The Gospel According to Ezekiel, Chapters 33

Transitioning from Judgment to Restoration

We have come out of the gloom and doom of the first 32 chapters of Ezekiel, which were largely judgment-oriented. We are now moving into greener pastures with restoration passages for God's people.

In chapter 33, Ezekiel is recommissioned. He was initially commissioned as a prophet of judgment, yet even in those chapters, we encountered abundant gospel. Now, as a prophet of restoration, God still emphasizes the importance of judgment for those who reject his message.

Chapters 33 and 34 highlight the importance of paying attention to God's message and responding appropriately. God shows the wrong way to respond and the right way, with wonderful effects for positive response.

God's message is not a killjoy. It is an issue of life or death, and also of enjoyment. Following it brings salvation from sin's ruin and condemnation, unto eternal life and inexplicable joy. This makes rejecting the gospel inexplicable.

We will also hear about the fall of Jerusalem and responsibilities of the prophet and the hearer. The Hebrew word for "learn" is the same as "teach"—a circular responsibility to teach so others can learn and teach.

The Watchman’s Responsibility

Ezekiel 33:1-6
And the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning—and a sword comes and takes him away—his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’”

This illustration makes sense. If a watchman blows the trumpet warning of the sword (God's judgment) and people ignore it, their blood is on their own head. But if he sees it coming and fails to warn, their blood is on his hands. God deals justly.

Ezekiel 33:7-9
“Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.”

God Takes No Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked

Ezekiel 33:10-11
“Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?”’ Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”

The people confess: “Our transgressions and sins are upon us; we are rotting away. How can we survive?” This seems like a proper confession, but it leads to hopelessness, as if it's too late.

God's response fits perfectly: He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but desires they turn and live. Repentance is always the proper response to God's attitude toward sin, whether judgment or gospel preaching.

Prideful responses to sin confrontation include deflecting (“You sinned too”), defending as a victim, or psychological excuses blaming circumstances. These avoid repentance. The right response is to flee and abandon sin.

A Christian abandons any claim to self-righteousness and clings to Christ's alien righteousness. This makes confronting sin easier, leading to freedom, blessings, and joy in God.

No Righteousness Saves Except Repentance and Trust

Ezekiel 33:12-20
“And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, ‘The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness, whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin. When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. But when I say to the wicked, “You will surely die,” and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live. Yet your fellow citizens say, “The way of the Lord is not right,” when it is their own way that is not right. When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it. But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he shall live by them.” Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not right.” O house of Israel, I will judge each one of you according to his ways.’

These concepts echo Ezekiel 3 and 18. God addresses the wicked and righteous (with the remnant implied). A righteous person cannot save himself by his righteousness; it is utter inability.

A Christian clings to zero personal righteousness—actual or professed—but to Christ's. Trusting God's message brings salvation. To trust in one's own righteousness is iniquity; God calls it injustice, proto-legalism.

People claim goodness, but examining by the Ten Commandments reveals all are liars and thieves. No personal righteousness impresses God. Trusting self-righteousness is sin; cling to Christ, who presents us acceptable.

The Fall of Jerusalem and Recommissioning

Ezekiel 33:21-22
“Now in the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, ‘The city has been taken.’ Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the refugees came; and He opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless.”

Jerusalem has fallen; the temple is destroyed. Ezekiel's speechlessness is lifted; he speaks as God's mouthpiece.

False Claims to the Land

Ezekiel 33:23-27
“Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Son of man, they who live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, “Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to us who are many the land has been given as a possession.” Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land?’” You rely on your sword, you commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?’”

The people reason: Abraham was one and possessed the land; we are many, so it is ours. God counters: If you are my people, why do you act like pagans—eating blood, idolatry, murder, adultery?

Profession alone does not make one God's people. 1 John 2:4, 3:6: “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him. The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

True children of Abraham have his faith—trusting God's message. We keep God's moral law, looking like Christ, unique to him.

Ezekiel 33:27-29
“Thus you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence. I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate, so that no one will pass through.” Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.’"

Hearers but Not Doers

Ezekiel 33:30-32
“As for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lusting desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument. For they hear your words but they do not practice them.”

People talk excitedly about the message, gather like God's people, but do not obey—their hearts pursue lusts and gain. To them, Ezekiel is entertainment, like a beautiful song.

Even hard judgment messages become sensual if sinful desires remain. People go through motions but treat faithful preaching as a concert. Church is not for checking off or entertainment; it is to receive God's agenda—your mission.

If desires contradict God's word, restoration sounds entertaining, not transformative. Prove you are doers, not mere hearers who delude themselves (James 1:22-25).

James 1:22-25
Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

The word is a mirror showing who you are and should be from God's view. Hearers only forget and become ineffective— in marriage, work, ministry, suffering. Doers see results, effectiveness, blessing, joy.

Abandon sinful desires; be doers for real change and joy. God presents judgment before restoration because unchanged hearts make it mere entertainment.