One Torah For All

One Torah shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
Exodus 12:49

Fearmonger or Watchman

Yechezqel (Ezekiel) 33:2
“Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say unto them, ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;’”

There are two types of watchmen described in this chapter, watchmen according to the flesh and watchmen according to the Spirit. The first watchmen described are watchmen according to the flesh. These are men appointed by other men to watch over the safety of a city or community of people. This type of watchman has a particular duty he is charged with keeping. He is to watch out for danger coming upon the city. He is a watchman set upon the wall of the city. Upon seeing danger coming, this type of watchman is to sound a shofar.

Please take note in the verse above that it is the people of the city who appoint this man from among themselves. He is one of their own. It is likely they have chosen him because he has certain desirable characteristics needed to faithfully execute the duties of a watchman. Please take note in the following passage what his responsibility is to his fellow citizens.

Yechezqel (Ezekiel) 33:3-6
3 “when he sees the sword come upon the land, he sounds the shofar, and warns the people;
4 then whosoever hears the sound of the shofar, and takes not warning, the sword comes, and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
5 He heard the sound of the shofar, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him; whereas had he taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.
6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and sounds not the shofar, and the people are not warned, and the sword come, and take any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.”

The watchman according to the flesh is to watch out for physical danger. When he sees this physical danger, he is to sound out a warning for all the people in order that they might all rise up and face the coming danger together, in hopes of fending off the danger.

If the people respond and attempt to fend off the danger and they die, each man’s blood is upon himself, because the watchman sounded the alarm. However, if the watchman does not sound the alarm, then the blood of the people will be required of the watchman. This is required of the watchman by YHWH as YHWH states in verse six.

To truly understand the dynamics of this scenario, please reconsider verse two above. In this verse it is YHWH speaking to Yechezqel, so these words are the words of YHWH. YHWH states to Yechezqel that when He brings a sword upon any given land, that is, for judgment, and those people upon whom He is bringing judgment select for themselves a watchman, then all this applies. It is YHWH bringing the sword. It is extremely important that we do not miss this little bit of information!

Therefore, what is coming is directly from the hand of YHWH. It is not going to be stopped! One of the things being tested is the faithfulness of the watchman. Is he doing his duty as he has promised to do it? YHWH shall surely judge him accordingly.

These verses give us the duties of a watchman according to the flesh. He is chosen by his own people to watch for the coming judgment of YHWH upon his own people and then tell (sound a warning for) his own people when it is coming upon them. This next portion tells us of a different type of watchman, a watchman according to the Spirit. His appointment, duties, and responsibilities are quite different, as they have nothing to do with physical danger!

Yechezqel (Ezekiel) 33:7-20
7 “So you, son of man, I have set you a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore hear the word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me.
8 When I say unto the wicked, ‘Wicked man, you shall surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand.
9 Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turns not from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your own soul.
10 And you, son of man, say unto the house of Israel, ‘Thus you speak, saying, “Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?”
11 Say unto them, “As I live,” says Adonai YHWH, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel?”
12 And you, son of man, say unto the children of your people, “The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he that is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins.”
13 When I say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he has committed, therein shall he die.
14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, “You shall surely die;” if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
15 if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
16 None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
17 Yet the children of your people say, “The way of Adonai is not equal;” but as for them, their way is not equal.
18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die therein.
19 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
20 Yet you say, “The way of Adonai is not equal.” House of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.’”

First, please note that a watchman according to the spirit is not commanded to sound a shofar. Rather, he is commanded to speak to the people of YHWH. In fact, he is commanded to speak some very specific things to the people of YHWH.

In both cases, the watchman according to the flesh and the watchman according to the Spirit, are both warning about coming judgment. In the case of the watchman according to the flesh, that watchman is warning about physical danger coming to judge a people. However, in contrast to this, in the case of the watchman according to the Spirit, the warning of this type of watchman has nothing to do with physical danger, but rather, judgment of one’s actions and lifestyle.

Now that we can see more clearly these two types of watchmen as well as their respective duties and responsibilities, let us now consider the times in which we live and what is happening in our own day.

There are many voices which have arisen today, claiming that they are some kind of watchman. Okay, then, which kind of watchmen are they? Are they watchmen according to the flesh? Or, are they watchmen according to the Spirit?

When a watchman according to the flesh sounds the warning, it is for the people to rise up immediately to face this imminent danger, to ward off the imminent danger, if at all possible. When a watchman according to the spirit sounds a warning, it is for people to repent and return to YHWH and to His ways. Again, the question is what kind of watchman is before you?

There is also a third alternative-is he simply a fearmonger? A fearmonger is one who stirs people up, crying out warnings about this or that, but never really giving the people something tangible to do to protect themselves. We live in an age where many people suffer from information overload. It is not information most people lack, but rather, it is direction they lack.

This is where the watchman according to the Spirit enters the picture. He is sent by YHWH to His people to give them proper direction. He admonishes them to put away their sin and to live according to the ways of YHWH. Many ministers and ministries today are focused upon the return of Mashiach, but never tell those who follow such ministries how to live right now. Sadly, while some of the information they disseminate is correct factually, most of it does nothing to help those receiving the information to live a righteous life. It is what I call a “So-what sermon.” That is, when one gets to the end of it, he thinks “so what?” How does that help me in my everyday living?

Sadly, many of these types of ministries stir up the emotions of the people in order to loosen up their pockets so they will give money to the ministry. They know that the more emotions they can stir up, the more money they will get. Wake up people-stop being manipulated like this. Stay away from these fearmongers! Stop feeding them and stop feeding your own fear.

Turn towards YHWH; listen to His Spirit. Walk in shalom with YHWH and with your fellow man. There is absolutely no reason to be all stirred up on the inside and worried about anything at all. YHWH is sovereign!!! He knows what is going on in this world. It is all according to His plan. He knows exactly where you are and what you need in this life. Stop fretting! Start trusting in the One whom you serve. He is fully capable of protecting His own and delivering them from any danger. Trust YHWH!

Next time you begin to feel stirred up inside, ask yourself, “Are these just emotions being stirred up?” Or, “Is this the Spirit of YHWH directing me to do something specific?” If it is the latter, test the spirit; and once it is determined that it is, in fact, YHWH, obey Him. If it is the former, begin distancing yourself from the source of what is stirring you up inside. When you are emotionally stirred up inside, it makes it extremely difficult to hear His Voice; and if one cannot hear His Voice, then how can one obey Him? He cannot.

Repent!

Turn to YHWH and live!

Live each and every day for YHWH, as well as every moment of every day.

Live.

Do not die in your sins - repent!

Sin, according to Scripture, is the breaking of His Law (Torah). In order to repent, one must stop breaking His Torah (Law) and live according to His ways. He must stop being lawless (Torah-less). True repentance consists not only of turning away from wrongdoing, but also turning towards right-doing. This doing right is not in one’s own eyes, but rather, it is doing right in the eyes of our Creator. Listen to His Voice and obey Him - shema!

Zerubbabel Emunah
www.onetorahforall.com
torah@onetorahforall.com