17 "Son of man , I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel ; whenever you hear a word from My mouth , warn them from Me. 18 "When I say to the wicked , 'You will surely die ,' and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live , that wicked man shall die in his iniquity , but his blood I will require at your hand . 19 "Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way , he shall die in his iniquity ; but you have delivered yourself . 20 "Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity , and I place an obstacle before him, he will die ; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin , and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered ; but his blood I will require at your hand . 21 "However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin , he shall surely live because he took warning ; and you have delivered yourself ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 3:17-21
Commentary on Ezekiel 3:12-21
(Read Ezekiel 3:12-21)
This mission made the holy angels rejoice. All this was to convince Ezekiel, that the God who sent him had power to bear him out in his work. He was overwhelmed with grief for the sins and miseries of his people, and overpowered by the glory of the vision he had seen. And however retirement, meditation, and communion with God may be sweet, the servant of the Lord must prepare to serve his generation. The Lord told the prophet he had appointed him a watchman to the house of Israel. If we warn the wicked, we are not chargeable with their ruin. Though such passages refer to the national covenant made with Israel, they are equally to be applied to the final state of all men under every dispensation. We are not only to encourage and comfort those who appear to be righteous, but they are to be warned, for many have grown high-minded and secure, have fallen, and even died in their sins. Surely then the hearers of the gospel should desire warnings, and even reproofs.