“Son of man, if a country sins against Me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it, and eliminate from it both human and animal life, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only save themselves,” declares the Lord God. (v.13-14)

even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their son or their daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness. (v.20)

You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, even on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me. (Deuteronomy 5:9)

“What do you people mean by using this proverb about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers eat sour grapes, but it is the children’s teeth that have become blunt’? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, “you certainly are not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. 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 18:2-4)

What God says in Deuteronomy 5:9 may appear to contradict to what He says in Ezekiel 14:20. When God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandment, He spoke to the Israel nation. And He made a conditional covenant with Israel nation, a visible church. And the warning written in Deut 5:9 was fulfilled when Israel was destroyed by Babylon.

I will make them an object of terror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 15:4)

However, God’s eternal covenant has always been with His chosen people (one invisible church) within visible churches through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. All chosen people of God have faith in Him. And that faith is a gift from God. Only those who receive the Holy Spirit by grace, according to His eternal Covenant of Grace, are righteous because only God is righteous.

Earlier I talked about the difference between righteousness of Adam and that of Noah (and Abraham). The word “righteous” used for Noah is God’s righteousness, which does not depend on works. I already talked about the transition of Job’s righteousness from work-dependent to grace-dependent. Daniel has also received the same righteousness as Noah and Job.

There may be many theories about why God mentioned those three men. I cannot say I know exactly why. But what is more important is that God is talking about people who received grace without works. Noah and Job existed before the Ten Commandments. Daniel was an Israelite but he is equally righteous as Noah and Job. This tells us that righteousness does not come from keeping of the Law. There is something greater than the written code – God. Obedience to all God’s commands and understanding His will comes from the Holy Spirit. Most importantly, the Spirit makes us love God because we know God. If anyone says, “I love God” and yet, does not have the right understanding of God, he/she is loving an idol.

There is not a single person who will understand God by his/her own will and efforts. Saints may not know all truths but we know, at least, that we are saved only by grace. That may be the biggest difference between those under grace and those under curse.

For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under the Law but under grace. (Romans 6:14)