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Eze. 3:16-27, The mission of the watchman 1

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Eze. 3:16-27, The mission of the watchman 1
16-27, 16.At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me: 17."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. 18.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. 19.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. 20."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. 21.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 will have saved yourself." 22.The hand of the LORD was upon me there, and he said to me, "Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you." 23.So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. 24.Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: "Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25.And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. 26.I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house. 27.But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says.' Whoever will listen let him listen, and whoever will refuse let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.

<Sermon> Today God speaks about the mission of the watchman.
1. The Calling of the Watchman (16-21)
After God made Ezekiel silent for seven days, he called him to be a watchman for Israel. See chapters 18 and 33. These seven days of silence would have been a period of sanctification to prepare him as a prophet (Lev.14:8, Ezek.43:25). It is similar to the period that Paul spent after being called as an evangelist, fasting for three days and not being able to see (Acts9:8-9).
17, “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.” God made Ezekiel, who had prepared his heart, a watchman for Israel. A watchman is someone who stands on a watchtower, watches both near and far, and observes and warns the enemy (1 Sam. 14:16, 2 Sam. 13:34, Isa. 56:10, Jer. 6:17, Hab. 2:1). Ezekiel was God’s spiritual watchman, charged with the mission of monitoring the mental state of Israel and alerting them to the crisis. This was to receive God’s word ‘instead’ of God, that is, for God or as God’s representative, and proclaim it to the people (the one-mindedness of carrying out the word of God). He had to warn everyone about the judgment of God coming to them, regardless of whether they were the wicked or the righteous.
1) Ezekiel’s responsibility toward the wicked is as follows (18-19). 18.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. 19.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.
 The message Ezekiel proclaims to the wicked is a dire warning: “You will die.” On the day God eats the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, if they listen to the words of the prophet and repent at that moment, they will surely become the objects of God’s forgiveness and mercy. Of course, the judgment of the Israelites and the destruction of Israel by Babylon are irreversible. However, even if the entire nation is judged, it does not mean that all the people must die. God always leaves a remnant in any era. If there is someone among the wicked who repents, the fate of the nation cannot be reversed, but their own fate can be changed.
 Ezekiel’s mission is to clearly convey God’s will to all the people, assuming this possibility. If the prophet fails to convey God’s voice to them and they die, Ezekiel must take responsibility for their lives. This is a kind of dereliction of duty as one who has been called to do this. On the other hand, if the people do not respond with repentance despite the prophet’s message, they will die for their sins. In this case, Ezekiel has no responsibility. So what should the wicked do to turn from the path of death? The answer is given in 18:31: “Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourself a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?”
2) The prophet’s mission to the righteous is as follows (vv. 20-21).
20. And when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, his righteousness that he has done shall not be remembered, but I will put a stumbling block before him; he shall die, because you have not warned him. He shall die in his sin, but his blood I will require at your hand. 21. But if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he has been warned, and you shall preserve your soul. The same principle applies to those who have lived righteously up to now. If they do not live godly and holy from this moment on, despite their past faithfulness, judgment will come upon them as well. It is a warning about a life that is like a dragon and a snake. From the beginning until the day the Lord comes, we must live faithfully. How can we say that we live a righteous life? Righteousness fundamentally comes from keeping God's covenant well. That is why the prophets cry out that we must keep the covenant well in order to live righteously. However, it is realistically very difficult (Isa1:16ff, Amos5:14ff, Micah6:8). Ezekiel was given the mission to awaken them and keep them on the path of righteousness. If they do not respond after hearing, they will be responsible for their sins. On the other hand, if Ezekiel did not warn them sufficiently and they left the path of righteousness and entered the path of sin, God will hold Ezekiel responsible.
The warning to the righteous is also a warning about the righteous life of faith. Do not cling to the past faithful and righteous life, but be faithful to the present, and be faithful to the end. Rev 2:10, Be faithful until death. We must listen to the words of Jesus. “Mt.19:30, “The first will be last, and the last first.” There is a trap set before those who have lived righteously. This trap is not a trap that God intentionally set to destroy the righteous. It means that there is a condition in which a person can commit sin at any time if he or she so desires. That is, it refers to elements that can be a test. It is up to each person to choose whether to get caught or not.
 Here, life and death do not simply mean physical phenomena. Life and death have a spiritual aspect. In the Bible, ‘life’ means a rich relationship with God that is possible only when one obeys God. ‘Death’ means being cut off from God and the covenant community even though one is physically alive. Therefore, when Adam sinned, he died spiritually at that moment, but he was physically alive.
Ezekiel’s calling is centered on responsibility rather than privilege. He was not appointed as a prophet to wield any power at will. Rather, it is accompanied by a heavy sense of responsibility. It is a grave mission in which a person’s life is determined by the ministry of a prophet. Also, a prophet will live or die according to the message he proclaims. If Ezekiel is righteous (if he faithfully proclaims the word of God), he will live, but if he is wicked (if he does not properly proclaim the word), he will also die. The warning of James not to become a teacher indiscriminately reminds us of the importance of the ministry. He had to proclaim the word of God whether they listened or not. We too must preach the word of God whether they listen or not. (Application question) 1. In order to fulfill his responsibility, a watchman must first diligently look around, and then devote himself to making it known. So, am I, who was appointed as a spiritual watchman in this age, fulfilling my responsibility well? (3:17, Isa 21:11,12, Heb 13:17)

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