Introduction
With Ezekiel 33 begins the fourth main section of this book (Ezekiel 33-39). This section deals with the future glory of Israel and can be divided as follows:
1. The faithful watchman and the faithful Shepherd (Ezekiel 33-34).
2. A renewed land (Ezekiel 35-36).
3. A renewed people (Ezekiel 37).
4. Extermination of the last enemy (Ezekiel 38-39).
1 - 9 The Duty of the Watchman
1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his [own] head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’ 7 “Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. 9 But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.
Here, after the announcements of judgment on seven hostile nations, Ezekiel again resumes his task as a prophet concerning God’s people. The word of the LORD comes to him (verse 1). The LORD again reminds him of his responsibility as a watchman (verse 2; Eze 3:16-21). His earlier warnings of the coming of judgment by the king of Babylon, have come true, but the heart of the people has not been changed by it. Hence, new judgments and especially the final judgment await the unrepentant, and hence Ezekiel must continue to warn. We, too, are never done warning people of the judgment to come, even though there have been so many more judgmental acts of God.
Ezekiel is to address the word to his fellow citizens and again present to them the righteousness of the LORD. He must do this by using an example from everyday life that can be understood by everyone. When the LORD announces that He is bringing the sword, that a hostile people are approaching, it is a good thing for the people to appoint a watchman. They choose someone from their area who is trustworthy and knows the area. When that man sees the enemy coming, he will blow an alarm on the trumpet, warning the people that the enemy is coming (verse 3; cf. Amos 3:6a).
Two responses are possible to the blowing of the trumpet: ignore or listen. He who does not heed the sound of the trumpet and is killed has only to blame himself (verse 4). He has been stubborn and did not take warning (verse 5). It is his own fault that he was killed. However, he who he takes warning is not killed, but delivers his life.
It is also possible that the watchman is unfaithful and does not blow the trumpet when he sees the sword coming (verse 6). Such a watchman is a coward or a traitor. He thinks only of himself and flees to save himself or conspires with the enemy. When the sword comes and kills people, those people do die in their own iniquity, but the watchman is guilty. Judgment comes irrevocably. People who perish have themselves to blame because they have lived in iniquity, but the watchman also has his responsibility.
God has no pleasure in punishing people. Therefore, He makes them warn. If the watchman does not warn, He will require the blood of his hand. We recognize this kind of watchman in our day in preachers who preach only love, but do not give warning of judgment or even deny judgment. They are traitors and colluding with the enemy of God. People who listen to these preachers perish in their own iniquity, but the preachers will be called to account by God and judged for their negligence.
Then the LORD addresses the word to Ezekiel personally and says to him that He has appointed him a watchman over the house of Israel (verse 7). This shows a difference from the watchman of the previous verses, for he was appointed by the people (verse 2). Ezekiel is to act as a faithful watchman, warning Israel on behalf of the LORD. The LORD holds up to him the great responsibility that this task entails. He tells him that judgment on the wicked is determined, but also that the wicked must be warned (verse 8).
If Ezekiel does not warn the wicked, he is guilty of the judgment that strikes the wicked. That wicked person does die in and because of his own iniquity, but Ezekiel is blamed for not warning him. If Ezekiel did warn the wicked, but the wicked does nothing with that warning, then Ezekiel is free from the blood of the wicked and he has delivered his own life (verse 9; cf. Acts 20:26-27; 1Cor 9:16). The responsibility of the watchman is strongly emphasized.
10 - 20 Call to Turn Back
10 “Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?”‘ 11 Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ 12 And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, ‘The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ 13 When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he [so] trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. 14 But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, 15 [if a] wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live. 17 “Yet your fellow citizens say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right. 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it. 19 But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”
Ezekiel is commanded to go to the exiles with a specific message (verse 10). The LORD has heard that they have said that their transgressions and their sins are upon them and that they see no way out. Their initial optimism regarding Jerusalem, which they had thought would be spared, has turned to cheerless despair. The prophecies of Ezekiel, as well as those of Jeremiah, regarding Jerusalem have come true against their expectations. What have they to expect from life now?
In that situation, the word of the Lord GOD comes to them with the hopeful words that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live (verse 11). He calls the house of Israel to turn, for why should they die? They need not die, for the door to life is open. The invitation is made to them by a loving God. We hear His urgent, pleading call to turn in the twofold “turn back, turn back”. This is how He urges them to do so!
We too may proclaim that hopeful message on His behalf to the people of the world. It is still the “the acceptable time … the day of salvation” (2Cor 6:2) and God through us is still begging people to be reconciled to Him (2Cor 5:20).
What Ezekiel has to say to his fellow citizens, they are not hearing for the first time (verse 12; Eze 18:29-32). God’s message is unchanging and so is His government. Sin brings judgment, no matter how much good someone may have done, and turning back brings life, no matter how much wickedness someone may have done.
What matters is listening to God and accepting what He says. This concerns both the righteous and the wicked. A righteous person may think that his righteousness, all his good deeds, entitles him to life (verse 13). Such an attitude shows that he trusts in his own righteousness and not in God. In practice, therefore, he will come to injustice and will die in it.
In the case of the wicked, the opposite happens when he accepts God’s judgment on his life (verse 14) and turns from his sin. He shows that he has repented by practicing justice and righteousness (verse 15). He will make amends for wrongs done (cf. Lk 19:8). His conversion involves a condemnation of all his past sins. Of these he may know that they are forgiven and will be remembered no more (verse 16; Heb 8:12). The doing of justice and righteousness is the evidence of his turning back and of the new life he has received. He will live from this new life and remain alive.
Ezekiel’s fellow citizens add to their pessimistic, unjustified statement that life has no meaning for them anymore (verse 10), the extremely misplaced accusation that the LORD (Adonai) does not do justice (verse 17). They have said that before and the LORD has answered them (cf. Eze 18:25,29). It is all shrugging off self-responsibility – still – and a denial of one’s own sins. The LORD’s dealings with the righteous who do injustice and with the ungodly who turn are grounds for them to accuse Him of injustice (verses 18-19).
This accusatory attitude can also be seen today. People have an opinion about God and in their foolishness think they can and do judge Him. They are full of their own good works and point condemningly at Christians who lie and cheat. They will find out that with all their so-called good works they are heavily in debt to God for not bowing down to Him as sinners. God will judge them and do with them according to their own ways (verse 20; cf. Rom 2:1-3).
21 - 22 Message of the Fall of Jerusalem
21 Now in the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been taken.” 22 Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before the refugees came. And He opened my mouth at the time [they] came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless.
A few months after the fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel receives word of this from people who were able to escape from Jerusalem (verse 21). They do not bring him news that he does not already know. Ezekiel already knows because his mouth has been opened. The journey from Jerusalem to Babylon required about three to four months in those days (cf. Ezra 7:9). The evening before the refugees come to Ezekiel, the LORD has opened his mouth which he had not been able to open until that time (verse 22; Eze 24:25-27; 3:24-27).
The end of his muteness marks the beginning of a new phase in his ministry. After the announcements of judgment, from now on he will mostly make announcements of restoration.
23 - 29 Arrogance of the Remnant
23 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 24 “Son of man, they who live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was [only] one, yet he possessed the land; so to us who are many the land has been given as a possession.’ 25 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “You eat [meat] with the blood [in it], lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land? 26 You rely on your sword, you commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?”‘ 27 Thus you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence. 28 I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through. 29 Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.”‘
After Ezekiel’s mouth is opened, the word of the LORD comes to him (verse 23). The LORD tells him that there are still people left in the devastated land (verse 24). These people, however, are far from humbled by the judgment that has struck them and the land. Instead, they believe they have a special claim to the land. They point to Abraham. Abraham is only by himself if he is granted the land as an inheritance. They, on the other hand, are many, so they have that much more right to the land.
These people claim the land because of their numbers compared to Abraham, while they have no part in the faith of Abraham, but continue to sin (verse 25). They eat meat with the blood still in it, they bow down to their stink idols and act violently against their neighbor (cf. Jer 41:2-7). With such wicked behavior, how do they think they can assert a right to the land and repossess it?
They do not lean on the LORD, but on their sword (verse 26). With it they commit violence and loot for themselves what they think they need. They commit atrocities and take the wife of their neighbor. Thus they continue to commit the heinous sins that brought God’s judgment on Jerusalem and Judah. So how do they think they can still keep the land? This section does show how hardened they are, how jaded in their feelings of what is sin in the eye of God.
Ezekiel is commanded to announce judgment to them (verse 27). Wherever they are, they will perish, whether by the sword, by the wild beasts, or by pestilence. Nothing will come of their proud, misplaced expectations (verse 28). All life will disappear from the land and from the mountains. When the LORD has made the land an even greater desolate waste than it already is, they will be forced to acknowledge that He is the LORD (verse 29).
30 - 33 Hearing, but Not Doing
30 “But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD.’ 31 They come to you as people come, and sit before you [as] My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires [expressed] by their mouth, [and] their heart goes after their gain. 32 Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. 33 So when it comes to pass—as surely it will—then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.”
The LORD lets Ezekiel know that the exiles, his fellow citizens, are talking about him a lot (verse 30): ‘Ezekiel has been absolutely right, then, in his predictions of the downfall of Jerusalem. Then he is the man we should be with to hear the word of the LORD.’ Ezekiel is suddenly popular. The LORD warns him not to be mistaken about the crowds coming to him (verse 31). They do come to him in large numbers and flatter him greatly, but their heart goes after their gain. The call to turn is not taken seriously by them; what matters is that something benefits them (cf. Eze 22:13,27).
It is a great trap for a servant of God when people like to come to him because he can speak so beautifully about the Lord. So they come to Ezekiel (verse 32). He can say it so beautifully. But the content of the prophet’s words does nothing at all with them. They are not open to it. They hear his words, but to their meaning they are deaf. They are hearers, but not doers of the word (Jam 1:22-25; Mt 7:24-27).
It is a matter of great sorrow for every true servant of the Lord when people love to listen to him, but that his words have no effect in the hearts and lives of the listeners. The response should not be: ‘What knowledge this man has’, but: ‘The Lord has spoken clearly to me. Now I know what to do.’
The spoken word of the LORD will not return empty (verse 33; cf. Isa 55:11; Heb 6:7-8). Though at the time there is no humble bowing to what He has spoken through His servant, the time is coming when all that has been spoken in His Name will be acknowledged. Then all who have heard it will have to acknowledge that there has been a prophet in their midst.