I
have been told that in this
day and age the role of watchman as understood in the Old Testament has been
done away with, that it is not necessary because we are not under the wrath
of God but under grace through Jesus Christ. If there are watchmen today, I
am told, they cannot be held to the same degree of accountability that God
required of Ezekiel. If there are watchmen today as described in Ezekiel,
who are these watchmen? And after examining the following from Ezekiel 33,
who would ever want to be put in this position?

The Watchman’s Duty: Ezekiel
33

“And the word of
the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, speak to the sons of your
people and say to
them,

‘If I bring a
sword upon
a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and
make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land
and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the
sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes
and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the
sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on
himself.  But had he
taken warning, he would have delivered his life.

“But if the
watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the
people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from
them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will
require from the watchman’s hand.’

“Now as for you,
son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so
you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. 
When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you
do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die
in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you
on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn
from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your
life. ”
Ezekiel 33:1-9

If we look closely in chapter 20 in
the book of Acts we see that the Apostle Paul understood this mandate even
as he warned the overseers in Ephesus concerning his departure after being
with them for three years. Here is one example clearly stated:

“I testify to you
this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not
shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Be on guard
for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit
has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased
with His own blood.
    “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in
among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men
will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples
after them. Therefore be on the alert (watch), remembering that
night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish
each one with tears.”
Acts 20:26-31 
(also see Acts 18:6)

One could say that this was an
Apostolic responsibility that was not passed on to us but if we look in
Hebrews we see that the overseers were exhorted by its writer to look out
for the sheep, to guard and warn them as watching over the flock:

“Obey your
leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those
who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief,
for this would be unprofitable for you.”
Hebrews 13:17

In Mark, chapter 13, we see that
Jesus is telling us of the things to come regarding the Last Days. He
exhorts us all to be on the alert, to be watchful of the things to come. It
seems we have all been called to be in a constant state of watchfulness in
some capacity as believers in Christ:

“Take heed,
keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will
come. It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and
putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded
the doorkeeper to stay on the alert.
       “Therefore, be on the alert — for
you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the
evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning — in
case he should come suddenly and find you asleep.
       “What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on
the alert!'”
Mark 13:33-37

Why am I asking these questions or
why am I even concerned that anyone is at watch for the body of Christ?

As Paul states in Acts 20:28-31,
there has been through the centuries and still continues to this day, to be
many savage wolves coming into the flock and also rising up from within to
deceive and steal away disciples after themselves. I would hope this is not
a surprise to anyone but sadly, I must report, this is probably the state of
many churches everywhere.

Just testifying of my own experience, over the last 10 years, I have visited
dozens of churches that have had an ‘open door’ policy, accepting whatever
doctrine or new teaching that comes through the door. Unlike the words of
Paul in Ephesians 4, about those who should be watching and equipping the
saints, to bring us to maturity, not being tossed to and fro by every wind
of doctrine, they in fact willingly open their sails to allow any wind to
blow them about. I have witnessed many in leadership, whether pastor, elders
or overseers who have no clue to what has come through their doors or is
about to come upon them as we look to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
No one is guarding the flock as the wolf moves silently about looking for
those he can devour.

As I was wondering what has happened to those called to watch over the
flocks, in whatever capacity that they serve, I thought of a little Mother
Goose nursery rhyme about Little Boy Blue and how appropriate this is for
today’s churches:

Little Boy Blue, come blow your
horn.
The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn.
Where is the boy that looks after the sheep?
“He’s under the haycock, fast asleep.”
Will you wake him? “No, not I;
For if I do, he’ll be sure to cry.” 
(Emphasis mine)

Somebody please wake the watchmen! I
would rather have sadness and grief with much tears, bringing us to
repentance, than to continue to see the churches being infiltrated and
assimilated by New Age Occultism, false teaching, heresies, philosophies of
men and doctrines of demons as the watchmen sleep.

I have written this before and it has happened again just recently. I was
asked which church I would recommend for a new Christian to begin
fellowship. As a Christian of more than 30 years, and after visiting dozens
of churches locally, I could not think of any church where I would send this
person without knowing that they would in some way be caught up in the
current trends of deception that are sweeping through the body of Christ.
This is related to the lack of discernment being used by the leadership that
are asleep.

Steven Mitchell writes in his article “Watchman
Arise,”

“Since God mentions this ministry
several times throughout the Bible with great clarity, we do well to
read, heed, and learn to be men and women with this attitude for the
church today. While we may not be under the threat of physical invasion
today, or living in literal walled fortresses, Satan and his workers
seek to destroy and lay siege to the church today through false teachers
and ungodly philosophies. He seeks to lead us into false forms of
worship and unbiblical teachings that masquerade as truth. He has
engineered and orchestrated a full-out assault on the people of God
today, complete with deceptive false ministers and non-prophets who no
longer view His Word as the primary basis for true doctrine. The church
is definitely under attack and, therefore, definitely and desperately in
need of watchmen in this age.”

Most of what I have written addresses
those in leadership that are asleep or unaware of the dangers that lie in
wait. There are also churches that I have been to that the leadership is
knowingly allowing and teaching deception with little concern for the flock
thus fitting the example of Scripture from Acts 20.

Pastors, elders, overseers, shepherds and watchmen; please heed this call to
awaken and warn the flock of the dangers that face your churches today. You
are responsible and accountable if you do not warn them! Their blood will be
on your hands!

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See also
The Labyrinth

You can contact Steve Muse at
smuse@erwm.com  |  Visit his website at
http://www.erwm.com/

You can read the above article at

http://www.erwm.com/AsleepOnTheWatch.htm

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