Ezekiel 3:18

When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. THOU GIVEST HIM NOT WARNING, NOR SPEAKEST TO WARN THE WICKED ... MAN. The repetition implies that it is not enough to warn once in passing, but that the warning is to be inculcated continually (. "Be instant in season, out of season;" , "By the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears"). TO SAVE HIS LIFE - had seemingly taken away all hope of salvation; but the reference there was to the mass of the people whose c...

The Prophet is now taught how difficult and dangerous an office he has now to undertake. God had previously laid it down as a law that he should utter nothing of himself: now he adds, that, the watchman is so set over the people that he must render an account of the diligence with which he goes through his watches. It is just as if it had been said that souls were committed to his care and fidelity, so that if they should perish he must undergo punishment before God. But it is better to explain the words — if _when I say to the impious, “Thou shalt surely die,” and thou dost not admonish him, and he perish, then from thee will I require his blood _In the first place, God confirms what we saw yesterday, that it is not. permitted to any mortal to condemn or absolve at his own discretion. When, therefore, God sends forth his servants, he does not resign that power, for still the supreme aut...

12-21 This mission made the holy angels rejoice. All this was to convince Ezekiel, that the God who sent him had power to bear him out in his work. He was overwhelmed with grief for the sins and miseries of his people, and overpowered by the glory of the vision he had seen. And however retirement, meditation, and communion with God may be sweet, the servant of the Lord must prepare to serve his generation. The Lord told the prophet he had appointed him a watchman to the house of Israel. If we warn the wicked, we are not chargeable with their ruin. Though such passages refer to the national covenant made with Israel, they are equally to be applied to the final state of all men under every dispensation. We are not only to encourage and comfort those who appear to be righteous, but they are to be warned, for many have grown high-minded and secure, have fallen, and even died in their sins. S...

Verse Ezekiel 3:18. _THOU SHALT SURELY DIE_] That is, If he turn not from his wickedness, _and thou givest him not warning_, as above, _he_ _shalt die in his iniquity_, which he should not have committed; _but_ _his blood will I require at thy hand_-I will visit _thy soul_ for the loss of _his_. O how awful is this! Hear it, _ye priests_, ye _preachers_, ye _ministers_ of the Gospel; ye, especially, who have entered into the ministry _for a living_, ye who _gather a_ _congregation_ to yourselves that ye may feed upon their fat, and clothe yourselves with their wool; in whose parishes and in whose congregations souls are dying unconverted from day to day, who have never been solemnly warned by you, and to whom you have never shown the way of salvation, probably because ye know nothing of it yourselves! O what a perdition aw...

This passage anticipates the great moral principle of divine government Ezekiel 18 that each man is individually responsible for his own actions, and will be judged according to these and these alone. Ezekiel 3:20 I LAY A STUMBLINGBLOCK BEFORE HIM - I bring him to trial by placing difficulties and temptations in his way (compare Ezekiel 7:19; Ezekiel 44:12 margin; Ezekiel 14:3). It is true that God tempts no man in order to his destruction, but in the course of His Providence He permits

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 3:1 EAT THAT THOU FINDEST, etc. The iteration of the command of Ezekiel 2:8 seems to imply, like the words, "be not thou rebellious," in that verse, some reluctance on the prophet's part. In substance the command was equivalent to that of Revelation 22:18, Revelation 22:19. The true prophet does not choose his message (Acts 4:20); his "meat" is to do his Lord's will (John 4:34), and he takes what he "f

WHEN I SAY UNTO THE WICKED, THOU SHALT SURELY DIE,.... Not only a corporeal but an eternal death for this is what the law threatens with, and there the Lord says this; and this is the wages, end, and issue of sin, if grace prevent not: AND THOU GIVEST HIM NOT WARNING; of the evil nature of sin, and of the danger it exposes to: NOR SPEAKEST TO WARN THE WICKED FROM HIS WICKED WAY; to abstain from it, and live another course of life: TO SAVE HIS LIFE; for such warning, caution, exhortation, and doctrine, may be a means of converting a sinner from the evil of his way, and of saving a soul from death, 1 Timothy 4:16; THE SAME WICKED [MAN] SHALL DIE IN HIS INIQUITY; with the pollution and guilt of sin upon him, and so be punished for it; see...

CHAPTER S 3:15-7:27 The Judgment Announced, the Four Signs and Their Meaning, and the Two Messages This section extends from chapter 3:15 to the close of the seventh chapter. The prophet is told of his great responsibility as watchman, and has to enact four signs. Two solemn messages close this section. The first message first predicts that the sword is to come upon the land and disperse them; the second message predicts the end. _ 1. The new charge and Ezekiel's new experience (Ezekiel 3:15) _ 2. The sign of the tile (Ezekiel 4:1) on (Ezekiel 4:4) 3. The sign of the prophet's physical position (Ezekiel 4:4

THE PASTORAL CHARGE. At the end of the week he receives another Divine message, this time of a more explicit kind and unaccompanied by vision. His task is now defined as that of a watchman. As it is the watchman's business to detect and give warning of danger, so it is the prophet's business to warn individual men of the coming catastrophe which he himself so clearly sees. It is not enough to warn the crowd: he must deal personally with the individuals good and bad, who compose the crowd, and warn them solemnly, each and all, the good no less than the bad the bad to turn from his evil way, and the good to persist to the end without swerving in the good way; for the destiny of men will be determined by the character and conduct they exhibit when the hour of judgment strikes. This is a passage of great importance, emphasizing the idea of individual responsibility but applying it more parti...

WICKED. lawless. Hebrew. _rdsha`._ App-44. SHALT SURELY DIE. Note the Figure of speech _Polyptbtco,_ App-6 (Inf. with Fut.), for emphasis. Hebrew "dying, thou wilt die". See notes on Genesis 2:17; Genesis 26:28. HIS LIFE. himself alive. INIQUITY. Hebrew aval, App-44,...