Ezekiel 33
COMMENTARY:
: 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. (6822 “watchman” [tsaphah] means a guard who keeps watch, observe attentively, spy, to look out or about, guard or scan.)
DEVOTION: The main responsibility of a watchman is to see if there is trouble coming to a place and warn those who are there that it is coming. There should be no sleeping on the job. There should always be someone there that can keep a good eye out for trouble.
Today we need people to realize that they are watchmen for their own personal relationship to the LORD and to their families if they have one. However, we find that too many people are only concerned about themselves instead of taking time to help others who need to make wise decisions in their lives.
Here we find that the LORD is telling Ezekiel that he is a watchman for the children of Israel and needs to warn them that they are headed in the wrong direction. If they listen to him then they can be saved from captivity or death. However, it doesn’t end there. People need to know that if they don’t follow the LORD, they will face judgment in the future. Those who have the ability to warn and don’t will be judged for their bad behavior toward others.
We need to realize as this warning states that all believers are watchmen for their friends and family and need to warn them if we see trouble coming. The trouble we are to warn them of is an eternity in hell if they don’t make a proper decision regarding a relationship with the LORD.
Remember that even believers are going to stand before the LORD and give an account of their lives. Blessings will only come for our good service to the LORD and not for our lack of warning of those we love regarding the future judgment.
CHALLENGE: Is the LORD telling you to go to someone in your family or friends that need HIM in their life? If so, going is necessary. Are you listening to HIS still small voice?
: 10 Therefore, O you son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus you speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? (4743 “pine away” [maqaq] means to rot away, decay, fester, moulder away, consume away, corrupt, waste away or putrefy.)
DEVOTION: Ezekiel was given an awesome responsibility. He was to go to a people who didn’t want to listen to his message and get them to respond in a positive manner. He was to come humbly to the people and give them a warning. He was to expect them to listen. It is hard to preach to a congregation that doesn’t want to hear what you have to say.
The problem was that if he didn’t do it he was going to be held accountable for the souls of those individuals. If he chose to not accept the responsibility he was going to be judged of the LORD guilt of a sin.
So here is the dilemma of a messenger of the LORD. He has the responsibility to be obedient and give the proper message to the people who don’t what to hear what he has to say but he has to say it or he will face the LORD for his disobedience. Ouch!!!
The people were saying to Ezekiel that they were decaying in their sin and couldn’t stop. He was saying that the LORD only required one thing of them. They had to “turn” from their sin and head in a different direction. It was simple according to the LORD but the people were making it more difficult than it had to be.
They thought they couldn’t change their lifestyle. They were wrong. It was possible but it would take work. They didn’t want to do the work. They were complaining to the wrong person.
Ezekiel told them how they must live if they wanted to avoid judgment. They just wanted him to pacify them in their present lifestyle. They thought he was asking the impossible. God doesn’t expect the impossible. HE gives the Holy Spirit to help those who are seeking HIS guidance. The Holy Spirit can give anyone strength to fight the battles that need to be fought to help us head in the right direction.
One thought that we need to realize is that Ezekiel was a prophet but he also was a sinner who needed to serve the LORD faithfully. He was not sinless as Christ was but was a sinner called of God to go to his own people with a message from the LORD. That is true of every pastor and evangelist that comes to every church in our world today. They are not sinless but the ones who are honest realize that they are just sinners talking to sinners about living a life that is only possible with the help of the Holy Spirit. They need to come humbly before the people with a message that only God can use to get into the hearts of those who are listening with an intention to change. Most are not listening or are looking at the man rather than the message.
CHALLENGE: Turning from old habits is hard but not impossible. We have been warned!!! No excuses are accepted only work through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
: 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?’
: 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. (7725 “turn” [shuwb] means return, restore, recompense, to turn away from sin, conceived of as returning to God or returning from a location, abandon, or go back.) (982 “trusts” [batach] means confidence, secure, careless, unsuspecting, to be bold, or rely on.)
DEVOTION: The prophet Ezekiel was called to be a watchman over the people of Israel. His responsibility was to be on the lookout for trouble.
In his day there were people in a city that were to guard the city by looking out to see if an enemy was coming to fight against the city. If the watchman saw an army coming, he was to sound that alarm to get all the people who were fighters ready to fight the enemy coming. If a watchman fell asleep on the job and an army came it would cause the people to judge the man worthy of death. If he was faithful, they could reward him.
The LORD used this illustration to show that Ezekiel and every faithful believer are to sound a warning to those around them if they saw that they were headed in the wrong direction. They were to tell them what the LORD expected of them and ask them to “turn” from the direction they were headed in the direction the LORD wanted them to go. If that happened, they would be spared.
The other group was those who were doing what was right but decided to head in the direction of those who did things that were displeasing to the LORD. They were to be warned to go back to following the LORD or they would face judgment. This group had to “turn” back to following the LORD. Ezekiel 33: 11 “…I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die? (NLT)
Each day we make a choice regarding what direction we are going to head. If we chose to disobey our parents or teachers we are heading in the wrong direction. If we are obedient to our parents or teachers we are heading in the right direction. Our choice determines if we are pleasing to the LORD or not. There are blessings and/or consequences to our actions.
Are you helping others head in the right direction through your example of what a Christian should act like?
What happens when we get influenced by those who are our “friends” and they start leading us away from what we have been taught about following the LORD? Ezekiel was called to be a watchman. We are called to be a watchman for our personal choices and to help those who look up to us to help them make good choices if they claim to be followers of the LORD.
If we see someone who has grown up with us in church going in the wrong direction and we don’t come alongside them to encourage them to come back to serving the LORD we are doing to face a judgment.
If we see someone who has grown up with us in church that is going in the right direction we need to be an encouragement to them to keep heading in the right direction. If we as believers start going in the wrong direction the LORD says that HE will send warning to us as well. HE will send weakness, sickness, and sometimes premature death to those who are genuine believers who will not listen to the warnings. Does this mean they lose their salvation? NO!! They will be saves “yet so as by fire.”
One problem that seems to happen is that some count on a prayer they said when they were young to save them but they never had a life change as far as their habits are concerned. They have no desire to study the Word of God. No desire to prayer. No desire for church attendance. If this is the case the prayer was just empty. Change is necessary.
We are here on this earth to be someone who gives guidance the best we can to those who are in our world. Our example means a lot to friends, even if they say it doesn’t. If we are consistent in our lifestyle people will notice.
There will be times when we are not doing what the LORD expects of us but HE will forgive us if we “turn” from the wrong direction and head in the right direction. Hopefully, someone came alongside you and encouraged you back to the right direction. Thank them for their true love.
CHALLENGE: Ezekiel took his responsibility seriously and so should we. The LORD depends on humans to help humans. It is very rare that HE would send an angel to get us to head in the right direction. They are observing our actions. So is the LORD!!!
: 31 And they come unto you as the people cometh, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness. (5690 “much love” [egeb] means erotic love, inordinate love, lust, strong desire or affection with sensual focus, love or lovely.)
DEVOTION: Here we have the LORD instructing Ezekiel that the people are going to come, sit, and hear but do nothing with the messages. They were going to say nice things to Ezekiel but paid no attention to him.
It was a fake love that they had for him. This word said that they showed a sensual love toward him but their heart was more attracted to money. They loved money more than obedience to the LORD. Ezekiel might have believed their words but the LORD tells him the truth about their actions.
The problem is that the people who attended services today have the same problem. They are more interested in their power, wealth, and hobbies than will serving the LORD. Their thought life is all messed up. They think as long as they give God an hour of their time HE should be happy. HE should bless them in what they want to do instead of what HE wants them to do with their time, talent and treasure.
A majority of those who attend church are heading in the wrong direction. Their lifestyle shows that they don’t care to change. The Christian life is all about change. Each day the LORD reveals to genuine believers something that needs to improve in their life. Some of us listen but usually it takes years to change some of the things the LORD wants us to change. We are slow at working at the changes we know should happen in our life. One of the excuses we can use is that we take two things into our new lifestyle from our old nature: laziness and selfishness.
We are fighting these battles each day. The LORD knows we are facing these battles and HE gives us strength when we ask for it. HE gives us discernment when we ask for it. HE gives us hope all the time.
It is a daily choice regarding what we think is most important in our lives. Our possessions are not going with us. When we die we leave everything behind. Only what we have stored in heaven will be applied to our appearance at the Judgment Seat of Christ. How many stars will we have in our crowns???
CHALLENGE: Genuine love is Agape Love. That is a love that thinks of others before us. It is a love that only God can give us through the Holy Spirit. Selfish love is only from our old nature.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of the LORDverses 1, 23
Thus says the Lord GODverses 25, 27
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)verses 1, 22, 23, 29, 30
LORD is aliveverses 11, 27
Lord – Adonai (Owner, Master)verses 11, 17, 20, 25, 27
GOD – Jehovahverses 11, 25, 27
Lord GODverses 11, 25, 27
No pleasure in in the death of wickedverse 11
I will Judge you ever one after his waysverse 20
Hand of the LORDverse 22
Judgment of Godverses 25-29
Those in the wastes shall fall by
Sword
Those in the open field will I give
to the beasts to be devoured
Those in forts and in caves and
mountains of Israel shall be
desolate
I am the LORDverse 29
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Watchman not blowing trumpetverse 6
Iniquityverses 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 18
Wickedverses 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 19
Not turning from iniquityverse 9
Transgressionsverses 10, 12
Sinsverses 10, 12, 14, 16
Evil waysverse 11
Wickedness of the Wickedverse 12
Trust in his own righteousnessverse 13
Robbedverse 15
Say the way of the LORD is not equalverses 17, 20
Righteous turn to iniquityverse 18
Eat bloodverse 25
Worship idolsverse 25
Shed bloodverse 25
Work abominationsverses 26, 29
Defile neighbor’s wifeverse 26
Talking against God’s servantverse 30
Not doing the words of the LORDverses 31, 32
False loveverse 31
Covetousnessverses 31, 33
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Watchman blowing the trumpetverse 4
Hear the word of God’s mouthverse 7
Warn peopleverse 7
Deliverance of watchmanverse 9
Turnverses 11, 12, 14, 19
Righteousnessverses 12, 13, 18
Righteousverses 12, 13, 18
Lawful & rightverses 14, 16, 19
Restore a pledgeverse 15
Statutes of lifeverse 15
Liveverse 19
Inheritanceverse 24
Know the LORDverse 29
Prophetverse 33
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Son of man = Ezekielverses 2, 7-10, 12, 17, 22-24, 30-33
He is a watchman for house of Israel
He is to hear the word of LORD’s mouth
HE is to warn people
Not warn causes blood will be required
of LORD of you
Delivered soul if you warned
Say – the way of the LORD is not equal
I was no more dumb
Children of your people still are talking
against you by the walls and in
the doors of the houses
Their mouth they show much love, but
their heart goes after their
covetousness
They hear the words but they do them Not
Prophet has been among them
Children of HIS peopleverses 2, 12, 17, 30
Watchmanverses 2-6
Ezekiel watchmanverse 7
House of Israelverses 7, 10, 11, 20
Say the way of the LORD not equalverse 20
House of Israelverse 20
Twelfth year of captivity – tenth month fifth dayverse 21
Jerusalem is smittenverse 21
Land of Israelverses 24, 28
Abrahamverse 24
inherited the land
Ezekiel a prophetverse 33
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Dieverses 8, 11, 15, 18
Pine awayverse 10
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