~ Warning To All Individuals ~
There are at
least three great warning chapters in Scripture. Interesting enough they all are double digit
chapters ending in three (making it easy to memorize them (Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel
33, and Matthew 23). We are briefly
summarizing these three chapters in this series.
Ezekiel 33 Summary
~ There are several ways of
summarizing this chapter and its warnings.
One way—which is often missed—is the inclusion of individual
responsibility before God in addition to national responsibility.
side note: In the Old Testament we find Israel as God’s
witness (singular) on earth. In the New
Testament all Christians are His witnesses (plural).
God adds a
new principle of individuals being responsible before God in contrast to a main
focus of national sin and consequences.
“Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house
of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and
we pine away in them, how can we then live?”’
Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God,
‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from
his way and live. Turn, turn from your
evil ways! For why should you die, O
house of Israel?’” (verses 10-11). Now
the door is open wide for individual responsibility, individual repentance, and
individual judgment. Another way of
saying it is that the thirty-third chapter of Ezekiel provides the principles
of God’s dealings in the last days—holding individuals accountable before
God.
Ezekiel 33 Scripture Portion
~ “Again
the word of the Lord came to me,
saying, ‘Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them:
“When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from
their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon
the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the
sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes
him away, his blood shall be on his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood
shall be upon himself. But he who takes
warning will save his life. But if the
watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people
are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is
taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's
hand.” So
you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore
you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, “O wicked man, you
shall surely die!” and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that
wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your
hand. Nevertheless if you warn the
wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in
his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul’” (verses 1-9).
closing note: The warnings of Ezekiel 33
are well worth personal study by each of my readers.
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
NOTES:
(1)
The
current
TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very
bottom of this home page.
(2)
There
is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the
left column.
(3)
You
may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website.
(4)
You
may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by
prominently displaying the following statement: Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free
blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid
Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/
.
