Being a Watchman

(I originally wrote and posted this on my previous blog on 03/15/2007.)

Reading: Yehezqel (Ezekiel) 3-5

Eze 3:17 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Yisra'el. And you shall hear a word from My mouth, and shall warn them from Me.
Eze 3:18 "When I say to the wrong, 'You shall certainly die,' and you have not warned him, nor spoken to warn the wrong from his wrong way, to save his life, that same wrong man shall die in his crookedness, and his blood I require at your hand.
Eze 3:19 "But if you have warned the wrong and he does not turn from his wrong, nor from his wrong way, he shall die in his crookedness, and you have delivered your being.
Eze 3:20 "And when a righteous one turns from his righteousness and shall do unrighteousness, when I have put a stumbling-block before him, he shall die. Because you did not warn him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done is not remembered, and his blood I require at your hand.
Eze 3:21 "But if you have warned the righteous one that the righteous should not sin, and he did not sin, he shall certainly live because he has been warned, and you have delivered your being."

This passage is very thought-provoking. Especially considering that the Jews call those who believe in Yeshua as Messiah 'Notzrim', which means 'watchmen', this is a message we need to listen to and take to heart.

The wrong AND the righteous are to be warned to turn from sin. When you think about it, that includes everyone!

Compare the above instruction given to Yehezqel to the instruction given to the disciples:

Mar 16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature.
Mar 16:16 "He who has believed and has been immersed, shall be saved, but he who has not believed shall be condemned.

Shaul (Paul) obviously took these instructions to heart and was faithful to obey them:

Act 20:26 "Therefore I witness to you this day that I am clear from the blood of all.
Act 20:27 "For I kept not back from declaring to you all the counsel of Elohim.
Act 20:31 "Therefore watch, remembering that for three years, night and day, I did not cease to warn each one with tears.

Reading these passages scared me because, unlike Shaul, I have not been faithful to this charge and have held back from sounding the watchman's warning in order to avoid conflict or due to a myriad of other excuses.

But if we saw someone walking into a minefield, wouldn't we warn them and plead with them to turn back? I realize that we cannot force people to listen or to take heed, but according to the Scriptures we are still responsible to sound the warning, "whether they hear, or whether they refuse".