When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning...but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Ezekiel 3:18 (KJV)
I would like for us to see and compare Ezekiel’s duty to warn the wicked as that of a “watchman unto the house of Israel.” In those days when alien armies wandered ruthlessly through the land and came upon both walled and unwalled cities without warning, the watchman’s duty was very important. He would take his place in an elevated tower and watch for the enemy. When he saw them coming, he would immediately send an urgent message to the community nearby.
This figure of speech is very clear! The watchman’s duty is to warn. The people’s duty is to heed the warning. So it is with us who speak for God. We cannot make a sinner repent; we can only warn of the judgment that is in store for those who insist upon living in rebellion to God.
People without the Lord are lost.
Let’s turn to the New Testament. I like to pour its content into this passage from Ezekiel, giving it a spiritual meaning. The person without Christ is not only a sinner, for all have come short of God’s glory; but he is lost and doomed to an eternity of punishment. Jesus spoke often of hell and told one story of a man who went there while one whom he knew and mistreated upon earth went to heaven; this was a familiar Jewish symbol of “Abraham’s bosom.” Jesus spoke of hell as a place where the “...worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). John pictured it as a lake of fire.
God commands us as Christians to care.
The New Testament speech is that The Church of God must go out to witness concerning the work of Christ and the necessity for people to repent. We must have the same compassion that Jesus had when He looked at the multitudes and saw them as sheep without a shepherd. There are two things that stand out about Jesus concerning the importance of telling others about the Saviour. On a mountain in Galilee, He told a group to “...teach all nations...” concerning His redemptive work (Matthew 28:19). On the mountain outside Jerusalem only a moment before He ascended to heaven, Jesus told His disciples that they were to be witnesses for Him “...unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). These two incidents put the responsibility on The Church of God of the Bible to warn others of the fate in store for those who will not receive the message of salvation. Of course the job is big.
To fail is a serious thing.
In Ezekiel’s day, the watchman was guilty of blood if he failed to warn the people of coming danger. The prophet made it clear that if the messenger fails to warn the wicked, God will require his blood at the watchman’s hand. This same principle applies to The Church of God. To be indifferent to the spiritual needs of our fellow-man and fail to tell him the gospel story is a serious thing. The Bible is not clear how far God would go in requiring a lost person’s blood at our hands, but we should not want this responsibility on our shoulders.
The Scripture in Ezekiel does not emphasize rewards except to say that the faithful watchman will have “...delivered thy soul” (Ezekiel 3:19). Daniel spoke of those who “...turn many to righteousness...” shining “...as the brightness of the firmament...” (Daniel 12:3). I believe God approves of those who seek to be helpful in bringing people to Christ. Jesus spoke of the “peacemaker” in the Sermon on the Mount. He says “...they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
While emphasizing the seriousness of not witnessing, I also should stress the delight and ecstasy that comes in seeing one led to Christ by our own efforts blossom into a full-grown Christian and return at a later time to bless us. Let’s be good watchmen, accept our responsibility, and leave the reward up to God.
Originally published in the May 2013 issue of the “Arise Shine” .
