Watchman Ezekiel; Ezekiel 33

May the mumbling commence!

Welcome back, Watchman Ezekiel!  If the watchman does not watch and raise the alarm, who will?  Read from Ezekiel 33:1-11 –

The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: 'When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman,  and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people,  then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head.  Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself.  But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.' 

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.  When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.  But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself. 

Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: "Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?"'   Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?'

Blow the trumpet!  Raise the alarm!  It does not matter if people heed the warning signal.  The watchman’s job is to watch and raise the alarm – how other people respond to the alarm is their own prerogative.  If they heed the warning, they will escape.  If they do not heed the warning, they will perish. 

Our success as watch people for the Lord is not judged upon how people respond to the alarm that we are raising.  Our success is judged through our obedience to sound the alarms that the Lord calls us to sound.  For the Lord does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked – neither should we.

The call is there for you and for me and for anyone who would listen and obey.  Turn!  Turn from your evil ways!  The only other option is death.  Let us accept the work that Christ Jesus has done on our behalf.  Let us accept our newfound freedoms.  Let us use these newfound freedoms to watch and witness to others, pointing them to the saving grace of our Lord through the work of Jesus.

So many people in this world are turning to the wrong places for help and healing and hope.  Though wealth, fame, and power may seem to bring hope for a time; they all are eventually revealed for the illusions that they are.  Though we may wish to cling to our political and economic ideas, they will ultimately fail.   Let us seek and find our hope in the Lord, who transcends our human ideals.  If we trust God’s economy and God’s Lordship over us, then we will find peace and security well beyond anything we can think or imagine.

Turn!  Turn from these evil ways!  God will not rejoice at our fall.

Enough mumbling for today…

Peace Out