Dr Hill has just finished writing two volumes of commentary on Ezekiel which will be published at Easter-time under the title ‘Today with Ezekiel’. What appears in this series is a foretaste of these books.

At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me”.

Ezekiel now introduces a major theological issue that was entirely new in the religion of Israel. It was the concept of ‘individual responsibility for sin’. Ezekiel introduces it under the basic principle of the 'watchman'. 

Watchman on the walls

All the exiles in Babylon would have been familiar with the work of the watchman on the walls of a city who had to be constantly alert, looking out for signs of danger. It was his responsibility to see anything that could endanger the welfare of the city and its inhabitants. He would then have to blow a trumpet of warning so that the city’s defences would be alerted, and any necessary steps taken to defend the city.

What is being presented here is actually a new theological concept for Israel.

Ezekiel is told that he is a watchman for the house of Israel and his task would be to declare words of warning that God would give to him. If God gave a specific warning about an individual who was doing wrong and Ezekiel failed to deliver that warning, he would be held accountable when judgement fell upon the man. If he did warn the wrongdoer who continued in his wickedness, that man would come under judgement, but Ezekiel himself would not.

New theology

What is being presented here is actually a new theological concept for Israel. Corporate responsibility for wrongdoing had been the acceptable practice for generations. If one man in the family or tribe sinned, the whole family or tribe was held responsible, as when Achan was held responsible for the military disaster against Ai described in Joshua 7. He had kept for himself some of the booty from the city of Jericho after the walls fell down. When he was found guilty his whole family paid the price with their lives.

Individual responsibility

This doctrine of individual responsibility that Ezekiel was now hearing from God would have been new to the exiles and this was to become an important part of Ezekiel’s ministry, teaching the people that each of them had to bear some responsibility for the disaster that had already overtaken the nation of Judah. Jerusalem had surrendered to Babylon but had not been destroyed, and those who were left behind were now responsible for its well-being.

Ezekiel was accepting responsibility, not simply for ministering to the people in exile in Babylon, but his calling was to the whole house of Israel.

Ezekiel was accepting responsibility, not simply for ministering to the people in exile in Babylon, but his calling was to the whole house of Israel. We know that there was regular communication between Jerusalem and Babylon in this period, so it is reasonable to conclude that Ezekiel would have found ways of sending messages back to members of his family who were priests in Jerusalem.

Secret conspiracy

This was an enormous burden to Ezekiel. He was regularly receiving news of what King Zedekiah was doing, although he himself regarded Jehoiachin, who was now in exile in Babylon, as the rightful king of Judah. Ezekiel may have received news of the secret conspiracy that Zedekiah had made with the envoys of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, as recorded in Jeremiah 27:3. Jeremiah was horrified at this treachery, which would have been known to the priests and relayed to Ezekiel.

Ezekiel was still in the early stage of his ministry, but his calling as a watchman for the nation meant that he had to learn to lay everything before the Lord – the things that he observed among the exiles in the scattered communities around Babylon as well as the information he received from Jerusalem.

Listening to God

Jeremiah had complained bitterly that the priests – and Ezekiel had been one of them – did not listen to God and therefore they did not proclaim the word of God. He said that they had never learned to stand in the presence of the Lord. He told the people of Jerusalem, “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes….But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word?” Jeremiah added, “The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purpose of his heart” (Jer 23:16-20). Ezekiel now found himself following Jeremiah – spreading everything before the Lord in order to hear the word that he had to proclaim to the people. His burden as ‘watchman’ for the nation was just beginning.

if he failed to warn people of their sinfulness and the people died in their sin, God would hold him responsible for their blood.

Failure to warn

The warning that Ezekiel had received was that if he failed to warn people of their sinfulness and the people died in their sin, God would hold him responsible for their blood. This was a terrifying threat that he no doubt took to heart at the beginning of his ministry. The enormity of the prophetic ministry was just dawning upon him – he was going to be held responsible for the future of the nation. It was small wonder that he had sat overwhelmed for seven days!

Watchman for the community

How much responsibility do each of us have for what is going on in our nation today? Is it enough just to exercise our vote and leave it to the Government to govern righteously? In 1983 I was responsible for the research team in the Parliamentary Video Enquiry. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) issued a list of 20 video films deemed to be legally ‘obscene’. We sent the list to churches and Christian groups across the country asking people to look at local shops and report the sale of any of these films. Thousands of Christians responded – acting as watchmen for the community in their area which led to the passing of the Video Recordings Act 1984.

How much responsibility do we each have for our family and our local community or the nation? Are parents always the ‘watchman’ with some responsibility for the behaviour of their children even when they become adults? These are just a few of the questions that arise from this short study of the ministry of Ezekiel.