Reflections on Ezekiel 33

Ezekiel 33 (Contemporary English Version)
1. The LORD said:
   
2. Ezekiel, son of man, warn your people by saying: Someday, I, the LORD, may send an enemy to invade a country. And suppose its people choose someone to stand watch
   
3. and to sound a warning signal when the enemy is seen coming.
   
4. If any of these people hear the signal and ignore it, they will be killed in battle. But it will be their own fault, because they could have escaped if they had paid attention.
   
5. (SEE 33:4)
   
6. But suppose the person watching fails to sound the warning signal. The enemy will attack and kill some of the sinful people in that country, and I, the LORD, will hold that person responsible for their death.
   
7. Ezekiel, I have appointed you to stand watch for the people of Israel. So listen to what I say, then warn them for me.
   
8. When I tell wicked people they will die because of their sins, you must warn them to turn from their sinful ways. But if you refuse to warn them, you are responsible for their death.
   
9. If you do warn them, and they keep sinning, they will die because of their sins, and you will be innocent.
   
10. The LORD said: Ezekiel, son of man, the people of Israel are complaining that the punishment for their sins is more than they can stand. They have lost all hope for survival, and they blame me.
    
11. Tell them that as surely as I am the living LORD God, I don't like to see wicked people die. I enjoy seeing them turn from their sins and live. So if the Israelites want to live, they must stop sinning and turn back to me.
    
12. Tell them that when good people start sinning, all the good they did in the past cannot save them from being punished. And remind them that when wicked people stop sinning, their past sins will be completely forgiven, and they won't be punished.
    
13. Suppose I promise good people that they will live, then later they start sinning and believe they will be saved by the good they did in the past. These people will certainly be put to death because of their sins. Their good deeds will be forgotten.
    
14. Suppose I warn wicked people that they will die because of their sins, and they stop sinning and start doing right.
    
15. For example, they need to return anything they have taken as security for a loan and anything they have stolen. Then if they stop doing evil and start obeying my Law, they will live.
    
16. Their past sins will be forgiven, and they will live because they have done right.
    
17. Ezekiel, your people accuse me of being unfair. But they are the ones who are unfair.
    
18. If good people start doing evil, they will be put to death, because they have sinned.
    
19. And if wicked people stop sinning and start doing right, they will save themselves from punishment.
    
20. But the Israelites still think I am unfair. So warn them that they will be punished for what they have done.
    
21. Twelve years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, a refugee who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me on the fifth day of the tenth month. He told me that the city had fallen.
    
22. The evening before this man arrived at my house, the LORD had taken control of me. So when the man came to me the next morning, I could once again speak.
    
23. Then the LORD said:
    
24. Ezekiel, son of man, the people living in the ruined cities of Israel are saying, "Abraham was just one man, and the LORD gave him this whole land of Israel. There are many of us, and so this land must be ours."
    
25. So, Ezekiel, tell them I am saying: How can you think the land is still yours? You eat meat with blood in it and worship idols. You commit murder
    
26. and spread violence throughout the land. Everything you do is wicked; you are even unfaithful in marriage. And you claim the land is yours!
    
27. As surely as I am the living LORD God, you people in the ruined cities will be killed in battle. Those of you living in the countryside will be eaten by wild animals, and those hiding in caves and on rocky cliffs will die from deadly diseases.
    
28. I will make the whole country an empty wasteland and crush the power in which you take such pride. Even the mountains will be bare, and no one will try to cross them.
    
29. I will punish you because of your sins, and I will turn your nation into a barren desert. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
    
30. Ezekiel, son of man, the people with you in Babylonia talk about you when they meet by the city walls or in the doorways of their houses. They say, "Let's ask Ezekiel what the LORD has said today."
    
31. So they all come and listen to you, but they refuse to do what you tell them. They claim to be faithful, but they are forever trying to cheat others out of their money.
    
32. They treat you as though you were merely singing love songs or playing music. They listen, but don't do anything you say.
    
33. Soon they will be punished, just as you warned, and they will know that a prophet has been among them.
    
    

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    What is it that shapes our sense of fairness and justice? Is it shaped from our thinking that seeks to justify our actions or is it shaped by God's teaching? Often one's sense of fairness is shaped by the need to justify their own actions and thus they accuse God of being unfair when they experience His judgment or are confronted with His teachings. In this chapter God explains to Ezekiel the basis of His judgment: "I will judge each of you according to his ways." (33:20) He explains what this means:  "When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die on account of this. But when a wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this." (33:18-19) Few are likely to argue that it is unfair for God to forgive a wicked person who turns from his wickedness. But  some will say it is not fair for God to not forgive a righteous person who turns to wickedness. But God says that though one may accuse Him of being unfair, "it is their own way that isn't fair." (33:17)
    
    This was the basis of God's judgment on Judah. The people of Judah relied on the past righteousness of Abraham and other patriarchs of Israel to save them though they had become a wicked people. Even after the fall of Jerusalem, those who remained in the ruins tried to lay claim to the land based on Abraham's righteousness. They said, "Abraham was only one person, yet he received possession of the land. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession." (33:24) But according to God's justice, it is the present, not the past, that counts. Even though God's prophets had forewarned the people of coming judgment and now they had experienced it, they refused to acknowledge God's judgment. Thus they had not yet seen the end of it.  "Those who are in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I have given to wild animals to be devoured, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague." (33:27) Once the land had become a desolate waste, "They will know that I am the LORD." (33:29)
    
    When Jerusalem fell, a messenger reached Ezekiel who was in exile in Babylon. For the past 12 years Ezekiel had been in exile, and the last 7 of those years he had been in silence only to speak God's message of judgment to the people. With the arrival of word that Jerusalem had fallen, Ezekiel's mouth was opened and he was no longer silent. Now he had a new mission. Rather than a prophet of God's judgment he was God's watchman to the people. As watchman he was to prepare the people for eventual restoration. The warnings of the watchman were to guide them away from actions that would lead to destruction. He was to help them find their way back.