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©Lightwritingmatters 2015
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The Watchman – Then and Now
Remember when you were little and you played hide and
seek perhaps with a little subterfuge via a friend. Your friend knew where you
were hidden and they were the look out to redirect the one who was seeking…saying
‘warm or hot’ if they were close or ‘cold’ if they were off? From early in
life, we are taught the value of responsibility. We are asked to ‘look out’ for
someone or something. Asked to ‘watch your brother’ or ‘watch for the mailman’
or don’t let some item out of your site. Later in life we may rise to some
management position responsible for personnel, goods, services, financials.
Responsibility comes with varying degrees of severity and culpability. Watching
for the Ice Cream truck may not be severe but for a child anticipating a treat
it may seem like the end of his/her world if they should find it passed them by
without their knowledge.
What about an obligation uttered millennia ago? The Bible
indicates many times when someone was appointed to a role of responsibility.
· Adam was responsible for watching over the
garden, the animals, later his wife, kids and of course obedience to GOD.
· Noah was responsible for not only building the
Ark but for preaching to people about something they’d never before experienced.
Let’s face it, the people had already been identified as more interested in
wicked and evil acts making Noah’s task more about responsibility to a task
than conversion. Simultaneous to the building of the Ark he was personally
responsible for his wife, his 3 sons and their wives. Later for receiving the
myriad of animal species brought to the Ark.
· GOD appointed Judges, Prophets and Kings who
bore responsibility of oversight for their areas of duty; for their traditions;
for their families and for their people and ultimately for the preservation of
an entire race of people specifically saved out for salvation by GOD. Some of
those who had the responsibilities were conscientious and did well; others, not
so much. By the time a consistent record of poor oversight of the ‘worship’ GOD
wanted had been made he began sending prophets to warn them. From here, we
begin our study. Please bear in mind: We have been taught through a life of practice
that we have responsibilities and should we shirk them consequences are
pleasant or sometimes most unpleasant depending on our commitment to a
responsibility. But, does life of training prepare us for being responsible [Watchmen]
for the life and/or death of virtual strangers if need be?
Let’s start with way back when Ezekiel, unquestionably a
prophet of immense patience and strong conviction, was advised by God…
Then – Who?
Identifying who in Ezekiel’s time.
“Again the
word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son
of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring
the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and
set him for their watchman: 3 If when he seeth the sword
come upon the land, he blows the trumpet, and warn the people; 4 Then
whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the
sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He
heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon
him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. 6 But
if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be
not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken
away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. – [Ezekiel
33:1-6]
There is a
whole chapter in those 6 verses that could be written but suffice it to say, if
you are obligated to warn people there are consequences [pro and con] to you
dependent on your choice. The prophet, the leadership of the people of GOD,
they all had a responsibility to ‘alert/warn’ folks of extreme danger; deadly
encounters coming.
Then Again – Who?
Identifying who of Jesus’ time
“18 And
Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven
and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world. Amen.” – [Matt 28:18-20]
Here we have
a wonderful generational transition with posterity to follow. Jesus, who had
spent the last few years of his life as the quintessential ‘watchman’ shared so
many of things to come some imminent, some later in time and finally some so
far in the future it would be an entirely different world that inherited the
responsibilities of ‘watchmen’. Jesus was resurrected and had been preparing
his core group of followers for his departure but at the very moment of his
departure he uttered the words above. Thus, the transition from HIS hands to
the next generation. Apostle John would write later quoting famous prayer by
Jesus: “I do not request that you take them out of the world, but that you
watch over them because of the wicked one. 16 They are no part of the world, just as I am no part
of the world. 17 Sanctify
them by means of the truth; your word is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the
world, I also sent them into the world. 19 And I am sanctifying myself in their behalf, so that they
also may be sanctified by means of truth. 20 “I make request, not concerning these only, but also concerning those
putting faith in me through their word, 21 so that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are
in union with me and I am in union with you, that they also may be in
union with us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.” – [John 17:15-21]
Clearly, the
baton had been passed from Jesus to his followers and as Jesus foreknew the
future he also identified future believers who believe because of the faith of
those who would be gathered the day of Christ’s ascension and later Pentecost.
Now – What do we warn?
An entirely different world later and it is us!
For eons of generations the ‘gospel’ has been taught. The watchmen through time
have sounded the warning, the solution for survival of the storm to come and
how to identify the very characteristic of the culture who would be the final
generation to serve as Watchmen before the storm actually hits.
Today, all life has one thing in common on this planet:
Weather! Depending on where you live there is a ‘wind’ that blows. The season
for the worst of the wind storms may vary but most places have life threatening
winds periodically. Science and history have come together to devise a way to ‘forecast’
when the worst of these winds might arrive and the damage they may do. The
forecast does not end with the weather watchmen merely warning people -- who
usually can tell the signs a storm is coming. More has been done by innovating
creative ways to get the attention of the folks about peril posing certain life
threatening danger. Here in the U.S. we have available weather radios, weather
forecasts on television, weather reports from the agency of the Government [NOAA]
responsible for monitoring weather available on the internet. Lastly, for those
times when something develops quickly there are ‘sirens’ that announce the
warning. If you hear any of the warnings it is on you to take the necessary
precautions to survive. It may include warning people you have in your family,
friends or neighbors. If you fail to take shelter and die it is on you. But if
the systems in place to warn us fail and we die guilt may be on both of us if
we could see the warning ourselves and did nothing but definitely on those
responsible for monitoring such phenomena if they knew and failed to meet their
obligation as watchmen.
Like the weather, over time, cultures change. There seems to
be an historic record of the process by which cultures, even civilizations,
erode into oblivion to be found only in print in a book. Jesus allowed for this
as he answered his disciples’ inquiry about HIS return. In Matthew 24 they
asked him for a ‘sign’ of his coming and end of the world. Though he answered
their questions he let them know there would be common things that were bad but
were not part of the sign the world was to end. Such things as wars and reports
of wars. There would be pseudo Christs who are deceptive. However, he gets into
the meat of the sign which includes some things unique to the end that would
not be present in other times.
Continuing with the weather example: We have winds but not
always life threatening winds. We do have seasons when the winds do take that
turn. We have entered a season [time] when many are focused on the two signs
that would not apply throughout time all over the earth but would only happen
at the very end. For instance, a sign that had not come near to completion
really until the last century but is still being fine-tuned. Jesus said the
Good News would be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the
nations. Later in Revelation 14:6 it was
specified as: ‘every nation and tribe and tongue and people.’ Of course, there
are multiple challenges to this global task because the people of the Gospel or
‘Good News’ are not welcome and are even despised in some nations, tribes,
tongues and people. Still it gets done. So as a sign, GOD knows when this task
is completed. But, for us, this ‘sign’ surely must be near to completion as
most major religions can provide statistics as to the works and results of
their various gospel related ministries worldwide.
The other sign in Matthew 24 is this: “15 When ye
therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)ӧMore
will be written on this at a later date.
Additionally, other supporting scriptures specify they
relate to the last days. The Apostle Paul actually wrote a bit about that time.
Does this collection of characteristics of cultures in the last days sound or
read as a familiar tone to you? “But know this, that in the last days critical
times hard to deal with will be here. 2 For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, disloyal, 3 having no natural affection, not
open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, 4 betrayers, headstrong,
puffed up [with pride], lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, 5 having
a form of godly devotion but proving
false to its power; and from these turn away. 6 For from these
arise those men who slyly work their way into households and lead as their
captives weak women loaded down with sins, led by various desires, 7 always
learning and yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth.” – [2 Tim
3]
Who are we, the current Watchmen?
Who is responsible?
We are aware of bureaucracies, levels of authority and
responsibility. So let’s return to the ‘weather’ example.
What levels or responsibility are laid out in many countries?
· The specific national department/ministry
responsible for oversight and relief from Natural Disasters.
· The specific national dept./ministry responsible
for Weather related disasters
· The individual state/province/etc.,
dept./ministry for the two above.
· The individual county/municipality/tribe/etc., for
the two above
· The local authorities be it
city/township/community/neighborhood for the two above.
· YOU
The various governmental authorities to some degree train
and plan to handle what nature throws their way. But do YOU?
Bringing the point away from weather but to the ‘gospel’ or ‘good
news’. Governments may vary how they visualize their role in the Gospel
activity be it facilitating freedoms to that end or prohibitions to the same
and everything in between. But nowhere is it stated in scripture we are exempt
from responsibility if the government fails to uphold their self-appointed
authority respecting the proclamation and teaching of the ‘Gospel of Christ’.
It is you, the reader, a person of faith, who believes the Gospel and the idea
there will be an end to life as we know it and a time of great peril with mass
loss of people and nature before utter destruction. You have only one mandate: Teach/Warn
everyone trouble is coming and give them the training/education [Gospel] they
need to assist you in warning others. Jesus began the preaching of this gospel but
before HE actually suffered and died HE began to send out his disciples in
groups to bring their knowledge and training to others. After HIS resurrection and
just prior to HIS ascension HE gave those gathered a last commandment and it
was to be continued until the ‘end of the world’. So, as stated, if you are a
faith filled believer in Christ Jesus, as a disciple of HIS -- YOU are a ‘watchman’!
Frankly, we are much closer to the time of the ‘end of the world’ now than when
Jesus uttered that command.
Do with the thoughts contained herein as you wish.
Sometimes, it is merely a reminder our work is never done and acts as its own ‘warning’
to that fact. The end of the world has not come; the world has not all
converted and there is no scripture that teaches it will. According to the
Apostle Peter, we are still living in the time of GOD’s patience not wanting
any to die but all to come to repentance – but ‘the day’ WILL COME! – 2 Peter
3:9-10
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©Lightwritingmatters 2015
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