3:17 a watchman. This role was spiritually analogous to the role of watchmen on a city wall, vigilant to spot the approach of an enemy and warn the residents to muster a defense. The prophet gave timely warnings of approaching judgment. The work of a watchman is vividly set forth in 2 Sam. 18:24–27 and 2 Kin. 9:17–20. See notes on 33:1–16.
3:18–21 Cf. chap. 18, and see notes there.
3:18 the wicked … him … his. The emphasis of singular pronouns was on individuals. The ministry of Habakkuk (2:1), Jeremiah (6:17), and Isaiah (56:10) were more national than individual. Ezekiel’s ministry was more personal, focused on individual responsibility to trust and obey God. Disobedience or obedience to God’s messages was a matter of life or death; Ezek. 18:1–20 is particularly devoted to this emphasis. no warning … die. Men are not to assume that ignorance, even owing to the negligence of preachers, will be any excuse to save them from divine punishment. Cf. Rom. 2:12. save his life. This refers to physical death, not eternal damnation, though that would be a consequence for many. In the Pentateuch, God had commanded death for many violations of His law and warned that it could be a consequence of any kind of consistent sin (cf. Josh. 1:16–18). The people of Israel had long abandoned that severe standard of purification, so God took execution back into His own hands, as in the destruction of Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem. On the other hand, God had also promised special protection and life to the obedient. Cf. 18:9–32; 33:11–16; Prov. 4:4; 7:2; Amos 5:4,6.
3:18,20 his blood I will require. Though each sinner is responsible for his own sin (cf. 18:1–20), the prophet who is negligent in his duty to proclaim the warning message becomes, in God’s sight, a manslayer when God takes that person’s life. The responsibility of the prophet is serious (cf. James 3:1), and he is responsible for that person’s death in the sense of Gen. 9:5. The Apostle Paul had this passage (and Ezek. 33:6,8) in view in Acts 18:6 and 20:26. Even for preachers today, there is such a warning in Heb. 13:17. Certainly the consequence for such unfaithfulness on the preacher’s part includes divine chastening and loss of eternal reward (cf. 1 Cor. 4:1–5).

The MacArthur Study Bible. 1997 (J. MacArthur, Jr., Ed.) (electronic ed.) (Eze 3:17–18). Nashville, TN: Word Pub.