Ezekiel 33:10

Ezekiel 33:10 says, Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?  This was stated before in Ezekiel 18:20 but is expounded on more here.  God’s word for Ezekiel to speak to the house of Israel was to ask how they thought they could live in sin and yet live.  They still hadn’t changed their ways.  God has been warning people since the fall of Adam and Eve that they must repent and come to Him for salvation, but too many still don’t listen.   

Verse eleven adds, Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, 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?  God said that He had no pleasure in the death of wicked men but only had pleasure in their turning to Him by faith for forgiveness so that they might live spiritually with Him forever.  He then called on the house of Isreal to turn from their evil ways and put their faith in Him.  People sometimes ask how God can send people to hell, and He doesn’t.  Their refusal to accept His gift of salvation is what sends them there, so they are responsible.   

Verse twelve continues, Therefore, 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: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.  I believe that basically God was saying that our righteous will not save us and our sins will not condemn us if we repent of them and put our faith in God, beginning with accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  The people of Isreal had begun to think that they were special because of who they were and not because of Who God is.  There are still people today who think that they are special to God because of who they are or where they were born, but unless they have put their faith in Jesus Christ and live by faith, they will one day find out how wrong they were.   

Verse thirteen concludes, When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.  God said that He would say to the righteous, those who had put their faith in Him, that they would live, but that to the self-righteous who had put their faith in themselves or the world that they would die. I believe this means spiritually more than just physically, and it is still true today.     

Ezekiel 33:6

Ezekiel 33:6 says, But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if 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.  God said that the watchman bore a big responsibility.  If he had warned the people and they were taken away captive, they would bear all the responsibility, but if the watchman did not warn them, he would bear some responsibility for their defeat.  I believe that every person is responsible for their own accepting or rejecting God’s gift of salvation, but if God has given us a chance to witness to someone and we don’t, then He is not going to hold us blameless.   

Verse seven adds, So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.  Ezekiel was told that he had been set as a watchman over Israel and that he was to receive God’s word and warn them of their coming defeat.  We as Christians are called to be watchmen to the lost people of the world and are to share the word that God gives us with them.  This starts with sharing the gospel.   

Verse eight continues, When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if 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 thine hand.  God said that the wicked of Isreal would die in their iniquity, but He would hold Ezekiel responsible for their failure to accept His word if he didn't proclaim it to them.  I don’t believe that we will be held blameless if God gives us an opportunity to share the gospel and we don’t and the person we should have witnessed to dies unsaved.  This should give us an urgency to always do so.   

Verse nine concludes, Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.  God said that if Ezekiel warned the people and they didn’t listen that they would die in their iniquity but that he would have delivered his soul.  I don’t believe that if we witness to people today and they don’t believe that this brings us salvation, but it does show our obedience to God as His followers, and we will bear no responsibility for failing to warn them. 

Ezekiel 33:1

Ezekiel 33:1 says, Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  Ezekiel didn’t specify the exact day that God’s word came to Him this time, but he still knew that it was God’s word, just as we should always know when God is speaking to us.   

Verse two adds, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:  Now, Ezekiel was to speak to the people of Israel.  He had prophesied against other nations in the previous eight chapters, but he was now to speak to the people of Israel and let them know who he was, and that was a prophet of God.  He was to let them know of the coming danger to them.  We as Christians today are to let lost people know of the coming danger if they do not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and we are also to tell saved people of the danger of coming under the power of sin once more.  Like Ezekiel, we are to be watchmen on the wall.   

Verse three continues, If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;  God said if the watchman saw trouble coming to the land that he was to blow the trumpet to sound the alarm.  As followers of Christ today, we are to sound the alarm of God’s coming destruction, to our fellow believers, but especially to the unsaved of the world.   

Verse four states, 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.  God also said that if the trumpet sounded warning people of the coming destruction and they did not heed it that they would be taken away captive and it would be their own fault.  We as Christians are to sound the alarm of God’s coming destruction, and if we do not heed it, the responsibility of our coming everlasting punishment will be our own.  Of course, everyone is always responsible for their own belief or disbelief in God’s salvation plan, but we as Christians have a responsibility to share the gospel and warn people of God’s coming judgment.   

Verse five adds, He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.  God once again states that the responsibility for heeding the warning of the watchman rests with each individual. Those who hear and take action will be spared, and those who don’t will have their blood on their own hands.  When we share the gospel with people today, those who accept God’s gift of salvation will be spared everlasting punishment, and those who don’t will go away to everlasting punishment, but it will be their own disbelief that sends them away.   

Ezekiel 32:28

Ezekiel 32:28 says, Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.  God said that Edom was going to be broken in the land of the uncircumcised and be buried with them or those who were not a part of His kingdom, like the Scythians had according to Matthew Henry.  If we do not put our faith in Jesus Christ, it doesn’t matter if we are buried with honor or not.  If we don't, we, like all non-believers, will one day go down into the pit of hell.  

Verse twenty-nine adds, There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.  The people of Edom would be buried without honor, just as the Scythians had been before them.  Everyone who does not accept God’s gift of salvation will one day end up outside His kingdom, and there will be no honor for them there.   

Verse thirty continues, There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.  God gave another example of a nation that had once been powerful but was now buried without honor.  This is the fate of all today who do not put their faith in Jesus Christ.   

Verse thirty-one states, Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord God.  God said when the Pharaoh saw what had happened to all these other nations, and he would be comforted by the fact that Egypt was not the first great nation to fall.  He was no better or worse than them.  Of course, just the fact that someone who we thought was powerful fails today doesn't mean that we should be comforted if we do also.  The only way to be comforted forever is by putting our faith in Jesus Christ.   

 Verse thirty-two adds, For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.  God said that he was the One Who had caused the fall of Egypt, just as He had all these other nations, and that the Egyptians would be buried with all non-believers.   This is never going to change.  Anyone who doesn’t accept God’s gift of salvation will be carried down into hell with all other non-believers.