Let us turn to our text, Ezekiel chapter 3, verses 12 to 27. And our theme is related to really the middle of our text and we'll see how what works around that ties in. But in many ways, we have a text where the emotions of the prophet have a wide range. Like the emotions, of the unnamed author of Psalm 102, Ezekiel has highs and lows, has anger and understanding, all in a matter of days, all in our text. Let us read Ezekiel chapter three, verses 12 to 27. The Spirit, then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake. Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place. It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake. The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness. in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me. And I came to the exiles at Tel Aviv, who were dwelling by the Kibor Canal, and I sat where they were dwelling, and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. And 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. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him no warning nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul. And the hand of the Lord was upon me there, and he said to me, Arise, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you. So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there like the glory that I had seen by the Kieber Canal, and I fell on my face. But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet. And he spoke with me and said to me, go shut yourself within your house. And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them so that you cannot go out among the people. And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, thus says the Lord God, he who will hear, let him hear, and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house. So far the reading, the grass withers, The flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. Well, in the middle of our text is this image of the watchman. And what is a watchman, brothers and sisters? A watchman is one who is also sometimes called a sentry, one who would sit in the tower of the city and they look out for danger. They watch out for coming danger. There's no satellites, there's no phones. If an enemy's coming in the dark, there's no way to know that they are coming unless you have watchmen fulfilling this crucial task to be on guard, to watch all through the dark hours of the night. It's not an image which is the most familiar to us, but the people of Judah, of the Southern Kingdom, knew very well and intimately the importance of the Watchmen. Most of the Southern Kingdom has already been destroyed. Jerusalem is still technically standing, but they have their puppet king that the Babylonians control. And as Ezekiel will prophesy, the destruction of Jerusalem is also coming. They knew the importance of the watchman. They knew the essential task that the watchman carried out. And the language of our theme relates to this title, the need to sound the alarm concerning the just judgment of God. But for our three points, we're first going to look at Ezekiel's days of turmoil before he gets this title of watchman. And so our first point is Ezekiel's turmoil, verses 12 to 15. And then Ezekiel's title, 16 to 21. And then his first task as he is to carry out his watchman duties in verses 22 to 27. Well, Ezekiel has already heard the reality of his call, even though he hasn't heard the title of Watchman yet. And so the language of 2 verse 7, the language of 3 verse 11, he already knows that it will be his job to sound the alarm. The actual image, the actual title, he's not yet heard from God, but he already knows the task essentially. And what is the first reaction of Ezekiel after he's been told from the vision of God's glory that he's to speak, whether they hear or refuse to hear? The language of 2 verse 7 and 3 verse 11. And this great vision of glory that we looked at, for those who were here, especially in Ezekiel 1, and then the words that God speaks in Ezekiel 2, and the beginning of verse 3, the vision is coming to an end. And so the four living creatures, the angels, are taking off their wings, which became silent before the voice of God spoke back in chapter 1 verse 25, those wings are now in motion again, together with the wheels and there's a great sound of an earthquake as God's throne chariot takes off. And then there's silence. God is gone. The vision of glory is departed. And what are the three words that describe the prophet in the aftermath of this. There's three words in the Hebrew, one is translated with more in the English. The first word is bitterness. The second word is anger, translated that he was in the heat of his spirit. And the third word is overwhelmed. He is bitter, he is angry, he is overwhelmed. Those are the words that describe the prophet in verses 14 and 15. Let's work through those one at a time. Now, who is Ezekiel? Ezekiel is, remembering back to chapter one, verse three, he's a priest. And then we also have a detail in chapter one, verse one, that we did not speak about when we were in chapter one. But just looking back now, in the 30th year is how the book of Ezekiel begins. Most likely, that is a reference to Ezekiel's own age, that he is 30 years old. And what is significant about a priest being 30 years old is that is when they could begin their full service in the temple. No more training. No, this was in your 30th year, you could begin your full service in the temple. And so who is Ezekiel? He is a 30 year old priest. who has been living in exile for five years. It's the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiakim. Again, back in the first three verses. And Ezekiel's plan for his life, if we might say it that way, is that he was gonna continue his training. The years were gonna go by and this was finally the time when his official service in the temple was to begin. And every indication is that Ezekiel is one of those religious Levites who was longing for that service, who wanted that service. And so in Ezekiel's plan for his own life, 24-year-old Ezekiel thought, well, I got a few more years of training and then pretty soon I'll be 30 and I can start my training in the temple. And this is not what has happened. He said he's been in exile for five years. His 30th year rolls around and he gets this vision of God's glory and this charge that he is going to preach to a rebellious house which will not listen to him. And so the text does not say why he was bitter. It just says, I went in bitterness. But can we guess? Why he's bitter? To put it simply, we can well imagine that this is not the plan that Ezekiel had for his own life. Let's just put it that way. He is bitter. And then the next word is angry, or as it's translated here, I was in the heat of my spirit. This is a word which is often used in what remains of Ezekiel to describe the just wrath and anger of God. But here, we should see this as unrighteous anger, especially because it's combined with the word bitter. I was in bitterness and anger. Again, the text does not say why Ezekiel is angry, but let's put it this way. How would you react if you had just been told that you must preach words of mourning and lamentation and woe to people who will essentially not be willing to listen to you? And that, again, comes from the language of 3 verse 7. But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you. Ezekiel's bitter. Ezekiel is angry. And then the third word is that he was overwhelmed, and that's in verse 15. Again, we are not told exactly why he's overwhelmed, but if we think over his own bitter and angry struggles with the call he's just received, combined with the overwhelming glory of the vision, you put all that together, And it is not surprising that he is overwhelmed. Now, our applications are going to be more directly tied to the call of a watchman as we move on. But brothers and sisters, I want to take a moment to think about the description of how the prophet is feeling. because this is not something we're really gonna get in the rest of the book. What do we say when a believer has days where they struggle with the word of God? Where they struggle with even having bitterness and anger at the Word of God. Does that mean that such a person is an unbeliever? What does it mean when someone wrestles with questions tied to the truth of God and who He is and what He reveals in His Word? Does that mean that such a person is an unbeliever? No, it does not. Sometimes God allows us to struggle in turmoil as we contemplate his words and the truth of his words. And now we will relate it specifically to the fact that Ezekiel's charged to bring a warning of judgment, mourning, lamentation, and woe. That is the scroll that he was given. Now when he ate it in the vision, God told him through the vision that it's actually sweet. In a sanctified taste, we can come to understand the sweetness of all of who God is. But that's often not our first reaction because we don't yet have a sanctified taste. Because it's hard for us to understand. And it may specifically be hard for us to understand the words of warning and judgment in the Scriptures, the words of warning and judgment against the people that he's living with, the people that he knows well, his fellow exiles. We may want what J.I. Packer once called the Santa Claus Jesus that is preached in so many pulpits today. That is in many ways easier to digest But the truth of God's Word tells us all of who God is, including the fact that God will judge those who do not repent. So don't take what I've said too far. Don't say, all right, it's good to be angry, it's good to be bitter. No, that's not what I'm saying. by God's grace, may we have a sanctified taste and come to see the sweetness of all of God's word. But what I am saying is, if you have days of struggle and turmoil at this truth of God's word or with other truths of God's word, do not think that makes you an unbeliever. Do not think that God cannot be gracious with those who would struggle even with bitterness and anger. Because by God's grace, he does not leave Ezekiel in bitterness and anger. He does not leave him in bitterness and anger for very long at all. After seven days, his turmoil comes to an end. And he is strengthened by God to go through some incredibly difficult things in the coming chapters and in the rest of his life. But we do not see this turmoil return. By God's grace, God allowed his prophet to struggle for seven days, and then he came and he restored his prophet, reaffirmed his prophet, and set him up for his first task. So this is taking us into our second point, Ezekiel's title. Because it's after these seven days of turmoil that God says, I want you to be a watchman. And how wonderful is the grace of God that when we would struggle against the divine truth of his word, that he would still deal kindly with us. How wonderful it is that God is slow to anger and that God would even deal kindly with us Even if we're angry at his word to us, that is the depth of God's patience and mercy. So this is the context in which the call of the watchman comes. And again, it fits what God has already told Ezekiel to do, but now he gives him the image, the title of what it is. Ezekiel is to be a watchman. And I want us to notice four things. about the image of the watchman. First, God is the one whom the people must be warned against. We see it in the language of verses 18 to 21. It's abundantly clear that to fail to repent or, as one charged as a teacher and a watchman, to fail to warn, either one of these things is something that has life and death consequences. Failure to repent is a matter of life and death. It's a matter which requires blood. It's a matter which is going to come to a point of death in God's just judgment. And in verses 18 to 21, we see that it's God himself who's coming to require it. It's God himself who's coming to judge those who would not turn and to judge the watchmen who would not warn. The second thing is that God is the one whom the warning comes from. Look at verse 17. Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. And what do we see there? We see the mercy and the grace of God. because that is not how an enemy usually works. An enemy does not go up to the city that they're going to attack and say, make sure you appoint so-and-so as a watchman and make sure that watchman warns that we're coming. That is not enemy behavior. God is a just judge. But God wants everyone to be warned of his just judgment that they might be spared. God is the one that people must be warned against. God is the one whom the warning is coming from. Yes, I'm coming, but I want you to know I'm coming so that you'll turn, that you'll repent, that you'll trust in me, that you will be spared. predominant message from here to chapter 33. And the image of the watchman comes again in chapter 33. It's like bookends around many, many words of warning and lamentation and woe in that first large part of the book of Ezekiel. It is predominantly words of warning, of coming judgment, but there's also much grace sprinkled through it. including some beautiful promises upcoming salvation and and things like this the fact that God is the one who's giving the warning that is not how how an enemy would normally behave the enemy doesn't walk up and say make sure you have a watchman make sure they warn that we're coming this is this that's not how an enemy normally acts that's how God acts because God wants the people to be spared third Ezekiel can have no legitimate excuse from this duty. Let's just think about it this way. If a cook becomes sick, a cook can walk away from his post. If we think about all the different posts of a city, of an army. If a cook becomes sick, walk away from your post. That's fine. In fact, that's probably what we want because we don't want the cook to be spreading germs while he's preparing the food for everybody. But what happens if a watchman is up alone in his tower and he starts to become sick? He can't just walk away. The watchman's duty is a duty where there's no excuse. There's nothing that you can just walk away from. It's essential. It's a task of watching out, you must call out the danger as it's coming and you cannot just walk away from that post. Or here's another way to think about it. What would happen if a watchman is sitting in his tower and he sees the enemy coming and he knows that it's past midnight and so he says, you know what, I really don't want to say anything because I don't want to wake anybody up. You know, I just really don't want to disturb people from their sleep. And then that's his excuse for why he didn't sound the alarm. Nobody is going to appreciate that. The watchman's task is to warn. No excuses, no leaving your post. That's the kind of work it is. But a fourth thing that we notice about the call to be a watchman is this. that the watchman is not responsible to provide the salvation. He is only responsible to warn. The Apostle Paul once said it this way, it is man who is called to plant and to water, it is only God who gives the increase. Now God gives us a number of pictures of our calling of how we are to serve him, and they all emphasize different things. But this is something that the image of the watchman gives us very clearly. It is our task to warn. It is not within our task or within our ability to save the city. All we do is sound the alarm, and our job is done. That is what God calls us to do. So if the city falls, the watchman can't blame himself for that. The only thing that the watchman can be blamed for is not sounding the alarm. Let's come to our third point then, and that is Ezekiel's task, and we'll come back to some more of the image of the watchman, and we'll be turning to Ezekiel 33 pretty soon. But we come now to Ezekiel's task. First, let's see that as God is strengthening Ezekiel, so this is after these seven days of turmoil. And God is strengthening Ezekiel. He's appearing to him again. He's saying, like, look, your vision of my great glory, it was not just some strange dream. This is real. And so I'm going to appear to you again, as I did by the Kiber Canal. The Lord is reassuring Ezekiel of who he is, that yes, I have called you to do this. be comforted, go and do. That's all part of God's appearing to Ezekiel again. And then notice also this, the end of verse 23, and I fell on my face. It's the same thing he did the first time he saw the glory of God. I appreciate how Daniel Bloch once said it on Ezekiel falling on his face, quote, Ezekiel's relationship with God never becomes familiar or casual. Even a commissioned and authorized prophet must prostrate himself in the presence of God, end of quote. And so God is appearing to Ezekiel again. He's strengthening Ezekiel for his task. And then he details the first task that he will give Ezekiel. And we can go through it quickly by saying that three things will be closed. Ezekiel's gonna be closed up in three ways. First of all, he's gonna be closed up within his house. See that in verse 24. And then he's gonna be closed up or bound up with cords, verse 25. And then his mouth is going to be closed, verses 26 to 27. Those first two closings, Lord willing, we'll come back to next week. For the remainder of this point, we're just gonna think about the closing of Ezekiel's mouth. And see in verse 26 and 27 together that, so God is making Ezekiel mute. Ezekiel will not be able to speak. except, verse 27, when God tells him exactly what to say. So he's only gonna be speaking prophetic declarations. He's only gonna be speaking words that are directly from God. Christopher Wright once summarized the situation this way, quote, whatever Ezekiel would manage to say would be exclusively from God with no risk of any admixture of ordinary conversational small talk or distracting personal opinions on current affairs, end of quote. So this is the situation of Ezekiel's closed mouth. How long is that going to last? Please turn with me to Ezekiel chapter 33. Now, there are some details, especially in verses 18 to 21, which are described more clearly and in more detail as the image of the watchman comes back. And so we're actually not going to go over any of those things, but I just encourage you if you're looking at some of the details in Ezekiel three and saying, what's going on here? Uh, the, the first place to go for answers is Ezekiel 33 and Lord willing, we'll come back to that in some time. Uh, but for now we're actually going to go past the watchman section and we're going to go to verse 21 of Ezekiel 33. In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, the city has been struck down. Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came, and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. Now we're gonna step back. We're going to think about the structure of Ezekiel for just a moment. Ezekiel chapter 1 verses 1 to 3. It's the fifth year of the exile. What do we see here in Ezekiel 33? It's the twelfth year of the exile. Ezekiel 33 verse 21. In the twelfth year of our exile. So what is Ezekiel 3 to 33? It begins with a watchman passage. It ends with a watchman passage. Sound the alarm. Sound the alarm. It covers seven years. And it's seven years of God having Ezekiel in very sometimes particular ways, warn the people, Jerusalem is going to fall. And then at the end of those seven years, Jerusalem does fall. And as the news comes, as the runner comes from Jerusalem to tell the exiles what happened, That's when Ezekiel is able to speak normally again. So now we go back to Ezekiel 3, and we say, how long was his mouth closed? For seven years, Ezekiel can only speak the prophetic words of warning that God has given to him. Now how do we apply this to our lives today? Because none of us has been called to eat a scroll of mourning and lamentation and woe. None of us is gonna be mute and unable to talk about anything except for God's words of warning for the next seven years. That's not a normal calling, just to use that word. That's not what any of our lives is gonna look like for the next seven years. But we do have a kind of calling to watchmen and warning. And I'm gonna read two passages from the New Testament that both use the language of watching, one in an interesting way, so we'll see in a minute. And I'm reading this just to take the fact that we're still called to watch, we're still called to warn into New Testament context. And then we're gonna pull it together and apply it all. So Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17. So this is especially spoken to leaders. The next verse I'm gonna read is more general. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17. Obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning. So for that would be of no advantage to you. One of the titles of all elders of the New Testament church is watchman. And so we ask, are we willing to have watchmen over us? Are our leaders willing to be watchmen? And then the task is also more general. We could turn to a passage like James 5.20, but we're gonna go to Galatians 6 verse one because we again have the language of watching in that verse. Galatians 6 verse 1, Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. So there's that image of watching again, ending with a reminder to make sure you're watching yourself and not just watching to restore in gentleness. others. Watch men, that's the title of New Testament elders. Those who are watched, that's the description of all New Testament church members. The call to watch over each other, watching over yourself, that's the call to all of us in Galatians 6 verse 1. Watch yourself. Who needs to repent? Everyone needs to repent. Who needs salvation that is only found in Jesus Christ? Each and every one of us needs salvation which is only found in Jesus Christ. And so now as we think about how the language of watching ourselves and watching others and the New Testament officers being watchmen and New Testament church members being those who should be willing to be watched, as we take all of that language we say yes Ezekiel had a particular task and Ezekiel was closed up in a very special way but the general calling to be watchman remains the same the general calling to give the warnings of the Word of God that we are sinners in need of repentance together with the good news that there is salvation in Jesus Christ. That is still the call today. And so now I'm gonna think about it in terms of seven years, brothers and sisters, and I want to say it this way. Do you have any friend or family member in your life who is walking in rebellion? And have you, for the past seven years, only spoken to them about the weather and their favorite movies and their favorite sports teams. Now we are not banned from talking about those things as Ezekiel was. But the fact that God would have one of his prophets Closed up and mute from speaking anything like that for seven years is a reminder to us that we must be those who are willing to speak the word of warning. So do you have a friend, family member who you've spoken to for seven years and you've been closed up on the word of warning and only spoken about everything else. Are you the opposite of Ezekiel? Because that is not what we are called to be. We are called to speak the words of warning. And now, as I say that, I also want to come back to the responsibility of the watchman. Because If you have spoken the word of warning, and they know that you pray for them, and you know that you fear for them because of their rebellion against God, that is all you can do. That is all you can do. The watchman is not called to save. The watchman cannot save. We can only warn. So we put those two things together and we say, think of those who you've talked to for seven years. Be sure that there has been a word of warning and not just weather and movies and sports teams, but also be comforted by the image of the watchman. and be comforted by the fact that if you sound the alarm, that is all you are called to do. You cannot save others. Only God can save. So we keep watch over ourselves and we say, Jesus Christ, you are my only savior. And we sound the warning to others and we know Jesus Christ is their only Savior. May they hear the warning which goes out. Amen. Let us pray. Lord God Almighty, we know that your word is true. We know also that there is what we might call a heaviness to your word. Lord, may we know the truth. May we know the truth of your just judgment and your overarching love that you