16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. 20 Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 However, if you have warned [n]the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”
22 The hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24 The Spirit then entered me and made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. 25 As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. 26 Moreover, I will make your tongue stick to [o]the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord [p]God.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.
After Ezekiel has spent seven days by the river, we see kind of an extreme contrast. In vv. 16-21, God tells Ezekiel that whenever he hears from God, then he has to warn the people. Otherwise, Ezekiel himself will be held accountable for their lives. Yet when he goes into the plain, God tells him to go shut himself up in his house.
What? How is Ezekiel supposed to warn anyone if he lives like a hermit, and is even made mute (v. 26)? We finally see the answer to this conundrum in v. 27, where God will open his mouth whenever there is a message or warning to be delivered. From there, it is up to the people, whether they hear or refuse to listen.
We often look at sin as doing something that God has forbidden: lying, cheating, stealing, murder, etc. Yet God makes it clear to Ezekiel that isn’t the case. James covers this subject quite well, and sums it up, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
Many of God’s commands to Israel were instructions on what to do, festivals and holy days to remember, sacrifices to offer, how to get rid of mold, etc. God’s word is not just a list of things to avoid (those are certainly there), but a guide for us on how to live. And “guide” is likely too weak of a word.
There is a picture we often use of driving a car, and a phrase often quoted that goes something like “Jesus take the wheel…” That isn’t just a good idea, it is essential, critical even. Jesus doesn’t ask to jump in the passenger seat so He can make good suggestions. Rather, when we invite Him in, it is as master, and that means He is the driver, we don’t pick where we’re going.
That’s a hard pill to swallow, but when we remember that God wants what is best for us, it should be easier. Still not easy, but it is necessary to call Him Master, as well as Savior and Friend. And to give Him the wheel, letting Jesus drive the car, that is what it means to serve God. That’s not a half-hearted endeavor, but a whole-hearted one, and He wants us to have whole hearts, not to be torn in two. Give Him the whole thing, surrender your agenda, and die to selfish ambition… again and again. Oofta, that’s a challenge, are you in?