SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/3/2014
8:35 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Declaring
the Word of the Lord PT-3
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ezekiel
3:16-21
Message of the
verses: We have two more
sub-sections from this third chapter of the book of Ezekiel and from the outline
that comes from the commentary of Warren Wiersbe on Ezekiel.
The Watchman (Ezekiel 3:16-21): “16 At the end of seven days the word of the
LORD came to me, saying, 17 "Son of
man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear
a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 18
"When I say to the wicked, ’You will surely die,’ and you do not
warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live,
that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your
hand. 19 "Yet if you have warned the
wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he
shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. 20 "Again, when a righteous man turns away
from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before
him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and
his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I
will require at your hand. 21
"However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should
not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and
you have delivered yourself."”
The watchman was an important person in the life of a
city as he stood on the wall to watch and see if anyone was coming to try and destroy
the people in the city. If that watchman
fell asleep and neglected his duty then the people in the city could be
destroyed. Now we see that after the
seven days that we wrote about in our last SD that God again spoke to Ezekiel
and told him that he was a watchman for the people of Israel that is those who
were among the exiles. Ezekiel was
responsible in telling them what the Lord told him to tell to them. The exiles were complaining because of the
situation that they were in, as some were complaining against the Lord, and
some were complaining against those who captured them. In this section Dr. Wiersbe points out that
there were four scenarios in this section.
First I want to mention that Ezekiel was a prophet to individuals, and
each individual would be held responsible to what they were doing.
The first scenario is that of the people dying because “the
watchman was unfaithful and didn’t warn them as seen in verse eighteen. Their
blood would be on the watchman’s hands and he would be held accountable (see
verse 20).” I want to go back to the
book Genesis chapter nine and look at verses 1-6 to see where this first came
from. “1 And God blessed Noah and his
sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2 "The fear of you and the terror
of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with
everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your
hand they are given. 3 “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you;
I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. 4
"Only you
shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 “Surely I will require your
lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every
man’s brother I will require the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By
man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.” Jesus also spoke of this in Matthew 23:35
where He said: “so that upon you may fall the guilt of all
the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the
blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple
and the altar.” "We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in
this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring
this man’s blood upon us’ (Acts 5:28).”
We now move to the second scenario and this pictures the
watchman being faithful in warning the wicked, however he refuses to heed to
the warning as seen in verse 19. We have
already learned that the people that Ezekiel was dealing with were very hard
headed and rebellious. In the book of
Matthew chapter 23 and verses 37-39 we see Jesus weeping over the people of
Israel because of their hard hearts: “37
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to
her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers
her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 “Behold, your house is being left to you
desolate! 39 "For I say to you,
from now on you will not see Me until you say, ’BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE
NAME OF THE LORD!’"” I believe that
verse 38 will be fulfilled when Jesus returns to planet earth in the midst of
the battle of Armageddon. Paul writes in
the book of Romans that there will come a time when all Israel will be saved,
and I believe that this happens shortly before the return of Christ to planet
earth.
The third scenario “describes the righteous dying because
they turned from their covenant obedience and the watchman did not warn them
(Ezek. 3:20).” Ezekiel was not only to
warn sinners of their sin and to turn from it but was also to remind those who
were believers, who were obedient to the covenant that when they sin that they
too should repent of their sin. We read
about this in 1 John 1:9 where John writes “If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” Dr. Wiersbe writes “By
putting a barrier in the way, God seeks to prevent the righteous person from
sinning; but that doesn’t excuse the watchman from being alert and giving
warning.” In our NT churches today
Pastors must remind his people not to sin, and give sermons on this
subject. Paul in writing to the Corinthians
was warning them that because of the sin of some of those in Corinth had
already died (fallen asleep) because they had not confessed their sin, and I believe
the sin that he was speaking about was not partaking of the Lord’s Table in the
right manner.
Now we look at the forth and final scenario and it is
that of the righteous heeding the watchman’s warning and not being judged as
seen in verse 21. When Ezekiel gave the
warning to the righteous people and they heeded his warning then they would
live. I believe that this was the reason
that Paul wrote what he wrote to the Corinthians that we just spoke about, and
many of them must have confessed their sin and stopped sinning in the manner
that they were sinning. Dr. Wiersbe
writes “Sometimes godly people get the idea that their obedience has ‘earned’ them
the right to do as they please, but that idea is a great lie. God gives His people many privileges, but He
never gives the privilege to sin.” The
phrase that God is no respecter of people can fit into this scenario.
Now to better understand this passage I must quote a fairly
long paragraph from the commentary of Warren Wiersbe as I do not want anyone
who happens to read this SD to be confused as to what is being said in this
passage, as it can be a bit confusing to read and understand.
“These four examples were given to Jewish people under
the Old Covenant and have to do with obedience to the law and the danger of
physical death. The righteous of the law
was external, but the righteousness we have through faith in Jesus Christ is
internal, and the two must not be confused (Rom. 9:30-10:13). Faith righteousness is God’s gift to those
who believe in Jesus Christ, and their righteous standing before God doesn’t
depend on a hear of good works (Rom. 3-4).
However, our fellowship with the Father depends on a heart of obedience
(2 Cor. 6:14-7:1). If they persist in
resisting His will He may take their lives (Heb. 12:9). ‘There is a sin unto death’ (1 John
5:16-17). Personal responsibility is the
key here, both of the watchman and of the people. If the Jews under the Old Covenant were held
responsible for their actions, how much more responsible are believers today
who have the complete Bible, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the revelation of
God through Jesus Christ? See Hebrews
12:12-28.” We will look at that passage
from Hebrews: “12 Therefore, strengthen
the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13 and make straight
paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of
joint, but rather be healed. 14 Pursue peace with all men, and the
sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one
comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes
trouble, and by it many be defiled; 16
that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own
birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that even afterwards, when he
desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for
repentance, though he sought for it with tears.
“18 For you have not come to a mountain
that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and
whirlwind, 19 and to the blast of a
trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged
that no further word be spoken to them. 20
For they could not bear the command, "IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE
MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED." 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses
said, "I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling." 22 But you have come to
Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who
are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the
righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the
sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. 25 See to it that
you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they
refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away
from Him who warns from heaven. 26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now
He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH,
BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN." 27 This expression, "Yet once more,"
denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things,
so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we
receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we
may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: As I look at all
of the advantages that I as a New Testament believer have because of what the
Lord Jesus Christ has done for me then I am to take advantage of them, (the
things Dr. Wiersbe mentioned), and trust the Lord to keep me from sinning.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Seek the help of the Lord through His Word
and His Spirit to keep me living a life that is pleasing to the Lord.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:1-11.
1 Therefore
if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where
Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things
above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life
is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then
you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
5 Therefore consider the members of your
earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed,
which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is
because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of
disobedience, 7 and in them you also
once walked, when you were living in them.
8
But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and
abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid
aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who
is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who
created him- 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and
Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but
Christ is all, and in all.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Syria” (2 Kings 5:11).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who helped her son deceive
his father?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/3/2014 9:46 AM
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