The Watchman And The Shepherd

INTRO

We have done more than 600 lessons in Revive School, and I can only imagine how God has changed your life during that time. Any time I get ready to dig into the Word, I remember how 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us the Word of God is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, reproving, and training in righteousness. So, I ask these two questions: (1) What is the Word of God teaching? (2) How does this apply to me? I encourage you in your study to ask the same questions—what is God teaching and what does it mean to you?

TEACHING

Ezekiel 33: In Ezekiel 33 God explained He had two callings on the lives of the people (and on us today). The first calling is to be a watchman. Ezekiel was told to share about God bringing a sword (war) against a nation who had appointed a man to serve as watchman on the wall (vv. 1–2). If that watchman saw the sword coming and blew the warning trumpet but the people ignored the warning, their blood would be their own fault (vv. 3–5). However, if that watchman saw the sword coming but ignored it so the people were not warned, the watchman would be accountable for whatever happened to the people (v. 6). What Ezekiel was saying is that we have the choice to warn people, when, what they are doing and how they are living is not of the Lord. It’s our responsibility to make sure they know the consequences of the choices they are making. We become accountable to God for their lives.

In this calling to be a watchman, there are three kinds of warnings that are unhelpful to people and will not produce any fruit in their lives:

The first unhelpful warning is an undelivered warning. If we neglect to give a warning, we are accountable to God for the consequences. Fred told the story of a smoke alarm that kept going off all night at his house. He finally got to sleep and a lady from the church called at 4 a.m. to ask if there was a fire in the house. Her call at 4 a.m. on a Sunday morning to the pastor took guts. God’s message was there was a 'fire', just not in the house (vv. 2–11).

The second unhelpful warning is one that is obvious. Obvious warnings are not helpful. For example, this is a warning attached to a fishing hook: "Harmful if swallowed". This does no good because it is the obvious result. Make sure a warning relates to the situation the person is in (vv. 12–20). Pastors make this mistake when they give a direct warning but they are giving it to the wrong people, such as speaking to a people above 60 years old and talk about the sin of abortion or partying. Know your audience.

The third unhelpful warning is delivered to someone who is defensive and argues against it. The prophet Nathan was wise as he warned King David about the sin in his life because of Bathsheba, and David heard and accepted his fault. Nathan used a story to explain the sin to David (2 Samuel 12:1-9). Jesus used stories to give warnings that were helpful and impactful.

Who has God put you as a watchman over? It won’t be everyone in the whole world.

Ezekiel 34:1-9: God’s second calling for Ezekiel was also to model what it means to watch over. Ezekiel was told to prophesy against the shepherds of Israel (the priests) (vv. 1–2). In verse 4, the duties of a shepherd are given: strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bandage the injured, bring back the strays, and seek the lost. Who has God given you to watch over? Ask yourself if you have strengthened, healed, bandaged, brought back, and sought after them.

Ezekiel 34:10–19: Pastors are called to watch over their flock—the congregation. If the church is large, they can’t do it all by themselves. The book of Acts provides a great example of how to divide the work so the pastor can preach, and deacons can take care of the administrative details.

In verse 10, Ezekiel stated that instead of taking care of the sheep, the shepherds were being taken care of by the sheep. God searched for His own sheep and expected the shepherds to do the same. God said He would be the shepherd (vv. 11–16). God was saying He would replace the religious leaders who were not taking care of their flocks and instead take care of them Himself.

As a child, we need people to take care of us, feed us, nurture us, and meet our needs. But when we grow up, we should be caring for someone else. Shifting from being 'cared for' to 'caring for others' can only happen when God is our Shepherd. If we are not fed and cared for by the shepherd, we will wear out physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We have to depend on the Shepherd so that we are able to take care of others.

Ezekiel 34:1-9: In verse 20, God declared that as the shepherd, He would be the judge of the sheep. And He would appoint a shepherd over them—His servant David (the Messiah Jesus). Do you feel the shift that has taken place here? It’s not just about the shepherds who were not doing their work, but it was about the hope of the Shepherd who was to come. The “showers of blessing” (v. 26) will come when Jesus is the Shepherd.

CLOSING

As we’ve studied each book of the Bible, we’ve looked for where we see Jesus in each book. The phrase for the book of Ezekiel is the New David. It comes from this chapter of Ezekiel. Jesus is the New David, the shepherd that cares for His sheep. In serving as watchmen, make sure that we are being fed by the Shepherd before we try to care for and give warning to those we shepherd.