Watchman on the wall
In the current day and age that we live in, when challenges are arising from all corners around, every individual seeks a guaranteed formula for a victorious Christian life. The heart of a righteous man grieves when evil and unrighteousness take over the land. The Lord called His children to be watchmen, pray, and intercede for the land and people around them. There are many examples of great intercessors in the Old Testament. Mosses and Samuel were the intercessors the Lord acknowledged and kept as standards for the Israelites. When The Lord spoke to Jeremiah, he said that though Moses and Samuel stood before me, my heart would not turn toward this person (Jer 15:1). The Lord mentioned the qualified intercessors and their persistent prayer to sustain the group of people entrusted to them. Our desire should be to know the Lord's heart, to walk with Him, to see what He reveals to us, and to stand in the gap and pray.
Moses was a great intercessor between the Lord and the Israelites. He was willing to sacrifice everything to save the rebellious people from the wrath of God. When the Israelites reached the wilderness of Sinai, the word of the Lord came to Moses, saying He would come to them in a dense cloud (Exod 19:9). The Lord descended upon Mount Sinai and summoned Moses to go up the mountain (Exod 19:20). The Lord spoke to Moses on the mountain, and when the people saw that he was delayed in His presence, they asked Aaron to build a god for them. The Israelites worshipped an idol and broke the law the Lord gave them. Moses returned to the Lord and said, these people have sinned a great sin; they have made themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of the book that you have written (Exod 32:31-32). The sacrificial prayer qualified him to be referred by the Lord to Jeremiah, and even though Moses stands before me, His heart will not turn.
There are mighty intercessory prayers that the saints prayed to stand in the gap, but I want to focus on another role God gives to the prayer warriors. The role of the watchman is to station in strategic areas to keep guard of the city, watching the arrival of the enemy and alert the people about the enemy's approach. The book Ezekiel describes the prophet's appointment as a watchman over Israel. Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me (Ezek 3:17). The purpose of Ezekiel's divine commission as God's watchman was to warn a generation of obstinate and hardened Israelites of impending judgment, to emphasize each generation's accountability for sin, and to exhort those willing to follow the counsel to Repent and live (HW 558). The prophet was expected to stand in the gap, receiving from the Lord and speaking on His behalf.
I want to look at another prophet who took a similar role in the face of an impending enemy’s attack. The book of Habakkuk describes a dialogue between the Lord and him about people's affairs in Israel. The book is best known to the current readers for the verse that inspired Martin Luther in the sixteenth-century protestant reformation movement. The righteous shall live by his faith (Hab 2:4b). The verse gives insight into how Gospel transforms an individual's life. From a different viewpoint, the book describes individual responsibility, stating that even when the world is in chaos, and God's purposes and designs are obscured, the righteous person must conduct himself or herself with integrity.
The prophet is complaining to the Lord about the injustice among the Kingdom of Judah and pleading to intervene. The Lord responded by saying the Chaldeans were becoming a ruthless nation and coming to subdue nations. The response from the Lord might not be the one the prophet expected. He said I would stand at my watchpost and station myself on the rampart (Hab 2:1). When Israel worshiped other gods and began to sway away from the Lord, the prophet complained to the Lord that destruction and violence were before me, strife and contention arise. So, the law becomes slack, and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous, and therefore judgment comes forth perverted (Hab 1:3-4). The answer he got was not what he expected. The Lord said I am rousing the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous nation, who march through the breadth of the earth (Hab 1:6).
The response of a watchman when he receives the information that the enemy is strengthening and they will come to invade and capture the land should be to raise the alarm to warn the people. Habakkuk pleaded with the Lord by asking, why do you look on the treacherous and are silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they to seize dwellings not their own (Hab 1:13). The statement that Habakkuk said after hearing the impending invasion of Babylonian is noteworthy. He said I will stand at my watch post and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me (Hab 2:1). The message here is apparent when the enemy is gaining strength and intends to attack the land, and God expects His children to rise. The prophecy about the inevitable destruction of Judah invokes the watchmanship of prophet Habakkuk.
God issues the warning in proper phrasing designed to bring repentance. The effective communication of this message is the task prophets often undertake, effectively being an evangelist bringing the message to repent and turn back to God. As we can see throughout the Old Testament, there are occasions when intercession may not result in the results the prophets wanted, but it leads God to keep a remnant. Abraham pleaded to the Lord to sustain the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord told Abraham, He must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me (Gen 18:20- 21). Abraham knew God would sweep the town, and no one would survive the wrath of God. He pleaded to the Lord, saying the righteous will sweep away with the wicked, and urged God to spare the cities. He prayed to the Lord to preserve them if there were even ten righteous individuals. (Gen 18:23-33). God expects intercessors to stand and pray for the protection of the land to which they belong.
When intercessors pray for the nation, personal preferences may have to be set aside. The prophet Samuel went to the Lord when Israelites asked for a king to rule over them. Samuel serves not only as a prophet and priest but also as a judge. Despite having all the political power, Samuel was not a king (HW 262). Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, You are old, and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to govern us. Samuel prayed to the Lord (1 Sam 8:4-6). Verse 6 mentioned Samuel was displeased about the request from the Israelites, but he went to the Lord in prayer. The rejection did not hinder the prophet from interceding for the people.
God’s appointment as a watchman is a huge responsibility that believers need to undertake. The events around us show that our Lord's coming is near, and the Gospel needs to be spread throughout the world. When Jesus ascended to heaven, He commissioned his disciples to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16). We have responded to the good news they proclaimed and received Christ in our life by faith. All through the walk of life, believers navigate their life by faith.
The message of the Gospel is simple, and it is available to all. Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians, pray for us as well, that God will open a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ (Col 3:3-4). When God assigns you as a watchman over a city or nation, we need to pray and intercede for the people who are perishing. During a time of world injustice and wickedness, watchmen must sit in God's presence, receive from him, and warn others of the eternal punishment that awaits those who reject the salvation that Jesus offers.
There are many challenges in preaching the Gospel; many people are persecuted and sacrifice their lives. When Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he mentioned the suffering he had to endure to preach the good news. Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman - I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, countless floggings, and often near death (2 Cor 11:23). We have a God-given responsibility to pray for those who reject you and to intercede for those who persecute you for the sake of the Gospel.
A watchman's call is to see what God reveals to you and to intercede and pray for them and remind yourself that our struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:12). The Lord is looking for someone to stand in the gap and watch over the city, the community and the nation. The Lord's calling is to spend time in His presence, identify the forces of the enemy, and warn the children of God about it.
