EZEKIEL 26-33 I HAVE MADE YOU A WATCHMAN2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 26-33 I Have Made You A Watchman

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013.

We are here in Ezekiel and we'll be looking at chapters 26 through 33 because these are the chapters that we read this week as we've been going through the Bible in three years. Ezekiel is one of the major prophetic books. He's the fourth one that we've been looking at thus far and we're going to be going into Daniel in just a couple weeks.

And so we're continuing to work our way through the Old Testament. Once we get past Ezekiel, you're going to be surprised. It's going to go really, really fast. And we're going to finish up the Old Testament in just a couple months. And we're going to be flying through books like crazy because most of the books after this are very short. You know, three, four chapters is kind of the norm. And so we're going to be going through lots of material in the coming weeks. It's going to be very exciting.

The book of Ezekiel is written by Ezekiel who ministered around 593 to 571 BC. At least those are the dates that he has recorded for us in the book of Ezekiel. So those are the dates that we can be sure of. He wrote for three basic purposes or God used him to speak to address a few different situations. First of all, chapters 1 through 24, he was declaring the fall of Jerusalem.

We finished that section up last week as the people there in Babylon with Ezekiel were thinking that God was going to set them free and they were going to return home because that's what the false prophets were telling them. And God through Ezekiel was saying, no, Jerusalem is going to fall. It is going to be destroyed. And so you need to be here and be submitted to where I have you at this time.

Then in chapters 25 through 32, Ezekiel is pronouncing judgment on the nations. And that's where we're at this evening. We'll be covering those chapters and looking at the judgment on some of the surrounding nations as God is bringing it forth. And then the third section, which is what we're heading into this week, is God is giving hope of restoration to the nation of Israel today.

throughout the rest of the book. And so we're going to be focusing back now on the nation of Israel and Judah and God's future plan for them. Now Ezekiel is ministering in Babylon alongside of Jeremiah and Daniel. So looking at our timeline, we're looking here at the

The time when Babylon conquers Jerusalem for the final time and the city is destroyed, demolished. The rest of the inhabitants are taken into captivity except for a few of the poor people that are left in the land. And so Ezekiel is ministering to the Jewish people who have been taken captive to Babylon and

And Jeremiah, which we just went through prior to this, he's ministering around the same time frame. But he's ministering in Jerusalem to the people as they're about to experience this destruction. And then, of course, Daniel is ministering during this time as well. He is also in Babylon, but he's, you know, in the, well, we'll see it in the next couple weeks as we head into the book of Daniel. He's serving the king and he's prophesying.

on a very high level, you know, to the nation of Babylon where Ezekiel is ministering particularly to the Jewish people that are captive there in Babylon. So this is what it looks like on the map. There in Jerusalem is where the nation of Judah was. That was, it was really reduced to that city at this time. And Jeremiah was there. He was prophesying to the people, calling them to repentance.

was with the Jewish captives in Babylon, they weren't captive like they were in a prison cell. They were captive in the sense that, you know, they were moved to a new location, a new neighborhood, and they weren't allowed to go back home. And so, you know, they were to set up lives there and, you know, have occupations and build houses and,

that kind of thing. And they were, you know, they had to stay in that area that Babylon had set them in. And so Ezekiel is there with the captives. He's prophesying to them, calling them to repentance and also letting them know that what the false prophets are teaching is false.

So on our timeline here, we can see that Babylon first conquered the nation of Judah around 605 BC. And that was because, well, after a couple hundred years of calling his people to repentance, Babylon

God used Babylon as his instrument to bring judgment. And so the first time that Jerusalem was conquered, Daniel was taken captive to Babylon as well as many of the other men. And they were taken to Babylon. And then a new king was set up.

with an agreement. Hey, you're going to be obedient to Babylon. You're going to be submitted to Babylon. And he says, yes, I will. I'll be submitted to Babylon. But then he rebels. And so later on in 597, Babylon comes again to conquer Jerusalem for the second time.

They are successful. They conquer Jerusalem. Ezekiel is taken to Babylon at that time as well as many other captives. A new king is set up and you're going to be submitted to Babylon. Yes, I'm going to be submitted to Babylon. So he's set up as king. This is Zedekiah now. And so Zedekiah continues on in Jerusalem. And then later on he rebels against Babylon as well. And so now Babylon is coming for the third time.

to conquer Jerusalem and so it's in between the second and third time that Babylon came against Jerusalem that Ezekiel begins to prophesy and announce these things to the people and so he's speaking before it happens and then a little bit afterwards as well talking about the judgments of God that are being poured out

Now last week we finished with chapter 25 and I just want to recap that briefly because chapters 25 through 32 of Ezekiel kind of all go together and it's because it's talking about the judgment that God will announce on the surrounding nations all the while declaring that then they will know that he is the Lord.

Because that's the theme throughout the book of Ezekiel. We see that over and over again, over 60 times that phrase is used, that God's purpose in bringing judgment upon these nations is that they would know that he is the Lord.

And so God was declaring that in chapter 25 against Ammon and Moab and Edom and the Philistines and declaring their destruction ahead of time, which Babylon was going to come and bring on these various nations. Because then, once they were conquered by Babylon, God said that then they would know that he is the Lord. Now as we go forward in our chapters this evening,

We're going to look at the remainder of the nations that God addresses through Ezekiel. And it's really just two more nations. It's the nation of Tyre and the nation of Egypt.

Now, my intentions this evening are to, it's a little bit different than our normal Wednesday evenings in that I intend to cover the bulk of our chapters a lot faster than usual because I want to hold some time for chapter 33 of Ezekiel. And I think that God has some special things that he wants to speak through that chapter. And so we're going to go a little bit more quickly than normal. I'm not going to go into as much detail chapter by chapter.

And so just letting you know ahead of time. But we're starting out in chapter 26, verse 3 is the key verse. Here's what it says. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you as the sea causes its waves to come up.

So we begin now addressing the nation of Tyre and God says in verses 1 through 6, I am against you, O Tyre. Now Tyre was a major port city. It was incredibly wealthy from all of its trading. It was a little bit north of the nation of Israel. And so it was right there on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and it was the major port. So all major trading and commerce and everything went through the city, the nation of Tyre. And

And so God is now talking to and addressing this nation and saying, I am against you. Why? Well, he tells us in verse 2, he says, Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, Aha!

And then God says in verse 3, So he explains that he is against Tyre because...

At Jerusalem's fall, Tyre rejoices. And the mindset of the people, the mindset of Tyre was that, hey, they've fallen. That means we're going to be filled. All the commerce and transaction that we were missing out on because it went to Jerusalem, now we're going to get all that business. And so we're going to be, you know, even more wealthy. We're going to have extra trades and extra commerce. And so it's to our advantage that Jerusalem is destroyed.

And so God says, I'm against you. In verse 6, he says, then they shall know that I am the Lord. Now this is really important to understand because God is dealing not only with Israel and Judah, but he's dealing with all nations and all peoples.

He's not just dealing with the Hebrews or the Christians. He's dealing with all peoples with the ultimate realization that they will know that he is the Lord. Now as we've been going through the book of Ezekiel, I've been asking the question and I will continue that. When will you know that he is the Lord?

Because Philippians tells us, Paul tells us in Philippians chapter 2, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's the reality. Every knee will bow. Whether you believe in Jesus or not, you will bow to Jesus and confess that he is Lord. But the question really for us is when will we know that he is the Lord? When will we bow to Jesus? Because we have the opportunity right now to bow and to be submitted to him

Or we will be forced to bow and submit to him when it's too late when we stand before him in his glory. And so there's an opportunity for us to know that he is the Lord right now and to be submitted to him. In verses 7 through 14, he tells us that he will bring Nebuchadnezzar against Tyre. So he says, I'm going to...

Deal with the nation of Tyre. I'm against Tyre. And my instrument for judgment is Babylon with King Nebuchadnezzar. I like verse 10. It's kind of a good visual. He says, because of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you.

I like that picture. This cloud of dust. This massive army that Babylon will bring against Tyre. And the people of Tyre there behind the walls see all this dust that just comes and lands on them. Because of the multitude of the horses that Babylon brings against them.

And so he's bringing this great army against Tyre to bring destruction upon it. In verses 15 through 21, he says that the coastlands will tremble on the day of your fall. The world is going to be shocked when Tyre is destroyed. Now we've been dealing with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews were going to be shocked when Jerusalem was destroyed and conquered, but it wasn't going to be so surprising to the world.

In this case though, when Tyre is conquered, the world will be shocked. The nations will tremble. The coastlands will tremble. In verse 16 he says, all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground, tremble every moment and be astonished at you.

And so people are not just like a little bit, you know, surprised at this. I mean, this is dramatic. The kings are taken off of their robes and they're trembling in fear when Tyre is conquered. And it gives you an idea of the importance of this city, this nation, and the great extent at which Babylon went to in order to conquer them caused all the world to fear.

So this is fulfilled by Babylon, but then also by the Greeks a little bit later. So the city of Tyre there, it's the region a little bit north of Jerusalem, a little bit north of the nation of Israel. You can see the Sea of Galilee there on the top. And so they're right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

They're conquered by Babylon around 573 B.C. But then they're also conquered a little bit later by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. And here's why that is. It's because the city of Tyre moved when Babylon came against it. So originally, on the far right here you have that orange circle. The city of Tyre was originally there on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

And there was an island about a half mile off the coast that they moved to during Babylon's siege. Now that island was something that they would use. You know, it was populated. It wasn't that they had never been there. But they used it for like special ceremonies and things like that. The main city was right there on the coast. And they used it for like special ceremonies and things like that.

Not on the island. And so during the siege. You know you can imagine Nebuchadnezzar is camping around them. You know they're sneaking boats out across the sea. To move their stuff. To move all their merchandise. To move their wealth and their people. Off to the island where it's a lot easier to defend themselves. And so there on the island they establish the city. As Babylon you know is coming against the city on the coast. Well then.

Babylon conquers the city on the coast, but doesn't conquer the island city. Alexander the Great comes along around 333 to 332. He lays siege to the island city. And the way that he does it is he takes all the rubble from the city that was on the coast. He makes a causeway. You know, he puts it all in the water. And so he builds basically a path there.

across the sea to the island and they're able to come and conquer the island city as well. And so all of these things are fulfilled by Babylon and then later on by Alexander the Great. And so it's pretty cool prophecy in verse 4 and 5 here. He says, "...they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers."

I will also scrape her dust from her and make her like the top of a rock. And that's what Alexander the Great did. He scraped everything, you know, and took all the rubble, scraped it like the top of a rock, poured it into the sea in order to build this causeway out to the island. And so...

Alexander the Great in doing this basically permanently changed the coastline and it changed the way that the water is and so now the original city is underwater and of course now it's built up more, the land connecting it. So now it's a peninsula because of what Alexander the Great did in conquering Tyre. Alright, chapter 27 now, verse 2 is the key verse. He says, Now son of man, take up a lament or a lamentation for Tyre.

In verses 1 through 11, Tyre says, I am perfect in beauty. And here we see, you know, the real issue for the city, the nation of Tyre is that they were full of pride. I like to say it this way. The problem with Tyre was that it was inflated. Right?

Get it? Tire inflated. They were full of pride. And the pride of tire brought its destruction. They lived how they wanted to live. They thought that they were not accountable to God. They thought that God's words did not apply to them. And so they did what they wanted to do. They were very wealthy. They were very strong. There was so much abundance. They had, you know, what they thought, so much wisdom. But they did not know that he is the Lord. And so they lived unaccountable to God.

Verses 12 through 26, he says, your merchants traded your many luxury goods. And it talks about the various goods and all the different things that came from all over. They were so successful.

Maybe as the saying was, you know, a couple years back, you know, they were too big to fail. They were so essential to all of the different kingdoms because of all the things that were provided for and supplied through this merchant city. Verses 27 through 36, he says, your merchandise and men will fall into the sea. He says in verse 35, all the inhabitants of the isles will be astonished at you. Their kings will be greatly afraid and their countenance will be troubled.

And so this is going to be shocking because their city is going to be destroyed. The merchandise, their men, will fall into the sea as God brings this judgment against Tyre. Chapter 28 now, verse 14. He says,

In verses 1 through 10, he says, Here he addresses the pride again. They were inflated. They were puffed up, thinking highly of themselves.

You can see it in verse 2. He says, Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, thus says the Lord God, because your heart is lifted up and you say, I am a God, I sit in the seat of gods in the midst of the seas, yet you are a man and not a God, though you set your heart as the heart of a God. They were full of themselves and thinking, hey, we are God. We're not accountable to God. We are God.

In verse 3, he makes reference to their thought that they were wiser than Daniel. Interesting, huh? Daniel has been in Babylon for about 18 years at this time. And so he's been serving, you know, King Nebuchadnezzar. His fame has become well known. But Tyre has considered themselves to be wiser than Daniel.

But God is saying, I'm bringing judgment against you. And so in verse 9 he says, will you say I am a God before him who slays you? It's like, hey, you can't kill me. I'm a God. Well, you know, nice try. You're not a God. You are going to be destroyed because you've inflated yourself. In verses 11 through 19, he now kind of changes the subject a little bit. He says, you were the anointed cherub.

Now in this portion, verses 11 through 19 of Ezekiel 28, it's a very interesting passage because it seems that God is speaking about more than just the king of Tyre at this point. And so most people believe that this is addressing Satan's fall. And so it's kind of a parallel. He's talking about Tyre, but there's a lot of similarities between the pride of Tyre and the pride of Satan at his fall.

In verse 14, he says, you were the anointed cherub who covers. He says, I establish you, you are on the holy mountain of God. You walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones. In verse 15, he says, you were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created till iniquity was found in you.

And so there was this iniquity that was found in the king of Tyre and probably a reference to Satan here that he was found with iniquity as well when, in verse 17, your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. And so there was this great pride that lifted up

up and caused him to fall. We also see this idea in Isaiah chapter 14 verses 12 through 15 where there God addresses Lucifer and talks about this issue of pride where he was saying I will ascend into heaven. I will be like the most high. There was this pride that was there and that was what caused him to be cast out.

Well, the king of Tyre has similar traits. And so it's kind of a parallel talking about both Satan and the king of Tyre at the same time. Then in verses 23-24 he says,

Now Sidon was a city just north of the city of Tyre. And so he's addressing them as well. And he says, And so again I ask the question, when will you know that he is the Lord? For Sidon, they would not know that he is the Lord...

Until he executed judgments and glorified himself in their midst with those judgments. So in other words, they refused to obey God. They refused to recognize him as God. And so instead, God said, I will force you to recognize me as God by bringing judgment upon you.

And it's a good warning for us. When will you know that he is the Lord? Is that what it's going to take for you to be submitted to God, to fully surrender to God? That you would require that God brings judgment in order for you to recognize that he is God. That's the hard way to go. You don't want to go that way. And so that's why we need to take heed to the warning now and submit to God and to really hear from him and to follow him with all of our heart.

Well then he says in verse 25 and 26 that Israel will dwell securely. He looks forward now at the nation of Israel. Things really that will be fulfilled during the millennium when Israel will know that he is the Lord and they will dwell securely as he reigns over them. Chapter 29 now verse 2 is the key verse. He says son of man

So now as we go into chapter 29, we're now addressing the nation of Egypt. So we've been talking about Tyre thus far in the previous three chapters. Now four chapters addressing the nation of Egypt. He says in verses 1 through 7, I am against you, O Pharaoh.

What's going on with Egypt? What's going on with the Pharaoh? Well, in verse 3, he explains, The issue with Egypt was they were self-sufficient, they thought. They don't need God. We have our strong army. We have all these resources.

And so they were not submitted to God either. And so God says in verse 4, I will put hooks in your jaws. And then in verse 6 he says, Then Egypt shall know that I am the Lord.

So Egypt was located on a bunch of rivers and so he's using these pictures of the rivers and fish and things like that and hooks in the jaw. And so God's going to catch them. He's going to hook them and then they will know that he is the Lord. When will you know that he is the Lord? What's it going to take?

You will bow, but what will it require for you to be fully submitted to him? Don't make the mistake of Egypt and require that he puts the hook in your jaw. In verses 8 through 12, he says, I will make Egypt desolate forever.

He says in verse 9, the land of Egypt shall become desolate and waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord because he said the river is mine and I have made it. Here God's saying, look, you trusted in the river. You trusted in all of your resources and in your self-sufficiency. And when I take all that away, then you will know that I am the Lord. And that's the reality that we, well, we must understand.

When the things that we trust in become desolate, we learn that He is the Lord. When we trust in things that are not God, when our faith is in things that are not God...

and we're holding to those things, and we don't trust in God, then when those things become desolate, so when that savings account becomes desolate, or when that person that you're trusting in fails you and becomes desolate, or whatever it is that you're trusting in, you know, that career, that plan, that job, whatever it might be, when those things fail you, because they all will, anything that's not God will fail you, that's when we learn that He is the Lord. And those things that we trusted in,

will fail us unless we're trusting in God. He says in verses 13 through 16, Egypt shall be a lowly kingdom. He says in verse 15, it shall be the lowliest of kingdoms. It shall never again exalt itself above the nations. And this has been fulfilled. Egypt up to this point has been a superpower for a long time, really since Joseph was there.

And for hundreds of years, Egypt has been a power to be reckoned with. I mean, you didn't want to mess with Egypt. They were powerful. They were strong. They exalted themselves over nations. But God says, never again. And so up to even today, never again have they exalted themselves over the nations. They've been diminished greatly. They're a lowly kingdom. In verse 16, God says, Israel will know that I am the Lord. And so when he diminishes Egypt...

then Israel will know that he is the Lord. Why? Well, because Egypt is what Israel or Judah was trusting in. And so again, when the things that we trust in become desolate, that's when we learn that he is the Lord. And so because Judah was trusting in Egypt instead of trusting in God, when God brings this destruction upon Egypt, that's when they learn that he is the Lord.

And verses 17 through 21, God says, I give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar for his labor against Tyre. Now this prophecy is unique. It kind of stands out because Ezekiel identifies it, that it happens around 571 BC. So about 20 years after some of the things that we've been studying earlier. So it's a lot later in his ministry that he's giving forth this prophecy. So at this time, Tyre has already been conquered.

And now Babylon is going against Egypt. And God is declaring, alright, Babylon worked really hard against Tyre.

But they didn't get all the riches because the people moved it to the island city. And so they conquered, you know, the coastland city. But they didn't get any reward for the judgment that they brought upon Tyre. And so God says, I'm going to give Egypt to Babylon as payment for Tyre. And so it's going to be an easier battle. They're going to be victorious. And then they're going to get the spoils of battle as payment for Tyre.

their destruction of Tyre because God was using them as his instrument to destroy them. So chapter 29 of Ezekiel has been fulfilled. Ezekiel was conquered by Babylon around 571 BC and that is the region there to the west of the nation of Judah south of Jerusalem and so that whole region was conquered by Babylon. Now

It wasn't probably conquered in the way that Jerusalem was conquered the third time, you know, where it was leveled and, you know, all the inhabitants. It probably wasn't like that. But they conquered the major cities, took some captives and scattered them just like they did in the previous times that they came against Judah where they conquered it. But they allowed them to continue to be, you know, their own kingdom with the agreement that they would be submitted to Babylon. Okay.

Chapter 30 now, verse 8 is the key verse. He says, So again, for the next couple of chapters, he's going to be dealing with Egypt.

In verses 1 through 9, he says, the sword shall come upon Egypt. The sword's going to come, he says, and against all her allies as well. Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, Chubb, all those nations around Egypt that are allied with her, the sword is going to come against them. And so in verse 6, he says, those who uphold Egypt shall fall.

And then in verse 8 he says, then they will know that I am the Lord. So when all of our helpers fall, then they realize that he is the Lord. Because when we trust in things and they become desolate, that's when we learn that he is the Lord. And that's why we need to trust in the Lord because he will never fail us.

Verses 10 through 19, he says, Nebuchadnezzar shall destroy the land. He says, I'm going to destroy the land. He lists various cities that are going to be destroyed, Pathros and Zon and all these major cities of Egypt. He's also going to destroy the idols and all those false gods that they worshiped.

And then in verse 19 he says, Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. So again, that's the theme. That's what God's accomplishing here. He's glorifying himself and causing the people to know that he is the Lord. And if they will not know that he is the Lord by listening to him and responding, then they will know that he is the Lord when he brings this judgment upon them.

In verses 20 through 26, he declares that he will scatter the Egyptians. Now, at this time, we're going back to around 587 BC, which was kind of the normal time of Ezekiel's prophecies. And so God is describing Egypt here as having one arm that's been broken because...

Egypt suffered a great defeat against Babylon in 605 BC. So one arm's been broken. They still had some strength though. And so God says, now I'm going to break both arms. The broken one and the strong one. Both arms are going to be broken. And I'm going to strengthen the arms of Babylon. In verse 26 he says, I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.

And so again, when will you know that he is the Lord? Reading through these things does cause me to think beyond personally to our own nation. You know, our nation really kind of needs to take heed to these things that we're looking at. Because as a nation, as a whole, we are turning from the Lord.

And it's easy to see, just as Egypt was trusting in itself and its resources and its strong army, it's easy to see a lot of parallels with America as well. Trusting in ourselves, trusting in our allies, trusting in our technology. When will we know that he is the Lord?

And that's something that we need to be prayerful about because, you know, if we exalt ourselves just like these other nations and don't trust in the Lord, then we will learn that He is the Lord one way or the other. But again, I would ask you to consider these things personally as well. When will you know that He is the Lord? What's it going to take for you to be fully sold out, to be fully passionate, to be fully dedicated to God and to submitting to Him?

Chapter 31 now, verse 3 is the key verse. Son of man, say to Pharaoh, king of Egypt and to his multitude, whom are you like in your greatness? So in verses 1 through 9, he says, hey, who are you like in your greatness? Now he goes through this passage and compares Egypt to Assyria. And he says, look, Assyria was a great tree. He uses the illustration of a tree. Assyria was a great empire. I mean, it was a powerful kingdom.

But it was cut down. God used Babylon to cut it down. In the same way, he says to Pharaoh, who do you think you're like? Are you like Assyria? Assyria was cut down. Why do you think that you won't be cut down? Isn't it amazing how we always think that we're the exception, right? Well, it's not going to happen to me. It'll never happen to me. But although Egypt was thinking that, God's saying, no, it happened to Assyria. It's going to happen to you. In verses 10 through 14, he says, I've driven it out for its wickedness.

Assyria I drove out. I cut off that tree. That tree is no longer there. That nation has been thrown down. And so verses 15 through 18. You shall be brought down as well. You're not greater than Assyria. Assyria was great. It was cut down. You will be brought down as well. Chapter 32 now verse 18.

He says,

Verses 1 through 10 record for us this lamentation for Pharaoh. This was a funeral song. He was writing this funeral song for Pharaoh, for the nation of Egypt. Verse 3, he says, I'm going to spread my net over you. In verse 4, I will cast you on the open fields. In verse 6, he says, I'll water the land with your blood. Then verse 10, many peoples will tremble for their own lives in the day of your fall. Now Egypt was a great nation, a powerful nation at this point.

But God is speaking in advance and saying, this is what I'm going to do. This is what's going to happen. And so he writes this lamentation for Egypt. Verses 11 through 16, he says, the sword of Babylon shall come. And so continuing to announce that Babylon will be the one. And he says in verse 15, when I strike all who dwell in it, then they shall know that I am the Lord. And so again, he's bringing this awareness that he is God to the nation of Egypt.

Verse 17 through 21, he says, Egypt will be cast into the pit. He calls Ezekiel in verse 18 to wail over the multitude of Egypt. It's a good reminder here. God is not happy and joyful about judgment. He calls Ezekiel to wail. This is an occasion for sorrow. It's tragic that they will not know that he is the Lord. And so...

They've rebelled to this point that now he is forced to bring this judgment upon them. It's an occasion for wailing. God is not excited about it. Wail. Why? Verse 20, she is delivered to the sword. Cast down to the pit. Verse 22 through 32, he says, Assyria, Elam, Meshach, Tubal, and Edom are there. Now, these are all nations that God used Babylon to judge.

And he's saying, Egypt, you're going to be cast down just like those other nations. So that finishes up then. Chapters 25 through 32 are focused on judgment of those surrounding nations that they might know that he is God. Now as we go forward into chapter 33 and through the rest of the book, we're going to be primarily focused back on Israel and Judah.

And for the next couple of chapters, we'll be looking at some various things. But then, as we head into next week, we'll be primarily looking forward to the millennium through the rest of the book and the glorious things that God has in store for his people as he has brought judgment upon them, but not to be finished with them, but to bring them back and bring great restoration to them in what God has, you know, in store and promised for them.

But we want to finish up this evening in chapter 33. And I want to take some time to go through some of the things here in chapter 33 and dig in a little bit deeper than we usually do on a Wednesday evening. So chapter 33 verse 7 is the key verse. He says,

So in verses 1 through 11, God is speaking to Ezekiel. He says, hey Ezekiel, I have made you a watchman. And he explains first of all, verses 1 through 6, what the role of a watchman is. He makes sure that we understand and he says, pass this on to the people that you're ministering to there in Babylon. Remind them of what a watchman is.

Now what is a watchman? A watchman is one who stands on the wall of the city and he's the alarm system for the city. He's the one who's to be looking out to see if there's any threats that are coming. And if he sees a threat that is coming, then he has to sound the alarm, blow the trumpet. He has to make awareness that there is this threat that is coming.

Now, as he gives this warning, then the people have an opportunity to respond. They have an opportunity to grab their weapons or to hide themselves and protect themselves. They have an opportunity so they're not caught off guard.

Now, if he blows the trumpet because he sees the danger and the people don't take the warning, they say, ah, you know, it's just a guy blowing a trumpet. It's not a real warning. I don't have to pay attention to it. And then when the danger comes, they are killed. He says that the watchman has fulfilled his duty. So their blood is on their own head. If he

sees the danger and doesn't warn, well then that's different entirely. The person still dies because they didn't take precautions, they didn't prepare themselves, but

The watchman, their blood will be required of them as well. And so there's an accountability that is built into this role of watchman. There's a responsibility there. And God says the blood will be required of the watchman for those that were not warned because he did not sound the alarm. But if he sounds the alarm, then the people are warned. And if the people don't listen, that's on them. His job, the watchman's job is to sound the alarm.

So he tells Ezekiel, make sure the people understand this. Remind them of the role of a watchman. And then he says in verse 7, So you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore you shall hear a word from my mouth and warn them for me. So first of all, understand the role, he says to Ezekiel. Let the people understand the role. And then everybody needs to understand, Ezekiel, you are a watchman.

And so as Ezekiel has been sharing the things that we've been reading, he's been God's watchman. He's seen the danger, the false prophets, the things that they were trusting in, the idols that they were worshiping, and he's been calling them to repentance. He's been sounding the alarm. This is a path to destruction. You need to repent. And so God says to Ezekiel, I have made you a watchman.

Now for us this evening, I would like to encourage you and help you to consider that you are a watchman as well. It's not just Ezekiel, but you are a watchman.

As you look around, you can find a lot of warnings that are going out these days. There's lots of alarms that are being sounded. You know, watch out for these foods. Watch out for these scams. Watch out for these, you know, internet computer viruses. Watch out for privacy. Watch out for, you know, there's all kinds of warnings that are being sounded. And maybe you're sounding some of those alarms. But

You are a watchman, but that's not really the kind of watchman that you are called to be. Notice what God tells Ezekiel. He says, therefore, you shall hear a word from my mouth and warn them for me. And I really want to encourage you. I think you need to consider the warnings that we give need to be words from the mouth of God. That is that you need to hear from God.

You need to hear from God and then share what he says. Now we could talk about that in terms of the gospel message that we hear from God, the gospel message, what he has declared, the way of salvation. And that is one aspect of us being called a watchman because there's a danger ahead and we need to sound the alarm and present the gospel, declare the gospel, hear a word from the mouth of God and then warn the people.

But as we talked about earlier, a couple of weeks ago in the book of Ezekiel, we also need to be careful that we don't just share our opinions and our ideas about whatever things we might be discussing. That when we talk, that when we, especially as we're representing God, that we don't just share our thoughts or our ideas, but that we share the word of God. And we're quick to tell people what we think they should do.

But what we're really called to do is to hear from God and then share what he says. And so I want to encourage you to hear from God and make sure you share when you hear from God. But don't just share whatever you feel like sharing. Hear from God and then warn the people. Now there's another side of this that you need to consider as well. Not only is God called you to be a watchman, but God has given you watchmen. That is that God has set

watchman over you. That he has placed spiritual authorities in your life. And their job is to warn you. Their job is to be the watchman to sound the alarm when there's danger ahead. Now we talked a little bit about this on Sunday in Ephesians chapter 4. God gave positions of authority and leadership to the body of Christ. That's Jesus's gift to the church.

Is roles of authority. And we see that in Ephesians chapter 4. As well as some other places. And so as you consider Ezekiel being the watchman. Also understand. That there are watchmen that God has placed in your life. And their job is to warn you. And God will hold them accountable.

To whether or not they warned you when he told them to warn you. So in verse 8 he says, So those that are watchmen in your life,

Those spiritual authorities that are in your life, if God has a warning for you, then he delivers it to them. But if those spiritual authorities don't deliver the warning, then God is very clear. They will be judged for that. Now that doesn't mean that you escape if you're involved in wickedness. You still be judged for your sin. That's what he's explaining in verse 8.

But there's an extra accountability now for the leader, for the watchman who will be judged as well because they didn't deliver the message. Verse 9, he says, nevertheless, if you warn the wicked to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul. So if the spiritual leader in your life delivers the warning to you, they have delivered their own soul, whether you respond or not.

So if you respond and repent, then you've delivered your soul as well. But even if you say, I'm not listening to you, you're crazy. The spiritual leader has delivered their soul. There's a built-in serious accountability. It's like what James said. Hey, don't many of you desire to be teachers because there's a stricter judgment that is applied to those. There is a real accountability here that God has set up for watchmen.

You might remember Paul in Acts chapter 20. He says, He says, He says,

And that's why we go through the scriptures. That's why we are, you know, building, you know, we built this ministry heavily upon studying the scriptures to declare the whole council because we have an accountability, a responsibility to make sure that we bring forth the word of God. But I'm sharing all of this to say, listen, listen to your leaders, right?

Listen to those spiritual authorities that God has placed in your life. Listen to those watchmen. Who do you listen to? Who is it that you're paying attention to? Where do you receive counsel from? Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 5 to let elders who rule well, especially those who teach the word, let them be counted worthy of double honor. And I like that idea of double honor because the idea in the Greek is kind of like a double weight.

Give extra weight to whatever your spiritual leaders say. Give extra weight to their counsel. Give extra weight to their warnings. Give extra weight and listen to what they have to say. Because they are watchmen. And if they don't warn you, God's going to hold them accountable. The author of Hebrews addresses this as well. He says in Hebrews 13, 17, Obey those who rule over you and be submissive.

He says, Those are some of our favorite words, right? Obey, submit. But that is God's instruction to us. There's watchmen in all of our lives.

people that God has placed in our lives as spiritual authorities and he says you need to obey them you need to be submitted to them it's not about whether you agree with what they say or whether you like what they say or whether or not you prefer what they say or you like someone else's counsel better than theirs no give double weight to theirs and obey them why he says because they watch out for your souls as those who must give account because they're watchmen

And God will hold them accountable. And there's a serious stricter judgment for them if they do not instruct you in what God says. And so he says, let them do so. Let them rule over you. Let them be a spiritual leader, a watchman in your life with joy and not with grief. Let them fulfill their role of a watchman with joy because you're so obedient to what God speaks through them.

He says, look, if you're grieving your watchman, it's unprofitable for you. It doesn't help you to grieve your watchman. God has placed them in your life for a reason. Listen to your leaders because they are watchmen who must give account. Now, maybe you're thinking, Jerry, this is pretty self-serving because aren't you just talking about yourself? Listen, you can go somewhere else then and submit to the leadership there, but submit to your leadership.

But also I'm not just talking about myself. There's other spiritual authorities that God has placed within this body. And if you're a member of this body, there's ministry leaders, there's the board of directors, there's elders, there's pastors. There's spiritual authorities here. And you need to submit to them. It's good for you. They do not say what they say. They do not share what they share for their own sake, but for your sake. Because, well, they have this strict accountability and judgment.

If they are not faithful to deliver God's instructions to you. Listen to your leaders. Because if your leaders are off. If your watchmen are not speaking forth. They're not hearing from God and they're delivering something else. You don't have to worry about that. It's not for you to decide and figure out. God's going to deal with the watchmen who are off. Listen to your leaders. Now.

As a spiritual authority here at Living Water, let me just share. You know, throughout the past few months, as we've been going through the Bible in three years, God has been calling us to repentance. I mean, seriously, every week. And maybe you're tired of me calling for repentance, but this is where we're at. Throughout the book of Jeremiah, the thing that we kept seeing over and over again is you can be broken...

Or you will be broken. One way or another, you're going to be broken. You can choose to do so now. Submit yourself to God. Or God will crush you and you will be broken. That theme kind of carries on to Ezekiel. When will you know that he is the Lord? Is it going to take that crushing? Or will you be broken? Will you submit yourself right now? Now I'm seeking to be faithful. To sound the alarm. Because this is where we're at in the word of God.

And I've been doing this long enough to know, even when I don't know what's going on in people's lives, when God has us in things like this and call for repentance, it's because there's people that need to hear that call and that need to respond, that need to repent. And I don't know who you are and I don't know what's going on in your life. I don't know what's happening in your heart. But I do know as a watchman, and God seriously laid this on my heart this morning, it's time to repent. What's it going to take?

If Wednesday after Wednesday after Wednesday is not enough, what's it going to take? Are you really going to require that God bring judgment in your life to turn from those things that he's speaking to you about? To fully submit to him and stop fighting against him? To stop trusting in your own resources and trusting in yourself? What's it going to take for you to fully surrender to God? Now, continuing on here in chapter 33, going on now verse 12 through 20.

I'm kind of continuing on the thought. He says, when the righteous turns, he shall die. When the wicked turns, he shall live. God is explaining here, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness, then he shouldn't be surprised when he experiences judgment. Because he's turned from his righteousness. Now the people are saying, that's not fair, God. I did righteousness. Yeah, but you've turned to wickedness. So,

He's talking about, look, past things really don't matter. What really matters is where are you at right now? If you were previously involved in wickedness and serving all kinds of things that were not of God, but you turn to righteousness, then you'll have life and those past sins will be forgiven and forgotten. But in the same way, if you turn from your righteousness and turn to wickedness, then all of your righteousness doesn't count for anything. Right?

And you'll be judged for your wickedness. The Christian life is one that requires continuing growth. The call is for us to die to ourselves and submit to God. And listen, it really doesn't get easier. It doesn't get easier. It's not that you just, you know, you become born again and it's like, okay, great, I got to die to myself. Man, yeah, that was hard for a couple weeks. And then, you know, for the rest of my Christian life, it's easy. No, no, no, no. The flesh has to be crucified.

Over and over and over again. And it's painful every time. The Christian life is one that requires continuing growth. Which means you will have to crucify the flesh. You'll have to put yourself to death. Over and over again. It always hurts to die to yourself. It always hurts. To choose to live the Christian life is to choose that battle, that war.

That I'm going, as Jesus said, to take up my cross daily, deny myself, and follow Jesus. That's the call. That's the commission. That's what the Christian life requires. But what happens to many Christians is they feel really secure because they got saved, they believed in Jesus Christ, and then they get, you know, partway into their walk and they're like, I'm at a comfortable spot here. I don't have to keep growing. But that's not what the Christian life requires.

And the problem with that is we put up with sin. And we just allow sin to continue in our lives. Listen, if you're living in sin, you do not know that he is the Lord. Oh yeah, I know he's the Lord. I prayed this prayer. No, no, no. If you're living in sin, you do not know that he is the Lord. You don't know. When will you know that he is the Lord? You have no reason to expect life and blessings if you're living in sin. You can't continue living

To disregard God and expect him to give you life and blessings. Verse 13, he says, When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered, but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die. I would ask you to consider, what is God speaking to you right now, today? What has God been doing in your life? Don't look to past things presently.

In the present time, today, what has God been speaking to you? How are you growing? How are you submitting to Him? What is God doing in your life right now? If you're just continuing to live in sin, you have opportunity to repent. That's the message that God's giving here. But if you're continuing to live in sin and you don't repent, don't expect to be treated as a righteous person. You say, well, Jerry, this is Old Testament. You know, this is, there's a whole new thing in grace, you know, in Christ.

I would encourage you to consider John chapter 15 where Jesus says, you need to abide in me. And if you don't abide in me, you're cast off. And that's why Pastor Chuck always said, look, why leave it a question? Stay close to the cab. You know, if you're riding in a pickup truck, which unless you're a little bit older than I am, you really don't know what that experience is like, right? But remember we used to ride in the back of pickup trucks and the tailgate was down and it'd be like, oh, you know, don't fall out the back.

We don't have those issues anymore. But we used to experience that. I remember that feeling. Like, whoa, I got to stay away from there, right? Stay close to the cab so you don't fall off the truck. That's the idea of abiding in Jesus. Stay close to Jesus. Pursue Jesus. Submit to Jesus. Grow in Jesus. Be passionate about Jesus. Otherwise, man, there's a big risk you're taking. That's a big question mark to have. We need to be continuing to grow.

Then in verses 21 and 22, the messenger comes and says that Jerusalem has been captured. Then in verses 23 through 29...

The people in the land are saying, hey, we're going to possess the land still. You know, there's a few poor people left. They said, look, Abraham was just one man and he possessed the land. And so we're going to do the same. And God challenges them and says, look, you're acting in great wickedness. You're eating the meat with the blood, which I told you not to do. You're worshiping idols. You're shedding blood. You're relying on your own sword. You're defiling your neighbor's wife. He walks through the list of their sinfulness.

He says, look, you're expecting to be blessed like a righteous man, Abraham, even though you're living in wickedness. You're not going to possess the land. I'm not going to bless you like a righteous man when you're living in wickedness. And then he concludes chapter 33, verses 30 through 33. He says, they hear your words, but do not do them. Verse 31 says, so they come to you as people do.

Let me sound the alarm, okay? There's a danger of coming to service and sitting through it and thinking...

wow, you know, that was a good message. That was a good teaching. Oh, worship was wonderful, Ronnie. You have such a beautiful voice. But there is no value in being here if you're not going to heed the watchman. If you're not going to put God's word into practice. There's no value in coming if you're not going to live it out. James says, don't be a hearer of the word only and deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Put it into practice. Live it out.

There needs to be an aggressiveness to our approach to services. There needs to be aggressiveness. I'm going to come, I'm going to hear from God so that I can tomorrow put things into practice. So that I can live out what God is saying. So that I can grow in my relationship with God. We need to be pursuing God. Putting God first. The first and greatest commandment, Jesus said, is to love God with all your heart and soul.

and soul, and mind, and strength. And that's, well, that's where we need to be. And if we're not there, then we need to repent. Love God with all your heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. That is, be aggressive to pursue God, to seek first the kingdom of God. Let Him be God. Let Him be Lord over your heart. That is, over every emotion.

That it's what he says that matters. Not what you feel about it. Not what I feel about it. Not what my emotions tell me. But what God tells me. That comes first. That's the priority. And I obey that regardless of how I feel about it. Love God with all your soul. The word for soul is closely related to the word for breath. I like that idea. Let him be God over every breath. Let your relationship to God be that close. That as you breathe...

You are communicating with God. You are looking to God. You are pursuing God. Love God with all your strength. That is, make Him Lord over every action, over all your energy, over all that you do. Do it to the glory of God. Do it for God. Do it unto the Lord. And love God with all your mind. Let Him be the Lord over every thought. Don't just come to service and say, nice Bible study, good worship.

That's what the people of Ezekiel's day were doing. But they don't do what God was saying. And there needs to be an alarm that's sounded. Because there's some of you who've been hearing the call to repentance or whatever else God may be speaking to your heart. I know he speaks differently through different passages and things to people as we're going through these passages. Don't just hear these words. Do what God says. Be aggressive. Love him with all your heart.

With all your soul. With all your mind. And with all your strength. Heavenly Father we do pray that you would help us to do that. Lord as Peter experienced. Lord we know the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak. And so Lord help us. Help us God. To not just think these things or be excited about these things. But to really live them out and do them. Help these to be serious decisions and commitments in our hearts.

And Lord, I pray that you would help us to crucify the flesh, to put to death our own desires, our own emotions, our own thoughts, our own feelings about things, and to really trust you and submit to you and submit to those that you've placed over us as watchmen. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.