Task of the Watchmen ~ Turn! Turn from your evil ways!

To better understand "Turn, turn from your evil ways", let's look at Ezekiel 33: 7-20 which discusses that and the task of the watchmen. 

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for  their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 

But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved. “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?” 

Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’

“Therefore, son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.’ 

If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. 

And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil that person will surely live; they will not die. 

None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.

 

 “Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, they will die for it. And if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing so. Yet you Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.”

This very last sentence in Ezekiel 33:20 says it all. How? Even after all the truth was given to the Israelites, they respond that the Lord is not just. And, yet we are told that their way is not just. Why? Because, they want justice in their eyes! And what is the Lord's justice... that all be saved because He is the Creator and in the end, He has the last say because He is Lord of Lords, King of Kings!