“Anyone Who Hears”

Sunday, August 01, 2021

…if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. (Ezekiel 33.4-5)

In this passage, God explains the prophet’s responsibility by comparing his role to that of a watchman for a city.  This man is selected to bear the burden of keeping the whole populace informed of an invading army’s appearance on the horizon.  In our safe and cushy society we struggle to comprehend this, but in reality there is always the danger of invasion by a hostile force bent on taking our property and killing or enslaving us.  None of those outcomes is acceptable, so we ought to be on guard; yet if all we ever did was to patrol our borders, we wouldn’t get anything else done.  We might say it’s a sacrifice worth making for security, but then we’d eventually realize that we need things like food and shelter, and here we’ve ignored those inevitable necessities in order to focus on a definite maybe.  What’s the solution?  Select a trustworthy person whose job it will be to constantly watch for that invading army.  Now we can all focus on doing our jobs in relative safety, knowing that the trumpet will sound if danger appears.  That’s the prophet’s job, and it’s a huge responsibility.  If he falls asleep on duty, or just doesn’t bother to watch and warn, the people of the city will be caught completely unaware and unable to effectively fight off the danger.

However—and this is just as much a part of God’s point in telling Ezekiel all of this—even if the watchman does his job, that’s no guarantee the populace will heed the warning.  In the text quoted above, God makes it clear to Ezekiel that he’s not liable for the people’s response, only for carrying out his own duty.  When he blows the trumpet, he has fulfilled his obligation, and now the responsibility to act upon that signal rests with the people who hear it.

This is a principle found in the New Testament, as well.  Wrapping up a parable about servants left to tend the manor while their master is away, Jesus said:

“And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating.” (Luke 12.47-48a)

It’s not that ignorance excuses bad behavior (although it may lead to some degree of mercy).  Rather, the point is that some people unequivocally know the master’s expectations and yet reject them, and those people will be shown no mercy.  He follows up the parable with a broad moral:

“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” (Luke 12.48b)

Nehemiah provides an excellent example for us to follow.

…Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” (Nehemiah 1.1-3)

Has the situation at Jerusalem really changed lately?  It’s not as if the walls and gate were just recently destroyed—that happened when Nebuchadnezzar took the city, all the way back in the year 586 BC.  It was now the year 445 BC.  The exiles who’d returned at the decree of Cyrus apparently at least had aspirations to rebuild the walls, but had met resistance and made little or no progress.  This problem was not new.  But this is the first Nehemiah is hearing of it.  How does he respond?  “As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying” (Ne 1.4).  After some time to reflect, he takes his opportunity when he comes before the king to request of him, “send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it” (Ne 2.5).  The king agrees, and Nehemiah’s life changes drastically from that day onward.  He travels back and forth, acts as a governor, a militia leader, a spiritual leader, and a construction foreman, for a period of at least twelve years.  He wasn’t born into this authority; he wasn’t elected; he wasn’t really even appointed by an official.  He made the plan, he approached the king with it and got his stamp of approval, and then showed up at Jerusalem and started telling people what they ought to do.  God granted him great success in all that he undertook.

The time is past when we didn’t know what God expected of us.  God took that into account, calling them “the times of ignorance” (Ac 17.30).  But now, the trumpet has been sounding for 2,000 years.  Almost everyone has heard it, and is responsible for heeding the warning.  Those who have already responded to the trumpet have a further responsibility—to continue the fight against Satan and his minions, and to repeat the trumpet’s warning for those few who haven’t yet heard.  Now, God

commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17.30b-31)

Jeremy Nettles

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