Ezekiel 18:20 – Can Yeshua pay for our sins. Many are rejecting Yeshua as Messiah because they believe the Torah rejects the idea of one human taking on the sins of another.
Ezekiel 18:20 The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son.
This commandment is only for civil magistrate. It’s simply saying that Yahweh doesn’t want any judge or officer to persecute one man for another man’s crimes or sins. But Yahweh is not a man and over and over again Yahweh does judge many for the sins of one person. For example, in Joshua 7:11, a man named Achan stole treasure and all of Israel took on the punishment. It says “Israel has sinned and they have also transgressed my covenant, which I commanded them for they have even taken a cursed thing and have also stolen.” After Achan was caught, him and all of his family was put to death, not only him. Joshua 7:24-25 “And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and all that he had and they brought them unto the valley of Achor and all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire.” Yahweh saw all of Israel is guilty and punished Achan’s entire family and livestock due to his own sin.
Another big example is Adam’s original sin. All of mankind has to die once due to his sin but that’s not all. Genesis 3:16-17 “Unto the woman he said ‘I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.’” We all know every woman in childbirth goes through pain. Verse 17 “And unto Adam he said ‘Cursed is the ground for thy sake and sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.’” The field no longer freely yields fruit and we must work hard all the days of our life. Adam represented all of mankind when he fell and brought death. Yeshua represents all of his people in his righteousness and his resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
The belief that one cannot die for another isn’t true. Isaiah 53 is all about one suffering for the sins of many. Isaiah 53:5-6 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Even if you want to say this chapter is about the nation of Israel, the principle still applies. It’s showing one suffering for the iniquity of many and this one righteous man that Yahweh did choose to die for the sins of many is Yeshua.