Ezekiel 33:7-9
“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Old Testament reading for September 10, is from Ezekiel chapter 33, verses seven through nine. So you son of man, I've made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them morning for me. If I say to the wicked, wicked one, you shall surely die. And you do not speak to one the wicked to turn from his way that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you want the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul here into the reading. So God is speaking to Ezekiel and saying that he has made them a watchman for the house of Israel, someone who guards and protects. And there's the role. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. So the idea here is that if there is an incoming army, the watchman is supposed to warn the city so they can prepare. Now this is, of course, a figurative thing for a prophet. Ezekiel isn't out there saying, you're all going to prepare for an invading army. But he is telling God's word to the people who need to repent. And so God gives Ezekiel a bit of a threat. He says, if I give you a word, and you don't say it, that's on you, Ezekiel. But if I give you a word, and you do say it, then whatever happens isn't on you. If the person repent, yay, wonderful. And if they don't, you will have delivered your soul. Now, in the Lutheran church, we say that the pastor's are often the the inheritors of this office of preaching, an office of the watchman in the church. In fact, one of our ordination hymns is called God of the prophets. Bless the Prophet, son. And it's all about bringing in a new pastor and saying he's taking on this role of, of Prophet in the congregation that is speaking God's word to the people. What it means then is it actually gives me a little quake in my heart as a pastor to say, Oh, God sends us a word. And we must speak it, whether we want to or not, because I have to tell you, it is much easier not to send the Word of God out to those who always need to hear it. It's much easier just to say, You know what, that's on them. But does he he'll says, No, if you have God's word, and you don't speak it to those who need to repent and turn from their ways, then their blood is on you. Oh, Pastor. Yikes. It reminds me a bit of what James says in chapter three, verse one, he writes, not many of you should become teachers, my brother's for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. So, God is warning all the pastors and teachers of the church that when he sends a word to us, we must speak it, the word of Scripture, and all of its content, everything. It's our job, to tell sinners about God's will and call them to return to his grace. That's it for our reading. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai