Day 239.
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.” (Ezekiel 3:17-21 ESV)
Ezekiel’s call as a prophet is that of the watchman. His warnings are absolutely imperative to the people. If he fails to warn when the Lord speaks, the people will perish. They may still perish depending on whether they listen or not, but he will have fulfilled his calling. As a watchman, he is called to account for giving the warning regardless of the people’s response. That may sound like an easy thing, but he knows the people will be hostile to his words. They do not want to hear them. That makes his job as watchman all the more difficult. He will be unpopular. He will be he subject of abuse and scorn. Not exactly a fun position to be in!
There is much similar to our call as Christians today. We too have a Word from God as we carry around with us the good news of Jesus. Without that Word, the people perish. We cannot control whether they receive it or not, and we know that often they will be hostile to it, perhaps even to the point of ridicule and scorn. Nonetheless, as watchman, we are called to speak, lest their blood be on our head for being silent. So let us speak up when opportunity arises!
