While in Southern California for a World News and Prophecy seminar last month, I had a chance to visit San Diego and take in a view of the city from atop Point Loma.
There we visited the old lighthouse that for many years, from 1855 to 1891, was the beacon light for ships coming up the coast and into San Diego Harbor.
The lighthouse was decommissioned after it was determined that a new one was needed, lower on the coast. Because the old lighthouse sits 422 feet above the harbor, frequently it would be shrouded by fog and clouds, thus rendering its light undetectable to passing ships. Without its light, a lighthouse serves no purpose.
Looking out on the Pacific Ocean from this vantage point got me to thinking about the role of a watchman so often described in the Bible. Perhaps the best known reference to a watchman is in Ezekiel. While in captivity in Babylon, God told Ezekiel:
"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" (Ezekiel 3:17).
A watchman had multiple roles in the ancient world. Watchmen stayed in the fields for weeks at a time watching the crops as they matured so they would not be stolen. Watchers stood on the city walls observing the daily comings and goings within the city gates and about the walls.
You could imagine them as the early warning radar systems of the time, watching the weather, the roads and the business of everyday folk. A watchman was an observer who had a unique view of his small corner of the world.
The prophets of God were spiritual watchmen, charged by Him to warn Israel and Judah of their sins against Him and the need to repent and turn back to Him. Their message included a warning of captivity at the hands of Assyria or Babylon if they failed to listen and change. A spiritual watchman's job was to warn the people of their sins and the need to repent. The message to the citizenry was in essence a witness to which they had the responsibility to respond.
