“On your walls, Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who profess the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; And give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem an object of praise on the earth.” Is 62:6-7
The Hebrew word for watchman is ‘shomrim’ from ‘shamar’ meaning to keep, although the more common biblical word for watch is ‘tsaphah’. It means to guard, watch or protect. Watchmen were not foot soldiers but were stationed up on the tower or city walls to keep an eye out for messengers or attackers heading for the city (or the harvest in the fields). If the watchmen were not doing their duty, the whole year’s food supply and all the city’s inhabitants were endangered.
The Chief Watchman
“God is the chief watchman. His eyes are watching over His creation, His people and His purposes. His eyes are over Jerusalem continually and His ears attentive to the prayers we pray as He promised Solomon” (2 Chron 7:15).
“Behold, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your protector; The Lord is your shade on your right hand… The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time and forever.” Ps 121:4-5,7-8
Watch and Pray
The role of a watchman was particularly needed at night when most of the population was asleep. However, they keep watch in vain if the chief watchman is not watching over the city (Ps 127:1b).
Watch and pray are often coupled together. We are told many times to keep alert (Matt 24:42-43, Lk 21:36, 1 Cor 16:13, Eph 6:18, Rev 3:3). Watching is observing, listening and discerning whereas prayer is more actively speaking and declaring. Watchmen are more the intelligence service of the army. They see into the spiritual realm (often in dreams and visions). Seers prophetically obtain air intelligence from heaven. Elisha saw the armies of heaven and asked God to open the eyes of his servant to see as he did (2 Kgs 6:16-17).
Warning
In Ezekiel chapter 33, Ezekiel sets out the duty of the watchman in times of war. If he saw the sword coming upon the land, he had to sound the trumpet and warn the people (v3). If the rebellious nation refused to take heed, their punishment was on their own head (v5). But, if he were silent, their blood was then accounted to him (v6). Most of Ezekiel’s messages, however, were warnings of judgement coming for the spiritual demise or the nation. The priesthood was corrupt and the nation had fallen away from God. As a watchman, he was called to hear and deliver God’s warning messages to the people, even if they didn’t take heed (Ezek 33:7). Jeremiah had to do the same. This is not a rewarding task in human terms, but necessary!
The sounding of the trumpet is particularly associated with the ‘day of the Lord’ prophecies. These are times when God raises up prophets and intercessors in an urgent call to save the nation from judgement in the form of wars, plagues, pestilence or drought. Joel lived in such a time and God’s answer was to call for the priests to gather together in a solemn assembly, repent, return to God, fast and pray for deliverance (Joel 2:13). God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. He would far rather that a person or nation turn from their wickedness and live. He calls the intercessors for that job (2 Chron 7:14).
It is the watchman’s role to be like the tribe of Issachar, understanding God’s times and seasons and seeking divine knowledge as to what the intercessors, churches and nation should do (1 Chron 12:32). The prophets not only warned of judgement to come and called for repentance but also gave hope by prophesying God’s restoration of the nation after a period of exile. We must always maintain this perspective.
The watchman needs to study and know Bible prophecy—what has been fulfilled already and what still needs to be fulfilled. Certain prophecies relate to particular nations and times, while others are for the end times. All the signs are visible that we are living in the last of the last days now. This is a time for the watchmen to arise and be alert at their posts.
“I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the watchtower; I will keep watch to see what He will say to me…” Hab 2:1
The watchman is the one who informs and alerts the intercessors. God often gives us a kernel and wants us to do research to uncover the meaning and fullness of this. This may mean doing historical research, or searching Bible commentaries, manners and customs or meanings of words, names or places.
Prepare the Way of the Lord
Preparing the way for the Lord’s return is another part of the watchman ministry. Yeshua is returning to Jerusalem and is gathering His people from all over the earth back to the re-formed nation for His end-time purposes. He has not finished with the Jews yet. He will save the nation and use them as His witnesses again to all the Gentile nations. Watchmen have a special responsibility to be praying for Israel and the Jewish people’s salvation.
Jerusalem is at the centre of God’s timeclock and His end-time plans and for that very reason the anti-Christ spirit is raging against her. We see Zechariah’s prophecy coming true today.
“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes staggering to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about on that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will injure themselves severely. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.” Zech 12:2-3
In the midst of that, God calls His watchmen to give Him no rest and to declare His Word in the face of the world’s taunts.
“And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, ‘So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’” Matt 26:40-41
In Yeshua’s last week, He spent much time teaching about the end of days before His return, especially warning of people being pre-occupied with their own affairs and not being ready when He came (see Matthew chapters 24-25). He hinted in the parable of the ten virgins that it may take longer than they anticipated and that they needed to keep the supplies of oil (Holy Spirit) at hand and remain alert, engaged in Kingdom business, and watching for His coming. If the church is asleep, it may be left behind, but the ecclesia will know God’s times and seasons and not be taken by surprise when He comes at a time that most do not expect. The watchmen will be like Simeon and Anna in Luke 2:21-38 listening to the Holy Spirit, looking for His coming and being in the right place at the right time to meet Him.
This and future articles are taken from a forthcoming daily devotional on prayer ‘The many Facets of Prayer’ by this author.
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