The Watchman

The headline in most Bibles about Ezekiel 33 (not part of the biblical text) tells us what this chapter is about. 

"Ezekiel Is Israel’s Watchman"

What a picture of God's prophets. Watchmen. What does the term refer to? It's a military post whose job is to protect the people/nation/city from military invasions, surprise attacks, or civil disasters. The watchman also had the responsibility of declaring a new day. 

Isaiah 21:12 (ESV) The watchman says: “Morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; come back again.”

In Ezekiel 33, God unpacks how Ezekiel will operate in this role for the people now under judgment. 

Ezekiel 33:1–6 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.

The first thing we see in God's message to Ezekiel about this role is that he is called to it. He is put in a position to see what the people cannot see. His job is simple: WARN. But his responsibility is great: He must not keep silent, or God will hold him accountable.

Ezekiel 33:7–9 (ESV) “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 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. 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

But there is more to this chapter that unfolds God's desire through the watchman's role. The people had grown disconnected from any hope. They figured they were too far gone for God. 

Ezekiel 33:10 (ESV) “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ 

To which God commands Ezekiel that he is to assure them God takes no pleasure in their death. The gift of the watchman is a gift of God's grace - seeking to save sinners.

Ezekiel 33:10 (ESV)  Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

And through this watchman, the people of Israel are even offered a way out of judgment. 

Ezekiel 33:14–16 (ESV) Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, 15 if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

We don't like to hear the truth when we are in sin. We are scared it will only pronounce us guilty. But while it will do that, it is also a symbol of grace: God is not seeking to destroy us. He is seeking to turn us away from that which would destroy us. 

This is why verse 17 shows us the conflated view of God's ways in the people's hearts. 

Ezekiel 33:17 (ESV) “Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just.

Sin twists our minds and causes us to see God improperly. Without a watchman sounding the alarm and giving us a new day of God's grace, the damage could be fatal.