“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand. Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me” (Ezek 33:6-7).

God’s spokesmen throughout history have been commissioned to warn people of His coming judgment. While there are messages of great hope and comfort throughout the scriptures, one cannot read any of the prophets without seeing the warnings of God’s just punishment upon sin. Messengers of God like Ezekiel were called to the work of a watchmen, blowing the trumpet of divine justice.

In the Lord’s church today we often shy away from such a message of doom and gloom. Our fear of coming across as self-righteous or unloving makes us hesitant to take up the stand of a watchman for the community around us. Yet, God has given us the same task to sound forth the divine admonition. With grace and love, but also with great urgency, we must warn lost souls to prepare for the judgment day and point them toward God’s deliverance.

And as the Lord told Ezekiel, our faithfulness as watchmen does not only affect the souls of those who hear us, but the salvation of our own soul. If we fail to sound forth God’s message of warning like we should, our own hands will be stained with the blood of the unprepared souls we neglected to teach. We are not ultimately responsible for how others choose to respond to the blow of the trumpet (Ezek 33:1-5). But we must make sure that no soul is lost because we failed to sound forth God’s warning as we should.

If we have been neglecting our role as watchmen, let us pray to God to cleanse us of our guilty conscience. And then let us take our stance on the city gate and blow the Lord’s trumpet with a greater fervor and zeal. Let us call out the warning and proclaim the path of salvation in genuine love for the lost souls God has entrusted in our care.