Edmund Heddle unpacks the connection between the prophetic ministry and the metaphor of a watchman.

It is a long time in this country since the watchman made his way around a city at night, calling out the hours and declaring all was well (Song of Songs 3:3).

However, we still have those who watch over our safety by day and by night. The Royal Air Force provides a radar screen over our airspace, coastguards seek to prevent dangerous drugs from being landed, police protect our property, and doctors and nurses, firemen and ambulance crews are on the alert to provide us with immediate assistance should we need it.

Together with others too numerous to mention, they maintain the defence of the realm and the well-being of its inhabitants.

Prophetic watchmen

But our country also needs to be protected from evil practices and powers that can wreck our national and family life and this, according to the Old Testament, is the responsibility of the prophets. These individuals were regarded as watchmen.

Just as our military and emergency service maintain the defence of the realm and the well-being of its inhabitants, so prophets are responsible for protecting people spiritually."

God spoke to Ezekiel and said, "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel" (Eze 3:17, 33:7). In his commentary on the prophecy of Ezekiel, Dr A B Davidson said, "The appointment of Ezekiel as a watchman was not a change upon his original appointment as a prophet, it is only a more precise definition of it".

Picture a tower set in a commanding position with the watchman climbing to the top of this look-out, from where he can see all that is happening and is able to sound the alarm immediately he sees danger approaching (Isa 21:6-7). This is the responsibility laid upon his prophets by the Lord both then and now (Jer 6:17; Hos 9:8; Acts 20:28-31).

Hebrew words describing watchmen

There are at least ten words in the Hebrew Old Testament that are translated into the English words watch/watchman/watchtower. One of these, which occurs twenty-eight times, means to lean forward, to peer into the distance. This word is used in Ezekiel 3:17 and 33:7.

A second word, also occurring twenty-eight times, means to hedge about with thorns, that is, to act as a deterrent to would-be invaders. This is the word used in Isaiah 62:6. The third word, occurring nine times, means to keep alert, to be sleepless on the watch. This word is used in Jeremiah 31:28 to describe God's watching.

The fourth word, used only four times, means to protect and preserve. It is used in Jeremiah 31:6.

A study of these words shows that the prophetic watchman requires a penetrating vision, an unsleeping alertness and an undiminishing concern if he is adequately to protect those for whom he has been made responsible.

The Hebrew words used for 'watch' and 'watchman' depict prophets as needing a penetrating vision, an unsleeping alertness and an undiminishing concern."

Watchmen must watch

The watchman's first responsibility, having found the best position for observing all that is going on, is to keep his eyes open so as to gain as accurate a picture as possible of the situation (2 Kings 9:17). We need watchmen today who are not afraid to open their eyes to the seriousness of the situation in our country.

Britain is flaunting God's law in the matter of homosexuality (Lev 18:22, 20:13), while the media continues to fill our eyes and our ears with ever more violence. In some of our schools the minds of little children are being corrupted whilst older children are indoctrinated by teachers determined to overthrow the forces of law and order. Meanwhile so many of the churches show no real concern and carry on as though we had all the time in the world, their only real objective being their survival and personal happiness. The situation is so like that in the days of Isaiah who said, "Israel's watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs that cannot bark" (Isa 56:10).

Watchmen must warn

It is not enough for the watchman to see the danger approaching; he is on his watchtower for the express purpose of warning the people. This is why an essential part of the equipment of a watchman is his trumpet. God explains this to the prophet in Ezekiel 33:3, 6. The watchman "sees the sword coming and blows the trumpet to warn the people...but if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people...I will hold the watchman accountable."

Watchmen are responsible for keeping their eyes open to the situation and warning the people."

Already our streets with their muggers, rapists and child molesters reflect the situation described in the book of Lamentations (4:18) where it states: "Men stalked us at every step, so we could not walk in our streets." The calamity that could totally overwhelm our country if today's watchmen fail to deliver the strongest possible warning is nothing less than the total breakdown of law and order.

Watchmen must weep

When Jesus contemplated what was going to happen to the Jerusalem of his day he wept over it (Luke 19:41). And so will all true prophet/watchmen. As they like Ezekiel sit where the people sit and contemplate their despair they too will be 'overwhelmed' or to quote the Jerusalem Bible rendering, they will be 'like a man stunned' (Eze 3:15).

As the watchman warns of coming danger, he can prevent his words sounding harsh and judgmental only if his hearers know that his own heart is breaking. This is the thought behind the Lord's instruction in Ezekiel's day: "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it" (Eze 9:4).

How much genuine weeping for the nation is there in our churches and fellowships? Why is there an almost total absence of serious, informed prayer for the nation and those who govern it (1 Tim 2:1-4)? When will we care enough to pray through the hours when we might be sleeping? Twice in the New Testament there is mention of Paul's 'watchings oft' (2 Cor 6:5, 11:27). A number of modern versions render this as 'sleepless nights' and William Barclay comments "At all times Paul was willing to be the unsleeping sentinel of Christ." Are we?

Watchmen must wrestle

God does not always do things the way we think he should, and Habakkuk was neither the first nor the last prophet that had to wrestle with such problems. "Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?" (Hab 1:13). Ezekiel also felt he must object to what he saw God was about to do. "Ah, Sovereign Lord! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel?" (Eze 9:8).

When we face the apparent contradictions in God's ways in human history we need to learn patience. It was seven days before the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, and Jeremiah had to wait ten days. God does not always give us instant answers (Eze 3:16; Jer 42:7). But we need his answers before we can be certain we are making the right reaction to the situation that faces us. God's strategy for Jericho was different from that for Ai. Twice David sought guidance as to how to deal with his Philistine enemy, and God's strategy differed each time (2 Sam 5:18-25).

Watchmen must care enough to weep for the state of their nation, and to wrestle with God for answers."

Watchman's watch

Prophets/watchmen are not self-appointed. It is the Lord himself who stations them where he wants them to be. "I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem" (Isa 62:6). No one prophet could maintain continuous intercession night and day. He could do no more than take his turn to watch.

This method of working has given the name WATCHmen. The Jews divided up the night into three vigil periods which were called first, middle and morning watches (Lam 2:19; Judges 7:19; Ex 14:24). The Romans divided the night into four watches. The watch was the period when the watchman was on duty and it was only by co-operating with other watchmen that the whole twenty-four hours could be covered.

At the heart of this ministry was the necessity for co-operation, and today it will be only through churches working together that an effective warning can be given to the nation. That warning will fail unless all we do is in obedience to the Lord's strategy and in dependence upon his superior power. "Unless the Lord watches over the city the watchmen stand guard in vain" (Ps 127:1).

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 3 No 1, January/February 1987.