Watchman – Part 6

In the year 117 AD, Publius Aelius Hadrianus, known simply to us as Hadrian, became emperor of the Roman Empire. Upon ascending the throne he took the radical step of visiting firsthand every territory and frontier ruled by Rome — something no other emperor had ever done. It is said that, on visiting Britan­nia, the northernmost outpost of the empire, he decided that the Celtic tribes inhabiting what we now call Scotland could not be civilized, and therefore the best policy was to contain them. He ordered his legions to build a great wall 80 miles long across the narrowest part of the country, from the Irish Sea on the west to the North Sea on the east, to keep out the Pict warriors.¹Remnants of this wall can still be seen today.

In its original form Hadrian’s Wall was built mostly of stone and was eight to ten feet wide at its base, and 15 feet in height, with a path at the top for the watchman to patrol. At every one-third of a mile a raised watchtower for signaling was con­structed, and for each mile along the wall a more substantial castle-like structure was built housing some 60 legionnaires. These mile-castles guarded a portal gate through the wall that was intended for trade and commerce. It is thought to have taken six to eight years to complete the wall, and that the construction occupied three full legions (comprising approximately 15,000 men). Once the edifice was in place, watchmen patrolled it day and night. Any attempt to scale or breach the wall caused them to relay signals to arouse the encamped legions; these were billeted in 16 larger forts each holding up to 1,000 men. For the next three centuries this wall protected Roman Britannia from the savage Celtic tribes to the north.

The job of the watchman

The job of the watchman was of extreme importance, and the code of the Roman legions enacted severe punishment on any sentry who failed in his duty. The penalty for sleeping on watch was public clubbing to death by his fellow legion­naires, in front of the whole cohort.²We do not know in detail what the military code was for watch duty for those sentries who guarded the walls of Israelite and Judean cities in the time of the Kings, but the Scriptures hint at equal severity — for the lives of many were in the hands of the watchman. So important did the King James translators regard the concept of “watchfulness” that they used thirteen different variants on the word “watch” to translate the various Hebrew and Greek equivalents.³With this in mind we have the means of appreciating the parallels that are drawn between watch duty and spiritual vigilance in our Scriptures.

We get some insight into the responsibilities of a watchman in 2 Kings 9:17 (NKJV):

“Now a watchman stood on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came, and said, ‘I see a company of men’.”

Here the Hebrew word “watchman” means “to peer out into the distance”; it comes from a primitive root having the sense of “leaning forward”.⁴,⁵We may think here of one who gazes out into the distance, trying to anticipate danger. The watchman in Biblical times had no binoculars or telescope; he had to rely on his keen senses, and maintain due diligence — being alert to any danger — so he could sound the alarm before it was too late.

Foreseeing spiritual danger

Our Lord Jesus Christ alludes to the ability to sense spiritual danger before it occurs:

“But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up” (Matt 24:43).

If we don’t foresee spiritual danger it will take us unawares, and we will be ensnared in the consequences. We can relate to this at many levels in our daily walk. For example, parents have a responsibility to guide their children and see that they avoid bad companions. It is important for parents to have an open relationship with their children, especially in the teenage years when the temptation to emulate their peers may not always lead to good consequences. If the parent-child rela­tionship is close and loving, then virtually all the evils that prevail in this world can be avoided. The apostle Paul exhorts parents not to discourage their children and thus, by implication, to bring them up in a loving way (Col 3:21).

The same sense of anticipation applies to choosing a mate, sorting out challenges in our marriages, and dealing with problems on the job, to cite a few examples. In this age we can get wrapped up in the concept of success, which in the world’s sense of values is best described by the bumper sticker I once saw on a luxurious sport car; it read: “The one with the most toys wins.” If we fall into this mode of life, brothers and sisters can work such long hours and devote so much time to their careers that their children, family and ecclesial relationships suffer. One might have the best home and the most elegant automobiles, and vacation in the most exotic places — and yet lose the greatest treasure of all: our eternal inheritance. Failure to anticipate the spiritual consequences of a life that places God second would make one a very poor watchman indeed.

Guarding and protecting

There is another aspect of being a good watchman that is embodied in the Hebrew word used in the passage in Ezekiel 3:17 (NKJV):

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me” (see also Ezek 33:2,7).

Here the word has a sense of guarding or protecting.⁶It is not enough to anticipate danger; we also have to do something about it. The legionnaires on sentry duty patrolling Hadrian’s Wall not only needed to signal the cohorts of an impending attack, but they also had to be prepared to draw their own swords and be the first to defend the barricade.

We live in an age of non-involvement; the sense of community and of mutual dependence that once existed has largely disappeared. The hectic nature of modern life has a way of swamping us. We must put our own needs aside when it comes to aiding others. Many of our brothers and sisters desperately require our time, energy and resources to cope. If we are diligent watchmen, we will be aware of that need. We must go beyond awareness: we ought to be willing to guard and protect them.

Ezekiel 33 is a primer in what the Lord God expects of a spiritual “watchman”. The following points should be noted in that chapter:

• Verse 1: The watchman’s weapon is the “word of God” (cp. also Isa 55:11). The apostle Paul styles this as “the sword of the spirit” (Eph 6:17).
• Verse 3: Warnings must be loud and clear. The Judean sentries would have sounded the alarm using a shofar, an instrument made from the bent horn of a ram. It makes a blaring sound that is as irritating as it is hard to ignore.
• Verses 4,5: The responsibility for acting upon the watchman’s warning is upon the individual who hears the shofar (cp. also James 4:17). If one ignores the alarm, because one is preoccupied with other affairs, then blood would be upon that person’s own head.
• Verses 8,9: If the watchman failed to warn of danger, then the blood of the victims would be upon the watchman’s head. In placing this sentence upon a spiritual watchman who was derelict in his duty, the conclusion in these verses is perfectly in line with the death sentence that probably would have been passed upon a sentry who failed in his responsibilities while guarding the walls of Jerusalem. From Roman to modern times, a sentry who fails in his obligations has been subject to court-marital under the Uniform Code of Military Justice; the guilty could expect the severest penalty.

The spiritual “watchman”

Given the awesome responsibilities of a spiritual watchman, how can we prepare ourselves to do the job to the best of our abilities? In the Roman legions not all were assigned watch duty. The task generally fell to the younger legionnaires, who were more apt to have the energy and clear eyesight that often falters with age. The converse, however, may be the case for a spiritual watchman. Our ability to be proactive in sensing the needs of others, and having the wherewithal to do something about it, should increase with age and experience. Unfortunately, we don’t necessarily grow older and wiser. That will not occur naturally. We need to work at it. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, gives us a vivid ex­hortation on how we can become the very best spiritual watchman. The apostle uses the imagery of the completely outfitted Roman legionnaire as a metaphor for the preparation necessary for a well-armed spiritual warrior. In Ephesians 6, we are told to:

• “Put on the whole armor of God” (v 13). Incomplete outfitting for a soldier could have disastrous consequences: the enemy would then seek to strike at the weakest point. It is equally true of the spiritual warrior. If organizing our time is our weak point, we will never find time to serve God properly. Each of us is given the same 168 hours per week in which to live. How we organize that time is simply a matter of priorities. Why is it that obstacles seldom interfere with us making a buck, but become insurmountable in making sure we are supporting the meeting, or finding time to help our brothers and sisters in need?
• … “With the belt of truth buckled around your waist” (v 14, NIV). Truth needs to encircle the watchman completely. If we are not enveloped in Truth, any warning we may give others is probably going to go unheeded. Saying ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ is unacceptable; it only makes us seem hypocritical.
• …And “the breastplate of righteousness” (v 14). The breastplate protects the most vulnerable part of the body. The ancients believed that the heart was not only the seat of life, but also of the intellect. Our heart has to be in the right before we dare tell anyone else how to live.
• …Having the “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel” (v 15). If properly fitted with these “shoes”, we are prepared to go anywhere to aid others. The Roman legionnaires marched everywhere; they didn’t have motorized transport to carry them.⁷It is said that the only thing that limited their mobility was how far and how fast they could move on their feet. The metaphor here applies to us having the same dedication for spiritual mobility.
• The “shield of faith” (v 16). The soldier’s shield protected him from ob­jects hurled from afar, whether it was arrows, darts, javelins, or stones. Likewise the shield of faith protects from all the evils of the world that can be heaved at us.
• The “helmet of salvation” (v 17). A blow to the head is a fatal blow (Gen 3:15). A legionnaire would never have thought of going into battle without his head protected. The soldier of Christ must keep his wits about him at all times. Filling our minds with the Word of God puts upon us the helmet of salvation.
• And finally, the “sword of the Spirit” (v 17). This is the only offensive weapon given to the Christian soldier. The apostle Paul tells us: “…Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal 5:16; see also Rom 8:14, 1Co 3:16; 12:8, among others). If the Word of God is in all our thoughts, then we have the “sword of the Spirit” that can be used to ward off any temptation, defeat any sorrow, and aid any brother or sister in their battles with life.

Watching for the coming of Christ

The true purpose of putting on this “whole armor of God” is spelled out in verse 18: i.e., so that we are prepared for “watching”. Here the Greek word means lit­erally to “be sleepless, or to keep awake”. It is the same form of the Greek word used by our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 25:13; Luke 21:36) in warning us always to be prepared for the day of his coming. No one knows the day, the hour or even the second that one’s life may be snatched away. But this we can be assured of: the very next thing we will be aware of after our death will be the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our required presence at his judgment seat. Thus the admonition that Jesus gives to “watch therefore” is the same that any diligent commander would give his watchmen. We need to stay awake and be vigilant, for we “know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh”.

1. The Roman mile is used here, which was 1,000 paces of a legionnaire, approximately equivalent to 4,854 feet.
2. A cohort was the basic fighting unit of the Roman Army. It was composed of 480 men and six centurion officers and was commanded by a Tribune. Ten cohorts would comprise one legion.
3. Watch, watched, watcher, watchers, watches, watcheth, watchful, watching, watchings, watch­man, watchman’s, watchmen, and watchtower.
4. Strong’s number 6822.
5. See also Isaiah 21:6,11,12.
6. Strong’s number 8104.
7. Typically 24 miles in a day with a backpack weighing approximately 70 pounds.