Ezekiel 33

Ezekiel 33:1-33

Justification – The book of Ezekiel reveals God’s plan to redeem His people Israel back unto Himself. The theme of Eze 33:1-20 is God’s plan to justify Israel through repentance and obedience to Him. Ezekiel has prophesied of judgments upon Judah and other nations in the preceding chapters. Now God is telling this prophet how the Jewish people are to respond to such prophecies of future judgments. These destructions are intended to bring repentance and righteousness to Judah and the nations; for God takes no pleasure in their destruction (Ezekiel 33:11), but rather in their repentance, in the way the Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah. The phrase, “When I bring the sword upon a land” (Ezekiel 33:2) refers to the time when these prophecies of judgment come to pass.

God’s statement that He has placed Ezekiel as a watchman over the house of Israel (Ezekiel 33:7) means that God will divinely place His watchmen amongst the people in a position where they will be heard as proclaim the truth to the people. The people should recognize them as a fulfillment of God’s prophecies and repent; for this is God’s plan to redeem His people Israel. In this passage of Scripture God makes a provision for escape from divine judgment and forgiveness of sins. Thus, God’s judgment serves a redemptive purpose. In the case of Ezekiel, God divinely placed him in the office of a priest over the Jews in Captivity so that he would be heard, because it was the Jewish tradition to assembly together on the Sabbath and to hear the Scriptures being taught by the priests. They justified themselves as God’s people because their father was Abraham (Ezekiel 33:21-29). When they did assemble to hear the local priest exhort them from the Law, they did not obey what they had heard (Ezekiel 33:30-33).