cuppajcafe.org The Grind Savor the taste of our previous brew Since everything in the Bible leads into and prepares the way for what comes after it, refresh yesterday’s Brew to let the previous passage get you ready for today’s verses. Though you should have already explored the passage, personally with Jesus, here is the heart of what we saw, together. In the previous passage, verses 16-21, the LORD posts Ezekiel as a symbolic watchman on the walls to warn the population of danger. 16 This passage is the first of two inserted here to expand on the main elements at the close of the previous one. Borrowing snippets from chapters 18 and 33, verses 16-21 build on the reference to “seven days” in v.15, while briefly summarizing 1:1-2:2, verses 22-27 develop the expression, “the LORD’s hold on me” from v.14. The linking word “after,” shows that this passage follows what happened in the previous one. Referring back to Ezekiel’s seven-day stay among the exiles, this one begins with “the LORD [entrusting him with] a message” at the end of the seven days. In other words, the LORD waited a week before charging His young prophet with the responsibilities of ministry, the same time Ezekiel spent acquainting himself with the exiles. Only after he had become their neighbor did the LORD give him words meant for the exiles. Ministers never talk at others. Instead they pass on what God has told them, first. Standing in the place of their audience to receive a message as one of them, ministers simply relay what God wants them and their audience to hear. Like Christ, they must number themselves with the transgressors in order to work for their salvation. After seven days At the end of the week the LORD gave me a message. the Eternal One entrusted me, Ezekiel with the words He wanted me to deliver to the rebels on His behalf He said, Let me quote Him 17 Verse 17 previews 33:7, word for word. The LORD addresses Ezekiel as “Son of man,” reminding him of his place, to set up the authority of the word “appointed.” Not only has the LORD assigned him a role to play as a prophet, but Ezekiel’s commission “as a watchman” calls on “the house of Israel” descended from Jacob to recognize him as His official spokesperson. Regardless of what the exiles say or do to him, they cannot change his divinely ordained status. Watchmen normally mount the wall of a city to warn its citizens of approaching danger. Since Ezekiel will share funeral dirges, expressions of haunting grief, and pronouncements of doom––all expressions of imminent trouble––the LORD orders him to play the part of a watchman, saying: “Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately.” As its first recipient, Ezekiel is supposed to share what God tells him in an air of urgency, as too important to ignore, as a matter of life and death that requires swift action. Otherwise, the people might put off reacting to these divine cues, intended to provoke instant reactions from them. (see, Mt. 28:18-20) “Son of man, Descendant of Adam, or mere Human I have appointed you I, the Eternal One have assigned you as a watchman like a sentinel on the walls of a city for the house of Israel. for the descendants of Jacob Whenever you receive a message from me, At any time you get a communication from me warn people immediately. Sound the alarm right away for them 18 From the summary in v.17 of Ezekiel’s ministry, the LORD now explains what He expects from Ezekiel when he communicates with the wicked in verses 18 and 19, and with the righteous in verses 20 and 21. He underscores the urgency of the messages by describing their outcomes for Ezekiel. Instead of merely restating God’s words for the exiles as a disinterested third party, Ezekiel has a real stake in his ministry and faces dire consequences for failure to deliver them on time and without personal compassion. The linking word, “If,” sets up a hypothetical situation: “[Let’s say] I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death [a pretty urgent situation],’ but you [feeling safe and above it all, detach yourself from the exiles and] fail to deliver the warning.” Then, two things will happen: first, since you didn’t sound the alarm to trigger their survival instincts, “they [the rebels] will [continue their unlawful ways, and] die in their sins.” And, second, instead of escaping their fate, “I will hold you responsible for their deaths,” and you will suffer for not doing anything to save them. So far as God is concerned, whoever fails to warn others when it is in his power to save them, is a killer. As Solomon warns in Prov. 24:11-12: “Rescue those who are being dragged off to die; save them as they stagger to their death. Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.” Reflecting on the same scenario, James says at the end of his letter: “whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins” (Jas. 5:20). If I warn the wicked, Lets say I, the Eternal One sound the alarm for the immoral saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ announcing, you are doomed to die but you fail to deliver the warning, yet, you keep what I want them to hear, to yourself they will die in their sins. The immoral will perish within their twisted perversions of my will And plus I will hold you responsible for their deaths. I will consider you their killer. 19 The linking word, “If,” sets up another hypothetical situation with a very different outcome for Ezekiel: “[Let’s say] you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning“, a very likely result, since they have refused to obey the LORD up to now. Then, in that case, “they will die in their sins [as they deserve],” while “you will have saved yourself.” Since the rebels still die, the LORD does not spare Ezekiel because he tried to save them, but “because you obeyed me.” So, in v.18, the LORD threatens to punish Ezekiel, not for disobeying Him but for a failure to carry out His mission, resulting in their deaths. Here, the LORD rewards Ezekiel, not because he tried to save the rebels, but because He carried out his orders. This reminds us of the time when Jesus was hanging on the cross––the people taunted Him, trying to trick Him into disobeying His Heavenly Father––but our Savior remained faithful to His mission. In a similar way, by disregarding their disrespect and ignoring their threats, Ezekiel points to Christ, remaining faithful to His divine mission regardless of what the rebels say or do to Him. If Let’s say you warn them you, Ezekiel, sound the alarm for the exiles and but they refuse to repent the rebels deliberately choose not to express sincere regret and turn away from their sinful past, and plus keep on sinning, continue their immorality, doing whatever they please they will die in their sins. The rebels will kill themselves within their own twisted perversions of my will But however you will have saved yourself you, Ezekiel will have rescued yourself because you obeyed me. Since you carried out my orders. 20 The Lord proposes another hypothetical situation: “Let’s say righteous people turn away from [or, reverse direction away from] their righteous behavior,” so that they lose their way to the kingdom. Unless something helps them to change course and find the way, again they will never arrive at the house of the LORD to spend eternity with Him (cf. Ps. 23:6). Since everyone has the potential to sin, God does not hold anyone eternally responsible for a temporary lapse in judgment. The word “If” sets up the conditions that must be met for a certain outcome to occur. Here, there are two: the people must “turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles [to block their path and turn them around] I put in their way, [before] they will die.” In other words, until wayward people also reject God’s attempts to stop their forward progress toward destruction, they do not have to die for their disobedience. Whatever the LORD refers to in Ezekiel’s day, this points to the way God put Christ in the path of first-century Israel to cut off its relapse into sin. Described as “a stone that makes people [of Judah and Israel] stumble, a rock that makes them fall... And a trap and a snare for the people of Jerusalem,” Jesus is, according to 1Pet. 2:8, “the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” “They,” Peter goes on to explain, “[trip over Christ and] stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them” (1Pet. 2:8). But the LORD isn’t finished. There is more to His hypothetical case, this time regarding Ezekiel. The word “and” introduces something else for the prophet to consider on top of what the LORD has already put forward.