Lessons From Ezekiel – Lesson 27
Last time we were in Ezekiel God dealt with Egypt and with Pharaoh and with all those in league with Pharaoh. And one of the things that we learned is there is no loophole for blaming your sin on the leader.
Even though Pharaoh called the shots and made the rules, those who chose to be in league with him also come under the judgment.
There are a lot of people who just go along with wrong doing making the excuse, well they are in charge so what can I do. I will just go along with it. So they choose to be a part of the wrong doing.
There have been a few times at my job where I had to say no. I could have easily been fired, but I did right and the Lord protected me. It is never right to do wrong. It is never right to be in league with wrong doing.
So God not only dealt with Pharaoh but also all those that were in league with him.
Ezekiel is divided into three main sections. The first before the siege of Jerusalem the second while the siege is going on and the 3rd will be after the siege is over. We are going to finish the 2nd section today.
The Siege of Jerusalem lasted 3 years and it is almost over now. God has Ezekiel turn his attention away from the nations that did Israel wrong and puts the focus now back on Israel.
And right before Jerusalem is taken God has a few things to cover with the Jews that are already in captivity.
And this next section of verses is one of the few places in Ezekiel that is commonly preached. I am sure that at some time everyone here has heard preaching about the watchman.
God uses an illustration that would have been very familiar to the people in Ezekiel’s day. So they would have readily understood it. Our cities and towns are not setup like theirs was. Our way of life is much different.
So I think we need to pause and remind ourselves of the setup the illustration is referring to.
It was common for people to gather together for protection. The land often had thieves and robbers but also raids from other people groups. For the Israel people it was often the philistines or the Moabites or several other groups.
So they would settle in towns and then build a wall around the settlement. However, with all the people and their houses inside the wall, it causes a problem. People have to eat. There is no room inside the walls for acres of grain and farm land and all the livestock that was needed for them to survive.
So outside the town, all around it would be farmland and range for livestock. So a good number of the people would have to go outside every day and work in the fields or work with the livestock.
They are out there without the protection of the walls. And they cannot see very far. The land was not totally flat. So if you are in a dip in the landscape you can’t see what is coming at all.
Even if you are on one of the little hills you are busy working. You cannot be watching all the time. And often you are out there on foot. Raiders often rode animals and were much faster.
I think you see the problems. You would need someone would could be watching for you. Someone who would be up on the wall or in a tower who could see what you cannot. Someone who could put their full attention on watching.
You need a person who knows what you do not know. They could see the danger coming from miles away. And could sound the alarm and the people could stop working and run for the safety of the walls.
This is the system that God uses as an illustration for Ezekiel.
EZE 33:1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
EZE 33:2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
Notice a man of their coasts. So one of them needs to do it. They do not hire someone from a different country to do it that is just passing thru for a month or two. It needs to be someone who is from there. Someone who has a vested interest, a care for those he is warning.
A man who has something to lose if the enemy comes in unannounced.
EZE 33:3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
EZE 33:4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
Pretty simple. The watchman sees the danger and sounds the warning. If anyone who is outside the walls hears the warning and makes the decision to ignore it, then when he gets killed or captured. It is no one’s fault but his own.
The watchman did his job. The person was warned. The watchman cannot make the person heed the warning. Here is the free will of man. The person hears the warning he has the free will to heed it and run for safety. Or not.
EZE 33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
In this context how is his soul being used? This will be important in a few verses.
Is shall deliver his soul talking about eternity? No. It is talking about saving his life on earth for another day. Context is very critical to understanding. In this verse deliver his soul is used as a way of saying he lives another day.
Now comes a warning to the watchman.
EZE 33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
So if the warning goes out and someone dies because they ignored the warning then the watchman is ok. He did his job.
But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and the watchman does not sound the alarm, then he is guilty.
He was disobedient to the job he was given. Those people gave him this job, and he chose to let them down. It is kind of like treason. Doing his job as watchman was literally a matter of life or death.
And if the watchman chose death for those outside the walls, how horrible is that.
Now the illustration has been laid down, and God moves on to the application.
EZE 33:7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
Ezekiel I have made you a watchman, and in like manner as the watchman on the city wall you need to warn the people.
But instead of warning about thieves and robbers coming to the fields around the city, you will warn them of what I tell you to warn them about.
Ezekiel is not the judge. He is not the jury. Ezekiel is only the messenger. He is only to warn them of exactly what God says to warn them about.
And like the illustration, the safety of the people are at stake. And like the illustration people have a free will to take heed to the warning or ignore it.
And like the illustration of the city and the wall if they ignore it the consequences are their own fault. However, if Ezekiel refuses to tell, then Ezekiel is at fault and bears responsibility.
EZE 33:8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
EZE 33:9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Ok. Right here some people get confused. The context of delivered thy soul has already been defined just a few verses before. It is not being used in the context of eternal salvation. It is being used in this section of scripture as you live another day.
So if Ezekiel refused to tell, Ezekiel does not lose his salvation. What would have happened if Ezekiel failed to tell was that God would have just taken him home. The privilege of being a watchman for God would be forfeited.
The best way to understand scripture to let scripture define itself. And the immediate context has top priority. And along with immediate context is what does the rest of the Bible teach on the topic at hand.
Salvation is by mercy and faith and grace. Eternal salvation is not by obedience.
So God is giving Ezekiel here, a specific man, a specific job, and if that specific man refuses then God will just take him home.
God had His reasons for this charge and warning to this prophet. We are not told what those reasons are.
But knowing the character of our Lord, there were reasons. God did not add this as filler to hit some quota to the length of the book. I think that Ezekiel needed to hear it. I don’t know but one reason might be that Ezekiel was tired at this point and at some level in his heart wanted to quit.
It could be. I could certainly see that. These were hard times and hard hearted backslidden rebellious people.
The point is there was some reason that God gave this warning to Ezekiel specifically and at this time. It is clear that this was a warning about dying to Ezekiel and not to us today.
I have heard it preached that way. But God does not work that way with everyone. All Christians are told to be involved in the great commission.
And huge numbers of Christians refuse to warn the lost about the danger, and guess what God does not take them all home right away for their disobedience in this area.
Yes they will have to look Jesus in the eye at the judgment seat and give an answer so they don’t get off the hook completely but immediate judgment does not fall upon them like it would have come to Ezekiel that day.
Now that Ezekiel has been given the warning that he is the watchman, God gives him the message to give to warn the people.
EZE 33:10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?
EZE 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
What a clear statement from God. I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God is just and justice must come. But it does not give God pleasure.
Some judges on this earth are not that way and they revel in harsh judgment. God is not that way. God is just but God is also Love. He must judge but has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
Instead what God wants is that the wicked turn from his evil ways and live.
And for that to happen the people need to be told this. They need to know their danger and that they can simply turn and live. And in that camp at that time, Ezekiel is the only man of God. There is no one else to tell. I think that also helps explain the warning to Ezekiel.
He is the only option, the only chance for these people.
EZE 33:12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.
EZE 33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
Some get confused here also. But the answer is right here. If he trust to his own righteousness. If If he trust. Very important distinction. Trust in what. Trust in his own righteousness. That is works. Works does not save.
So a man is trusting not in God but himself. When he sins, and of course he will. Actually over and over again. When he sins all his righteousness shall not be remembered.
He can do 1,000 right things, but still go to hell because of 1 sin. Why? He is trusting in his own righteousness which is to God filthy rags. Only Jesus saves.
EZE 33:14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
Do not get confused. Turning from and turning to is faith. That is a man who when warned, heeds it and turns. Why because he believes the warning and believes the offer of grace and mercy. And so exercises faith.
It is not the doing right that saves it is the real faith. And real faith will result in actions. The faith will work its way out in a life.
EZE 33:15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
EZE 33:16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
That is mercy and grace. The person’s sins have been put under the blood of Jesus.
EZE 33:17 Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
EZE 33:18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
Again not turning from God’s righteousness but the man’s own filthy rags.
EZE 33:19 But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
EZE 33:20 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.
And after this message is delivered to those in captivity already, Jerusalem falls. The siege is over.
EZE 33:21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
Even after all that they have done, God is still reaching out, He is still explaining how to be saved and still pleading with them to turn from wickedness and turn to Him. And God gave this warning and pleading to them thru Ezekiel right before Jerusalem falls. They can see with their eyes what ignoring the warnings and pleadings of God eventually leads to.
Jerusalem and the Temple that many trusted in is now no more. The only one to turn to and trust in is God.
This was a timely message to those people right before what many of them were trusting in was no more. It was a very needed message.
And our society needs to be warned and given the message of turning from sin and turning to God for salvation.
And we have free choice to be involved in obeying the great commission or not. And we should be and are involved, but we are not under duress to do it. We will not be stricken dead if we do not.
It was different for Ezekiel personally.
The motivation for us today is love. Jesus said if you love me keep my commandments.
Our motivation is not to avoid immediate judgment on it. All of us are to be watchmen and warn sinners of the coming danger, but our motivation is Love for God and Love for our fellow man.