The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet #8033 Ezekiel chapter 33

This should put to rest the theory that just going to church and listening to the Word of God (which probably isn't even spoken there) is good enough?
It is the solemn duty of a watchman to sound the alarm and warn the people.

Have you ever walked away from a great big meal with that "stuffed" feeling after having eaten so much good food? Of course you have. Those are the meals we remember the most. Well, that's about how I feel about the king of Babylon right now. We've certainly been fed from the scroll the foreknowledge that he is coming, haven't we?

Well, knowledge can be a wonderful thing and very satisfying indeed, and if one has been given knowledge of the truth and of the events of the future he should consider himself very blessed. We have been given awesome intelligence reports in God's Word and in this book of Ezekiel concerning the soon coming king of Babylon (Satan).

However, along with all that knowledge of the truth comes a responsibility, a very great responsibility. You see, for the watchmen of this final generation it is a matter of life and death, even eternal life and eternal death, not so much for the watchmen themselves, but for their families and friends and their fellow countrymen.

Consider the following the scenario:

Imagine that you were in the army on the front line with the ground troops, and you were one of a select group of intelligence specialists who were highly trained in enemy tactics and in interpreting the movements and activities of the enemy as sure signs that they are getting ready to attack. So because of your special training you were assigned to "watch duty" to lookout for signs of an approaching enemy. All of your fellow soldiers in the camp and all of the commanding officers have knowingly or unknowingly placed their trust in you to "forewarn" them if you see signs of trouble.

Now suppose you were standing on your watch and you DID SEE signs that the enemy was approaching but you did nothing about it, and you failed to sound the alarm, and you failed to tell anyone in the camp that they were about to be slain. And so the enemy came and slew them all!  You're going to be in heap big trouble when the General finds out, aren't you? A quick court-martial and death by a firing squad is my guess.

On the other hand, suppose you were standing on your watch and you DID SEE signs that the enemy was approaching and you sounded the alarm and forewarned everyone you possibly could, but only a handful of them heeded your warning and put on their armor. And so the enemy came and slew all the rest of them. Surely you shall be decorated for your valiant efforts in trying to save your men.

Here's what the LORD has to say concerning the duties of His watchman:

[2] 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:

So, verse 2 says that God is going to "bring the sword" (of the king of Babylon) upon the land! (No duh! I'm so full!) There will be watchmen at that time who will SEE that he is coming. How about you? Are you familiar with the warning signs?

[3] If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

[4] 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.

[5] 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.

Ezekiel 33:6
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.

Let's see if that is the primary thing our Father wants us to do:

[7] 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.

Here's the Hebrew definition of the word "warn".

Warn = zahar, zaw-har', Hebrew 2094; a primitive root; to gleam; figurative to enlighten (by caution) :- admonish, shine, teach, (give) warn (-ing).

Ezekiel 33:8
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.

[9] 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.

Ezekiel 33:10
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?

"If our sins and transgression press upon us and we are wasted away in them, how can we live (receive eternal life)?"

Tell them that God swears by His eternal life that He has absolutely NO PLEASURE whatsoever in seeing someone deceived and "slain by the sword".

[11] 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?

But know this one thing. It is our Father's desire that ALL of His children repent and turn from their evil ways. He does not want to see anyone perish along with Satan, and He is patient and longsuffering and willing to embrace with His loving arms all who will turn to Him and say Abba, Father.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

When you consider all that He has done for us, His children, how can anyone not love our Father?

We have learned that our Father does not wish for anyone to perish, nor does it give Him any pleasure whatsoever to see the death of the wicked (vs. 11). That would include His son Satan as well! It gives our Father no pleasure to have to destroy that son who once was perfect in his ways (Ezek. 28:15) and esteemed a morning star (an admired prince) by God and all His children. That is why the plan of salvation is such that any person who is judged to die and sentenced to perish in the lake of fire will have personally CHOSEN death of his or her own free will! You can be sure that Satan had every opportunity in "the world that then was" to repent and change His ways, but instead he willfully chose death over life and so at his judgment his fate was sealed according to his wishes and his book was closed forever.

And so it is that each and every child of God must individually, of his or her own freewill, decide whether to live or die. It is God's will, however, that you choose "life", which is to love Him, for He is your life (Deut. 30:20).

Deut. 30:15
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

Acts 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring

[16] In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

The choice is up to each individual. God so wishes for each child to love Him and not follow after Satan. You see, it is a choice about LOVE and to whom you will set your HEART to follow after. Satan turned his heart away from God and would not repent of his iniquities.

Acts 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring

[17] But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

[18] I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

[19] I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

[20] That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Acts 17:28 "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, `For we are also His offspring.' "

Have we not read time and time again in this book that everyone, the good, the bad, and the ugly, is going to face the king of Babylon? He shall come against both the nations of Israel and the gentile nations, i.e. the whole world. And having read thus far in Ezekiel can there be any doubt at all about who that soon coming king of Babylon is in this final generation? He is the king of Babylon of Revelation, the son of perdition, the abomination of desolation, the devil, the spurious Messiah, i.e. Satan himself disguised as Jesus Christ (2 Thes. 2).

When the king of Babylon of Revelation arrives here in person (Rev. 12:7-9) there will be only one group of people who will not be "slain by his sword", i.e. deceived into believing Satan is Jesus Christ and worshipping and serving him. That group are those men and women who have the Seal of God, His Word, in their foreheads [brains] (Rev. 9:4). All others will be spiritually slain because all others have the Seal of Satan, deception, in their foreheads [brains]. In Revelation this seal of deception is called the mark of the beast.

There is only one way to avoid being slain by the beast and to acquire the Seal of God in your mind, and that is to "eat the scroll", study His Word, and "digest it in your bowels", i.e. absorb it in your mind with understanding. We are about to read in the next verse in Ezekiel 33, is that there are no "good deeds" or "righteous acts" that will prevent your slaughter (spiritually) by the king of Babylon. If you are Biblically illiterate and ignorant of God's Word, you are simply not "sealed" and you WILL BE deceived by Satan. It is written! It is your choice.

Therefore repent and stop listening to the traditions of men, taught in your church and study His Word and then, unlike those in the last few verses of this chapter, DO THEM.

Ezekiel 33:12
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.

That "falling away" is to be "slain by the sword" of the king of Babylon, i.e. deceived into believing that the son of perdition is Jesus Christ.

[13] 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.

[14] 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;

[15] If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Ezekiel 33:16
None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

Forgiving a person and not "mentioning the sin to that person again" is God's way. But man (as noted in the next verse) says that the way of the Lord is not equal, i.e. is not measured out fairly. This "forgive and not mention" thing is a big problem for the churches who continually want people to rehash the juicy details of their sins in confessions and testimonials before the congregations.

It is their way that is not equal.

[17] Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

Proverbs 14:12
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Proverbs 16:25
There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Ezekiel 33:18
When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.

[19] But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.

[20] Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

Ezekiel 33:21
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.

[22] Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.

[23] Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

[24] Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of 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.

Note: The children of Israel, God's people, will be addressed in verse 30.

Ezekiel 33:25
Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

[26] Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land?

"Ezekiel, give these clowns the following testimony from Me", saith the Lord GOD:

[27] Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes 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 be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

[28] For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.

[29] Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.

Ezekiel 33:30
Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against 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 the LORD.

"What do want to do today, honey?"

"I dunno. Let's go listen to Ezekiel preach the Word of God."

"Hey, great idea! Let's go."

[31] And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

"Did you catch the part where he said you must "hunger and thirst" after God's Word and study it to show yourself approved?"

"Yeah, I heard that, but he obviously doesn't know that I have a business to run and I don't have that kind of time to study the Bible."

[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.

Romans 2:13
(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

James 1:22
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Nevertheless, Ezekiel, (and all you present day watchmen) you keep telling it like it is, for that which the Lord GOD has said "will" come to pass, SHALL COME TO PASS! There is no "maybe", the king of Babylon "is" coming!

Ezekiel 33:33 And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

Without Him we don't exist, nor will we continue to exist! We will no longer,v.28 "live, move, or have our being!