Ezekiel 33:23-26
Heavenly Father. We seek you today with a desire that you would show us the truth of your words. We seek you for the fulfillment of your promises. We ask that you continue to send true men and women of God into our paths that would speak the power of your truth into our lives. We ask that the false preachers and prophets would be awakened to your Holy Spirit and they would see the error of their ways. Let us continue to focus on you and only you. Give us the strength to follow your words and open our eyes, our hearts, and our minds to what you would speak to us today. In your name we pray, Amen.
So, we have already had the vision in chapter 1 of the appearance of the Glory of God. After that, we saw the judgement that was taking place on Jerusalem for their iniquities and the attack from Babylon that saw the inhabitants taken away to captivity or forced to live in exile. We also saw the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. After that, we saw the surrounding nations mocking and laughing at Jerusalem while also trying to take advantage of them while they were down and out. God enacted His vengeance upon the surrounding gentile nations for coming against Jerusalem.
Numbers 24:9 (GNT)
9 The nation is like a mighty lion;
When it is sleeping, no one dares wake it.
Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed,
And whoever curses Israel will be cursed.”
Genesis 12:3 (GNT)
3 I will bless those who bless you,
But I will curse those who curse you.
And through you I will bless all the nations.”
Now, we are at the point where God turns his attention back to Israel. We are now at a point of Recovery for Jerusalem.
Summary of Chapter 33…
1. (V:1-9) God gives a renewed call to Ezekiel that he is to be the watchman for Israel. He reminds Ezekiel that he has a responsibility to warn others of their sins and if he doesn’t, then their blood is on him. This time, the enemy to watch out for is not Babylon but instead it is…….sin. Our continual fight against sin. Sin will destroy from within and from the outside.
a. (2-9) responsibilities of the watchman
i. Being a watchman solely for the purpose of seeking to bring someone else down and looking for them to make a mistake is a distortion of God’s calling.
b. (10-11) there is a call for repentance and conversion
i. God tells us He takes no joy in our death and punishment.
c. (12-20) personal accountability and justice from God
i. PAST RIGHTEOUSNESS DOES NOT ERASE CURRENT SINFULLNESS
ii. PAST SINFULNESS DOES NOT DESTROY CURRENT RIGHTEOUSNESS
iii. UNCONFESSED SIN MUST BE CONFESSED UNTO THE LORD
2. (V:21) The stranger that had previously been prophesied that escapes finally comes to Ezekiel which is the ‘sign’ that God originally gave that would allow Ezekiel to begin speaking again. When the people saw the stranger return, they saw it as a sign of strength and ‘reassurance’ that their ways were ok with God (V:30).
3. (V:31-32) God states that the people are feeling pretty comfortable about themselves because the stranger has returned. They come to listen to Ezekiel as they usually do, but they do not put the words to practice. They are there to hear a beautiful voice and some good songs. THEY ACKNOWLEDGE HIS LEGITIMACY, BUT REFUSE TO FOLLOW HIS WORDS.
GOD'S REASON FOR THE EXILE WAS TO PURIFY THE COVENANT PEOPLE OF THEIR SINS, TO PURIFY THE LAND OF IDOL WORSHIP, TO BRING THE PEOPLE TO REPENTANCE, AND TO RESTORE THE PEOPLE TO THEIR COVENANT RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. Sadly, there are some remaining people who continue to defile the land despite all they have seen and been through. They refuse to observe God’s requirements for living a holy life. God will bring judgement on them.
We may watch and see the enemy slowly creeping into our churches, our homes, and our hearts. We may see people slowly drifting away and wonder what the point is of continuing to warn people about the dangers of sin when it has been preached about for centuries and it just seems to be getting worse. We may question if our words bring any value to someone else’s life. Ultimately, it is not up to us to question things. It is only up to us to be obedient. You see, one of these days we are going to face our Savior at The Judgment Seat of Christ. On that day, we will give an account of how well we raised the alarm in our day. Did we blow the shofar, or the trumpet, and sound the alarm as we have been commanded to do?
****An interesting fact is that, according to a study that was done in 2010, men and women appear to sin differently for the most part. Men tend to sin outwardly by way of outward emotions while women tend to sin more inwardly by way of jealousy, envy, and pride.
