{"id":74960,"date":"2020-05-19T17:40:37","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T14:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=74960"},"modified":"2020-05-19T17:40:37","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T14:40:37","slug":"turn-back-turn-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/turn-back-turn-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn Back, Turn Back!"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"74960","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62571,"related_cahpter":"485","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But the people think they are in the right, and will ignore him, only to realize once it\u2019s too late\r\n\r\n","content":"

The metaphor that the prophet employs in the first portion of chapter 33 is that of a watchman who sees danger approaching and whose responsibility it is to warn individuals who are potentially under threat. Verse 7 states how this parable applies directly to the personal situation of Ezekiel, and for that matter, that of any true prophet:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow, O mortal, I have appointed you a watchman for the House of Israel; and whenever you hear a message from My Mouth, you must transmit My warning to them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Failure to deliver the message, however unpopular confronting evil-doers in this manner may prove to be, places the prophet into the category of \u201c<\/span>koveish et nevuato<\/span><\/em>\u201d (\u201cone who squelches his prophecy\u201d), and for whom dire consequences are prescribed, not unlike what is stated in Ezekiel 33:6, 8 itself: \u201cA person who is \u201c<\/span>koveish et nevuato<\/span><\/em>\u201d\u2026 his death will be by the hand of Heaven, as it is said: (Deuteronomy 18:19) \u201c\u2026And I will demand it of him\u201d (Mishna Sanhedrin 11:5, Bavli Sanhedrin 89a).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But a significant difference regarding God\u2019s \u201cwatchmen\u201d when compared to others assigned such a role, is that the former\u2019s aim is not simply to clearly warn individuals marked for potential destruction of impending danger, but to get them to actually change their ways. (see Jonah 3-4). In the most famous verse of the chapter, a reprise of Ezekiel 18:32, God states his overall intention: \u201cAs I live\u2014declares the Lord GOD\u2014it is not My desire that the wicked shall die, but that the wicked turn from his [evil] ways and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways, that you may not die, O House of Israel!\u201d (verse 11).<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, no one wants to change; but the prophet proclaims God\u2019s expectations, regardless of what others consider \u201cfair\u201d or \u201cunfair\u201d (v. 20).<\/span><\/p>\n

While verse 11 is extremely similar to 18:32, there is a key difference in word selection. In 33:11, the phrase is \u201c<\/span>bemot harasha<\/span><\/em>\u201d (that the wicked shall die\u2026), whereas in 18:32 the text reads: \u201cbemot hameit\u201d (that the dead shall die). Yerushalmi Berachot 2:3 asks the obvious question: \u201cCan the (already) dead, die?\u201d and responds, \u201cEvil-doers, even during their lifetimes, are referred to as (spiritually) dead,\u201d a sort of metaphysical \u201cdead man walking.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The middle section of chapter 33 (verses 21-9) is directed at the Jewish people dwelling in the land of Israel, apparently believing that their claim to the land is sacrosanct, regardless of how immorally they may be conducting their lives. God charges the prophet to tell the people that they are in for a rude awakening, should their transgressing continue.<\/span><\/p>\n

The chapter concludes with Ezekiel being told to expect his predictions to be ignored, again like so many other prophets, with the people treating him as little more than a source of rude entertainment rather than a harbinger of the truth, something they will realize only once it is too late.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Turn Back, Turn Back!","main_caption":"But the people think they are in the right, and will ignore him, only to realize once it\u2019s too late","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74960"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74960"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74961,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74960\/revisions\/74961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}