The words echoed in his ears and settled in his heart. He had heard them before. At a different time, in a different place. The Chebar canal. That’s where he heard them the first time, where he had originally been called to be more than a priest among the Jewish exiles in Babylonia. He was to be their watchman. He was charged with speaking God’s words. All of them. Blessings. Warnings. Rebukes. Sometimes in words. Sometimes through actions. He would soft-sell nothing. Tell them everything. Requirements and ramifications. Like the watchman on the wall blowing the trumpet at the first sign of trouble, Ezekiel was tasked with doing his part to warn the people of coming judgment. Then let them choose. Let them determine their own path, make their own choices. Even if they weren’t the right ones. And they wouldn’t be. The people were stubborn and hard-hearted. They wouldn’t want to listen. They wouldn’t care what he said until it was too late. But forcing people to do the right thing wasn’t the job of the watchman. It wasn’t Ezekiel’s job, either. His job was to speak the truth, voice the warnings, and issue the invitation for repentance. (Ezekiel 1:1-3; 2:3-7; 3:4-11, 16-21)
Ezekiel realized it was going to be a difficult road when he first heard the call. Hard things lay before him. Many hard things. Things that would make him look insane. Months of lying on his side, bound by ropes, cooking his food over a fire made from animal excrement was certainly one of them. Shaving his hair and beard, weighing it, dividing it, burning some, striking some with a sword, and scattering the rest to the wind, all while remaining mute, literally made him look like a lunatic. Packing a bag and escaping through a wall to portray an exile felt ridiculous. But he did it anyway. No matter what he thought, felt, or wished, Ezekiel did exactly as he was told. He stayed obedient. A faithful watchman for an unfaithful people. (Ezekiel 4, 5, 12)
Frankly, the people were more interested in Ezekiel’s escapades than in the meaning behind them. It was like a one-sided game of hilarious charades. The silent prophet enacted scene after scene, leaving them to deduce the message. Not that they cared about the message. They didn’t. They had no intention of changing. They really didn’t care about the warning behind the siege enactment or the exile prophecy. Perhaps they thought those things wouldn’t happen in their lifetime. Maybe they believed they had all the time in the world. Perhaps they just wanted to live their lives and reconcile to God right at the very end–have their earthly fun and enjoy eternal bliss, too. They weren’t going to change. At all. But they did enjoy the diversion. Ezekiel and his little stories were quite amusing.
Not to Ezekiel. He had done all the things. Been mute when he wanted to speak. Stayed silent when he wanted to mourn. Spoken only the words God gave him to say when he wanted to say so much more. Endured the frustration of being mocked, laughed at, scorned. As much as he had wanted to shake people and force them to listen, he stood impotently by as they chuckled at his antics, shook their heads, and went on about their way. It was frustrating. He had done all the things God had told him to do, exactly as he had been told to do them, yet he had accomplished nothing. Now here he was, sitting in silence, hearing the voice of God speak. Again. To him. For him. Not a new commission. An old one. In the exact same words. “Be the watchman.” (Ezekiel 33:7-9)
Echoing back from the far recesses of his mind even as God spoke it anew to his heart, Ezekiel heard the message. Again. Received the call to be the watchman for his people. Again. Accepted the gravity of preaching and teaching the words of God exactly as He intended. Ezekiel knew it was his duty, his job, his calling. Even when no one listened. Even when people scoffed and laughed. Even when he stood alone in his faith. He was still going to do it. Just like he always had. When the priests didn’t want to hear him. When the people didn’t want to believe him. When no one wanted to obey the words he was called to speak. Ezekiel was still going to issue God’s warnings, because he took his job as a watchman seriously. Every watchman did. (Ezekiel 33:1-9)
A well-known occupation, the job of a watchman was always serious. The watchman’s ability to see coming danger gave him the power to alert residents, offer choices, and save lives. Sounding that alarm gave people the opportunity to choose how they would react to imminent danger. Run. Hide. Stand. Fight. Once he gave the alert, the watchman’s job was complete. The choice of action rested on the people themselves. It wasn’t his job to drag them into hiding. No. That was their own responsibility. The watchman was responsible for imparting the knowledge. The people were responsible for acting on it. As long as he sounded the alarm, the watchman’s position was safe.
Not so if he failed to sound the alarm. If the watchman fell asleep on the job, got distracted, failed to notice the oncoming danger, or somehow mislaid his trumpet, resulting in failure to sound the alarm, people would die. Lots of people. Potentially everyone. Guilty. Innocent. Lackadaisical. Diligent. The watchman himself might die. And he would be responsible. For all of it. Blame for every ramification, lost life, or ruined future would rest on his shoulders. It was no different for Ezekiel.
Although his warnings may not save a physical life, they could save eternal lives. Many lives. It was the reason God was reiterating the call to him now. A lot of things had happened. Ezekiel had travelled dark days and rough waters. The people had been through tough times. Everything God had said would happen had, indeed, happened. Siege and destruction included. Still God wasn’t done with Ezekiel. There was still work for him to do. But Ezekiel, tired and work-worn, needed the reminder of who he was and what he was called to do. He needed to know his work wasn’t yet done. He couldn’t let up, slack off, or give up. He still had work to do. God’s work. The work of a watchman. It was time to watch out for their souls, time to draw them back to God, time to verbally issue God’s call to repentance for His people. Time to let everyone know they were going to answer for their own actions. Priests for their teachings. People for their adherence. Everyone for the contents of their own hearts. All would be judged. All would give an account. All would be rewarded or punished according to what they did with the warnings of the watchman; and the watchman would be punished if he didn’t issue the warnings at all. (Ezekiel 33:10-20; 34: 1-22, 25-31; 36:9,22-29; 37:23-28)
It was a serious call. Imperative in its urgency. Ezekiel was charged with preaching the words of God to people who didn’t want to hear them and were wholly uninterested in living by them. He couldn’t skip a beat, miss a memo, change a word, or edit an understanding. Ezekiel had to speak the commands and laws of God just as they were given to him. No exceptions. That was his job. Whether the people listened or not. Whether they heard or not. Whether they obeyed or not. Whatever choice they made after he spoke was entirely up to them. They would bear the entire responsibility for their response. Ezekiel’s responsibility was to speak. To warn. To preach the word, offer the options, disseminate the information so the people could make informed choices. It is our responsibility, too.
No matter who you are in the kingdom of God, you bear the same responsibility. Be a watchman for the kingdom of God. Be salt. Be light. Illuminate the paths of others by sharing God’s words with them. All of God’s words. The comfortable as well as the convicting. Share them as He spoke them. Don’t soft-sell His regulations. Don’t cheapen His gospel. Don’t water down His words. Refuse to participate in a partial gospel. Reject any message that promotes half-hearted commitment to Christ. Rebuke sin in all its forms. Stand up for Jesus, His words, His ways, in a world that isn’t listening, isn’t hearing, isn’t following. Speak up anyway. Speak God’s truth. Live it out. Demonstrate godliness in how you handle yourself, your business, your life. In word and deed, tell everyone you meet the truth of life in Christ. That is your calling. It is your duty. It is your mission. The mission of the watchman. (Matthew 5:14-16; Proverbs 11:30; Deuteronomy 12:32; Revelation 22:18-19; Ephesians 5:1-2; I Peter 1:15-16; Jeremiah 1:9; Acts 1:8)