"Yet your people say, 'The way of the Lord is not just,'" when it is their own way that is not just. When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; and when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by it. Yet they say God's way is not just; but "I will judge each of you according to his ways" (a paraphrase of Ezekiel 33:17–20).

The Lord tells Ezekiel that each person will be judged by their final moral position, regardless of what they did before. If they were righteous all their lives and turned to wickedness in the end, they would die for their wickedness, and their former righteousness would not be remembered. If they were wicked all their lives but repented in the end, their wickedness would not be remembered, and they would live.

Does this seem fair? Perhaps not. Many of the world's religions judge by a moral scale, so that if a person's good deeds outweigh their bad deeds, they will live; if not, they will die, or at least have to pay for their excess of evil. That sounds fair, doesn't it?

It may sound fair, but it is not just. What if someone lived a life of remarkable charity and then murdered an innocent person in old age — should that person be acquitted on account of their former good deeds? What if a person lived as a thief all their life but in the end became an agent to catch other thieves and dissuade others from becoming thieves — should such a person be condemned? Even our human justice systems reflect something of God's way. It is not only how a person began but what a person has become that matters.

We do not judge God's justice by our human systems. We are in no position to judge the Judge of the universe. For who defines our sense of justice, if not the Lord Himself (James 4:12)? It is before Him that everyone must give account (Ecclesiastes 12:14; Hebrews 4:13).

Friends, just as God looks to the end more than the beginning, let us see one another not only by what we have done in the past but by what we can become in the future. For ourselves and for each other, let us hope and pray for transformation (Romans 12:2), so that we may always become better than we have been and help others become better than they were, just as God is at work in us to make us more like Christ (Romans 8:29).

AI-Expanded Reflection

Ezekiel 33:10–20 repeats and expands the teaching of Ezekiel 18, and it comes at a critical moment: the exiles had just heard that Jerusalem had fallen (33:21). Their response to judgment was despair — "Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them." (33:10). God's answer is one of the most tender in the prophets: "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked," but that the wicked turn and live; "turn back, turn back... why will you die?" (33:11). The principle that God judges by one's present direction was, first of all, a door of hope for people who felt their past had sealed their fate.

The comment's closing application is gracious: seeing others in light of what God can make of them. Paul expressed the same outlook when he wrote, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:16–17). Christians also affirm, alongside Ezekiel's teaching, that the ground on which a returning sinner "lives" is not the late-life good deeds themselves but God's mercy, fully revealed in Christ — which is why the thief on the cross could be promised paradise (Luke 23:43).

They come and sit before Ezekiel as God's people and hear his words but do not do them, "for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth," and their heart goes after gain (a paraphrase of Ezekiel 33:31, NASB).

As I survey the various translations of this verse, I notice that the last part can be taken in a couple of different ways. The NASB describes two bad traits: lustful talk and greedy intent. But normally what is spoken by the mouth is contrasted with the intentions of the heart. This contrast is brought out in both the NIV and the KJV. The NIV says their mouths "speak of love," but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain; the KJV says that "with their mouth they shew much love," but "their heart goeth after their covetousness."

I think the NASB may have gotten it wrong here. The talk of love is not a lustful expression synonymous with the greed of their hearts. Rather, the talk of love represents a false expression of selfless concern, which stands in contrast to the true intent of their hearts: greedy gain.

The significant lesson here is that Israel gave lip service to justice and concern for the poor but did not truly care about helping the poor. Isaiah prophesied about this lip service: the Lord says that this people draw near with their mouth and honor Him with their lips, "while their hearts are far from me" (Isaiah 29:13).

Again, Isaiah rebuked the Israelites for going through the motions of fasting while failing to promote justice. The fast God chooses is to loose the bonds of wickedness, undo the straps of the yoke, let the oppressed go free, share bread with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into one's house, clothe the naked, and not hide from one's own flesh (cf. Isaiah 58:6–7).

Friends, do we merely go through the motions of church and give lip service to faith and love? If we believe, do we boldly and often proclaim our faith to others? What do we do to love and care for our brothers and sisters in Christ, by which, the Bible says, we demonstrate the love of Christ to unbelieving onlookers? (cf. John 13:34–35).

AI-Expanded Reflection

The comment's close reading of Ezekiel 33:31 is well taken, and many modern translations agree with its interpretation: the ESV renders it "with lustful talk in their mouths they act," but the NIV and others see the contrast the comment describes. The very next verse adds a memorable image: Ezekiel was to them like one who sings love songs "with a beautiful voice," for they hear his words but do not do them (33:32). Ezekiel had become entertainment. People enjoyed his preaching the way one enjoys a skilled performer — appreciating the style while ignoring the content.

That warning speaks to every generation of hearers. James makes the same point: "be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22), comparing a hearer who does not act to someone who looks in a mirror and forgets what he saw. Jesus closed the Sermon on the Mount with the parable of two builders, both of whom heard His words; the difference was that one "does them" (Matthew 7:24–27). The comment's application to loving fellow believers in practical ways reflects the heart of both Ezekiel and Isaiah: true worship shows itself in justice and compassion.

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 (Ezekiel 33:7).

God made Ezekiel a watchman for Israel, so that he might give the people warning of impending judgment. While Israel was accountable for their own sins, Ezekiel was accountable to warn them.

Friends, we have been entrusted with the Word of God and, therefore, have the responsibility not only to speak the Gospel to the lost but also to teach, rebuke, correct and train one another with the Word of God so that we might live in a way that pleases God (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16–17). So Paul advises his son in the faith, Timothy:

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 4:2–4).

As Paul passed the baton of ministry to Timothy at the end of his life, he was warning Timothy that the generations to come would be increasingly averse to sound teaching, preferring instead to hear things that affirm their own desires, ambitions and interests.

Friends, we are commanded to speak the truth in love in order that we might become mature in Christ, not being shaken by unorthodox teaching, nor deceived by undocumented claims of divine revelations and supernatural signs, nor moved by emotionally-charged appeals and clever rhetoric (cf. Ephesians 4:14–15).

We must not remain silent simply to keep the peace or to maintain some false unity. There can never be unity around false teaching or wrongful practices. On such occasions, the biblical command is "Be separate" (2 Corinthians 6:17) and "Do not go beyond what is written" (1 Corinthians 4:6).

We are all called to be watchmen over one another, a kind of brother's keeper if you will, to carry each other's burdens (cf. Galatians 6:1–2), always ready and willing to help each other get back on the right path (cf. James 5:19–20). In our generation and for the next, let us not be lax in this responsibility. We are accountable to God.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The watchman analogy in Ezekiel 33 distinguishes responsibility for warning from responsibility for another person’s response. A watchman who sees danger and remains silent fails his charge. A watchman who sounds the alarm does not thereby control whether each hearer takes shelter (Ezekiel 33:1–9). This distinction guards against two opposite failures in ministry: indifference that refuses to speak, and an assumption of control that treats another person’s conscience as the leader’s property.

Ezekiel’s commission is particular. He receives a message from God for Israel in a defined historical crisis. Christians can learn from that commission without assuming that every personal concern carries Ezekiel’s prophetic authority. When Paul describes his own ministry as declaring God’s whole counsel and being innocent of others’ blood, he draws on this watchman pattern (Acts 20:26–27). Yet his address includes tears, generosity, and attention to the leaders’ own conduct. The warning is part of accountable pastoral care, not a license for unchecked denunciation.

Second Timothy 4:2 holds together verbs that are sometimes pulled apart: correcting, rebuking, and encouraging belong with patience and careful teaching. Patience is not a reluctant concession after the supposedly serious work of rebuke. It is part of how that work is commanded to be done. A person may speak a true proposition in a way that obstructs understanding, humiliates a hearer unnecessarily, or makes correction seem like personal retaliation. Biblical fidelity concerns both what is said and the purpose and manner of saying it.

The broader contexts of the other passages keep discernment proportionate. Ephesians 4 places resistance to deception within the body’s growth in love, under the one Lord who gives varied gifts (Ephesians 4:1–16). Second Corinthians 6:14–18 concerns incompatible allegiance and idolatry; it is not a command to separate whenever Christians disagree over a secondary matter. First Corinthians 4:6 confronts pride and factional boasting. These texts require serious boundaries, but they also challenge the pride that can turn defending truth into building a personal faction.

Galatians 6:1–2 supplies the posture for mutual correction: restoration with gentleness, accompanied by self-examination. Bearing another’s burden is different from making that person a public illustration of one’s discernment. Sometimes direct, urgent action is necessary, especially when others are being harmed. At other times the right beginning is a private conversation, a question about what was meant, or a patient reading of the relevant passage together.

The watchman image therefore calls for disciplined courage. Before speaking, ask what is actually known, which biblical teaching applies, who is responsible to act, and what response would help protect or restore. After speaking, remain willing to listen and to correct one’s own mistakes. Faithfulness is neither silence for the sake of comfort nor constant alarm for the sake of influence. It is truthful service that gives people a clear warning and a real path toward life.

Ezekiel 33

26 You rely on the sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land?

I overheard on the radio that there are Wall Street executives looking to astrology for financial guidance. The reporter actually said 'they are seeking that edge to better control their financial outcomes.' What idolatry!

How much things have not changed! But why would they, the problem has not changed. Right before this report a lady was complaining 'money corrupts people.' Money does not corrupt; it reveals the corruption already there.

What hope can you have when you rely on unicorns and wishful thinking? What control do gaseous balls thousands of light years away have over the financial confidence of other investors – actually, since it is largely based on their confidence it is as fickle as a fluttering light traveling in the cosmos. What does one woman offer that another woman could not?

If the company relies on weak principles like you may, then both will fail. If your women keep dealing with the same man, you, then why do you expect to have different results? The change must come from you if you are to see different results. You are the variable that can change by God. Don't rely on your sword but His and know the peace and security the markets and all relationships seek. Even when things go south you will not break as you would without that as your confidence.

Our ability to be confident may be weak in and of itself. How much more when the object of our confidence, the source of our energies and motivation, is as reliable as an obfuscation of light, or relying on another such person. It is as effective as gauging how far you’ve travelled by looking at other moving objects, instead of the firm immovables available.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Ezekiel 33 addresses survivors who reason from Abraham’s possession of the land to their own entitlement to it. They are more numerous than Abraham, so they assume the inheritance must belong to them. God answers by naming the conduct that contradicts their claim: bloodshed, idolatry, reliance on the sword, and sexual wrongdoing (33:24–26). They have separated a promise from the relationship and responsibilities that give it meaning. Their security rests in possession and power while their lives repudiate the God to whom the land belongs.

The anecdote about seeking guidance from astrology illustrates a comparable desire to control uncertainty. It remains an anecdote reported by the commenter, rather than a verified description of a profession as a whole. Its spiritual relevance lies in the impulse it exposes: when ordinary limits become intolerable, people may seek a hidden advantage rather than acknowledge dependence. The problem is not simply that the proposed method is unreliable. It is also the willingness to organize life around an imagined access to control. Scripture directs trust toward God while calling for honest, responsible action within human limitations.

The observation that money reveals existing corruption captures part of the truth, but the biblical account is more relational. First Timothy 6:9–10 describes the desire for riches as a source of temptation and entanglement, and Jesus speaks of wealth’s deceitfulness choking the word (Mark 4:19). Possessions can expose the heart while the pursuit of them also strengthens destructive habits. We therefore need more than a declaration that the fault was inside us already. We need practices that weaken greed and cultivate contentment, generosity, accountability, and truthful dealings.

The same care applies to the comments about relationships. Repeatedly blaming another person can conceal one’s own harmful patterns, and repentance must begin with responsibility for what we actually do. Yet another person’s betrayal or abuse should not be explained as though the injured person caused it by failing to change. Mutual relationships contain distinct moral agents, each accountable for their own actions. The call to examine oneself must never become an excuse for someone else’s wrongdoing.

The closing image of measuring motion against a stable reference gives the reflection a constructive direction. God’s character and revealed will provide a point of reference that shifting circumstances cannot supply. Confidence in him does not guarantee favorable markets or painless relationships. It enables us to face disappointment without making desperation our guide. The change Ezekiel seeks is a return from presumed entitlement to obedient dependence, expressed in conduct as concrete as the sins he names.

As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, 'Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.' My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. "When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them. (Ezekiel 33:30–33 NIV)

In the twelfth year of their exile in Babylon, a message came from Jerusalem that the city had fallen. Then Ezekiel's mouth was opened to explain that God would even judge the survivors because of their misguided confidence. The survivors thought that they would now have the whole land to themselves even while they continued to neglect God's Law. This was not to be.

Meanwhile, the people in exile needed to get a clue. Ezekiel was not simply telling interesting stories. All of what he prophesied would come to pass. The problem with the exiles was that while they listened to God with their ears, they did not follow Him with their hearts and lives. Jesus also spoke of people like this in the Sermon on the Mount:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (Matthew 7:24–27 NIV)

James also touches on this message in his epistle:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. (James 1:22–25 NIV)

Both in the Old Testament and the New Testament people will be judged by their deeds. The only difference in the New Testament is that every good deed must arise from the one foundational deed, namely, believing in Jesus Christ:

Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." (John 6:28, 29 NIV)

It is upon this foundation every good work must arise. We are saved through faith. But faith is not an end for the truly believing. It is the beginning. As Peter writes to believers in his letter:

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5–11 NIV)

Even though good deeds do not justify, they are a part of God's saving work in a believer, and these good deeds serve to assure and confirm the reality of a person's salvation, even their calling and election by God. As Jesus also taught, "You shall know them by their fruits." While he spoke this of false prophets, he also made application of this principle to believers, who profess Christ but show no fruit. As James also wrote, "Faith without works is dead (faith)." Paul also wrote, "Faith works through love." And Jesus taught,

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:35 NIV)

Friends, let us not merely profess our faith in Christ, let us order our lives around that profession. Let us not merely listen to God's Word or read God's Word but also put it into practice. Let us not merely believe in Christ but also proclaim Him and validate our faith and proclamation by following in His example of love. As Peter wrote, let us add to our faith "goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love." Not only will this give us the assurance of our salvation and election, it will also "keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Every Sunday after you hear the sermon, I would encourage you to find an hour or two to sit down and review what was preached. Once you have personally validated that what was preached is true from the Scriptures, you should do your best to order your thinking and behaving in such a way that you apply the principles preached to your life.

Every day, after you read the daily Scripture reading, you ought to ask yourself three questions: (1) What did I see? (i.e. try to understand what you just read in context), then (2) What does it mean? (i.e. try to discover the principles the writer is trying to convey through the text to his audience), then (3) What can I apply to myself? (i.e. are there truths, whether specific or general that I can apply to deepen my understanding or strengthen my spiritual walk?).

The exiles listened but did not put what they heard from Ezekiel into practice. Let us not make the same mistake. I encourage you, my friends, do your best to proactively consider how you might make God's Word the guiding influence in your lives.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Ezekiel’s listeners are remarkably religious. They invite one another to hear the prophet, gather in the expected manner, and enjoy the beauty of his presentation. Their failure cannot be explained by lack of exposure or by an inability to appreciate a compelling message. God identifies a more disturbing division: affectionate speech coexists with a heart set on unjust gain (Ezekiel 33:31). The prophet has become a performer whose words enrich an experience without disturbing the economic and moral habits of the audience. The passage therefore tests not only how often we listen but what our listening permits us to avoid.

The comparisons with Matthew 7 and James 1 clarify the mechanism of self-deception. Both builders hear Jesus; the difference emerges in what they do with his words. The person at the mirror genuinely sees something but fails to carry that recognition into subsequent action. Neither image depreciates instruction. Instead, both insist that instruction has a purpose beyond the moment of reception. A sermon may be accurate, memorable, and moving while its hearer remains unchanged. Admiration for truth can even become a way of assuming that one has already submitted to it.

The relationship between faith and action needs the distinction the original reflection seeks to maintain. Good works do not purchase reconciliation, yet the faith that receives Christ is not intended to remain barren. John 6:28–29 directs those asking about God’s works toward trust in the One he sent; it does not introduce faith as a meritorious achievement. Nor was faith absent from Old Testament obedience: Hebrews 11 repeatedly describes earlier believers acting through faith. The continuity matters because the gospel fulfills God’s saving purpose rather than replacing an earlier system in which people successfully earned his favor.

Second Peter 1:5–11 provides a hopeful model of growth. The qualities are to increase; the passage does not require a believer to discover flawless maturity before finding assurance. Remembering cleansing from past sins supports perseverance, while forgetfulness contributes to spiritual shortsightedness. This guards the call to fruitful living against becoming an anxious daily trial of whether one has done enough to deserve salvation.

The suggested practice of reviewing a sermon becomes most fruitful when it leads to a specific response. In Ezekiel’s setting, that might involve returning dishonest gain or changing an exploitative arrangement, not merely scheduling additional religious study. For us, it may mean correcting a misrepresentation, making restitution, or giving time to someone neglected. Observation and interpretation remain essential; application should arise from what the passage actually teaches. The decisive question is whether hearing God has made us more willing to obey him in the place where obedience costs something.