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Ezekiel 33

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Ezekiel's Role as Watchman Reiterated 1–9

1
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ​
2
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman; ​
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if, when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
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then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
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He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul. ​
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But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, and the sword come, and take any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. ​
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So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. ​
8
When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand.
9
Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.

God's Justice and Individual Accountability 10–20

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And thou, son of man, say unto the house of Israel: Thus ye speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live? ​
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Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? ​
12
And thou, son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall he that is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sinneth. ​
13
When I say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he hath committed, therein shall he die.
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Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
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if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. ​
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None of his sins that he hath committed shall be remembered against him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
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Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. ​
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When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die therein.
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And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
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Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways. ​

The News of Jerusalem's Destruction 21–22

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And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten. ​
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Now the hand of Jehovah had been upon me in the evening, before he that was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb. ​

Judgment on the Survivors in the Land 23–29

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And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
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Son of man, they that inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. ​
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Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes unto your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land? ​
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Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbor’s wife: and shall ye possess the land?
27
Thus shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely they that are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured; and they that are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. ​
28
And I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through.
29
Then shall they know that I am Jehovah, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.

The Exiles' Superficial Piety 30–33

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And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people talk of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from Jehovah. ​
31
And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but do them not; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their gain. ​
32
And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but they do them not. ​
33
And when this cometh to pass (behold, it cometh), then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 33

Verse 1

Again the word of the LORD came unto me — The word returns to 'the children of thy people' after the oracles against the nations (chs.25–32). It opens with the watchman's charge first given in 3:17–21, and the chapter reaches the news that Jerusalem is struck (v.21).

Verse 2

set him for their watchman — The people take the watchman from 'their coasts' (qatseh, the border of the land), but the sword is the LORD's: 'When I bring the sword upon a land'. A like word stands in 14:17. Isaiah's 'watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem' (Isa 62:6) show the office.

Verse 5

took not warning — Zahar, to warn or admonish, runs through vv.3–9 in every verse. The man who 'heard the sound of the trumpet' and did not act has himself to blame: 'his blood shall be upon him'. The one who heeds 'shall deliver his soul', as Noah, 'being warned of God… prepared an ark to the saving of his house' (Heb 11:7).

Verse 6

his blood will I require at the watchman's hand — The words repeat 3:18. 'Require' is darash, the verb of Gen 9:5, 'your blood of your lives will I require'. A trumpet unblown is the watchman's fault; Amos asks, 'Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?' (Amos 3:6). The man is taken away 'in his iniquity' all the same.

Verse 7

I have set thee a watchman — The commission of 3:17 is given again nearly word for word: 'hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me'. Paul uses the same terms of his own ministry: 'I am pure from the blood of all men', for he had 'not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God' (Acts 20:26–27).

Verse 10

we pine away in them — Maqaq, to waste away, is the verb of the covenant curse, 'they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity' (Lev 26:39), and of Ezekiel's own word, 'ye shall pine away for your iniquities' (24:23). The people now repeat it and ask 'how should we then live?'

Verse 11

I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked — The words of 18:23, 32 are given here under the oath 'As I live'. 'Pleasure' is chaphets, delight; 'turn' is shub, said twice, 'turn ye, turn ye'. The verse answers the question of v.10. Peter says it in the New Testament: God is 'not willing that any should perish' (2 Pet 3:9).

Verse 12

The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him — The teaching of ch.18 is put again: 'All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned' when he turns to iniquity (18:24). The righteous man who sins (vv.12–13, 18) is set beside the wicked man who turns (vv.14–16, 19); in each, 'the day' of the change is what counts.

Verse 15

restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed — Repentance includes restitution, as the law required for a wrong done to a neighbour: 'he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more' (Lev 6:5). 'The pledge' (chabol) is as in 18:7. 'Statutes of life' recall 'which if a man do, he shall live in them' (Lev 18:5).

Verse 17

The way of the Lord is not equal — Takan, to weigh or balance, so 'not weighed rightly'. The charge is the one in 18:25, 29, and it is made again in vv.17 and 20. The answer in 18:25 turns it round: 'Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?' Here the same reply follows: 'their way is not equal'.

Verse 20

I will judge you every one after his ways — The words of 18:30, 'I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways', which close the argument begun in v.10. The same standard is held in the New Testament: God 'will render to every man according to his deeds' (Rom 2:6).

Verse 21

one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me — The fugitive (palit) was foretold: 'he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee' (24:26–27). The breaking up of the city is dated in the fourth month of the eleventh year (Jer 52:5–7), well before this tenth month of the twelfth. His report, 'The city is smitten', confirms every word.

Verse 22

my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb — The silence began in 3:26–27: 'I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth', until the LORD should open it. It was promised again at the fugitive's coming (24:27) and in the oracle on Egypt (29:21). The hand of the LORD came upon him the evening before the man arrived.

Verse 24

Abraham was one, and he inherited the land — The people argue from Abraham's number: 'we are many'. Isaiah gives the other side: 'I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him' (Isa 51:2). Stephen notes that God 'gave him none inheritance in it' (Acts 7:5). The people in the 'wastes' (chorbah, ruins) rely on descent; vv.25–26 set their deeds against the claim.

Verse 25

Ye eat with the blood — Three things are named. The blood is forbidden (Gen 9:4; Deut 12:16, 'ye shall not eat the blood'); lifting up the eyes to idols is the act that the righteous man avoids (18:6); and 'shed' is shaphak, to pour out. The question 'shall ye possess the land?' is repeated in v.26.

Verse 27

they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword — Three fates for three places: the sword for the wastes, wild beasts for the open field, pestilence for the forts and caves. They are the sword, noisome beast and pestilence of the 'four sore judgments' (14:21). Jeremiah told the remnant the same: 'ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence' (Jer 42:22).

Verse 30

talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses — The talk happens at the walls and doors, where neighbours meet, each saying to his brother, 'Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.' They go to the prophet as to a speaker, and v.31 gives what they do with what they hear.

Verse 31

they hear thy words, but they will not do them — 'Much love' (agavim) is the word of v.32's 'lovely song'; 'covetousness' (betsa) is gain taken unjustly. Isaiah describes the same attitude: 'this people draw near me with their mouth… but have removed their heart far from me' (Isa 29:13), quoted by Christ in Matt 15:8.

Verse 32

a very lovely song — The word is agavim, the one of v.31 for 'much love'. To them Ezekiel is like a singer with 'a pleasant voice' who 'can play well on an instrument'. Of John the Baptist the Lord said, 'ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light' (John 5:35); Herod 'heard him gladly' (Mark 6:20).

Verse 33

a prophet hath been among them — Coming to pass is the test Deuteronomy gives: 'if the thing follow not, nor come to pass', the prophet 'hath spoken it presumptuously' (Deut 18:22). Ezekiel was told at his call that they would know 'that there hath been a prophet among them' (2:5). The fugitive of v.21 brought the proof.