Who can explain Ezekiel Chap 18:4?

Question

If when you die, we are suposed to go to heaven, why then does Ezekiel Chap 18:4 tell us that the soul will die?

Answer 1

"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." - Ezekiel 18:4 nasv.

specifically, part B of the verse says the soul that SINS shall die; this is not talking about the soul of a believer (cf. 1 John 3:9); rather this is speaking of unbelievers, and the death of course is not physical death but spiritual death. good question!

Answer 2

"The soul that sinneth, it shall die". Ezekiel 18:4.
Yes, you are right; there are actually several places in the Bible that refute the idea of an "immortal soul". The Bible also says that "God...alone hath immortality". Immortality is a gift that God bestows upon those who are saved, but only at Christ's return. The unsaved NEVER receive eternal life of any kind, either in Heaven or Hell. They do not live forever, and thus are not tortured forever, either. To believe such would be to believe that sin is more powerful than God!
The idea of an "immortal soul" does not come from the Bible, but from beliefs handed down from pagan Greece and Rome to the Roman Catholic church, who in turn handed it down to Protestantism (at least to those "Protestants" who don't read their Bibles).
Also, we must understand what a "soul" is. There seems to be a great deal of confusion about this. According to the Bible, when God created Adam out of the dust, He then breathed into him ("spirit", which is translated as "breath" in most languages), and the Man then became a living "soul". You see, we don't RECEIVE a soul, we BECOME a soul.
Dust + breath (of God) = SOUL
Soul - breath (of God) = (dead) body
A "soul" is a word for a living human being. You may have seen a newspaper headline for the sinking of the Titanic that says, "1500 souls lost". Does that mean that 1500 ghosts drowned? No, of course not. It means that 1500 living people drowned.
Likewise, Ezekiel's note that "the soul that sinneth, it shall die" means that any living person who sins will die. Those who are saved will only die once, but then be physically resurrected at Christ's return. Those who are unsaved will die twice - once at the end of their physical life, and then again 1000 years after Christ's return when they are resurrected to judgment, and then they must suffer a second, permanent death by fire.

Answer 3

Here's what the notes say in my Life Application Study Bible..."The people of Judah believed they were being punished for the sins of their ancestors, not their own. They thought this way because this was the teaching of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:5) Instead, Ezekiel taught that the destruction of Jerusalem was due to the spiritual decay in the previous generations. but this belief in the corporate life of Israel led to fatalism and irresponsibility. so Ezekiel gave God's new policy because the people had mis constructed the old one. god judges each person individually. Although we often suffer from the effects of sins committed by those who came before us, God does not punish us for someone else's sins, and we can't use their mistakes as an excuse for our sins. Each person is accountable to god for his or her actions. In addition, some people of Judah used the corporate umbrella of God's blessing as an excuse for disobeying God. they thought that because of their righteous ancestors (18:5-9) they would live. God told them that they would not; they were the evil children of righteous parents and, as such, would die (18:10-13). If, however, anyone returned to God, he or she would live (18:14-18)"

the verse in this translation says,"The person who sins is the one who will die." referring to the fact that God will judge the sinner for their actions.

Answer 4

This agrees with Gen 2:7 where it says Adam became a living soul.

This agrees with Eccl 9:5,10 where it says the dead are conscience of nothing at all, neither is there wisdom or knowledge.

This agrees with Jesus who said the soul can be destroyed.

This agrees with John 3:16"For God so (W)loved the world, that He (X)gave His (Y)only begotten Son, that whoever (Z)believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

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Answer 5

You are leaving out the part that says "the soul that sins, will die" In this context it is saying that the sinner will not experience heaven but will "die" be cut off from God, will be cast in to hell.

Answer 6

This verse is adressing generational curses, the jews had a pagan belief that children would be punished for their parent's sin. God is saying in this verse that the person who sins is the one who will be punished.

Answer 7

The soul is the immortal part of you, it never dies, not even when you deny its existence.

Answer 8

cuz our soul does die, our spirit is what lives

Answer 9

bad people have spiritual death.