wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face. Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house (chapter iii: 15-27).

The Prophet had been transported from the place mentioned in chapter i:1 to Tel-abib, which was also on the river Chebar. Here a number of captives dwelt. For seven days he sat in their presence astonished and did not open his lips. Was it their sad condition, or the knowledge of their rebellious spirit, or the threatening judgments which produced this silence? Most likely these things filled the Priest-Prophet with unspeakable sorrow and sadness, so that he could not find words. And the captives must have read the burden of his soul in his countenance. The scene reminds us of Job and his three friends, who "sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him, for they saw that his grief was very great" (Job ii:13). Job broke the silence by cursing his day. But the silence of Ezekiel's seven days was broken by the Lord Himself. He addressed the Prophet and told him that He had made him "a watchman unto the house of Israel." His duty and responsibility in that capacity was twofold; first to hear the Lord's Word from His own lips, then to give the warning from Him. Warning is the important call of a watchman (chapter xxxiii:2, 6, 7; Isaiah lii:8; lvi:10; Jer. vi:17). If the appointed watchman does not hear the Word as it comes from Jehovah, he cannot sound the alarm. The false prophets in Israel, who did not warn the people, but said, "Peace, peace!" when there was no peace, followed their own dreams instead of the Word. They did not believe the solemn messages God had given through former prophets. That was the curse among the professing people of God then. It produced a false security, decline and apostasy; it hastened the impending judgments of God. It is the curse to-day in the professing church. His Word is rejected. The solemn truths concerning "judgment to come" upon an ungodly age and apostate "church" are not heeded and mostly rejected. The man who sounds the warning and stands by the declarations of God's Word is as unpopular with the people to-day as Jeremiah and Ezekiel were in their days.

The Prophet was commissioned not to warn the nation as such, but to warn individuals. The wicked and the righteous are mentioned and the Prophet's responsibility in delivering the message. If he does not warn the wicked to turn from his wicked way to save his life, his blood will be required from his hands. If he is faithful and the wicked does not hear the warning, the wicked shall die, but the faithful messenger delivers his own soul. And so with the righteous, who turns from his righteous acts and commits iniquity. He is threatened with death; but if he sins not and is warned he shall live. After hearing the warning Word each is to bear the consequences of his own conduct. The nation as such was rebellious. Its doom could not be averted. Yet God in His long-suffering still gave the individual an opportunity to escape the threatening judgment, that by hearing the Word he might live. This gracious offer concerned the wicked. The righteous one in Israel, who obeyed the law and did acts of righteousness had to continue in obedience; if he failed in the midst of the great national crisis when judgment was about to fall, his former righteous deeds could not save his life. He also would be swept away and die in his sins. The first part of the third chapter reveals the hardened condition of the nation; there was no remedy. The second part reveals the possibility of the deliverance of all who harkened to the divine warning and turned from their evil ways.

The passage, as well as the corresponding one in chapter xxxiii:1-20, has been often used in the defence of what is termed "falling from Grace," that a true believer, who is saved by Grace, may by sinning become unsaved again and then perish in his sins like the wicked. The words "fallen from Grace" are found only once in the Bible, that is in Gal. v:4. The context shows what they mean. If a believer goes to the law to be justified before God, if he tries by his own works, and by ordinances, to be righteous before God, he abandons the ground of Grace. The dispensation in which we live is the dispensation of Grace; Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. v:21). The message delivered by God to Ezekiel is in fullest keeping with the character of the law-covenant, though Grace is also manifested in it. Righteousness has not the meaning here as in the New Testament. We are constituted righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. It is now not the question of doing righteous deeds in order to be saved and live. We are saved by Grace through faith. "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned as of grace but as of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him, who justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness" (Romans iv:4). And he who is justified by faith has peace with God. The true believer may sin, but he does not deliberately practice and live in sin, for "he that is born of God doth not commit (practice) sin" (1 John iii:9). If he falls in sin a gracious provision is made. We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and therefore we can confess our sins; forgiveness and cleansing follow according to the divine promise (1 John i:9; ii:1-2).[3]

After this solemn charge the hand of the Lord rested upon Ezekiel and he was commanded to go into the plain, where Jehovah would talk with him. He obeyed and beheld again the Glory of the Lord, which he had seen by the river of Chebar. Once more he fell on his face. Then the Spirit entered into him and said unto him: "Go, shut thyself within thy house." He had no opportunity to exercise his office as watchman and deliver the warning message. Immediately after the charge he was commanded to separate himself from the captives and then became a prisoner in his house. But more than that. They were to put bands upon him and bind him with them.

Does this mean that the people would bind him so that he could not leave the house? It probably meant the opposite. He was to shut himself in the house and they came with bands and bound him, to get him out of the