[:en]SCRIPTURE: EZEKIEL 3
“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” (Ezekiel 3:17-19)
“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. 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” (Ezekiel 3:26-27)
Ezekiel opened his mouth and ate the scroll God gave him. As the scroll filled his stomach, it tasted sweet as honey in his mouth.
The Spirit of God lifted Ezekiel and took him to the exiles who lived at Tel Hbib near Kebar River. He sat among them for 7 days.
WARNING TO ISRAEL
At the end of 7 days, God made Ezekiel a watchman for the house of Israel. He gave him the following message:
- If you do not warn a wicked man or dissuade him from his evil ways, he will die for his sins and I will hold you accountable for his blood (v. 18)
- If you do warn a wicked man but he does not turn from his wickedness and evil ways, he will die for his sins but you have saved yourself (v. 19)
- When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, I will put a stumbling block before him and he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sins. The righteous things that he did will not be remembered but I will hold you accountable for his blood. (v. 20)
- But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live and you will have saved yourself (v. 21)
Then the Lord told Ezekiel to get up and go to the plain. There, the Spirit came to him and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. You will be bound with ropes. I will shut your mouth so that you will be unable to rebuke them. But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and 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” (v. 27)
God called Ezekiel to be a watchman at a difficult time to a do a difficult work with a difficult people. He sat with the people to identify with their pain. He waited patiently for God’s instruction either to keep quiet or to speak up. He was a faithful watchman because he obeyed everything God had told him.
May we follow Ezekiel’s example to set out face to do God’s will, to depend on God’s hand for strength and to wait patiently for God’s word to come to us.
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