If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
A man stands on the wall with God's own words to speak, and says nothing. The wicked man still dies for his own sin. Yet this verse charges that death to the silent watchman's account. What, then, is a messenger answerable for?
The two-way reckoning of blood
The chapter's picture is a lookout on a city wall with a trumpet. Everything turns on whether he blows it.
William KellyPictured as a watchman, Ezekiel is set to warn the house of Israel. If anyone ignored the sound of the trumpet, their blood would be on their own head. If the watchman did not blow the trumpet, his blood would pay the penalty.
Appointed by God, not chosen by the people
Earlier in the chapter, the people of a land pick their own lookout. Ezekiel's case is different.
Numerical Bible NotesNotice first that men might naturally appoint a watchman for themselves, and normally would. The prophet is not appointed by the people, but by God on their behalf. Even with no word from Him, the people would still be accountable. But God provided a watchman for those too careless and indifferent to look after their own interests, even the most serious ones. And how this would increase the guilt of those who still refused the Voice that spoke to them!
One man's account, and one man's errand
Does personal responsibility leave each person to sort things out alone? Ezekiel's post gives the answer.
William KellyIndividual responsibility now becomes the ruling principle. Yet this does not cancel the call and duty of one man to warn many. That was the prophet's place.
What "die in his iniquity" means here
Commentators read this death against the setting of the whole book: God openly governing His people on earth. On that reading, the sentence is not the eternal doom of the unrepentant.
Numerical Bible NotesNotice that everything before us here belongs to God's outward, visible government, which is so prominent and fitting in the prophecy of Ezekiel. So the death threatened to the wicked is not simply the death we all live under. Nor is it, as many suppose, eternal death as the doom of every unrepentant soul. It is a removal from the earth, under the government of God.
Judged by the trumpet, not by the response
The watchman's standing does not rise or fall with the answer he gets. That cuts the nerve of judging our service by how it lands.
Numerical Bible NotesThese divine words come first of all to the prophet himself. He is put in charge as God's watchman for the people, to place every individual soul on its own responsibility before God. His own responsibility stays untouched, whatever the result, or apparent lack of result… This is an important point for us at all times. We are so quick to argue from mere results. Results can never rightly be our guide, since they do not come first but follow. They cannot affect the question of duty for those who are to walk by faith and not by sight.
Paul and the same clearance
Paul claimed the same clearance for himself. It had a price.
J Wilson SmithSo he could say that he was "innocent of the blood of all." He was like the faithful watchman of Ezekiel 33:4. That watchman's duty was to warn against the approach of an enemy or a sword, but he himself was clear if people ignored his warning. Solemn thought! The watchman would expose himself to severe criticism, ridicule, contempt, and danger. But, adds the Apostle, "I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God."
Summary
- Posted — the people do not choose this watchman. God sets him over them, so refusing his warning deepens their guilt.
- Charged — his one task is to sound the warning. His responsibility stands whatever the result, so the trumpet measures faithfulness, not the number who turn.
- Silent — if he says nothing, the wicked man still dies in his own sin, but God requires that blood from the watchman.
- Cleared — a warning given and ignored puts the blood back on the hearer's own head, and leaves the messenger clear.
- Costly — Paul claimed this same clearance. It cost him ridicule, contempt and danger, because he held nothing back.