The word of the LORD came to me:
A new message comes from God, and it turns the whole book. Jerusalem's judgment is settled, and God now deals with people one by one. What follows is the picture of a watchman on a wall. It raises two hard questions: who answers for a warning that is ignored, and who answers for a warning that never comes?
A new word after judgment
The prophet's lips had been closed. Now they open again, and one writer points out what God does first.
Numerical Bible NotesThe prophecy here does not begin with a date, as we might expect. God first prepares the message that the re-opened lips of the prophet are to speak.
With the nation already under sentence, God lays down a fresh basis for His dealings.
J. N. DarbyIn Ezekiel 33, these judgments put His people on wholly new ground. So God establishes a wholly new principle: He deals with each person on the ground of that person's own conduct, and not as a consequence of national sin. So the door was still fully open to repentance for each one. It rested on a testimony that spoke to people one by one, whatever the national judgment might be.
The watchman God appoints
In the picture, a town chooses its own lookout. Ezekiel's post came another way.
Numerical Bible NotesMen would normally appoint a watchman for themselves. But the people did not appoint the prophet; God appointed him on their behalf. Even with no word from Him, the people would still be accountable. Yet God provided a watchman for those too careless and indifferent to look after their own interests, even the most important ones.
Blood on whose head
The trumpet creates responsibility in two directions at once. The hearer who shrugs it off carries his own loss; the sentry who stays silent carries it instead.
William KellyGod sets Ezekiel to warn the house of Israel under the figure of a watchman. If anyone ignored the sound of the trumpet, their blood would be on their own head. If the watchman did not blow it, his own blood would pay the penalty.
One man warns many
Does this mean each person is now left on his own? Kelly answers no.
William KellyIndividual responsibility now becomes the ruling principle. Yet this does not prevent, as we see, the call and duty of one man to warn many. Such was the prophet's place.
The trumpet before the sword
This pattern did not stop with Israel. One writer traces it back to the flood, then turns it on the reader.
W. W. FeredayIt is God's way, before drawing His sword, to sound the trumpet. So before God destroyed the earth by water, He sounded the warning trumpet through Noah. In our own time, before the last stroke falls, His trumpet sounds out in the Gospel call. Will you not listen to it, and seek salvation while you may?
Duty, not results
One writer finds the same post filled long after Ezekiel.
J Wilson SmithSo the Apostle could say that he was clear of the blood of all men. He was like the faithful watchman of Ezekiel 33:4, whose duty was to warn that an enemy or a sword was coming, but who was himself clear if his warning went unheeded. A solemn thought! For the watchman would expose himself to severe criticism, ridicule, contempt and danger.
Another writer asks what happens when the warning seems to achieve nothing.
God set the prophet as His watchman, to put every soul on its own responsibility before Him. The prophet's own responsibility remains unaffected, whatever the result or the apparent lack of result. This is an important point for us at all times. We are so ready to argue from mere results, and results can never be our guide. They cannot come before duty but follow it. They cannot settle the question of duty for those who walk by faith and not by sight.
after-note: DISCUSS
Summary
- Word. The chapter starts with a message from God. He prepares the message before the prophet speaks it. It carries a new principle: God deals with people one at a time, not with the nation as a block.
- Watchman. God gives the lookout; the town does not choose him. He provides one for people too careless to watch for themselves.
- Trumpet. God's habit is to sound the warning before He draws the sword — through Noah before the flood, through the Gospel call now.
- Blood. The warning cuts both ways. Ignore it, and the loss is your own. Stay silent, and God charges the loss to the watchman.
- Faithfulness. One man may still warn many, at the cost of ridicule and danger. God measures his duty by the warning he gives, not by the results.