Ezekiel 33

No, we cannot do the sacrifices, but we can do the Sabbath rest and the blowing of the shofars or trumpets or your voice lifted to the heavens.

And today's part of our study is going to be showing that right now as the shofar is being blown, right now, We are in this Ezekiel 33 phase.

We are in the phase of Zechariah 4.

We are in the phase where the two houses of Israel, Yehudah and Yisrael are shouting out, repent, prepare for your king is coming soon.

I can see for time's sake, I've got to abbreviate this a little bit because we're going to have people like totally zoning out.

So, here are some uses of trumpets.

We can find it in Joel chapter 2, Jeremiah chapter 4, Numbers chapter 10, Hosea chapter 8, Hosea chapter 5, 1 Chronicles 15, Ezekiel 33, Amos 3, and Zephaniah 1.

We can also hear referenced, did I go too fast? Yes, sorry.

You can see why God used him as a watchman.

Ezekiel 33, 1 through 6.

Obviously, you have to channel these emotions with God's love and in accordance with God's law.

But there was another time in American history when that commentator, not 25 years ago, but what, maybe 100, 150 years ago, that commentator would have shrieked in horror and told the audience straight away, we are under attack.

It's just a lot of talk.

And that's the way it's represented in Ezekiel 33 and other prophecies like that.

That's where God is saying to His watchmen, you get out there and declare this warning, otherwise the blood of the people is on your head.

And God says through His servant, He says to the nations of Israel, why will you die? Why are you choosing death? And then you get to the end of that chapter, Ezekiel 33, and you see that there's actually a lot of people that are interested in hearing God's message, God's truth, a strong warning, but they don't do it.

They feel like it's a pleasant sounding message, but it doesn't change anything.

There's no desire to change.

If I could do that to Assyria, of course I can do that to you." And again, it's, it's a oracle against the nation, saying that, "Egypt, you've done evil, and now Babylon is going to destroy you." So Babylon is still a tool in God's hands.

But then we come to Ezekiel 33, and again, Ezekiel is called a watchman.

If you remember, a watchman is a person who stands up in a high location and is looking out for danger and looking out for armies who are gonna come and attack them, and that's what Ezekiel's supposed to do, and it's supposed to represent that judgment is coming, and, "I, Ezekiel, am here to warn you of it." And in these chapters, we hear some really powerful things from God.

In 33:11, it says, "God insists that he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked." God does not want this to happen, in other words, and that they should turn from their wicked ways and pursue justice and righteousness.

We want nothing to do with him." They remain hard-hearted, which of course is the story of the Old Testament and the story of us, if, whether or not we'd like to admit it.

Yeah.

And then this hard-heartedness leads smoothly into Ezekiel 33:21 through 33, where, again, Jerusalem is described as being besieged again.

So if you remember, we go all the way back to Ezekiel 24, before the oracles to the nations.

I'm supposed to warn people when they're not thinking wisely or when they're not acting wisely.

Now just in case you think I'm making too big a deal about this, let me take you to another guy, another prophet named Ezekiel.

Not the football player, but here's what the Bible says about Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 33, one to nine.

The Lord said to Ezekiel, Ezekiel, warn your people by saying this.

Someday, I, the Lord, may send an enemy to invade your country.

And suppose you people choose someone to stand watch and sound a warning when the enemy is seen coming, okay? Now, if you ignore the warning and you're killed in battle, it'll be your own fault because you could have escaped if you'd just paid attention, in other words, to the warning.

But suppose the person given the mission of watching and warning fails to sound the warning signal.

Another very unique commission, and I think it's a commission that belongs to every Christian.

It's in Ezekiel 33, two verses.

God says to Ezekiel, calls him son of man, son of man.

I have sent the watchman unto the house of Israel.

The implication is that the Christian ministers all of us, is responsible to communicate the truth of God or stand in a place of chastisement for not doing it.

But when somebody says to me, well, I just don't talk about that stuff.

Well, then I send them to Ezekiel 33, which I have done with you.

Because if you don't talk about that, you may be withholding that which God designs to be spoken.