Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me (Ezekiel 3:17).
This is not exactly the job for which everyone is running to apply.
The job of the watchman was never very glorious. Depending on the circumstances, it was either quite boring or extremely tense. The watchman did exactly that– watch. He would stand on a city wall or on a tower on the wall and look for signals from neighboring cities or looking out for approaching enemy armies or bands of marauders. To be a most effective watchman one would have to find a way to be on the alert at all times even though nothing would likely happen for the majority of the time. Nevertheless, when the warning call did need to be made, time was of the essence. An alert watchman who warns of the danger in advance might likely save the town; an indolent or sleeping watchman might unwittingly mean its destruction. But the worst of all would be the bribed watchman– the one who may betray the town for his own advantage!
God is giving Ezekiel a rather thankless task. Living near the Chebar river in exile, Ezekiel will not be very effective at watching out for the physical enemies of Israel. Instead, God appoints Ezekiel as a more “spiritual” watchman. His task is to warn the Israelites of spiritual dangers. He must warn the wicked to cease their wicked ways. He must warn the righteous to not turn toward wickedness. If he warns them, and they do not listen to him, they stand condemned but he is absolved. But if he does not warn them, and the wicked persist in sin and/or the righteous turn toward sin, they will be condemned and God will require their blood from Ezekiel’s hand (Ezekiel 3:18-21)!
The rest of the story of Ezekiel is the demonstration of how he faithfully communicated God’s message to Israel even though far too many did not obey. He warned; they did not listen; the blood was not required from his hand.
Sadly there always seems to be plenty of need for watchmen. Very few people enjoy being told that they are wrong and that their standard of conduct is unacceptable before God. This has almost been codified in our own day as law under the guise of relativism– what is wrong to one may not be wrong to another, and who are any of us to judge any other? While people remain quite happy to take advantage of some blessing or encouragement from their fellow man, if anyone dares to even suggest that some of their beliefs or practices are wrong, out come these pleas for tolerance and relativism. “You have no right to judge me.” “Just because you think that way does not mean that I do not have to.” “Get out of my business.” This last comment gets to the heart of a lot of people’s attitudes: I am my own master. No one has the right to tell me what to do. I am not accountable to anyone else. And do not believe for a minute that it is just the secularists who say such things; if you ever dare to suggest to many who profess belief in Christ that some tenet of their doctrine or practice is wrong, the same line of logic is employed. The deck anymore seems quite stacked against anyone who would go against the grain to stand up to declare as wrong what God says is wrong and right what God says is right!
We should hasten to note that God gave a very specific charge to Ezekiel and gave him particular responsibilities that came with specific revelations and direction that we no longer have. There can be no national “watchman” or “watchman” for the universal church since there is no authority for such a position and no prophetic revelation to go along with such a position.
Nevertheless, in the New Testament, elders are entrusted with the shepherding of the members of the local congregation with which they work (1 Peter 5:1-4), husbands are entrusted with the spiritual direction of their families (Ephesians 5:22-6:4), and all Christians are entrusted with the encouragement and exhortation of their fellow members within the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Galatians 6:1-4). Every elder and husband will be called into account for how they worked with those under their responsibility and for their direction; every Christian will be called into account as to how they encouraged and exhorted one another (Acts 17:30-31, Romans 2:5-11, Hebrews 13:17). There is definitely an element of the “watchman” in these roles. And all believers are charged to reflect the light of Christ to the world, and that light stands as a testimony against the darkness (Matthew 5:13-16, John 1:4, 9-13).
“Watchmen” also need to watch themselves, as Paul encourages in Galatians 6:1-4. We all need warning sometimes. We all need a word to encourage us to do the right and avoid the wrong. When wrong is being done and nothing is said about it, the wrong is made to seem right, or, if nothing else, justified. How many times have people persisted in sin for want of that word of exhortation that shows that the sin is sin and ought to be avoided? How many have perished for lack of proper encouragement and exhortation?
Warning must be made to avoid sin. Exhortation must be given to encourage righteousness. Everyone ought to be humbled and chastened by their own transgressions into realizing that the task of sounding out that warning is nothing to relish or enjoy. But it must be done. Let us remember that we are accountable to God. Let us remember that we should be thankful that someone is willing to care enough to warn us about the possible dangers of our behavior. And when we warn others, let us keep our own weaknesses and transgressions in mind, remembering that the goal is to show the love of God toward others so that they will not perish but might obtain eternal life. Ultimately, we all stand or fall before Jesus our Lord for what we have done in the flesh; we will not be judged for what others have done, but we will be judged for how we related to others (cf. Romans 14:1-12). Let us avoid sin and seek to serve God!
Ethan R. Longhenry