Ezekiel was 30 years old and living
among the Israelites in Tel Aviv during the Babylonian captivity. God called him to preach, to be a prophet, to
share a message. "Son of man, go to
the house of Israel and speak with My words to them." - Ez. 3:4
God was telling Ezekiel, "This
isn't going to be easy." "…the
house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for
all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted." (Ez. 3:7)
Ezekiel was so overwhelmed at the calling of God he went to Tel Aviv and
sat among his people for seven days (Ez 3:15), trying to comprehend what had
just happened to him.
During those seven days, Ezekiel was
bitter and in much turmoil. He was being
asked to share an unpopular message with an unreceptive people. He was feeling trepidation, but God's
callings are without repentance. (Romans
11:29) So, he set out to obey God.
"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; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely
die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways
in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will
hold you accountable for his blood. But
if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from
his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself."
(Ezekiel 3:16-19)
What did it mean to be a
"watchman"? A watchman was a
sentry, someone who would stand on the wall of the city, looking for any danger
or threat. If the watchman saw an
invading army on the horizon or if he observed a riot or a fire within the
city, his job was to sound the alarm, to warn the people.
We have an awesome responsibility to be
watchmen for America. We have an
unpopular message that God wants us to deliver to an unreceptive people. For those whom deny the existence of God, we
declare the reality of a living God. To
those who would deny that Christ is the Son of God, we declare him to be not
just the Son of God, he is the great 'I am', he is one with God Almighty. For those who want to live in their sin and
reject the salvation of God, we declare to them that he sacrificed his very son
that we might be saved to the uttermost.
As servants of the living God, as
watchmen on the wall, what message does God want us to share with America
today?
We
as watchmen on the wall need to fight for the soul of America.
America auctioned its soul in back in
the 1960's.
Napoleon said, "In order to
establish the revolution you have to destroy the past."
Bob Dylan wrote a song that captured the
sense of revolution: The Times They Are A Changin'
"Come Senators, Congressman,
Please head the call.
Don't block the doorway,
Don't block up the hall.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
Don't criticize what you can't
understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond
your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one,
If you can't lend a hand
For your times, they are a changin'.
The cultural or sexual revolution of the
'60's changed our lives forever.
Those still traveling the old road are
despised and rejected. The rebels have
built a new road thereby attempting to change America's destiny:
·
It is no longer
about us, it is now about 'me'.
·
We are no longer
citizens of America, we are citizens of the world
·
Sex is no longer
pro-creational, it is now simply recreational.
·
Marriage has been
replaced by cohabitation
·
Faithfulness in
marriage is scorned and divorce is expected
·
We hand our
children condoms rather than teach them abstinence.
·
Woman as
bread-winners are admired while women as mothers are scorned.
·
Gay marriage is
morally accepted while sodomy is not longer a moral outrage.
·
The people no
longer determine their own government, the courts now decide how we are
governed.
·
Free speech is
now replaced by politically correct speech and self-appointed speech police
enforce their unwritten laws.
·
The irrational
has replaced common sense.
·
Animals are given
more rights than humans, especially the unborn.
·
Eastern religion
is replacing western spirituality
·
The true and only
God is replaced by the Force.
·
"I am the
way" has been replaced by "There are many ways to heaven"
·
Easter has been
replaced by Earth Day
·
Merry Christmas
has been replaced by Happy Holidays
·
It took 2,000 years to mold the building
blocks that would be used to establish a great country like America. It only took one generation for those blocks
to crumble to dust.
Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.
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