Ezekiel 33

The Lord answers a prayer for usefulness

This morning was a little cool, with perhaps a hint of fall already in the air. My wife and I had traveled to Pennsylvania to visit our grandchildren and their parents, and I was out for an early trot-walk around the small town and the college campus to talk to the Lord and to review some of my Scripture memory.

My first thoughts had been of man’s urgent need for something of eternal importance in his life. While the things of this earth may give satisfaction and fascination for a time, sooner or later a person needs to have something of permanence on which they can stand. At some point in life, the question arises in your head, “Is this all there is?” Is this job, this indulgence, this activity, this hobby, this relationship, this family, this ambition, this bucket-list, this vacation, this travel, this goal, this dream, this fill in the blank – Is this a life that justifies my existence? Surely this is the question that God places inside each of us. And at that moment I simultaneously praised God for allowing me to know Jesus Christ and was saddened by all the myriads of people who do not know Jesus and who are thus perishing. Only the life that knows and loves the Lord Jesus Christ has any connection with eternity and any permanence and significance.

The next thought that I had was amazement at the way my very unremarkable and unimpressive life has unfolded. The Lord has truly hidden me in the shadow of His hand (Isaiah 49:2), making sure that there was very little noteworthy about my accomplishments so that I could continue to function under the radar. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is my professional “career.” I began my career as an engineer with IBM, which at the time (1982) was Forbes’ most respected company in the world. Within five years I had squandered that auspicious start and was working for a failing software company. A few years past as I moved from one job to another. Finally, in 1996, just when it looked like I was in a position to stay long-term in a dead-end job, I resigned in order to go to post-Soviet Russia for three years as a “missionary.” (1 Samuel 17:48; Jeremiah 40:1-4) When I returned from Russia, the Lord eventually gave me a position as a Buyer at a company that printed lottery tickets (Jonah 1:1). After several rounds of surviving layoffs and employee cutbacks, I again resigned so that me and my new family could move to Charlotte to complete my seminary degree (2007). When graduation from RTS yielded no direction and no open positions (it was the disastrous year of 2008), the Lord opened up a door at Wikoff Color Corporation, where I stayed till the end of my career in January of 2020. My career reveals no success and no happiness. I disliked virtually every position that I held and was unsuccessful at them all. I never grossed more than $65K in any calendar year and frequently made a lot less. There were many times of unemployment and I twice resigned from my job to pursue a Kingdom opportunity, which meant that during my working “career,” I spent six full years engaged in or recovering from those two resignations. I began my work lifetime as a degreed engineer who had turned down offers at Exxon, Harris Corporation, and a third company to work at IBM, then the most admired company in the world. Thirty-eight years later, I finished my work lifetime as a “Purchasing Manager” at Wikoff Color, a dying ink company in Fort Mill, SC, and very possibly the worst run company in the world. The Lord had ordained that I went from best to worst in my working career!

Nevertheless, despite my personal failures in my working career, the Lord has also ordained that Lisa and I are basically financially independent at this stage in our life. We are “amply supplied” (Phil. 4:18). What this means is that I can devote my time to my discipleship activities and my writing projects. The Lord has given me so many opportunities to pour out my life for others and has given me the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4). What an amazing God! The things impossible for people are possible for God (Luke 18:27).

All of these thoughts were flooding my brain as I walked past the college campus with the result that I was almost giddy with joy. As I praised the Lord for all that He had done, I offered up a prayer and asked that He would make me more useful. “Lord, glorify Yourself by making me more useful to You.” And so I walked on and crossed Main Street and headed for home.

As I strolled down the sidewalk, I was glancing to my left at the houses and at any people I might see in them. One house stood on a hill above the sidewalk and on the front porch of the house there sat a middle-aged lady. Because of the porch rail, I could only see from her shoulders upward, but that was enough for me to notice that her head was bent forward as if she was reading or possibly writing. I walked a few paces past the house, then stopped and looked back, for it occurred to me that she might be reading her Bible or journaling and, if she was doing that, then maybe I could encourage her. So I turned back and walked to where I was just below the porch and called to her.

“Excuse me, but are you reading or journaling or what?”

“I am actually doing both.” “What are you reading?” “Well, actually I am reading my Bible.” “Oh, that’s great! Where in the Bible are you reading?” “I am reading Ezekiel.” “Wow! I love Ezekiel! I am reading in Ezekiel now, too. Where are you in Ezekiel?” “I am reading in chapter 34 where the Lord tells how He will shepherd His people.”

“That is really good. I especially love Ezekiel 33. Do you remember verses 1-9 of chapter 33 where the prophet talks about the watchman? Do you know who the watchman is?”

“No, who is the watchman?”

“The watchman is you and me. We are the watchmen. Do you know why? We are the watchman because there is a sword coming upon the land and we need to warn the people that the sword is coming and they must escape. So, we must warn them of the coming sword of judgment. Well, enjoy your reading.” And with that I waved my hand and continued my walk.

Then it hit me. The Lord had answered my prayer for usefulness! Not five minutes before I had asked Him to make me more useful and He had answered my request by putting that woman on the porch and then testing me to see if I would take the opportunity to actually be useful. He was asking me if I was I alert to His answer to my prayer. Was I willing to be useful? Praise God, He not only tested me, but He also allowed me to pass the test. I had prayed to be more useful and, five minutes later, He had allowed me to be useful. I had encouraged my sister in Christ and had (possibly) spurred her on to love and good deeds. I had helped her see more from Ezekiel than she probably had seen before. I had been useful! Praise the Lord!

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 8/2/2023                     #665

Warnings of the watchman (Ezekiel 33:1-7)

BACKGROUND OF THE PASSAGE

The prophet Ezekiel had been appointed by the LORD to be a watchman for the house of Israel (Ezekiel 33:7). The word of the LORD had come to the prophet and had described for him the circumstances that demanded a watchman for the people and what the obligations were for this person.

The people needed a watchman because there was an imminent danger of destruction. There was a sword from the LORD coming upon the land and the watchman was appointed to blow the trumpet and warn the people so that they had an opportunity to escape. Sounds simple enough, right? But there was a catch. If for any reason the appointed watchman did not blow the trumpet and warn the people, the sword would certainly take a person away, “but his blood I (the LORD) will require from the watchman’s hand (33:6).”

Clearly, when the LORD appointed a watchman for the people, He expected the watchman to blow the trumpet at the appearance of the approaching sword. Things did not go well for the silent watchman.

PARALLELS BETWEEN THE WATCHMAN AND THE WITNESS

While at first glance this story of watchmen and trumpets and swords may seem far removed from our own experience, when seen through the lens of the gospel, the picture is strikingly relevant. Let’s make some word substitutions.

Sword = God’s Judgment                    Trumpet = Gospel

Blow the trumpet = Proclaim the gospel

Take warning = Believe the gospel     Delivers his life = Is saved

Ignores the warning + Does not respond to the gospel

Sword takes him away = Perishes forever in hell

THE KEY QUESTION: WHO IS THE WATCHMAN?

The critical question in this parallel is, “Who is the watchman?” Is the watchman every believer, or is the watchman one of a small subset of all believers? We need to explore this question to be sure that our blood is not being required because of our silence.

It is possible that “the watchman” is a special Christian who has been set apart by God for this special task of proclaiming the gospel. It is possible that the large majority of believers are not obligated to communicate the good news to the lost at all but are free to be silent about the terrifying peril facing the unsaved and to be silent about the salvation that is promised to all those who will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is possible that the large majority can be silent while a small minority bears all the obligation to proclaim. I suppose it is possible that is the case, but there are several things that make me nervous about that.

One thing that bothers me about the idea that a special, select group of believers shoulders the responsibility for proclaiming the gospel to the lost is that I cannot find that in the New Testament. Jesus’ statement, “You shall be My witnesses,” is for all those who have received the Holy Spirit, not just for an elite subgroup. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is given to every member of the church, not to just a handful of specially gifted people. If I accept that I am a member of “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9),” then I must also perform the duty of proclaiming His excellencies. If there is a special group of people who serve as New Testament “watchmen,” I need to know who they are and how they are identified to be sure that I am not unknowingly among them.

But there are other things that cause me concern. Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of man (Matthew 4:19).” That sounds like if I do the one, I also do the other. If I follow, I also fish. It sounds like all followers, fish for men, not just a select few. Doesn’t it?

Paul wrote, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us (2 Corinthians 5:20).” But aren’t all believers to be ambassadors to the lost?

In that same chapter, Paul also says, “Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men (2 Cor. 5:11).” Surely all believers know the fear of the Lord’s judgment. So, all believers should be involved in persuading people that the sword of God’s judgment is poised above all those who have not fled for refuge to the Lord Jesus.

Bottom line is that the Bible teaches we are all the Lord’s watchmen and, therefore, we do not get a pass. In fact, we read that there is a consequence that flows from our silence. Notice that if Ezekiel had been silent, the blood of those who perished on his watch would have been required from Ezekiel’s hand. I am not sure what the phrase “blood required from your hand” means, but I do know that I do not want to find out.

Ezekiel was appointed a watchman to blow the trumpet and warn the people of the coming sword. In the same way, we, as followers of the Lord Jesus, have been called out of darkness to let our light shine (Matthew 5:16). The Lord has bought us at the price of His own blood, and He has given each of us a huge sack of seed. It is written, “The sower went out to sow (Matthew 13:3).” And what are we to sow? We are to scatter the seed of the gospel everywhere and everyday so that the world may know of Jesus and so “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).”

So, you and I are “the watchman.” We see that there is a judgment coming and that there is only one means of escape. “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).” So, we blow the trumpet of the gospel so that men and women may find refuge in Jesus.

SDG                 rmb                 6/7/2021         #413