“If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things,”
-Ezekiel 18:10 (KJV)
Every action we take begets something. The Hebrew letters symbols of yalad (beget) show a hand, a staff, and a doorway : what we bring forth is the door we’ve chosen. A robber son (paritz) is pictured as one who seizes with the mouth and hooks seed that does not belong to him. To shed blood (shofekh dam) is to drain the very covenantal essence of life.
This verse stands as a mirror of human brokenness. Our choices ripple forward, birthing sons of robbery and bloodshed when we live from fear, greed, or violence. Ezekiel reminds us: what is begotten is not fate, but reflection. Each life can choose differently.
Christ interrupts this lineage. He contrasts Himself with the robber-son: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10). Where fallen humanity takes, Christ gives. Where the old self sheds others’ blood, Christ pours out His own: “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:28).
Through Him, our inheritance shifts. We are no longer children of robbery but children of adoption: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26). This new sonship breaks cycles of harm and births a Spirit-life within us: “Put off the old man with his deeds; and… put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.” (Colossians 3:9-10).
So today’s call is simple but searching: what are you begetting with your life? Are your words, choices, and patterns draining others, or are they birthing abundance? In Christ, you carry the power to stop the cycle of robbery and to birth something new: love, peace, and life that flows outward.
As I meditate, I realize that every day I “beget” through my choices. When I cling, I rob. When I wound, I shed blood. But when I surrender to Christ’s Spirit, I find myself generating love instead of loss. The old robber-son still lurks, but the Spirit in me calls me back to abundance.
By Anthony Osuya (Saint Anthony)