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 November 23

Lesson 12 (KJV)

Ezekiel’s Responsibility

Devotional Reading: Jeremiah 17:5–10

Background Scripture: Ezekiel 18:1–32; 33:1–20

Ezekiel 33:7–16a

7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.

13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt 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 he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

16a None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him:

Key Text

So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.—Ezekiel 33:7

Judah, from Isaiah to the Exile

Unit 3: Ezekiel and the Exile of Judah

Lessons 10–13

Lesson Aims

After participating in this lesson, each learner will be able to:

1. Identify righteous and unrighteous behavior.

2. Compare and contrast Ezekiel’s role as a watchman with the New Testament’s imperatives in that regard.

3. Make a plan to speak the truth in love and warn others of danger, even when the news is unwelcome.

Lesson Outline

Introduction

A. Learning about Hot Stoves

B. Lesson Context

I. Watchman to the Exiles (Ezekiel 33:7)

A. Commissioned (v. 7a)

B. Commanded (v. 7b)

What to Watch First

II. Warning the Unrighteous (Ezekiel 33:8–9)

A. Guilt and Accountability (v. 8)

None of Your Business?

B. Guilt and Immunity (v. 9)

III. Warning the Israelites (Ezekiel 33:10–16a)

A. Irrelevant Past (vv. 10–12)

B. Reversible Present (vv. 13–16a)

Conclusion

A. Living as a Watchman

B. Prayer

C. Thought to Remember

How to Say It

Deuteronomy	Due-ter-ahn-uh-me.
Ezekiel	Ee-zeek-ee-ul or Ee-zeek-yul.
Leviticus	Leh-vit-ih-kus.
Zacchaeus	Zack-key-us.

Introduction

A. Learning about Hot Stoves

Philosophies regarding learning styles go in and out of fashion. Categorizing people as visual learners, auditory learners, or kinesthetic (physical activity) learners has its adherents. Categorizing learning theories as cognitive, behaviorist, constructivist, humanist, and connective holds sway in some quarters. The list goes on and on.

Let’s try a simpler approach by proposing that there are two general ways to learn things: by wisdom and by experience. Wisdom is when you learn from the mistakes of others; experience is when you learn from your own mistakes. Parents readily see these two learning styles in their children. The mother warns that the stove is hot. One child heeds the warning and doesn’t touch it (wisdom); the other child puts his hand on the stove anyway, only to withdraw it quickly in pain (experience).

We’ve all heard the old saying, “Experience is the best teacher.” But we easily see the fallacy of this axiom when the alternative is to be taught by wisdom. In today’s lesson, the residents of Judah now in Babylonian exile continue to learn the hard way (by experience) the consequences of disobeying God; they are also reminded of the alternative.

B. Lesson Context

References to “the twelfth year” of the Babylonian exile bracket today’s lesson text of Ezekiel 33:7–16a (see Ezekiel 32:1, 17; 33:21). That exile happened in three stages, with deportations taking place in the years 605, 597, and 586 BC (2 Kings 24:1–25:21). “The twelfth year” dates from 597 BC (Ezekiel 1:2). Thus our lesson today takes us into the year of the fall of Jerusalem, in 586 BC. The residents of Judah who had been in exile already for 12 years and longer were about to experience another wave of their countrymen joining them in captivity.

Regarding literary context, the text for today’s lesson is part of the larger unit of Ezekiel 33:1–20. This unit examines and illustrates Ezekiel’s role as a prophet, the messages he is to convey, what mindset to expect from his audience, and how to respond to wrong thinking. Ezekiel 33:1–20 is something of a condensed version of Ezekiel 18, in which the prophet corrects an exaggerated view of group responsibility that sees its members as children suffering for the sins of their parents.

I. Watchman to the Exiles

(Ezekiel 33:7)

A. Commissioned (v. 7a)

                                                                                  B. Commanded (v. 7b)

What to Watch First

A friend’s young daughter overheard her father telling the neighbor something that wasn’t 100 percent accurate. And with all the boldness of a 6-year-old, she confronted her father about his lie. She reminded him of his own words to her about lying and why it was wrong.

Adults seem to become less bold in that regard as the years pass. When witnessing sin, it’s often easier just to remain silent. We don’t want to “make waves.” We justify our silence by misinterpreting the “judge not” of Matthew 7:1. We fear the various repercussions that can ensue (compare John 7:13; 9:22; 12:42; 19:38; etc.). One repercussion for Ezekiel was to be treated dismissively (Ezekiel 20:49).

We move toward a godly solution by pausing to realize what we should watch first and foremost: ourselves (Luke 17:1–2; Galatians 6:1; 1 Timothy 4:16). Failure to do so results in hypocrisy. And in our continuous self-watch, we make certain we are using God’s Word as the standard for the evaluation (2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; contrast 2 Corinthians 10:12). What steps can you take today to watch yourself more faithfully?

—S. S.

II. Warning the Unrighteous

(Ezekiel 33:8–9)

A. Guilt and Accountability (v. 8)

 

What Do You Think? Do you think it is fair that Ezekiel will be responsible for the blood of those he does not warn? Why or why not? Digging Deeper What are ways we might be called to warn those around us?

None of Your Business?

Imagine this situation: you are standing on the platform of a commuter train station. You look up and see someone standing on the railroad tracks, blissfully unaware that a train is approaching. Would you not instinctively yell at your loudest to warn that person to get off the tracks?

Now change that scene to be spiritual in nature as you imagine that the train is God’s wrath as it approaches an unrepentant sinner who isn’t aware of the danger. Shouldn’t you likewise shout a warning, or would you merely think, How sad, but that’s none of my business?

Let’s push this further. If in either situation you shout the warning, but the endangered person shouts in reply, “Where I’m standing and what I’m doing is none of your business!” What would you do next?

—R. L. N.

                                                                                          B. Guilt and Immunity (v. 9)

                                                                                     III. Warning the Israelites

(Ezekiel 33:10–16a)

A. Irrelevant Past (vv. 10–12)

 

What Do You Think? Why do you think it was hard for the Israelites to turn away from their sins, even when they knew that their sins were killing them? Digging Deeper What sins do we find especially hard to turn from as individuals? As a community?

                                                                                    B. Reversible Present (vv. 13–16a

 

What Do You Think? What do you think it means that righteous people can “trust” in their righteousness and still “commit iniquity”? Digging Deeper How can we guard against acting as though they were above the law?

What Do You Think? If a person may repent and receive mercy, what does this tell us about how God feels about people who do evil things? Digging Deeper How should this change how we feel about or treat such people?

 

What Do You Think? Repentance in this passage involves giving back what was taken. What might a person do when this is not possible? Digging Deeper What is an example of amends you have made when repenting of past sin?

Conclusion

A. Living as a Watchman

As members of the new covenant, today we continue to ponder the connection between sin and suffering for those living under the old covenant (compare Job 21:19; Luke 13:1–5; John 9:2). Righteous people do indeed suffer because of realities beyond their control. But today’s lesson says that the path of the righteous is the one to travel nonetheless. Walking the path of the wicked results in destruction. Considering God’s charge to Ezekiel to be a watchman, how might we live out a watchman role?

At the outset, it is important to understand that Ezekiel received his call to serve as a prophetic watchman by direct revelation from God. Ezekiel filled this role at a particular time in history, to a particular group of people, in ways that were relevant to his time, place, and audience. We are not prophets in the same sense that Ezekiel was. Those who claim today to be commissioned by God to be prophets in the sense of being able to foretell the future may well be proven wrong (Deuteronomy 18:22; Hebrews 1:1–2).

Even so, there are opportunities for us to speak a watchman’s words of warning and wisdom to those around us. God doesn’t desire that anyone should perish (2 Peter 3:9). He punishes disobedience justly, but He is also gracious, merciful, and patient. He invites sinners to repent and turn from their wicked ways to find life in His Son. We have this good news to proclaim!

Moreover, it is not up to us whether people heed our words. Like Ezekiel, our responsibility is to tell the story of the good news of the gospel (Matthew 28:19–20). Whether that good news is accepted or rejected is not within our control. However, our own faithfulness in proclaiming it is.

B. Prayer

O God our Father, who does not desire anyone to be lost in sin or crushed by despair, speak good news into our broken world so that we may make wrongs right and restore relationships to a state of health. Keep us from the path of eternal death. Grant us strength as we continue on the way of the One who is “the way, the truth, and the life,” Your Son, Jesus. It is in His name we pray. Amen.

C. Thought to Remember

Speak and act as a watchman!

Involvement Learning

Enhance your lesson with KJV Bible Student (from your curriculum supplier) and the reproducible activity page (at www.standardlesson.com or in the back of the KJV Standard Lesson Commentary Deluxe Edition).

 Mark Hamilton, Suzanne Sang, and Mark A. Taylor, Editorial, “Ezekiel’s Responsibility,” in The KJV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2025–2026, ed. Taylor Z. Stamps et al., vol. 73, The KJV Standard Lesson Commentary (Colorado Springs, CO: Standard Publishing, 2025), 103–104.