The other day I was reading the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. To be honest the prophets of the Old Testament can be tough to understand.
The prophets many times did weird things, spoke with cryptic language (at least to us), and seemed to only say things that upset everyone.
However, this passage was not so much a warning to the people of Israel or Judah but to the prophet himself:
“You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me. If I tell the wicked, ‘O wicked one, you shall surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself” (Ez 33:7-9).
When hearing this passage it is easy to get distracted by the word “wicked,” it appears five times in this brief section. But THIS IS NOT about the wicked. It is about Ezekiel…the prophet…the watchman.
How is Ezekiel to be saved? By preaching the Lord’s message.
Notice how Ezekiel’s salvation does not depend upon the effectiveness of his preaching, ie whether the person accepts the message (that will remain a judgement between God and the person), but instead the only thing that matters is that Ezekiel preach the message.
I suppose you know by now where my mind is going with this…this exact message applies to you and I.
We have been appointed “Watchman.”
“You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:13,14).
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” (1 Pet 2:9)
“So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 10:32, 33).
You are the Watchman!
Our fulfillment of this command is not dependent about people accepting our message put us simply being faithful to the call to preach the message!
As St. Teresa of Calcutta said, “God does not require that we be successful only that we be faithful.”
So let us be the Watchman, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the chosen people that the Lord has called us to be…and then we let the Lord of the Universe do the rest.