A. A warning to the exiles 33:1-20

Since this message is undated, it may have come to Ezekiel about the same time as the previous two in chapter 32, namely, in the last month of 585 B.C. If so, Ezekiel received it about two months after God gave him the six messages recorded in 33:21-39:29 (cf. 33:21). Perhaps the writer inserted the present message in the text here because its strong encouragement to repent was more typical of Ezekiel's emphasis before news of Jerusalem's fall reached the exiles (v. 21) than it was of his emphasis after they received that news. When the exiles learned that Jerusalem had fallen, Ezekiel's messages changed. Before then he called the people to repent (chs. 4-24) and proclaimed several messages of judgment on the nations that opposed Israel (chs. 25-32). After that event his messages were more encouragements that God would restore Israel to her land (chs. 33-48).⁴³⁰The message in 33:23-33 is an exception; it is a strong call to the Israelites to repent and to recommit to obeying the Mosaic Law.⁴³¹

 1. An exhortation to heed the watchman 33:1-9

This part of Ezekiel's message of warning to the exiles is similar to 3:16-21. Yahweh recommissioned Ezekiel to his prophetic task (cf. chs. 2-3).

"Now that Ezekiel's original ministry of judgment was completed, God appointed him as a watchman' for a second time. His message still stressed individual accountability and responsibility, but the focus was now on the Lord's restoration of Israel."⁴³²

33:1-4 The Lord told Ezekiel to speak to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. He had not spoken messages concerning them for about three years (588-585 B.C.), since the Lord had shut his mouth (24:25-27), though he had uttered five oracles against the nations during that time (chs. 29:1-16; 30:20-32:32). He was now to tell them that if the Lord brought war on a land and the people of that land appointed a watchman for them, they would be responsible if they did not heed his warning.

Watchmen stood on the towers of walls in ancient cities and scanned the horizon for approaching enemies. If they saw one coming, they would blow their trumpet, usually a shofar (ram's horn), to warn the people who were farming the lands to take refuge in the city. The figure of blood being on one's head comes from sacrificial practice. The offerer placed his hands on the head of the victim symbolizing the transfer of guilt from the offerer to his substitute.

33:5-6 The citizen would be responsible for his own death if he failed to heed the warning of the watchman. If he responded to the warning, he could save his life. But if the watchman failed to warn the people, he would be responsible for their deaths.

33:7-9 God reminded Ezekiel that He had appointed him a watchman for the Israelites (cf. 3:17-21). He was responsible to deliver the Lord's messages to His people. If Ezekiel failed to warn the people that they would die for their sins, God would hold him responsible for their deaths (cf. Gen. 4:9; 9:5). But if Ezekiel warned the sinners of the consequences of their iniquity and they disregarded his warning, they would die, but God would hold them, not Ezekiel, responsible (cf. Acts 20:26). Ezekiel had carried out his commission faithfully. Chapters 4-24 of this book contain the warnings that he delivered concerning the judgment that God intended to send on Judah and Jerusalem for the people's sins.

"Warning others of the consequences of judgment inherent in sin is never a popular assignment. Believers have a duty to be watchmen' who warn those who are in the world and are without God of the destructive nature of sin and its final irrevocable result--death and hell (33:1-33). Our responsibility is to warn and proclaim as persuasively as possible, but how the message is received is beyond our control."⁴³³

 2. An exhortation to turn from evil 33:10-20

This part of Ezekiel's warning to the exiles is similar to 18:21-32.

33:10-11 The Israelites seem to have taken on more personal responsibility for their sufferings than they had earlier (cf. ch. 18). They wondered how they could survive God's judgments. This is the first indication in the book that they were conscious of their own sins. The Lord affirmed again that He took no pleasure in putting people to death for their sins (cf. 18:23, 32). He much preferred for them to turn from their sin and live (cf. 2 Pet. 3:9). He also appealed again to the people to do just that: to repent of their wicked ways and live (cf. 18:30-31).

33:12-13 The right conduct of a usually righteous person would not exempt him from judgment if he sinned. Neither would the sinful conduct of a usually sinful person exempt him from forgiveness if he repented. The usually righteous person should not take God's promise of life for righteous living as a guarantee that he was exempt from punishment even if he sinned.⁴³⁴

33:14-16 God's warnings that the wicked would die because of their sinfulness also needed to be understood properly. They would die only if they failed to repent. If the wicked turned from his sins and obeyed the Mosaic Law, he would not die (prematurely). God would not hold his former sins against him. He would receive his life as a reward for his righteous conduct.

33:17 The Jews were saying that the Lord was not dealing with them justly, but it was really their conduct and their thinking that were not right.

33:18-19 If a normally righteous person abandoned his righteous lifestyle and pursued sin, he would die for it. But if a normally sinful person abandoned his sinful lifestyle and did what was right, he would live for it.

33:20 The people persisted in claiming that the Lord's ways of dealing with them were not just. Yet Yahweh assured them that He would deal with each of them fairly, according to their own individual behavior. God does not blame one person for another person's sins.

In our day many people refuse to take personal responsibility for their lives and chose rather to blame someone else for the way they live (e.g. a parent, employer, teacher, abuser, the devil, God). We may not be responsible for the actions of others that have resulted in our present condition, but we are responsible for how we conduct ourselves in our present condition.

This message repeats God's appointment of Ezekiel as a watchman over Israel (ch. 3) and His assurance of personal responsibility (chs. 3 and 18). Evidently the exiles had difficulty accepting this revelation. They tended to view Ezekiel as an entertainer (vv. 30-32) and God as unfair.