EZEKIEL 3:18


[NKJV] — When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.

[TLV] — When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak to warn the wicked of his wicked way, to save his life, that wicked person will die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood from your hand.


If God had spoken to the wicked, saying to him/her, "You shall surely die!' why would there still be need for a watchman to give the "Warning of Salvation" to that wicked man?

In the Bible verse above, when God says to the wicked, "You shall surely die" or "Your death is inevitable:" There are yet "three Grace" in this Word of God for that wicked man or sinner:

*1* The Grace of "Not being the Final Hearing;"

*2* The Grace of "Not being the Final Saying;"

*3* The Grace of "Time."

The essence of the first grace (Grace of that Word not being the final hearing from the Mouth of God) is to ensure there is a watchman, a witness, a messenger or an interpreter, between God and that wicked man or sinner. Since God chose to be invisible to the world of wicked men, the authentication of the wicked men hearing from God will be by hearing them hearing from God's Watchmen. Thus, their hearing depends on watchmen.

[Romans 10:14-15] — "...and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?..."

The essence of the second grace (Grace of that Word not being the final saying from the Mouth of God) is to ensure that even though God always has the final say, not every word of God should be the final say. There are some Words of God that should not be the final say: This will help us differentiate between "The Prophets of God" and "The Watchmen or the Watchful Intercessors." Thus, to defeat or overthrow even such saying of God that favors death or destruction of the wicked.

[Matthew 9:13] — "But go you and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

The essence of the third grace (Grace of time) is to ensure that wicked or sinner hears the message or warning of salvation on time before his/her death or destruction. That time between, when he/she heard and the day of death, is the time of grace or time of salvation through repentance.

To differentiate between "A Prophet" and "A Watchman:"

A "Watchman" is both a prophet and more than a prophet, like John the Baptist. As it is written,

[Luke 7:26-27] — "But what went you out for to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and much more than a prophet. This is he, of whom it is written, "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, which shall prepare Your way before You."

That's what a Watchman does, preparing the Lord's Way before Him. Between God and men who should direct the way of the other? God is He that should direct the way for men to follow. But Watchmen have ways of preparing the way of the Lord God, and influencing the direction of the Lord would have taken for destroying people into a different direction (of sparing/saving them as) the Watchmen wanted God to take. You should be able to figure out men of God and women of God who redirected God from imminently destroying people, by the watchmen being both proactive and preemptive. A woman like Zipporah, who preempted and aborted the Lord God's intents and move to kill Moses; a man like Moses, who preempted and aborted the Lord God's intents and move to destroy all children of Israel and to rebuild the children of Moses as God's chosen people; a man like Phinehas, who stopped already move of the Lord God's destruction among Israelites who had committed fornication or had sexual intercourse, to the degree that both Moses intercession/prayers and Aaron as high priest intercession with his censer and offering of incense could not prevent the anger and destruction of God that was killing thousands per hour; until Phinehas used spear to pin a man that was having sex in fornication with a strange woman, pinning both the man and woman into the ground while they were having sex. That act of Phinehas stopped the wrath of God and the destruction of Israel stopped: Therefore, Phinehas was automatically made or appointed "An Everlasting Priest" in the eternal kingdom of God far greater than the high priesthood of Aaron. In "Revelation 5" the twenty four elders testified that the Lamb (Jesus Christ) was first slain and through His Blood He has made us Kings and Priests to God in the everlasting Kingdom of God. But there was one man who did not have to wait for the death of the Lord Jesus Christ before he was guaranteed the kingship and priesthood inside heaven — That was Phinehas.

You see, if I continue list other examples of watchers or watch men or women who influenced or changed the path or course of God, this writing would be more voluminous. So here is simple difference between a prophet and a watchman.

A prophet is in the business of promoting the fulfilment of all the Words of God spoken by the prophet: He declares whatever God says and the words of the prophet comes to pass whether they are good news or calamity: just let not a word of the prophet fail.

In contrast, a watchman is in the business of preventing the fulfilment of the destructive Words of God spoken by the watchman: He declares whatever God says and the words of the watchman is supposed to generate "Repentance/Reformation" and not "Fulfilling of Prophecies" as those of prophets.

Sometimes, it may seem a watchman is a false prophet because his prophecy did not later happen; but if his prophecy generated repentance, correction or made God to change His mind from what God earlier told the watchman, then spiritually that watchman has achieved far greater success than what the world celebrate as a prophet who's words always come to pass.

Another difference between a prophet and a watchman sometimes is that: A prophet knows that when he speaks God's Words to those they are sent those words must happen, but a watchman knows that when he speaks God's Words to those they are sent those words may not happen, usually because those people believe him, received his warning, and repented or obeyed by faith

So because a watchman feels if I say it or preach it, people will know and repent which prevents their destruction and death; so sometimes a watchman may want to avoid warning or teaching people so that they would keep heading their way into the pit of destruction. However, God will require the blood of those they refused to warn from the hands of the watchmen who refused to warn them. So the reason a watchman is more than a prophet is because the watchman carries more responsibility than a prophet.

Like Jonah and Nineveh he hated: Ninevites were enemies to Jonah and Jonah was made by God a watchman over his enemies. If Jonah warns them of God's destruction that was coming in 40 days like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, they will repent and then the destruction will not have to be. Jonah wanted them to be destroyed, and so he would not prophesy or warn them. He was traveling to Tarshish when God began to require the blood of the Ninevites at Jonah's hand. Thank God they were not destroyed yet and Jonah experienced hell in the belly of the whale that swallowed him, and he had the grace of 40 days before the destruction of the same Nineveh would seal up his own destruction for not warning them as God sent him to be their watcher.

John the Baptist, would you not warn the Pharisees and Church Pastors of your time to repent and flee from the wrath to come?

[Matthew 3:7‭-‬10 FBV] — But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he said to them, “You vipers' brood! Who warned you to run away from the coming judgment? Show by what you do that you have truly repented, and don't presume to say proudly to yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you that God could make children of Abraham from these stones. In fact the ax is ready to chop down the trees. Every tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.

Contributions

There is none higher than a prophet except a child of God!

Being a son or daughter of God, you are automatically greater than so called prophets!

PlayerMeji:
There is none higher than a prophet except a child of God!

Being a son or daughter of God, you are automatically greater than so called prophets!

No, but there are those higher than a prophet, and not even a son/daughter of God yet: Viz:

*1* A High Priest is higher than a prophet

*2* An Anointed King is higher than a prophet

*3* A Government (Governor or President) is higher than a prophet.

*4* A Messiah, Saviour or Deliverer is higher than a prophet

*5* A Watchman is also a Prophet but also higher than a prophet

As it is written,

[Luke 7:26-28] — "But what went you out for to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and much more than a prophet. This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, which shall prepare your way before you. For I say to you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

Brother, let me throw some light into this...

The church today is incapacitated by the plethora of messages emanating from different quarters especially people who have gone to seminars and seminaries to learn about the Bible without having personal relationship with the Bible, itself. So what you get is recycled materials which do not reflect the actual mind of God, which is the word of God, the Bible,

This has made lots of Christians to fall prey to magicians and soothsayers who hide under the Christianity as pastors and prophets.

Now, when Jesus said the quoted scripture in Luke 7..can you imagine what the people of that era would have felt, especially being Jews and descendants of Abraham... The people then would have felt very angry and very furious with Jesus because it would look like an insult rather than a compliment to say that according to the verse For I say to you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." meaning Jesus Christ meant John the Baptist is greater than Moses who parted the Red Sea, Elijah who called forth fire from heaven, Elisha who called bears to devour some children, Isaiah, etc....

Have you asked yourself why Jesus Christ said John the Baptist is greater than all these prophets?...

I will like to know what you think before I go ahead to further on this issue ...

Good day..

PCHC:


No, but there are those higher than a prophet, and not even a son/daughter of God yet: Viz:

*1* A High Priest is higher than a prophet

*2* An Anointed King is higher than a prophet

*3* A Government (Governor or President) is higher than a prophet.

*4* A Messiah, Saviour or Deliverer is higher than a prophet

*5* A Watchman is also a Prophet but also higher than a prophet

As it is written,

[Luke 7:26-28] — "But what went you out for to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and much more than a prophet. This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, which shall prepare your way before you. For I say to you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

PlayerMeji:


For I say to you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

meaning Jesus Christ meant John the Baptist is greater than Moses who parted the Red Sea, Elijah who called forth fire from heaven, Elisha who called bears to devour some children, Isaiah, etc....

Have you asked yourself why Jesus Christ said John the Baptist is greater than all these prophets?...

I will like to know what you think before I go ahead to further on this issue ...

Good day..

The Lord Jesus did not say 'John the Baptist was greater than those you mentioned;" rather He said "No man had been greater than John the Baptist among all born of women."

By implication, the highest people are in the same ranking with John the Baptist, not greater or lesser that John the Baptist.

However, in the rankings of the Kingdom of God, the least person in the kingdom of God (the least king/priest in heaven) is greater than the greatest prophet on earth, using John the Baptist as the highest grade or standard of man a woman's womb ever produced.

PlayerMeji:
There is none higher than a prophet except a child of God!

Being a son or daughter of God, you are automatically greater than so called prophets!

so a prophet is not a son of God?

PCHC:


No, but there are those higher than a prophet, and not even a son/daughter of God yet: Viz:

*1* A High Priest is higher than a prophet

*2* An Anointed King is higher than a prophet

*3* A Government (Governor or President) is higher than a prophet.

*4* A Messiah, Saviour or Deliverer is higher than a prophet

*5* A Watchman is also a Prophet but also higher than a prophet

As it is written,

[Luke 7:26-28] — "But what went you out for to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and much more than a prophet. This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, which shall prepare your way before you. For I say to you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

so you mean samuel was lower than Saul when he dethroned Saul and his generation from kingship? So you mean Aron higher than Moses? What you lack simple ! You lack spiritual wisdom about the things of God!!

jcross19:
so a prophet is not a son of God?

Yes, being a prophet doesn't may one a son of God. Yet the same Spirit of God in the Son could also be on the prophet. No one becomes a son of God without receiving and subjecting to the Spirit of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Same for righteous men not being sons of God without the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in them.

[Matthew 13:17] — "For truly I say to you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them."

jcross19:
so you mean samuel was lower than Saul when he dethroned Saul and his generation from kingship? So you mean Aron higher than Moses? What you lack simple ! You lack spiritual wisdom about the things of God!!

Wow, your questions would have been enough, but you added insult and judged me of lacking spiritual wisdom about the things of God. This puts me in conflict of whether to respond to you or to ignore you. Well, you still have a long way to go because you don't know how to talk or order your conversation arise without showing unnecessary anger and frustrations. I have encountered many on Nairaland who have the same problem of attacking, insulting or judging wrongly, while trying to respond to post or comment. You know your speech would far more better and wiser for one who judges my lack of wisdom, if you had not spoken to undermine or belittle me. It's not always about winning argument or putting someone down for you to feel superior or higher than him or her.

Isaiah had "Unclean lips" and did not know how to talk before; but God helped him, and he testified, saying,

[Isaiah 50:4] — "The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as the learned."

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As for your questions:

Yes, Aaron as high priest was in higher position than Moses who installed him, and Saul as anointed king was in higher position than Samuel who installed him. The Chief Justice of the Federation, CJN, may have installed the President into, but yet the President in office is higher than him.

Moses, Samuel, Elijah etc, were great men of God, who's words had great Authority and could make/unmake the High Priest or Kings they raised. Yet, they are Messengers of God, not Administrators or Government.

Spiritually, they have higher ranking than the Administrators (High Priest or Kings), but in hierarchy of seniority of the Throne of God, those prophets and ministers of God are way lower than the High Priest or Kings in Power over Israel.

It's just like the greatest pastor in Nigeria may be spiritually closer to God and has spiritual Authority more than the current President of Nigeria, who is even a Muslim and not a Christian. Yet, the President is higher in office or administration than all the pastors and prophets in Nigeria combined.

Paul was a great apostle of Christ, but there was an incident a high priest commanded a man slap Paul. And Paul used swearing words against the High Priest:

[Acts 23:3-5] — "Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.” But those standing nearby said, “How dare you insult the high priest of God!” “Brothers,” Paul replied, “I was not aware that he was the high priest, for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”"


When Jesus Christ came as "Son of God," He was subject to the High Priest of His time: For even though He's God Himself among us, because He's not yet the High Priest or King of Kings, He's under those who were.

In Revelation 13, the saints and prophets of God will all fail or be defeated when they make war with the Beast that was King or Head of Governments: Because the churches are lower than the beast in hierarchy.

However, in Revelation 17, the Lord Jesus will return to face the Beast or Kings in war, not as a Son of God, a Prophet or any "Messenger/Minister" role; but as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, which is the position greater than that of all kings or lords. And then He will overcome the Beast or Kings.

[Revelation 17:14] — "They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.”"




Therefore, never insult anyone who is your president or governor.

Rom 13:1-2,4-6: "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God. Consequently, the one who resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. … For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work."

PCHC:


Yes, being a prophet doesn't may one a son of God. Yet the same Spirit of God in the Son could also be on the prophet. No one becomes a son of God without receiving and subjecting to the Spirit of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Same for righteous men not being sons of God without the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in them.

[Matthew 13:17] — "For truly I say to you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them."

stop misinterpreting the word of God! Even devil is a son of God!