“For thus has the LORD said unto me: ‘Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he sees.’” (v.6)
In Isaiah’s day, walled cities relied on watchmen, who stood on the city walls and towers, to keep them informed about conditions around them. It was common during times of war for city officials to go out in the middle of the night and ask, “Watchman, what do you see?” If things were good, the watchman would respond, “all is well,” and if things were bad, he would warn of the coming danger.
Here in chapter 21 we find the fall of Babylon proclaimed by Isaiah the prophet through a vision given to him by God (vv. 1-4). He warns the king to “set a watchman,” and to anoint the shields” for trouble is coming from the Meds and the Persians (v.5). In other words, prepare for war. But the king put his trust in his strong walls and paid no attention to Isaiah’s prophetic warning.
God still calls for watchmen to be over His kingdom today, to sound the alarm against changing cultural values when needed. We are not to hold back or keep silent if the alarm needs to be sounded. We cannot stick our heads in the sand and pretend that danger does not exist, as the foundations of society are being eroded away.
We are to be like the prophet Nathan who boldly walked into even the king’s chambers and confronted David on his sin with Bathsheba, saying to him, “You are the man” who has sinned (2 Sam. 12). Oh how we need “watchmen” in our society today, least we become the minority, in a democracy of the majority, and loose our voice.
The Truth: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Tim. 4:3-4)
In Isaiah’s day, walled cities relied on watchmen, who stood on the city walls and towers, to keep them informed about conditions around them. It was common during times of war for city officials to go out in the middle of the night and ask, “Watchman, what do you see?” If things were good, the watchman would respond, “all is well,” and if things were bad, he would warn of the coming danger.
Here in chapter 21 we find the fall of Babylon proclaimed by Isaiah the prophet through a vision given to him by God (vv. 1-4). He warns the king to “set a watchman,” and to anoint the shields” for trouble is coming from the Meds and the Persians (v.5). In other words, prepare for war. But the king put his trust in his strong walls and paid no attention to Isaiah’s prophetic warning.
God still calls for watchmen to be over His kingdom today, to sound the alarm against changing cultural values when needed. We are not to hold back or keep silent if the alarm needs to be sounded. We cannot stick our heads in the sand and pretend that danger does not exist, as the foundations of society are being eroded away.
We are to be like the prophet Nathan who boldly walked into even the king’s chambers and confronted David on his sin with Bathsheba, saying to him, “You are the man” who has sinned (2 Sam. 12). Oh how we need “watchmen” in our society today, least we become the minority, in a democracy of the majority, and loose our voice.
The Truth: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Tim. 4:3-4)
