A watchman who was stationed on the watchtower into any town or city at the time of the biblical writing compilations, will obviously be an intelligence expert in our world today. He had to be permanently stationed on top of the highest tower into the town or city; which was normally on the wall that surrounded the community.
It was from the top of this tower that he would announce any good or bad news, to those who were in the leadership positions to the community. The leaders would normally meet by the city gate or at the center of the city in some cases, for deliberations about important issues within the community. It was from here that decisions were made daily, for the prosperity and well being of everyone who dwelt in the community.
Every information that was received from the watchman became applicable in the decision making process. The city’s watchman therefore played an important role, that affected the prosperity of the whole community. He was an important point of contact, whose insights about the things that he had seen, could affect the destiny of many lives.
Rahab, the Watchtower woman to the city of Jericho
Rahab was of direct descend to Jesus. The scriptures identified her to us as “the harlot”. But a closer look at her past and her way of life reveals to us, that she was in fact the watchtower woman for the king of Jericho.
The location of her house on the wall of Jericho was significant, for her to be able to play that role effectively. She indeed was spying on behalf of her community. She was using harlotry to pry and get security information, from every traveler and stranger who was passing through the city of Jericho. She had welcomed the two spies from Joshua into her house, for the purpose of gathering intelligence about the Israelites from them (Joshua 2:15).
The advice that she gave to the two Israeli spies in eluding the search team, revealed a lot to us about her mastery in what she was doing (Joshua 2). A woman who was practicing prostitution at the time, would not had thought about that type of intelligence advice. This showed that she was knowledgeable and had inside information, about what was going on in the world that she was living in.
She knew all the new faces in her city. And her work with prostitution was meant to make her task easier, so as to be able to extract precise and tenable intelligence information from her clients, for the good of her community.
The same tactic that many nations are using today in spying on one another, was being used in those days also. In other words nothing has really changed in the world of intelligence gathering. The use of modern technologies may have improved such tactics today; but it is still the same old attempt to gather information that is in play.
From the information that she had gathered from the two Jewish men, she had:
“.. said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”
Joshua 2:9, 12-13 NKJV
But on this particular occasion with the two spies from Joshua, she had refused to share the information that she had received, with those who could had used it to harm the two spies. She protected them for the posterity of her own family lineage. Her faith in the God of Israel, based on what she had heard many times about Israel, became stronger than before. She was determined to save herself and her relatives from what she knew was coming to Jericho.
The fear of the Israelites had come on her community. She had received first hand information about what the Lord God had done before, to bring His people out of Egypt to the place where they were at the time. She knew that the destruction that others had experienced was coming to her city. She had to protect her personal interests first, by saving her life and the lives of others around her.
She therefore was smart enough to had entered into a covenant of peace with the two spies from Israel. A covenant of faith and peace, which saved her life and her relatives. With her personal faith in what she had heard from being a watchtower woman, she saved her relatives and herself also.
The Lord is seeking men and women of faith like her today, who can protect their fellow brothers and sisters within the Body of Christ. Can the Lord count on you to be watching and waiting in His presence, on behalf of others within the Body of Christ who are spiritually weak?
The Bible says about Rahab’s faith:
“By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.”
Hebrews 11:31 NKJV
And again:
“And the same is true of the prostitute named Rahab who was found righteous in God’s eyes by her works, for she received the spies into her home and helped them escape from the city by another route.”
James (Jacob) 2:25 TPT
Being a watchtower woman, she had heard about the victories of the people of God first hand. She knew that the city she was protecting would one day fall into the hands of the Israelites. But she was however not prepared to fall with Jericho.
By faith she absconded her oath of allegiance to the city of Jericho, to enter into a covenant of peace with the God of Israel. Her faith in the God of Israel saved her and her relatives, and she was found righteous before God. She had risked her own life to protect the spies from Israel into her house.
Spiritual Watchmen before the Lord
And within the Body of Christ today the Lord has positioned watchmen, whose voices has to be raised up to the heavens at all times, on behalf of God’s people on the earth.
They are not involved in gathering terrestrial information, but they are focused on the Lord for every spiritual information that affects Christians individually and collectively. They are watchful and prayerful before the Lord at all times, as they seek the prosperity of the Body of Christ on the earth, with the proclamation of the good news.
A watchman today within the Body of Christ is dedicated to the reading of the word of God, prayer and biblical meditation. He waits patiently before the Lord for the word from His presence to His people. He will only speak what is heard from the Lord. And he will never say anything else, until the Lord tells him to say something.
Ezekiel for example, was a watchman among his people while in exile at Babylon. The Lord had raised him up into this ministry. The Lord had told him when he was called:
“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: I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and not be one to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.”
Ezekiel 3:17, 26-27 NKJV
The father of John the Baptist (Zachariah) had experienced the same thing with the Lord, which Ezekiel had went through here; with his tongue clinging to the roof of his mouth. Zachariah was unable to speak until God’s word concerning the birth of his son (John) came to pass.
The angel had told him:
“But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless.”
Luke 1:20-22 NKJV
These were supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit to both Ezekiel and Zachariah. The Lord can hold the tongue of His servants (the watchmen and women) for a season today also, while revealing certain things in the spirit to them. These two men were unable to speak until the Lord unloosed their tongues by the power of the Holy Spirit, to speak what they had been showed by the Lord to speak.
Zachariah, as a priest was obviously serving as a watchman, until God’s word about the birth of John came to pass. He was watching and waiting patiently before the Lord.
The scriptures described how and when the Lord unloosed the tongues of these two men to speak about what had been revealed to them by the Lord. It said about Ezekiel:
“And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been captured!” Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the man came who had escaped. And He had opened my mouth; so when he came to me in the morning, my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.”
Ezekiel 33:21-22 NKJV
And in the case of Zachariah the Bible said concerning him, at the naming ceremony of his promised son:
“And he (Zachariah) asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, “What kind of child will this be?” And the hand of the Lord was with him.”
Luke 1:63-66 NKJV
These two supernatural signs from the Lord as we can see caused the people, who had witnessed them to marvel at the works of the Lord. Signs and wonders like these are meant to draw the unbelievers to the Lord. Such manifestations of the power of God caused those who were not seeking the Lord to start seeking Him.
The ministry of a watchman is a miraculous sign to the Body of Christ from the Lord today. And it is a ministry which is bringing in the end time harvest into the Kingdom of God. The Lord is still revealing Himself today with such manifestations among His people.
Ezekiel for example was difficult to understand by the people that he had been sent to. Many of the other Prophets of his time struggled to understand him. The life of Ezekiel became a sign to all the exiles in Babylon at the time. His manner of life touched the heart of many to start longing for the presence of God among them.
On one occasion the Lord had told him:
“Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’ “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.”
Ezekiel 33:1-7 NKJV
This clearly defines what a watchman does in the Body of Christ today. He is the trumpet blower of the Lord to His people. He blows the trumpet today by speaking God’s word in a manner that, the people to whom he had been sent, would recognize the voice of the Lord speaking through him.
There are several watchmen and women within the Body of Christ today. They don’t need to be blowing the trumpets by themselves. God is the One Who blows the trumpets for them, in such a manner that those to whom they have been sent, can hear and recognize them. A real watchman or woman does not like attention being drawn to him or her. They are really humbled before the Lord with their lifestyle.
Some watchmen may sometimes function with the prophetic anointing. And some others today do not have the prophetic anointing at all; but are powerful with the intercessory prayer anointing. It’s only those with the gift of discernment, who can recognize the voice of the watchman within the Body of Christ today. But whenever the trumpet is blown to warn the people of God, that’s when they are revealed for all to know them.
A watchman has to be prepared to do and say, whatever the Lord commands him to do and to say at all times. He is a soldier of the Lord. He is not interested in anything that will take and treat God’s word lightly. He takes everything from the Lord very seriously. He shows total commitment for them with a holy passion.
This is the reason why some people are cautious of those with this calling. He stands before the Lord to expose any wrongdoing or evil that men and women are secretly involved with in the Body of Christ. A watchman sees a lot of things that others are not seeing around him. But he can only talk about them whenever the Lord tells him to speak about them, because with the Lord there is a season and a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).
This obviously explained why Ezekiel was not easily understood by his people. But those who were trembling at the word of God from his mouth, did actually respected him and understood him; especially among the elders of Israel in Babylon.
The watchmen on Jesus’ team
This was why Jesus was surprised that the closest disciples to Him were found sleeping, after He had told them to be on the watch for Him, while He was praying in the garden of Gethsemane.
He had showed many things in secret to them. They were the closest to Him of the twelve Apostles. They had been with Him when He was transfigured (Matthew 17:1-13).
There were times when Jesus had to say certain things to them privately, because He was preparing them for this future ministry, as watchmen over the Church. The three of them later became the main leaders of the Church during the early days of the persecution.
They remained in Jerusalem as the watchmen for the Body of Christ in the midst of the persecution. Those years of the persecution established them firmly in their calling, as watchmen over the Church.
Peter, James and John who were appointed by Jesus to watch and pray with Him in the garden of Gethsemane, were found sleeping instead of being watchful, as a watchman would had done. They had been called by Jesus to step into this role of spiritual watchmen over the other disciples, during his last moments before the crucifixion.
But it was not until after the Church was growing into spiritual maturity during the persecution, that they were able to finally step into this role within the Church.
Even though they had been called to be watchmen, they had to wait until the fullness of time came for them, to begin functioning in the calling as watchmen over the Church.
The Bible said concerning them when Jesus had found them sleeping, as He was praying in the garden. Jesus was actually praying and showing them how to watch and pray with a passion while in the garden of Gethsemane. Unfortunately they were not yet ready for it:
“Then He (Jesus) came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:40-41 NKJV
Jesus clearly pointed out here that the spirit of the watchman has to be willing to obey the Lord, even though his flesh may be telling him otherwise. The flesh may be weak, but a watchman is strong in the spirit.
A spiritual watchman is never to be found not watching, while waiting before the Lord. In the case of these three (Peter, James and John), there was an imminent danger ahead of them. They needed to be ready for it. But unfortunately, they were clueless about everything that was going on around them.
Jesus knew that the high priest had already dispatched a team of “religious policemen” from the Temple to come and arrest Him. The disciples were supposed to be watching out for them, while Jesus was praying. But unfortunately they couldn’t do it, as they were too sleepy.
In fact Peter had to deny knowing Jesus, because the flesh was too weak in him. However, Jesus had forewarned him about this:
“And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Luke 22:31-32 NKJV
Peter’s role as a spiritual watchman was to strengthen and restore the others with the word of the Lord. He was to later become the mouthpiece of the Church to the world, even though Jesus had told them all:
“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Luke 21:36 NKJV
The disciples had been forewarned about the dangers ahead of them. Jesus had told them that they had to be watchful and waiting with a prayerful attitude. Peter was later on to play the role of the encourager to the Church in the midst of the persecution.
Up till this very day we do know from the Epistles in the Bible, that the words of these three watchmen (Peter, James and John) are still watching over the Body of Christ. Their writings in the epistles which they had written for us as Christians, are still speaking through them to warn us and encourage us, to continue following the footsteps of Jesus. This is what a watchman does for the Lord today.
Jesus’ Parable of the Ten Virgins
Also in the Parable of the ten virgins (as narrated by Jesus); we saw that they were all watching and waiting. But as Jesus mentioned in that Parable they were watching and waiting for the bridegroom differently. Five of them were prepared for the bridegroom, but the other five were not prepared. However, because the bridegroom took so long to arrive, Jesus had said in that parable:
“But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.”
Matthew 25:5 NKJV
Five virgins had taken extra oil for their lamps, while they all slept off. The other five had no extra oil at all. But the bridegroom arrived at the moment, when they never expected him to arrive.
These ten virgins were doing the same thing that Peter, James and John were doing; while they were supposed to be watching and waiting.
There are many within the Body of Christ today, who have been called by the Lord to be watching and praying for His return. Many of them are spiritually napping at this moment, when they are supposed to be watching and waiting for the Lord with prayer and intercession.
In the case of the ten virgins, it was when they were not even prepared that the bridegroom arrived, and took them all by surprise. Eventually, we saw that it was only the five virgins with the extra oil, who were able to meet the bridegroom. The other five who were not prepared to step into their calling, because they forgot to take some extra oil with them, in watching and waiting were told:
“But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
Matthew 25:12-13 NKJV
They were supposed to be ready like a watchman for the bridegroom, but they had taken their calling lightly, and were not recognized by the bridegroom at the time of his arrival. Will Jesus recognize you as one of those who had been watching and waiting, when He comes back for His Church?
The watchman ministry today
A watchman for us today within the Body of Christ gathers spiritual information, about coming dangers to the Church generally. He is responsible for giving such inside information to the army of God’s people, who are proclaiming the good news of salvation to the lost world.
The watchman gives the information about the plans and strategies of the enemy, so that we can be effective in our good fight of faith to save the lost. Those who are serious about winning souls are listening to them:
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.”
Proverbs 11:30 NKJV
This is what an intercessor does for the Body of Christ today. But unfortunately many have often underestimated this role of the watchman within the Church. The evangelist most especially needs a strong prayer intercessor around his or her ministry. The evangelist won’t be as effective in winning souls, without a strong army of prayer intercessors.
We are living in the last days, and the harvest of the Lord is huge. The ministry of the watchmen and women is there to assist the evangelist, to get in the harvest quickly and in a big way.
A prayerful intercessor is to be vigilant and on the alert at all times, while on the duty post watching and waiting. He watches out for every moves of the enemy against the Body of Christ with prayer and intercession.
Apart from watching and waiting before the Lord on behalf of the evangelist, the watchman also watches over those in the leadership positions of authority within the Body of Christ, by praying for them at all times.
That was why Jesus had said:
“And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”
Mark 13:37 NKJV
Are you a watchman or woman for the Lord? Jesus is coming back at the time of the rapture for the Church. But before He gets back, we must be ready to get as many people as possible into His Kingdom. Become a watchman or woman today, and begin to prepare the way for the return of the Lord.
