A Watchman for Israel

 

Ezekiel 3:16-27

 

October 25, 2023

 

A Watchman for Israel

And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.  If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.  But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.  Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand.  But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

And the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.”  So, I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the Chebar canal, and I fell on my face.  But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house.  And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them so that you cannot go out among the people.  And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house.  But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

It is written; Watch and wait; “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41

In the book of Lamentations 3:25, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”  And in Psalm 62:5, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” 

Has the church been called to be a watchman?   In many ways, standing against false teaching encourages the weak in the faith, and looking to Jesus for those who have been deceived by the devil.  I asked the question “Got Questions” and this was the answer: “But remember, as a Christian, our personal duty is to be that which God has called us to be:  the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, the Children of God, the Shepherd’s sheep, the Teacher’s disciples, the Master’s bondservants, the stones of God’s house, the workers in God’s field, the subjects of the King, the citizens of Heaven, and more.  We are to be looking UP — looking unto Jesus.”

2 Cor 4:6  “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

 

Sorrow and regret look back.
Worry and fear look around,
But faith and hope look up!

 

 

From the Back Porch, 

 

Bob Rice