warn all the people in the surrounding farms to fl ee into the protection of the city walls. Everybody’s life was in the hands of the watchman; if he did not give warning of the enemy’s approach, they would overtake the unprepared still in their fi elds. Property and lives would be lost. But did you know that failure to give a warning could be
fatal for the watchmen as well? “When he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows
the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. … But he who takes warning will save his life” (Ezekiel 33:3–5 NKJV). You are expected to act if you hear a warning. “But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not
blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.” (Ezekiel 33:6 NKJV). If the watchman failed to blow the trumpet, he was held responsible for any who died. You and I are a type of watchman. God has given us life-
and-death messages in His Word. We know the sword is coming. He says to you and me:
So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, “O 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 I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul (Ezekiel 33:7–9 NKJV).
9 Inside Report | 2Q 2012
Toward the end of his ministry, Paul wrote, “I am innocent
of the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26 NKJV). Why did he say that? He added, “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (v. 27). He had faithfully blown the trumpet. He had given fair warning. The Bible says, “Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like
a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins” (Isaiah 58:1 NKJV). Are you blowing the trumpet? I’m not suggesting marching up and down the street being obnoxious for Jesus, but God does bring people within our sphere of infl uence every day. The Holy Spirit will impress us to say a word to this person or that person. But you have to be watching. Not long ago, I called to have satellite Internet service
installed in my cabin in the woods. This helped me stay in touch with the offi ce when I was out of town. The satellite company sent up some installers from Sacramento, a four- and-a-half-hour trip one way! After these two fellows pulled up to my yard in their company truck, one of the fi rst things they asked was, “You got any pot?” I said, “Sorry guys. You’ve come to one of the few pieces of property out here where you’re not going to fi nd any pot