THE WATCHMAN
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Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for your love—a love that I neither deserve nor earned. Thank you for paying the debt for my sin—a great debt that I could never satisfy.
Read EZEKIEL 3:16–27
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman
16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for[a] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.
20 “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 21 But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”
22 The hand of the Lord was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.
24 Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people. 27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 3:18 Or in; also in verses 19 and 20
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What are those things you must do that you’d rather not—whether mundane or important?
We next encounter Ezekiel the would-be priest and rather-not-be prophet seven days later. If Ezekiel had spent the week in silent, angry resistance, it would have been overcome by another encounter with God’s glory. This time there is no ‘appearance of the likeness.’1 He knows instantly that this is the ‘glory of the Lord’ (v. 23).
The end of the chapter is problematic. Why should God tell Ezekiel he was to warn the Israelites, then commission him as a watchman before he was told to go and shut himself in his house and remain silent? Perhaps he was commanded to be silent except when God gave him something explicit to say. Perhaps, like Jeremiah, who remained in Jerusalem, he would be imprisoned and stopped from prophesying.
The main point of the passage is the interpretation of his mission in terms of being a watchman. He is addressed as ‘son of man’ (vv. 17, 25)—an expression used 90 times in the book, simply meaning ‘human.’ We should not read any Messianic meaning into it. The image of watchmen was common among the prophets.2 The metaphor of the prophet as a watchman is vivid. A sentry posted in a tower watching for any movement of the enemy would be responsible for alerting the people. A watchman who fails to give warning of approaching danger is personally responsible for the ensuing disaster. The task of the watchman is not to formulate battle plans or coordinate the defense but only to stay awake, to see what is coming and sound the alarm. The analogy breaks down somewhat in this case because God is the enemy of sinful Israel, yet it is God who sets the sentry to warn them. This is a picture of the tension between grace and judgment in the heart of God.
Apply
How can we take our responsibility to be watchmen more seriously, warning a lost generation in our community of their need of Christ?
Closing prayer
Thank you, Lord, that you call me to serve you. Open my ears to hear your message clearly and help me to be ready, even eager, to obey what you call me to do.
1 Ezek 1:28 2 Isa 56:10; Jer 6:17; Hos 9:8; Hab 2:1
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