In Ezekiel 33:1-9 we read “Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’ “So you, son of man: I have madeyou a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”
According to Strong’s, the word watchman is derived from the Hebrew word ‘tsaphah” which means to ‘to lean forward, to peer into the distance.’ I think from this we can infer the watchman was to observe, watch out for, wait for, or keep the watch. Keeping the watch, or standing watch is a term still used today, particularly in the navy. When the sailor stands watch he is required to devote his full attention to standing watch, as inattention or negligence in doing such can have serious consequences for the ship or fellow shipmates. From the navy’s perspective the watch is necessary for communication, security and safety.
During Old Testament times Israel often had many enemies who were interested in capturing their land and taking them captive or killing them. To guard against, this many of the cities were build with great walls around them for protection. The city of Jerusalem was built with walls around it and history tells us these walls were tall and thick. Watchmen were required to stand on these walls or in the towers and look out onto the land. They would be leaning forward or peering into the distance looking for messengers, any unusual activity or an approaching army. If they saw any of this they were to alert the others in the city. The watchmen of this time were also responsible for communication, security and safety. They were responsible for communicating impending danger, ensuring the city was secure and ensuring the safety of the city’s inhabitants.
Nehemiah was the cup bearer to King Artaxerxes, he had learned that the remnant of Jews were in distress as the walls of Jerusalem had been broken down. He requested the king to allow him to lead the effort of rebuilding the wall surrounding Jerusalem. The king granted this request.
While rebuilding the wall enemies of the Jews learned of this and became furious. They decided that they should attack the Jews and throw them into confusion and stop the work of rebuilding the wall. When Nehemiah heard about this he encouraged the Jews to not be afraid and remember that their Lord is great and glorious. He also posted guards on the weak portion of the walls to protect those rebuilding the wall (Nehemiah 4). The Lord blessed Nehemiah and his people by allowing the wall to be rebuilt:
“So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.”
When relying on God, watchmen were able to be effective in allowing His work to be completed.
God’s people have a history of being unfaithful to Him and not following His commands. In Isaiah 56:10-12 we are given some insight into God’s perspective of Israel’s watchmen.
“His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant; They are all dumb dogs, They cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, they are greedy dogs Which never have enough. And they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain, From his own territory. ‘Come,’ one says, ‘I will bring wine, And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; Tomorrow will be as today, And much more abundant.’”
When speaking about Israel’s watchmen, Isaiah is referring to the leaders of the people of Israel. He states that the watchmen are blind, ignorant and dumb. He also says that they love to slumber and are only concerned about their own well being. We have seen that being a watchmen was a very important role. The first part of this role was to be on the lookout for trouble, if a watchman is blind, how effective can he possibly be in looking for trouble? The blind watchman will never see the trouble coming and God requires his leaders to be on the lookout for trouble, to see it coming and to act.
These watchmen are also described as ignorant. God wanted his leaders to understand His will, to understand the needs of His people and to ensure that His people were aware of and obedient to His will. Those leaders, who were ignorant about God, could never communicate His will to others nor discern when others deviated from it. So they neglected to correct sinful people.
Isaiah then describes the watchmen as dumb dogs, unable to bark. Communication was a key part of their function. The security of the city and the safety of its inhabitants depended upon the watchmen who upon seeing trouble coming, sounded the warning. But, the leaders of that day had no interest in warning others. They thought primarily of themselves and what was best for themselves.
Although the term watchman is not specifically mentioned in the New Testament, the concepts or characteristics are.
1 Peter 5:8-9 states “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” Other translations use the word watchful for vigilant, it is critical that we are watchful for the schemes of the devil. The devil will easily entice us and lead us away from our heavenly prize. In 1 Corinthians 16:13-15 Paul exhorts the believers to be watchful and stand firm in their faith “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.” Colossians 4:2-6 tells us “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” We are to be watchful in our prayer life, looking around us for opportunities to pray for others, to help ensure we are wise in the way we deal with others and that we will have the wisdom and opportunity to reach out to others. Jesus himself stressed the importance of being watchful. In Luke 12:35-40 He speaks about the faithful steward. The faithful steward remains on watch, waiting for his master to come home, even though he does not know when he will be back. He is diligent and attentive in his waiting. We, too, need to be diligent, attentive and prepared for the Lord’s return.
God accused His watchman of being blind. Jesus had similar words for the religious leaders during his ministry on earth.
- In Matthew 5:14 Jesus states that the Pharisees were blind guides and if the blind lead the blind they will both fall into the pit. Their blindness led to their ignorance about God, about His will and about who Jesus was.
- And in Luke 11:37-54 Jesus was invited to the home of a Pharisee for a meal. Surprised and perhaps offended that Jesus did not wash his hands before the meal, Jesus responded, calling for inner cleanliness instead.
Those who ‘watch out for our souls’ must first know the will of God and then do it – before correcting others.
So, the scriptures instruct us to seek knowledge, wisdom and discernment.
- Philippians 1:9-10 states “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ,”
- James instructs us to ask God for wisdom and that if we ask in faith then He will give liberally “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
- In Acts 17:10-11 we read, “Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”
We need to be like the Bereans who searched the scriptures daily which led to their fair-mindedness.
Paul admonished Timothy to commit what he has been taught to faithful men who will be able to teach others.
- In II Timothy 2:15 we read, “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
We have to be faithful people who are dedicated to understanding God’s instructions and plans for us so that we share this with others.
God accused His watchmen of being dumb or mute. The purpose of the watchman was to look for danger and alert people. Jesus provided many warnings to God’s people.
In Luke 12:15 we are warned against covetous, “And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
In John 8:34-35 Jesus warns us about becoming slaves to sin and how He is able to make us free. Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
Jesus warned His people of the false teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 16:5-12 which reads: “Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.’ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘It is because we have taken no bread.’ But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, ‘O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
In 2 Timothy 2:2-4 Paul encourages Timothy to preach the word and warns against false doctrine, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
The apostle Paul reminds us of the importance of our speech in Ephesians 4, specifically verse 15 where he states, “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ.” In verse 25 he also tells us to speak the truth, “Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour.”
And in verse 29 he tells that our words need to be edifying or instructive, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
Paul provides further insight in Galatians 4:16.
The watchmen described in Isaiah 56 loved to slumber. I don’t think they were sleeping because they were tired, rather they liked a life of leisure. This is the opposite of what we would expect from a watchman for the watchman must do his job diligently, alertly, always being ready.
Contrast this to what the apostle Paul teaches us in Col 3:22-25
- “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.”
- He also instructs us in Ephesians 4:28, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.”
- When in Capernaum Jesus taught the people in John 6:27-29 these words, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him. Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’” Clearly, we are not to live lives of leisure, but to be labouring for God and serving others.
Are we faithful watchmen for God?
Do we take this role with the seriousness and diligence it requires? Are we standing watch, looking for trouble and ready to complete God’s work? Are we serving God and others whole-heartedly? Are we speaking out – communicating God’s message – and including the severe consequences of not following Him?
Are we spending time in God’s word with a seeking heart and a desire for wisdom? And we growing in understanding and ability to discern His word?
May our love for God and our love for the lost give us a desire to warn others of the impending doom that disobedience to God brings.
Owen Sound, ON