Why God Chose Ezekiel To Bring The Message Of Repentance To Israel?
Ezekiel came from a priestly family and his father's name is Buzi who was a priest under the King Jehoiachin of Israel. Israel then was under the captivity of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon for almost five years, the first captivity of Israel to other nation because of their wickedness. God used this heathen king as instrument to discipline his disobedient people hoping that they will change their minds and to obey him again. Ezekiel was a priest and a prophet or a man chosen by God to bring his holy words of warning to the wicked Israelite. As a prophet-priest, he was a man for the temple. A man of God that requires to have a life of holiness, blameless, uprightness, God-fearing and shunned evils. He was called to be a watchman for the hard headed and wicked Israelite, Psalm 101:6; Job 1:1; Ezekiel 3:17.
Purpose Of Calling?
God called Ezekiel to warn or tell the Israelite to repent from their wickedness, like from worshiping idols, corruptions, marital unfaithfulness, adultery, sensuality and other sins that caused their first captivity in Babylonian Empire, Ezekiel 3:17. Their freedom was suppressed and they lived there as slaves. God wanted his people to be freed again and to live as true humane filled with joy, freedom, abundance under his loving and caring arms. He gave them another chance to straightened their lives by obeying his commands that lead to life.
For Whom The Warning Or The Word Of God Was Given?
The holy word of God or the warning was given to Ezekiel to inform the wicked Israelite who deliberately disobeyed the commandments of God. These are the people who have no regard for the holy words of God or God has no place in their minds. Their minds do not seek him, Psalm 10:4. If Ezekiel will just closed his mouth and will not warn them and they will continue in their wicked life, these people will surely die both physical and spiritual or a life away from the presence of God, Romans 6:23; Revelation 21:8 and God will hold him accountable for their disobedience. But if he warned them and they insisted to disobey God, they will die because of their sins and he will no longer accountable to their fate. And if he warned them and they learned to humble themselves and to turn away from their wicked ways, they will be saved from death and he will no longer accountable too, Ezekiel 3:18-19.
Second, if Ezekiel or the watchman does not give warning to the righteous Israelite who turned to their wickedness to repent but rather, insisted to live in wickedness, all their righteous deeds will be erased or will no longer be remembered. God will let them to do what they wanted to do, even to the point of death. They chose pleasures of the flesh rather than obeying their God, their creator and their source of true life. Their minds are full of sin and the wages of sin is death, both physical and spiritual, Romans 6:23. Ezekiel or the watchman will be hold responsible for their death or he too will die because of disobedience, verse 20. But if the watchman gave the warning to the righteous people who turned to life of wickedness and insisted to ignore this, they will surely die because of their sins but the watchman is no longer accountable for their blood, verse 22.
The results Of Disobedience.
Physical and spiritual death are the punishment for those unbelievers and believers who insisted to ignore the warnings to repent but rather will continue to live in sinful or wicked life, Romans 6:23; Revelation 21:8; Ezekiel 3:18,20.
Physical blessings and eternal life are for those who heed or accepted the warnings and decided to turn away from their sins and to live a new life in obedience to the words of God, Ezekiel 3:21; Romans 6:23; Revelation 22:1-5
What is the connection of this call to repentance to the present 21st generation?
Because of the continuous hardening of the hearts of the Jewish people especially the teachers and protector of the Law of Moses, the Pharisees and the Sadducee, they chose to kill the Son of God through hanging on the cross. Because of the Israelite's transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make the Israel envious, Romans 11:11. Before Jesus's ascension to heaven, he gave to his disciples the great commission in Matthew 28:18-20 and this message will be shared to all people in all parts of the world until the second coming of Christ.
It is therefore our great privilege as recipients of this good news to be a part of this spiritual endeavor and at the same time a great responsibility to do it faithfully. We are now the watchmen to call to repentance all the people in our generation, both the unbelievers and the believers who became lukewarm and chose to go back to live an old wicked life rather than to live a new life in Christ for different reasons.
All the true believers of Christ should ensure that all the members of their family and loved ones were introduced to Jesus Christ and must have a personal relationship by this time cause there are still a lot of people or more than 5 billion people worldwide who are still in need of salvation. Remember, Jesus Christ second coming is like a thief in the night. No one knows when this will happen, whether tonight, next week, next month or next year. What we need to do now is to be watchful and be on guard. Be faithful to share the gospel through our lives, our personal witnessing, sending and supporting missionaries and all ministries that proclaim the gospel in radio, television, printed materials and many more. Let us all be united in doing this till the coming of Christ our Lord.
For more messages about life, forgiveness, hope, victory over sin, harmonious family relationship, dating and others, visit our website at savelifewithjoy.com or go to our blogs in hopeandlifeforyou.com and Eugenio "EJ" Juarez. For your comments, suggestions and prayer requests, email us at agn623@gmail.com
God bless you all and peace be you always!
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