knows and judges each person according to what he does, why should a good man die young and a wicked man live long?

Such questions remain unanswered in the Old Testament. We have to turn to the New Testament to find new light on such questions which relate to the whole meaning of life.

God's repeated command to Ezekiel to be the watchman of his people (Ezekiel 33 : 1-9)

This passage is an extended repetition of3: 16-21.