Compare Ezekiel 20:25 with Romans 1:24-28 regarding God allowing human choices. Scripture texts • Ezekiel 20 : 25 — “Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live.” • Romans 1 : 24-28 — “Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones; likewise the males abandoned natural relations with females and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what is not right.” Observations on God’s action • Ezekiel states, “I gave them statutes that were not good.” • Romans repeats, “God gave them over / up.” • Both texts describe God permitting people to experience the full weight of their own rebellious choices as a form of judgment rather than immediate restraint. • The initiative remains with God—He “gave”—yet what He gives is not fresh evil but open access to the evil the people already desired. A pattern of judicial abandonment • God’s holiness is offended by persistent defiance (Isaiah 63 : 10). • Repeated rejection of His righteous standards triggers a point at which He withdraws protective restraint (Psalm 81 : 11-12). • This withdrawal is not divine capitulation but a measured verdict, allowing sin to run its destructive course (Hosea 4 : 17). Human responsibility and freedom • In both passages the people first choose idolatry and moral corruption. • God’s “handing over” respects that choice yet simultaneously exposes it. • Free will is upheld, but divine permission does not equal divine approval (James 1 : 13-15). God’s purpose in giving over • To unmask the emptiness of false worship and the damage of sin (Galatians 6 : 7-8). • To bring the weight of consequences that might awaken repentance (Luke 15 : 14-17). • To vindicate His justice when people refuse offered mercy (2 Thessalonians 2 : 10-12). Related passages • Acts 7 : 42 — “God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven.” • Judges 2 : 14-15 — He “sold them into the hands of their enemies” after idolatry. • 1 Samuel 8 : 7-9 — He grants Israel’s demand for a king, with warning of the pain it will bring. • Revelation 22 : 11 — “Let the evildoer still do evil” as final judgment nears. Takeaways for believers today • Ongoing, willful sin carries the grave risk of God loosening His restraining grace. • God’s patience should never be mistaken for permission; it invites immediate repentance (Romans 2 : 4). • Where society celebrates sin, Scripture explains that such celebration itself can be evidence of divine judgment already in motion. • The remedy is always the same: turn back to the Lord, trust His gospel, and walk in the Spirit, who empowers obedience and restores the joy of fellowship (1 John 1 : 7-9; Galatians 5 : 16). |
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