Watchman, What of the Night?
By George I. Butler
Can we tell where we are in the stream of time? Does the Bible give us any data to determine whether we are near the commencement, middle, or close, of the present order of things? Our popular ministry tells us that it does not. Some of them put it like this: “The Lord may come any moment; or he may not come in ten years, or a hundred, or a thousand, or not for millions; we are always to be ready for death, and to be looking for his coming, and then, if Christ comes, we shall be ready.” They would have us believe that it is not a proper subject for inquiry on our part, and that those who do make this a subject of study are over-stepping the proper grounds of Bible investigation and prying into the secret things of God. We reply, that whatever is written in the Scriptures was written for our learning, and that the things that are revealed, belong unto us and our children forever, and that God having occupied a large space in his word with prophecy, which is history in advance, the man of God will reverentially seek to know of this, as well as other divine truths therein revealed; and, as the Author never does anything amiss, he will evidently find it for his interest to do so; and especially, as Christ’s coming and the signs concerning it are largely spoken of in the Holy Book, it cannot be pleasing to him for us to pass over these as unimportant. Let us examine one scripture on this point. Isa. 21: 11, 12. “He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night. If ye will inquire, inquire ye; return, come.” Here, we believe, the familiar office of a watchman is taken as an illustration of one called of God to watch over the spiritual interests of his people. There can be no doubt the word is often used in this sense. We have an example in Eze. 3: 17: “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die, and thou givest him not warning, . . . his blood will I require at thine hand.” Again, in Isa. 62: 6, “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace, day nor night.” And generally, in the prophets, we think it is used in this sense. So of the words morning and night in the text. The present reign of sin, darkness, and death, is referred to as a dark, dreary night, in which dangerous enemies are lurking for our destruction; and the glorious change introduced by the “Sun of righteousness arising with healing in his wings” is called the morning. That this change is called “morning,” we think evident from Ps. 49: 14, “Like sheep they (the wicked) are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning,” referring to the time when the saints shall sit in judgment with Christ. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Ps. 30: 5. We have, then, in our text, under the figure of a watchman, the servant of God represented in a position subject to being inquired of concerning the time of the dawn of that glorious event, to which all eyes have looked forward with anticipation. Why is the watchman chosen as a representative of the minister of the Lord? Because of a similarity in the nature of their duties. The watchman is around the city at night while others are asleep, and, in ancient times, when clocks and watches had not been invented, it was often necessary to inquire of him the time of night. What would have been thought had he replied to an inquiry that he could tell nothing about it. He did not know whether it was nine in the evening, midnight, three o’clock, or just about daybreak. Would not the conclusion be inevitable that he had been taking a lengthy and very sound nap? Such a watchman would be thought unfaithful, and would soon be displaced by a better. Faithfulness in a watchman is of all things most necessary. He has the lives of his fellow-men and all their interests entrusted to his care. Inability in him to give warning of the approach of danger, would be criminal. That is the special business which he voluntarily assumes, and why should he not attend to it? So of the man who professes to be able to instruct others in what God has revealed. A plea of entire ignorance in reference to the approach of the greatest event brought to view in the Bible, and of which most of the prophets have discoursed largely, and given some of the plainest predictions, would be like the watchman above referred to. “Watchman, what of the night?” Oh! says he, we can tell nothing about it. Is the morning of light and glory dawning? I know nothing about it. Is danger near? I cannot tell, and you ought not to inquire. It is a forbidden subject. The most fearful day of wrath the world has ever seen, may burst upon us any moment, or may be millions of ages in the future. These things are sealed up, and are all uncertain. But God says it is a proper subject of inquiry, “If ye will inquire, inquire ye.” Amen, say we, God is reasonable. He is willing we should desire to know these things. He was willing Nebuchadnezzar should know something about futurity far back in his day. Dan. 2: 29. How much more as the heavens gather blackness, and portentous clouds hang threateningly in mid air, is he willing we should “inquire” what these things mean! And he will not tell us to inquire, unless there is some answer that can be given; and if we are to “inquire” of the watchman, they must be of that class who have not been asleep, but rather of that number whom God has placed upon the “walls of Jerusalem, who will never hold their peace, day nor night.” We read of another class, Isa. 56: 10, “who 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.” These severe words of course I shall not apply, but the contrast between the two classes is striking and suggestive. We have then the deliberate declaration of the Lord in his word that we are permitted to inquire, with an assurance of an answer. The word of the Lord is a lamp, a light in a dark place. Here we are wandering in the dark night of sin and death. The word of prophecy, sure and certain, is just the thing we need to light us through. God has watchmen qualified to give us intelligent answers. We are invited to come and get the desired information. How good the Lord is to condescend thus to our wants. So we are all within reach of light. How many now have an inclination to have light communicated? Alas! many seem willing to live on in darkness like moles and bats. They must love darkness rather than light. They don’t want the morning to dawn; at least, have no desire to know when it will dawn. God has placed the light within reach, watchmen inviting inquirers, light abundant to lead them; but they are contented to dwell in darkness. But thank the Lord there are some children of the light and children of the day who want the morning to come. Such will welcome every glimmer, every increasing ray sent athwart the horizon. They are tired of darkness, of sickness and death. They want to dwell in light and glory with the Sun of Righteousness. Beautiful morning, hasten thy rising. Come with all thy effulgence. Dispel the mist and fog so long hanging over us. Brighten old earth with thy beams. Hail! glorious light of day eternal. But, says the prophet, the morning cometh, and also the night. Yes, while this present state is night, properly so called, from which the saint of God desires deliverance, yet there is a blacker night of darkness in store for those who love darkness, also soon to commence. We read of some for “whom the blackness of darkness is reserved forever.” Here is a fearful night with no ray of light. Yes, while some are enjoying light, gladness, joy and love, others go down to endless night. Oh! fearful thought. Now, rays lighten up the heavens here and there, fitfully proceeding from God’s beacon, his holy word; but in that night of despair, not a ray of light or hope will reach the one who has made the fearful mistake of turning aside to moral darkness and has been satisfied therewith.