“Am I my brother’s keeper?” What would Ezekiel say to this question? Are you and I our brothers’ keepers? 521-1 - 2-1

Like Ezekiel, we are called to be “Watchman on the Wall” and provide warning of coming judgment. I even have a “Watchman on the Wall” ball cap from the Hal Lindsey Ministry. A watchman warns but is not accountable for how those warned choose to react. Like the man on the corner with a sign saying “The end is near,” I warn of coming/ present judgment.

With thanks to CM, four cases of “Blood Accountability”:

1. The habitual sinner who is not warned v.18
2. The sinner who is warned but does not repent v.19
3. The righteous man who apostatizes but is not warned v.20
4. The righteous man who is warned and remains righteous v.21  

Ezekiel was held accountable by God to deliver God's message, however, he was not held accountable for its success or failure.

Ezekiel 3:17-19, “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Hundreds of years later Jesus charged His disciples to bring people to faith by The Great Commission. Matthew 28:16-20, “16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

That said, Jesus understood that there would be unbelief, Matthew 10:13-15, “If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”