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Remember what it
was like to live in the 7th to 8th centuries BC of the Bible. Well, OK, so you can't remember since
that was before your time, but think of walled castles and especially cities. They were several feet high and like Ninevehs
wall, three chariots could ride atop of it side-by-side. These were quite impenetrable forces to the average army of the day,
except there be much wood surrounding the city for the invading forces to build trebuchets that would utterly damage the stone
walls. And therefore even strong walls and double gates would not of themselves secure a city from the enemy. Men were therefore
employed to watch day and night on top of the walls, and especially by the gates(M Clintock). This would put the safety of
the city in the hands of one man or the few that were posted. Therefore, the position of watchman was one of weighty responsibility,
requiring constant vigil and unfailing attention(Summers). Just as a man on the mast of a ship who should be on the look for
icebergs, sandbars, or coral reef that would rip out the guts of the ship and end in death for the lives of the men aboard,
so is Ezekiel the watchman who is perched high in a tower upon the citys walls to provide a panoramic view of their surroundings
(Summers). Such a position would allow for much greater sight distance and then prompt action against the invaders could be
taken by the watchman to warn, and the people to do, thus delivering themselves from what otherwise would be unknown woes.
Keep in mind that as Ezekiel is appointed to be a watchman for Israel, it is not of a physical nature. He was not to watch
for an invading Chaldean army for which he would sound a warning. Instead, God commissioned him as a spiritual watchman to
pronounce warning from God against sin. Sin leads to a far greater death than that of the body. Just as it is written, fear
the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Spiritually, Ezekiel was to warn the wicked to turn from their evils lest
they die in them.
Christians have been called also to this post of watchman for fellow brethren
and the lost (not just elders); too often we shuck this responsibility throwing it to the ground. There are several qualities
that are expected of the watchman as Summers has listed:
- Since he must warn the wicked,
we must assume that immorality can be distinguished from righteousness.
- The watchman must have the
ability to judge between the one who is walking in the light and the one who is engulfed in darkness.
- He knows that wickedness is
not some relative, indefinable, nebulous, abstract idea; objective, moral evil exists.
- He is neither presumptuous
nor self-righteous in pronouncing Gods condemnations upon evil-doers;
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This spiritual guardian must be able to perceive when a person turns from his righteousness to commit wickedness.
Dustin
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