Christians: What do you make of Ezekiel 3:17-19?

Question

“…Hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”

Do you warn your enemies?
Do you warn your neighbors?
Do you warn your friends?
Do you warn your family?

Do you love them?

What of their blood required at your hand?
What of your soul?

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Answer 1

REWORKED

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2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

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A Belly/bowels - inmost self
B Sweet - Ezekiel found God’s food to be sweet.
C Jesus said; “Do no live by bread alone but every word of God”.

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4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
5 For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;
6 Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.

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A Israel - all of the Israelites not just Judah
B Not going to Egypt or Syria whose language you do not know the nuances of… (this is not as another commentator says “deep language” - a known language is not “deep” to the user).
C God says; “If I did send you to another people and place they would understand the words”.

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7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
8 Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

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A “They are not going to follow ( understand and do) you - they do not follow me.
B all - everyone, impudent - wise crackers, hard hearted - don’t care/don’t believe
C face strong - hard look, forehead = mind/thinking
D Ezekiel thinking stronger than the thinking of the reprobates.
E adamant harder than flint - sharper and harder than flint - flint breaks into sharp shards -diamond (shamir) is harder.

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10 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.

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Listen, absorb, understand, make it part of yourself.

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11 And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

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A them of the captivity - all twelve tribes
B forbear - resist
C children of thy people - also the young, speak to the young and older people not just adults

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12 Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.
13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.
14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

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A description of a chariot of God
B bitterness - a mental state of unsure ness and trepidation
C heat of spirit - displeasure, did not like the transition to the spirit state.
D God was with him, lending strength.
-Note: Another commentator states that this was against Ezekiel’s will. This is not true. Many of the past and current “teachers” want to state the “Chosen” also are stubborn and hard headed/hearted, they are not - God’s true servants are willing and teachable.- Christians must take great care when studying - pharisaical words are just off a little here and there enough to mislead. Sometimes they are blatantly erroneous.

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15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

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A returned to physical state/body
B Tel-abib = Tel Aviv? more likely a place in what today is called Iraq. This is also questionable! That Ezekiel was taken a great distance quickly = conjecture.
C Chebar = tributary of the Euphrates
D astonished - in shock

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16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

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A Seven days to mentally settle
B Watchman is a position of responsibility. This is given to just a few of the Chosen of God.
C word at my mouth - directly from me
D warning - warning

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18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

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A Warn the wicked - this is your responsibility.
B God says that this responsibility is to save lives and Ezekiel is held to account for it.
C Blood require at thine hand - deep, heavy, held accountable responsibility. If a person is not told then God is going to hold Ezekiel to account.
D This has nothing to do with the taking of a life by murder! This is such a great responsibility that if Ezekiel does not warn the wicked it is the same as if he did take the person’s life!

Summation:

Certain people are chosen to warn.
There are many gifts that people are given.

Different ways people act in the service of God.

A few are Called to serve as watchman.

Each Christian should have a working knowledge of God’s word and be able to witness and warn a person a fellow Christian of thinking and acting in wickedness.

We are to be our brother's keeper.

Answer 2

Yes. Since December of 2005 here at the inception of Yahoo! Answers, for one example. Talk about warning the wicked!

Answer 3

Yes, and the biggest trouble I have is discerning just WHO the 'mouth' is that is mentioned here. (There are lots of people who claim to be...) The text does not say: "Read a word from My book", interpret it according to your own knowledge, or someone elses knowledge, and impose that interpretation upon everyone you see. So I guess I'll have to wait until I hear something direct from His mouth...and I guess I'll know His voice when I hear it. As far as warning anyone, that would be easy, if I knew what to warn them about that they haven't already heard.

Answer 4

You are looking at the type of the ministry, Read verse 17 correctly, Son of Man I have made thee a watchmen, ( A watchmen is a minister, Read also Isa. 52:8 It also speaks of the watchmen. And these watchmen will preach the same revelation of God's word. & not many different teachings,You can also find that in Eph. 4:11-17

Answer 5

RE: Christians: Do you coach Ezekiel 23:19-21 in your youngsters? Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the times of her adolescence whilst she engaged in prostitution within the land of Egypt. She lusted after their genitals – as enormous as the ones of donkeys, and their seminal emission used to be as powerful as that of stallions. This is the way you assessed the obscene...

Answer 6

Yes, I warn them, but their obvious refusal of truth also requires I not continue to throw pearls before swine.

Answer 7

One way that true Christians do this is by preaching from house to house. -Acts 5:42

Hmmm, I wonder which religion is best known for doing the work that Jesus told his disciples to do...-Matthew 28:19, 20; Romans 10:13-18

Answer 8

This matches in with Jesus sending his followers out to spread the good news of the kingdom & warn of comeing events (propheticly) .That is why the JW's follow the bibles teachings and go dooor to door ,two by two just as Jesus comanded christians to do. When the end comes no one will be able to say they wern't warned.
By the way i am not a JW..just what I have observed by studying the bible.

Answer 9

Do you mean....

(Eze 3:18) When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

(Eze 3:19) Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

(Eze 3:20) Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

(Eze 3:21) Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

The Answer.... you are Looking for... is Here.....!

(Eze 2:7) And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.

AND....

(2Timothy 4:1-to-5) I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

(2Ti 4:2) Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

(2Ti 4:3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

(2Ti 4:4) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

(2Ti 4:5) But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Thanks, RR

Answer 10

God always uses those who are in touch with Him to reach those who are out of touch with Him. God uses you, in touch with Him, to reach the world out of touch with Him. And that is the primary purpose why you are still here. God has a work for us to do. God is wanting to touch this needy world.

Now, notice Ezekiel wasn't told to convince the wicked to turn. He wasn't told to argue with them. He was only told to declare to them the warning of God. . We can't convert them to Jesus Christ. God doesn't call us to convert people to Jesus Christ. He calls us to warn people. And therein is the calling of God. "I've called you, " He said, "to warn them." We've got to obey it. We've got to be responsible.

Answer 11

This verse is God speaking to Ezekiel warning him that he must tell the people of Judah if they continue in there sin they will be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar's armies. This is not referring to loss of salvation but physical death. God is holding Ezekiel responsible for his fellow Jews if he does not warn them. The principal here is that God will hold people individually resposible to him but as believers we have a special responsibility to warn unbelievers the consciences of rejecting God.

We always need to be careful how we interpret God's word. There are principals to follow in all scripture but not all scripture is directed to or was meant for us.