Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me. If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself. (7-9)
In my early days of church planting in Zambia, we didn’t have cell phones or even reliable landlines. Instead, we had a base radio at our house and a mobile HF radio in our 4WD truck. In those days, most of my colleagues who worked in the bush had HF radios as well. Each of those church planters had a specific handle or call sign that they used to identify themselves. Typically, they were handles that used radio letters like “Lima Delta” which was radio lingo for L.D. Another good friend used the call sign “King Fisher” because he loved birds and he said he was “fishing” for the King 😊. My call sign was “Watchman” and it came from this very passage above. No, I was not a prophet for the people of Israel and I was not standing on the wall to warn of an impending army on the way; however, I did have the firm belief that God had sent me to that place to share the gospel with the lost, plant churches, and call people to repentance before it was too late. I am in a different location now, but God has still called me (and you) to be a Watchman for Him and reach those around us before time runs out.
Ezekiel had a serious responsibility because he couldn’t just decide to take the day off. God told him to listen to His words and warn the people. If he failed to warn the people to repent, this would not keep disaster from coming or give sinners the excuse that they had not heard the warning. On the contrary, they would still die in their sin, but Ezekiel would be judged by God for His silence. All around the world today, people are dying and going to Hell… not because they have not heard the gospel… but because they are sinners. Yet, most have not had the opportunity to hear that Jesus offers them eternal life, because we are not doing our job to go to them. Do they face judgment because they did not get the chance to repent? No, they face judgment because they are sinners. However, we who have the words of life and who fail to share them will also be held accountable. God told Ezekiel that “their blood would be on his hands.” I used that call sign Watchman to remind myself every day that I had a job to do that was more important than anything else in the world. God forbid that any of us would stand before Him and have blood on our hands because we were too busy, or too shy, or too lazy to share with the lost when we had the chance.
