Ezekiel 33: 1 – 33
Tag – You’re it!
“1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’7 “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. 10 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?”’ 11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ 12 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’ 13 When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die. 14 Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, 15 if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live. 17 “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair! 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. 19 But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.” 21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been captured!” 22 Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me the evening before the man came who had escaped. And He had opened my mouth; so when he came to me in the morning, my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. 23 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 24 “Son of man, they who inhabit those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one, and he inherited the land. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.’ 25 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You eat meat with blood, you lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land? 26 You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you defile one another’s wives. Should you then possess the land?”’ 27 “Say thus to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “As I live, surely those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and the one who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and caves shall die of the pestilence. 28 For I will make the land most desolate, her arrogant strength shall cease, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will pass through. 29 Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.”’ 30 “As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ 31 So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. 32 Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. 33 And when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
We are going to look at a special message from our Holy God that involves every one of us. If you research other commentaries you will most likely find the title of this chapter having something relative to a ‘Watchman’ Individuals who make a go at teaching this chapter will take it upon themselves to focus on certain points of view.
The first exegesis would be to describe this passage as our Holy Adoni’s appointment of Ezekiel to be the herald to warn the people of an upcoming attack. If the watchman did his job he would spare his own life. If he didn’t then the people’s blood would be charged against him.
I do not think this evaluation is the right one. For one thing Ezekiel has been faithful to serve and represent our Holy Master. Look at what he has already had to endure. Acting out various messages from the Lord; cooking his food with cow dung; and even having to lose his wife. In all this he has remained faithful. Also do not forget he along with fellow captives had already gone through the terror of war. In Babylon they were not going to be attacked. Our Lord instructed them to settle in and build houses for they were going to be there for 70 years. It is too late to warn the citizens of Jerusalem for we will read about the news of the destruction of Jerusalem in verse 21.
If it is not Ezekiel then who is suppose to be the look out? Some scholars might lean to interpreting these sacred verses of our Holy Spirit as applying to God’s co-shepherds. You know those individuals called by Him to be His spokespeople. I would say yes partially to this perspective. However, we will see in the next chapter our Holy Leader dedicating a whole chapter at addressing people who are in the ministry of serving Him.
So, the question remains, who do you think our Lord Is addressing? Guess what/ Tag – you’re it! Do you ever remember playing the game ‘tag’ as a child? We are all the targets of His message.
“1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’
As our Holy Father’s representatives we are called to be the watchmen and share the ‘Good News’. In truth we all have failed in this command. Many, not all today, are undercover Christians. They are saved and understand they will go to Heaven, but they do not let on to anyone else that they are believers n our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They try to blend in with everyone doing everything the world does. They fail in their basic responsibility to warn others of their coming judgment. There will come a time and I think shortly that we as Christians for our own safety and survival will have to keep our beliefs in the Majesty and Lordship of One God secret.
Let me ask you this? If you were riding down the street late at night and you saw a house on fire, would you (1) stop and watch it burn down? (2) Drive by and say to yourself, ‘what a pity and be glad that it didn’t happen to you? (3) Stop and run up to the house, call 911, and try to make sure no one is inside? If you have pondered answers 1 or 2 – shame on you!
This earth is not our home. We are passing through to a better permanent home. We need to share the truth with neighbors, co-workers, family, and anyone else we come in contact with. Many people today just pass people off to their church thinking that they have done their jobs right. Not So! The works of church leaders are to train or equip the saints of the church of our Lord Jesus Christ for the work of the ministry. This poem always cuts me to the heart about doing the Lord’s Great Commission.
My friend,
I stand in Judgment now,
And feel that you’re to blame somehow.
You always had the words to say
Yet, never did you point the way.
You knew the Lord in truth and glory,
But never did you tell the story.
My knowledge then was very dim;
You could have led me safe to Him.
Though we lived together on the earth.
You never told me of the second birth.
And now I stand this day condemned.
Because you failed to mention Him.
You taught me many things, that’s true.
I called you ’friend’ and trusted you.
But I learn now that it’s too late.
You could have kept me from this fate.
We walked by day and talked by night,
And yet you showed me not the Light.
You let me live, and love, and die,
You knew I’d never live on high.
Yes, I called you ‘friend’ in life.
And trusted you through joy and strife.
And yet on coming to the end,
I cannot, now, call you ‘my friend’
Look at what happened when someone did not do his duty to give out the warning as we read in the book of Daniel chapter 5, “30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.”
The army of Media-Persia snuck into the city of Babylon after they had drained the river. No one noticed the water going down and as a result the world powers shifted in just one night.
7 “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.”
The source that we utilize to do our jobs for our Master are our mouths and it should be clear and to the point when we speak as the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 14 instructs us, “7 Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? 8 For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? 9 So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. 11 Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.”
‘8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. 10 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?”’ 11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
Our speech should be measured for a couple of good reasons. Verses 8 and 9 remind us that we are accountable to God. We all will give an answer for what we did or did not do while here on earth. Some, may respond, ‘I do not care about rewards, I just want to get into Heaven.’ That answer my friend points out how bad your soul is. How about your kids? How about your spouse? What about your parents? Family? Neighbors? Co-workers? Do you care if they do not get to go to heaven?
We also have been anointed or authorized by our Magnificent Holy Maker to be His Ambassadors. Could you imagine if you were picked, as an Ambassador for the United States to Iran and you did not give them any messages or warning from Washington? What would happen to you? The least action would be removal from your highly critical position. Are we not in a more elevated and significantly higher job representing the King of Kings and Lord of lords?
He does not desire that anyone should perish – even the wicked. Our Holy Father Is Love. His motive is that all would be saved. Yet, as you and I both know it will not happen. You can never say that our Supreme Ruler didn’t get His message of forgiveness to those who could turn around and come to Him for life as the book of Acts chapter 3 tells us, “19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,”
Besides being Love, our Lord Is also Light. He cannot overlook anyone who has not responded to His Merciful Forgiveness. He paid the ultimate price to achieve that as you and I both know. He gave His Only Begotten Son to die in our place. Thank you Lord Jesus. Anyone ignoring this Wonderful Gift then accepts the consequences.
12 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’
Our Holy Father does not keep secrets. He reveals them to us His children. He now teaches us about righteousness or being and doing right things. On our own there is no one who is righteous or good. Look at these scriptures.
Romans 3, 10 As it is written: “ There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” ………28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”
Galatians 2, 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Isaiah 64, “ 5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned— in these ways we continue; and we need to be saved. 6 But we are all like an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 7 And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities. 8 But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand. 9 Do not be furious, O LORD, nor remember iniquity forever; Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!”
“13 When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.”
The answer is that we cannot depend on our own righteousness. For by nature we will sin. If you say no to this statement then you have just sinned through pride. Sorry! Look at what John said in his first epistle chapter 1, “6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
“14 Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, 15 if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.”
The ‘Good News’ is that we can have our sinful records wiped clean if we put on the Lord Jesus Christ. If we repent from our wicked ways and ask for the forgiveness of God Almighty because of the price His Holy Son paid in our stead. He gave His life and poured out His Precious Blood so we would not have to. We are saved as Romans chapter 10 tells us, “8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”[e](that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”[f] 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
No death will result when a sinful person come to Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. I love this passage in the book of Isaiah chapter 1, 16 “ Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. 18 “ Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD, “ Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Our Great God has told us His decision that anyone who repents will not be punished. Thank you Lord.
17 “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair! 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. 19 But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.”
You would think that this was the complete and satisfactory final answer that we would need to hear. Not so! Sinful mankind will not accept God’s rule of them. We are so nuts that we will argue with Him. ‘He Is not fair,’ we say. He doesn’t treat everyone equally. We still cling to our own goodness. Our Holy Creator should appreciate our actions. Look at what He says about our good works.
Luke 17, “ And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”
James 2, “8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”
Galatians 3, “10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”, 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Let me ask you this, if you were pulled over by a policeman for speeding and you inform the officer that you have traveled the same road twice every day for the last 10 years and never once was speeding. What do you think the officer would say? Would he say, ‘well golly gee, if that is the case be on your way and have a good day, sorry for stopping you!’ Do you think this would happen? Dream on! What the officer would say is, ‘but today you were speeding and you will have to pay the fine.” Do you see how the same applies to past good works? The officer’s answer and our Holy Righteous Judge will say – Guilty!
“21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been captured!” 22 Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me the evening before the man came who had escaped. And He had opened my mouth; so when he came to me in the morning, my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.”
Our Holy Father has been awesome in giving us dates. Instead of taking up line space, our Holy Spirit has given us a significant golden nugget. If you do a little research you will find that the news of Jerusalem’s destruction did not arrive to the captives in Babylon until a year and a half after its fall. There were no telephones, cars, busses, trains, or planes in use. You had to walk everywhere you went. In the book of Ezra chapter 7 Ezra took 4 months to travel back to Israel from Babylon and this is without any obstacles or enemy attacks. “9 On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.” This information points out a significant startling picture for not finding out for a year and a half. The situation must have been so bad in the assault of Jerusalem that no survivors made it out of the city for all this time.
“23 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 24 “Son of man, they who inhabit those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one, and he inherited the land. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.’ 25 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You eat meat with blood, you lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land? 26 You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you defile one another’s wives. Should you then possess the land?”’ 27 “Say thus to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “As I live, surely those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and the one who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and caves shall die of the pestilence. 28 For I will make the land most desolate, her arrogant strength shall cease, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will pass through.”
Rumors are one thing but to hear the actual facts of Jerusalem’s end would be devastating to the captives held in Babylon. There was nothing to ever hope for regarding a potential return to their homeland. Our Precious Adoni Yahweh instructed Ezekiel to remind the people of the nature of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. It was their sin. For one thing their practices were so bad that Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High could not allow them to continue to live in His land.
Secondly, for now, you would not want any part of being in the land. The exiles were safe now in Babylon. In the land of Israel those left were trying to scavenge for food. Often times if exposed in the open fields they would face the danger of being attacked by others including wild animals. They lived in caves and were suffering from the effects of war – famine and disease.
“29 Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.”
I will not for time sake list Jeremiah chapter 41 to 43 but let me state our Lord’s reason why all this was necessary. The people did not learn anything. They continued in their abominable ways. There was a revolt and the remnant took off and went back to Egypt. Poor Jeremiah was kidnapped and forced to go along with them.
30 “As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ 31 So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. 32 Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.”
Some things were starting to get through to the exiles. They had finally put two and two together. They had finally connected the dots. In obvious ways they had responded to the prophet. They had started to fully recognize that He spoke God’s words. The sad part was that they did nothing else. They were hearers but not doers. Look at this, “for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. 32 Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.” They were more interested in the world than in their relationship to God. Their hearts did not want God back in their lives, they were fixed on making money.
We have turned Christianity in professionalism. Forgive me for this but we put on these extravagant evangelistic shows. I have directly participated in many of these large scale concerts and outreaches. The costs of these have run in the millionsof dollars. The idea is that Christians are suppose to invite their unsaved family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Some do, but most who attend these evangelistic productions are Christians already. In turns out to be some great massive church gathering that come out to hear some popular Christian artists and preacher. When they get to the altar call a mass of people leave their seats and come forward. Most people do not understand that these people coming forward are not coming up to get saved; they are the volunteers who are to be down in front waiting to speak to a new convert. You will see if you go down front overanxious volunteers all trying to get to the few individuals who are really seeking the Lord. I will say to you who privately and responsibly share the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ without the glitter and spectacular fanfare – Thank you, may our Great God Bless you and continue to use you.
33 And when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
The results ‘Hey gang, we actually have in our midst a real live spokesman of God Almighty. Ezekiel was a faithful watchman and our Holy God so lets it be known to the people living in exile about His special servant.
