Watchman
I love this chapter of the Bible.
This is a chapter of the Bible that has always spoken to me. This is a chapter that just makes sense. In a highly symbolic book like Ezekiel,
chapters like this are rare!
You see, God tells Ezekiel that He is going to set up a
watchman. Every once and a while, things
are going to come along and the watchman will see what God is telling him to
see. The sole job of the watchman is to
relay the message to the people. It is
the job of the people to listen. If the
watchman does his job, he will not be accountable for those who did not
listen. The accountability for listening
falls upon the people if the watchman does his job.
On the other hand, if the watchman doesn’t do his job, then he
will be held accountable for the downfall of the people. The people can’t be held accountable for
listening if there is no message to which they can listen!
I love this passage for a number of reasons. First, it is clear in the allocation of
assignment. The watchman is in charge of
watching and looking at the world. When
danger comes and God alerts the watchman, his sole job is to alert all who will
listen. That’s it. It’s so simple. Watch.
Listen to God. Speak. Seek those who listen and respond. Hearing this chapter is like a wave of
refreshment flowing over my spirit.
Second, it is clear in the allocation of accountability. So long as the watchman does the job, each
person is accountable for their own life.
That is the way that it should be.
We all – especially those of us in the developed world – have opportunity
after opportunity to listen to a watchman.
We have a plethora of watchmen from which we can choose! Every single one of us has watchmen to whom
we can listen. To stand before God and
say, “I never heard you” simply won’t cut it.
Third, I love this passage because it is this passage that
absolutely puts forth what I see in Christ.
Jesus came. He taught the crowds
in parables. Those few who came seeking
to learn more about what He was teaching became true disciples. Jesus taught them deeply and richly. The rest of the people – those who didn’t
come and follow and inquire more deeply of Jesus – were not pursued by
Jesus. Everyone who met Jesus had the
same choice: follow or not. Jesus did
not pursue. Jesus let accountability
rest where it naturally resided.
I want to be guided by this principle. I believe God wants all of us to be guided by
this principle. Spread the message of
God everywhere you go. Look for those
who are listening. Teach them
deeply. Be their watchman! Give unto them the message that God would
have them hear!
Let accountability fall where it may. Be the watchman. Speak where God tells you to speak. Let others decide for themselves whether or
not they want to listen.
Grace
The middle section of Ezekiel 33 is a wonderful explanation of
grace. Here it is in a nutshell.
First, nobody is righteous; we all sin. Second, because we all sin, we deserve to
hear God’s judgment that we shall surely die.
Third, if we are willing to turn in our sin and be obedient to God then
He promises to save us and remember our sins no more. Even though we sin, He
will make our unrighteousness turn to righteousness. That is the story of grace. It is the story of the Old Testament. It is the story of the New Testament.
However, we should not be a people who only proclaim grace. We are to be a people that proclaim Law and
Grace. Here’s the law in this section of
the chapter. If the righteous should
turn from their righteousness and instead turn to be governed by sin once more,
their righteousness will not be remembered.
Life is always that delicate balance, isn’t it? We are always sniffing out sin in our
life. We are always in need of
repentance. We are always running back
to the cross. We – at least, I – always seem
to be on that verge of being ruled by sin once more. Thanks be to God that His Spirit is
within. Thanks be to God that He continues
to call us as we tread upon the precipices of life.
A Prophet Among Them
As we close this book, we hear a stark message. Jerusalem has fallen and Ezekiel hears the
message. But that really isn’t the focus. The focus is on the people who come to
Ezekiel. God says that those who come
before Ezekiel come thirsting as though Ezekiel is pronouncing a lustful
message. They come to hear Ezekiel, but
they don’t come to actually listen and obey.
They come just to hear. It’s like
a person who reads the newspaper out of some excitement at all the chaos in
life. Such a person enjoys the gossip,
but doesn’t feel motivated to actually do anything about it.
I wonder how many people fall into this category? How many people come to listen to sound
doctrine but really have absolutely no desire to be obedient to it? How many people come to God asking to be
saved but have absolutely no desire to humble themselves before Him? How many people come to God to speak praises
of His name but don’t have any desire to have those praises be anywhere in
their life except upon their lips?
This is a dark end of the chapter.
It is a bit of a scary end of the chapter. It is an ending that reminds us of where this
chapter began. It’s not good enough to
have the watchman speaking in your midst.
It’s just not good enough. We
have to listen to the watchman and respond!
The message of God will change our life if our hearts are open.
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