🕊️ Fear Not — God Never Leads Us into Sin
📖 Ezekiel 20:25–26 “Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live. I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused all that opens the womb to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Yahweh.”
10/23/2026
These verses are among the most difficult statements in the book of Ezekiel. At first glance, it might seem that God Himself gave Israel bad commandments or even caused them to sacrifice their children. But this contradicts His entire nature and everything He had previously revealed.
God had given Israel good commandments — commandments that led to life. Yet the people repeatedly rejected God's Word and turned to the idols of the surrounding nations.
📖 Ezekiel 20:11
“I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he will live in them.”
The Hebrew word נָתַן (natan [na-TAHN]) means “to give,” but it can also express the idea of giving someone over or allowing them to bear the consequences of their own decisions. After Israel repeatedly rejected God's warnings, He allowed them to follow the path they had chosen for themselves. He did not lead them into sin — He allowed them to experience the consequences of their persistent disobedience.
The cruel sacrifice of firstborn children was a pagan practice associated with the idol Molech. God had explicitly forbidden this terrible act.
📖 Leviticus 18:21
“You shall not give any of your children as a sacrifice to Molech; neither shall you profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.”
We find the same principle in the New Testament. When people persistently reject God's truth, He eventually allows them to follow the path they insist on taking. Even this is not an act of cruelty, but is intended to bring them to the realization of where their own rebellion leads and to turn back to Him.
📖 Romans 1:24
“Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness.”
God's nature has never changed. He never tempts anyone to sin. He takes no pleasure in judgment. Even His correction flows from His love and is always intended to lead people to repentance and life.
📖 James 1:13
“Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God,’ for God can't be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.”
If you belong to Jesus, you do not need to fear that God will lead you down the wrong path. He always leads toward truth, freedom, and life. His warnings are not meant to drive you away from Him, but to protect you from losing your way.
🙌 Therefore: Fear not — God's way always leads to life, never into sin.