And so God declares the promise that everyone will be treated as they deserve. Of course, this is wonderful, but here’s the problem. Ezekiel’s prophecy, his word from the Lord, collides with an earlier word from the same Lord—the Second Commandment, against false worship (the making of idols). In Exodus 20:4–6 (and the later version in Deut. 5:8–10), false worship merited a punishment extending to the third and the fourth generation.* The blessings for obedience
