Ezekiel 33:1-9

Chapter Fifteen

PREPARATION FOR RESTORATION
33:1-35:15

Ezekiel's predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem had become a tragic reality. No more does the prophet sound forth the threatening blast against the inhabitants of Judah, for Judah no longer existed. It was time for consolation. Hope had to be rekindled. A remnant had to be prepared for the restoration and rebirth of the nation. Ezekiel opens this section of the book with an oracle underscoring individual responsibility and the power and potential of repentance (chap. 33). Then the prophet predicts the removal of the corrupt leadership of the nation (chap. 34) and the national enemies of Judah (chap. 35). By so doing he sets the stage for his later prophecies of restoration.

1. THE RENEWAL OF EZEKIEL'S COMMISSION

33:1-33
A. The Prophet as a Watchman 33:1-9

TRANSLATION

(1) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) son of man, speak to the children of My people, and say to them: When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their midst, and set him as their watchman; (3) if he sees the sword come against the land, and he blows the horn, and warns the people; (4) then whoever hears the sound of the horn, and does not take warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head; (5) he heard the sound of the horn but did not take warning, so his blood shall be upon him; for if he had taken warning he would have delivered his soul. (6) But if the watchman sees the sword come and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword come and take a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the hand of the watchman. (7) And as for you, son of man, I have set you as a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore, when you hear from My mouth a word, then you shall warn them from Me. (8) When I say to the wicked: O wicked man, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked of his way, that wicked one shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will seek from your hand. (9) But if you warn the wicked one of his way to turn from it, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your own soul.

COMMENTS

Following the interlude in which Ezekiel spoke to foreign nations, the prophet is again instructed to devote his attention to the children of your people. When God in His sovereign will determines to bring a sword, i.e., war, upon a land, normally that land would try to protect itself as best it could. A responsible person was appointed as watchman charged with the task of sounding the alarm as the enemy approached (Ezekiel 33:2). Normally the watchman would warn his neighbors by means of a horn (Ezekiel 33:3; cf. Amos 3:6). Those who failed to heed the warning blast were responsible for their own death; for if they had taken refuge or had fled the doomed land, they would have saved their lives (Ezekiel 33:4-5). No blame can be attached to the watchman in such a case. He did his job. But if the watchman sees the danger and fails to sound the alarm, he is responsible for the death of those who were slain. Even if those who died were worthy of death because of their iniquity, still the watchman would be held accountable by God. That unfaithful watchman would someday pay for his negligence (Ezekiel 33:6).

The principle applies to a spiritual watchman such as Ezekiel. The fundamental responsibility of an Old Testament prophet was to convey to God's people any threatening word which he might have heard from the mouth of God (Ezekiel 33:7). If he fails to warn the wicked man of the consequences of his way, the blood of that wicked man will be upon the hands of the prophet (Ezekiel 33:8), The prophet can only clear himself before God by the faithful discharge of his duty of sounding the alarm. Whether or not the sinner heeds the prophet's call to repentance, the watchman has saved his own life (Ezekiel 33:9).