Ezekiel 33:7

7 "Son of man, I have appointed you as a prophet to warn the people of Israel. So listen to my message. Give them a warning from me.

Ezekiel 33:7 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 33:7

So thou, O son of man
Here begins the application of the parable to the prophet himself, describing his office and his duty: I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel;
which is repeated from ( Ezekiel 3:17 ) , (See Gill on Ezekiel 3:17). The Targum is,

``I have appointed thee a teacher;''

a spiritual watchman; so pastors, teachers, ministers of the Gospel, are watchmen, ( 2 Timothy 4:5 ) ( Hebrews 13:17 ) : therefore thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and warn them
from me.
The Targum is,

``thou shalt receive the word from my Word, and warn them from sinning before me.''

Ezekiel 33:7 In-Context

5 He heard the sound of the trumpet. But he did not pay any attention to the warning. So what happened to him was his own fault. If he had paid attention, he would have saved himself.

6 " 'But suppose the guard sees the enemies coming. And he does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. The enemies come and kill one of them. Then his life has been taken away from him because he sinned. But I will hold the guard accountable for his death.'

7 "Son of man, I have appointed you as a prophet to warn the people of Israel. So listen to my message. Give them a warning from me.

8 "Suppose I say to a sinful person, 'You can be sure that you will die.' And suppose you do not try to get him to change his ways. Then he will die because he has sinned. And I will hold you accountable for his death.

9 "But suppose you do warn that sinful person. You tell him to change his ways. But he does not do it. Then he will die because he has sinned. But you will have saved yourself.