Warning to Israel
Ezekiel 3:16-21 (NIV)
At the end of the seven days the word of the Lord came to me: "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 a wicked man, you will surely die, and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, 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 and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin but you will have saved yourself.
Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil and I put a stumbling block before him he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin he will surely live because he took warning, and you have saved yourself.
Now lets look at this. This is God speaking to Ezekiel and telling him what he needs to do. God will never put upon your shoulders anything He feels you cannot handle. Now remember that. What HE THINKS YOU CAN HANDLE AND WHAT YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE ARE 2 VERY DIFFERENT THINGS.
First off he had just made the Ezekiel not just a messenger from God but also here watchman. Lets look at the definition of a watchman.
· watch·man: (w ch m n) n.
A man who is employed to stand guard or keep watch.
So He has just arrived and God just not made him a messenger but also an overseer. A Watchman someone to watch over. To protect for bad or evil things. Along with that The Lord went through specific things with Ezekiel on what to say and what would happen if he didn’t do it as the Lord wanted it to be done.
Lets take a look at the first warning and break it down:
When I say to a wicked man, you will surely die, and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, 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 and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin but you will have saved yourself.
Basically saying he has put the life of the wicked man in the hands of Ezekiel and it would be his fault if the wicked man dies because Ezekiel had the knowledge to save the man but didn’t save him at all. And on the other note if Ezekiel did what was asked and gave Gods warning and the wicked man refused to listen the man will die but Ezekiel would be spared and saved for doing Gods will.
We have the knowledge ourselves to save the wicked its all in the good book known as the Holy Bible. It is written for us to use and can save souls and yourself in the long run. We are Gods Watchmen and Watchwomen of the Earth which He has created for us. But then it is not our problem if the wicked man whom we are trying to save does not listen to the warning. They will be punished but we did what God asked so then we are saved.
Now lets look at the second warning:
Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil and I put a stumbling block before him he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin he will surely live because he took warning, and you have saved yourself.
When a good person is doing good and/or Gods work and turns from it. God puts a blockade in front of that person and they don’t change then they loose. And he was not warned He will die. How many times have you strayed from Gods path and tripped and feel flat on your faces? Come on now. Be Honest. I know I have and I have done it quite a few times. If it weren’t for God slapping me down one way or another then I would be so lost. Lost so lost that I wouldn’t even know myself. I praise God for the stumbling block.
With our knowledge we help people stay on track. That is what is called accountability. It is a very important thing for a Christian to do is be accountable for he or she’s action. If we don’t help others and save as many souls as we can the they die and there blood is on our hands because we did nothing but stood by and we would be held accountable for it. But on the other note if we do warn them and they realize what they are doing and get back on the path of God then they shall surely live and we have saved our selves.
Now I do know that we are not judged by our works. And we are saved by grace but why not save a couple of souls while we are here waiting for the return of Christ. Lets make our time here on this earth proactive for Christ and not for the wicked and spread the word about Gods love.
Lets all get off our duffs and start doing what God wants us to do. Save his people and educate them from what is to come. Reminds me of that old Saturday morning Cartoon that I used to watch when I was growing up.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!!!!
And with Gods two headed sword (His Word) one of the most powerful weapons on this planet imagine what we can accomplish with His faith and Love in us.
