Watchmen of Hope 희망의 파수꾼

 Ezekiel 33:1-20


The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, ³ and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people,⁴ then 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. ⁵ He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. he had taken warning,But if he would have saved his life.⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.⁷ “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.⁸ If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.⁹ But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

Why Will You Die, Israel?

¹⁰ “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’¹¹ Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?¹² “And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness^[a] when he sins.¹³ Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die.¹⁴ Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right,¹⁵ if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die.¹⁶ None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.¹⁷ “Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just.¹⁸ When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it.¹⁹ And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this.²⁰ Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”



 Thinking and Understanding

God spoke to Ezekiel about the calling of a watchman. If a watchman saw the enemy coming but did not warn the people, he would be responsible for the consequences, but if the people did not respond despite hearing the watchman blow the trumpet, the blame would lie with the people. God delights in the repentance of the wicked more than their destruction. Although Ezekiel, as a watchman, proclaimed warnings and hope, the emphasis was clearly on 'the way to live'. God, who is righteous, judges every person according to their deeds. 

하나님은 에스겔에게 다시한 번 파수꾼의 사명을 말씀하십니다. 적군이 접근해 오는데, 경고하지 않을 경우,그 결과의 책임이 파수꾼에게 있지만,파수꾼이 경고 나팔을 듣고도 반응하지 않으면, 그 결과의 책임은 백성들에게 있습니다. 하나님은 악인의 멸망보다 회개를 기뻐하십니다. 파수꾼 에스겔은 경고와 희망을 함께 선포하지만, 강조점은 분명 '살길'입니다. 공평하신 하나님은 각 사람이 한 일을 따라 심판하십니다.


Who is God?

v11 God delights in sinners who repent and live. Even if someone is truly wicked, God does not delight in them dying due to sin, but desires for them to turn back from sin. What sins must we turn from today? Are we living in the way that God desires?

죄인이 회개하고 사는 것을 기뻐하십니다. 하나님은 악한 사람이라도 죄로 인해 죽는 것을 즐거워하지 않으시며, 우리가 죄에서 돌이키기를 원하십니다. 지금 내가 끊어야 할 죄는 무엇입니까? 나는 하나님이 원하시는 모습으로 살고 있습니까?


What lesson is God teaching us?

vv. 1-6 We are God's watchmen. Even if the people do not respond, as watchmen we must keep blowing the trumpet to deliver the news of God's judgement and salvation to the world. We have been sent into the communities we are part of as watchmen of God. Are we fulfilling our duties as watchmen?

우리는 하나님의 파수꾼입니다. 사람들이 듣지 않더라도 파수꾼은 계속해서 나팔을 울려 세상을 향한 하나님의 심판과 구원의 소식을 알려야 할 책임이 있습니다. 나는 내가 속한 모든 공동체에 보내진 하나님의 파수꾼입니다. 파수꾼으로서 내 책임을 다하고 있습니까?