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What Does “Thou Hast Delivered Thy Soul” Mean in Ezekiel 33:9?

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Hi M____,

Thank you for your question concerning “but you will have saved yourself” as it relates to Eze 33:8-9.

Here is that section of scripture but with the preceding 7 verses:

Eze 33:1  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 33:2  Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: 
Eze 33:3  If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Eze 33:4  Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
Eze 33:5  He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
Eze 33:6  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
Eze 33:7 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.
Eze 33:8  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.
Eze 33:9  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.

When we are given to apply Matthew 4:4 to these words, then we understand that Ezekiel is merely a type and a shadow of who we are in Christ. It is we who are the watchmen of the house of Israel. When it says “if the people take a man of their coasts, and set him for a watchman”, it is not really the people who are doing that any more than it was Joseph’s brothers who sold him into Egypt:

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

After twice telling his brothers “ye sold me”, he then tells them “It was not you that sent me here, but God.” It is the same here in Ezekiel 33. God says the people took “a man of their coasts and set him for [a] watchman”, and then He tells Ezekiel, “I have set thee as a watchman unto the house of Israel.”

So it is with you and me today. We see what the Lord is doing, and we witness to what He is doing, but we do so only to those who are given eyes to see and ears to hear. We do not cast our pearls before swine by giving that which is holy to the dogs.

Mat 7:6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

There are many Babylonian Christians who consider themselves to be watchmen over the Lord’s house even as they are fleecing the Lord’s flock and participating in the traditions of men and spitting on the doctrine of Christ.

I hope this helps you to deal graciously with your friend and not try to make him see that he himself perhaps is in the strong delusion which has most of mankind within its grip.

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

If you have not yet done so, be sure to read this article: Will God’s Strong Delusion Deceive You?

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

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