And the Watchmen Were Unfaithful..

“All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.

 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.

 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.” (Isaiah 56:9-12)

Recently, as I was reading through Isaiah chapter 58 I happened to notice the word “watchman” across the margin in chapter 56. Intrigued, I began to read. What I found was hardly what I had expected…

The passage starts with a call to mass destruction, to utter annihilation and massacre. And it was all ordered by God Himself. Why?

 Verse 10 seems to give a glimpse of why when it says..."His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant;" The watchmen spoken of here would be the Jewish Priests and Rabbis who had been made (by God) the expositors of spiritual truth to the Jewish nation. They were the ones whom God had chosen to herald the soon coming Messiah...And yet, they were blind and ignorant. They were "Greedy dogs" and "Shepherds who cannot understand." 

 God warns them of their folly, He doesn't leave them to their self-seeking and foolish ways. He asks them to repent. Even when Jesus was among them it was not too late. Jesus used every opportunity to give the Watchmen of the people the chance to decide. But they hardened their hearts. Being faithful meant self-denial, and self-denial meant losing their "supreme" position. To follow Jesus meant to yield, and the Jewish leaders yielded to no one. And so, they all "took to their own way." How sad!

 Proverbs 3:5-6 warns:

"Lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him."

The leaders of Israel are not the only ones guilty of this problem though...We are by no means exempt. In fact, in a lot of ways, we are guilty as well! God has set us up to be His watchmen for the second advent found in Revelation - Christ's second coming. We know Jesus comes as a thief in the night - unexpectedly. But when He comes, every eye shall see it. We shall stand before the Lord who gave His all for us and ask, "Have we been faithful watchmen? Have we done all we were asked to do? Have we told others the gospel message?" 

 Nothing besides Jesus will matter in that moment. All our distractions, family ties, jobs, and friends will be of no significance. All that will matter is whether we will hear the master say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Abide with Me in paradise."