A SPIRITUAL WATCHMAN
OBSERVATION: EZEKIEL WHOSE NAME MEANS (STRENGTHENED BY GOD) WAS AMONG THE SECOND GROUP OF JEWISH CAPTIVES TAKEN FROM THE NORTHERN KINGDOM OF ISRAEL AND TAKEN TO BABYLON. HIS PROPHESIES DATE 593-571 B.C. HIS PROPHESIES SPOKE TO THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM OF JUDAH. JERUSALEM WAS THE CAPITAL CITY.
INTERPRETATION: EZEKIEL 3:17 (NKJV) SON OF MAN, I HAVE MADE YOU A WATCHMAN FOR THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL; THEREFORE HEAR A WORD FROM MY MOUTH, AND GIVE THEM WARNING FROM ME.
POINTS TO PONDER:
WATCHMEN STOOD ON FORTIFIED WALLS TO GUARD AGAINST EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL THREATS TO A CITY. THEY SOUNDED ALARM AT PERCEIVED THREATS.
GOD COMMISSIONED EZEKIEL AS A WATCHMAN. HE PHYSICALLY LIVED AMONG HIS OWN PEOPLE: SPIRITUALLY HE OPERATED IN AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT REALITY, WARNING THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF IMPENDING DANGER IF THEY DID NOT REPENT OF THEIR SINS.
EZEKIEL MEDITATED BEFORE RUSHING TO DELIVER HIS MESSAGE AS A WATCHMAN. THIS DOES NOT SUGGEST HE WAS REFUSING THE MESSAGE GOD GAVE HIM. HE WAS CONTEMPLATING DELIVERY OF THE MESSAGE UNTIL THE RIGHT TIME. HE DID OBEY GOD’S DIRECTIVE AND DELIVERED THE JUDGMENT EDIT. ISRAEL DID NOT HEAR AND REPENT OF THEIR NATIONAL SINS! JERUSALEM FELL IN 586 B. C. TO THE BABYLONIANS.
APPLICATION: EZEKIEL’S MESSAGE APPLIES TO ALL BELIEVERS. YOU ARE TO BE THE WATCHMEN ON EARTH, SPEAKING THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST UNIVERSALLY. TRUTH WILL DELIVER FROM THE WORLD’S ENEMY, SATAN. REF: EZEKIEL 34: 11-31
