The other day when I was doing my
daily Bible reading, I came across a passage in Ezekiel chapter 33. At the beginning of this chapter, the Lord is
telling Ezekiel that God has put him as a “watchman” to Israel and then
explains the duties of a watchman to Ezekiel.
As I read, it made me think of who is the watchman today? Who is the watchman over modern day
Israel?
“Again the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them,
When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of
their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and
warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh
not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his
own head. He heard the sound of the
trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh
warning shall deliver his soul. But if
the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be
not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity;
but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. So thou, O son of man, I
have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear
the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.” ~ Ezekiel 33:1-7
We read this passage and
we see the job of the watchman as being one of warning the people of impending
dangers. The duty of the watchman is to
inform the people of the city of anything that is coming that might harm them
or in some way affect them. So we ask
the question, who needs a watchman today?
Who needs to be told of dangers that might be lurking about, seeking to
harm them?
First let us see what the dangers are, and who it is that
is seeking to harm us. We read in 1
Peter 5:8 that “…the devil, as a roaring
lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…” Our enemy, the one whom wishes to see us fall
and die spiritually, is Satan, the “walking lion”. If you have ever gone to the zoo and seen a
lion in the cage, you can see how ferocious they are with their long fangs,
sharp claws and powerful, rippling muscles that are made to take down large
prey. It is no wonder how Satan is
compared to such a killing machine as the lion. If one of these animals was loose in your
city, you would want someone watching out for this lion to warn the city when
he sees it that way everyone can get to safety and protect their family. So again, we come to the question, who is
this watchman against the spiritual dangers and who should the watchman warn?
When thinking about who is to be warned, we
automatically think of fellow Christians because, after all, we don’t want to
see a brother or sister in Christ fall prey to Satan. Satan sees a Christian, and he would love
nothing more than to snatch that juicy, fat soul from God and destroy it. But while the Christian must be warned against
the wiles of the devil, those who are not Christians must be warned also. If we truly love every soul and want to bring
others to Christ, the watchman would warn everyone and tell everyone of the
dangers lurking about. You may be
thinking, “But who is this watchman and who should be responsible for warning
the people?” Some may argue this is the
job of the local preacher and some may even include the elders as being the
watchman. But is it only the job of the
elders and preacher? In Ezekiel 33:7 it
says that whoever “…hear the word at my mouth,
and warn them from me.” Who hears the word of God? All Christians (Romans 10:17)! This means that it is not just the job of the
preacher or elders, it is our duty as fellow Christians to warn of the dangers
of sin. This means it is the duty of all
Christians to spread the Gospel of Christ.
When Christ gave the great commission, it doesn’t read “Go therefore
preachers into all the world…”, but rather it just says “go.” Christ didn’t give a specific person to do
the spreading of the Gospel, but by leaving out who is to spread it, it implies
that all who have the ability are to spread the word.
As
Ezekiel 33:1-7 states, all our job as Christians is to be the watchman, to warn
and tell others of what is coming and how to prepare for it. Our job is to tell others of the dangers of
sin and the way of escape (Christ) and how to take that route of escape. But as God told Ezekiel, if they do not heed
our warning and teaching, then “…heard
the sound…, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him” (v. 5). All God asks us to do is to “warn” the people
and to spread the Gospel. If they do not
hear what we have to say, “his blood
shall be upon him” and “shake off the dust under your feet for a
testimony against them” (Mark 6:11).
However, as God tells Ezekiel further, that if we do not do as He told
us and spread the Gospel and warn the people, “his blood will
I require at the watchman's hand.”
Are
we doing to job of the watchman, or are we expecting the preacher to “fill our
shift” for us?
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