“Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.” Isa. lii, 8.
This is a prophecy of gospel times, and not only so, it has its application just at the close of the gospel dispensation. The preceding verse reads, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” The following verses read, “Break forth into joy, sing together ye waste places in Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”
The time referred to in the text, when the Lord shall bring again Zion, does not refer to any gathering to the earthly, typical Zion or Jerusalem either past or future, but to the heavenly. It is the Zion or Jerusalem of the gospel dispensation—the mother and future home of the christians. Paul says, “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Gal. iv, 26. When this gathering to Zion shall take place, it can truly be said, He hath REDEEMED Jerusalem. The citizens of Zion will no longer be waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Then will they “break forth into joy,” and it will be no temporary, but eternal joy. Sorrow and mourning will forever be ended, and all tears will be wiped from their eyes. “Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” Isa. li, 11. See also chap. xxxv, 10.
This gathering, bringing again, or building up of Zion, will take place at the second coming of Christ. “When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.” Ps. cii, 16. The Lord has once appeared upon earth, but in his humiliation. He is to appear again in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. This second coming is distinguished as the “glorious appearing of the great God,” or rather the appearing of the glory of the great God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ; for Jesus is to come in the glory of the Father, in his own glory, and that of all the holy angels. Then he will send forth his angels and gather all the inhabitants of Zion, and they will come home to their mother above with songs and everlasting joy. This fixes the time when the Lord's watchmen shall see eye to eye. When Jesus comes he will find his people one; for if the watchmen are united, the people will be.
A watchman, literally, is one whose duty it is to act as sentinel—to watch and guard the city, and to give the alarm in case of danger, such as the approach of an invading enemy. The term is used figuratively in the Scriptures to denote one who has the oversight of the church and the watch-care of souls. The elders of the church are the watchmen of the spiritual house or city, or the shepherds of the flock of God. They are to take the oversight and feed the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers; and if faithful, when the chief Shepherd shall appear, they will receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. The duties of the watchman of the city, and of the117shepherd of the flock, are similar; therefore, in their figurative use, the terms signify the same thing, and are used interchangeably in the Scriptures, as we shall see.
Ezekiel the prophet was one of the watchmen of God's ancient Israel. The word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”
The faithful watchmen then must, as an important part of their duty, give the alarm in case of approaching danger. And when the time comes for the fulfillment of a prophetic message or announcement, their voices should be raised to swell the note of warning. As an example of prophetic message, take the following from the prophet Joel. “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” When that great and terrible day of the Lord is at hand, the alarm must, and will, be sounded. And blessed are those watchmen who join their voices in the cry. The time has come for this prophecy to be fulfilled, for the signs of the day of the Lord at hand are fulfilled. And besides this, the alarm here prophesied of is being sounded, and this of itself is a sign; for when the alarm is sounded the day of the Lord is nigh at hand. And I feel like testifying to all that read these lines that the sword is coming. The day of the Lord is at hand, prepare for the battle! I want to deliver my soul from the blood of all. I see the sword coming, therefore I engage in blowing the trumpet of alarm. The alarm will be heard, it will not cease till probationary time is closed. True watchmen have always had a voice of warning for the people; while the false have ever cried, Peace and safety.
But the watchman is not left to manufacture his word of warning; but the Word says, “Thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.” Ezekiel had the word of the Lord revealed directly to him by the gift of prophecy. But those to whom this gift is not given still have the written word; and it is their duty to heed Paul's dying charge to Timothy, viz., “Preach the word.” 2 Tim. iv, 2. This solemn charge was given in view of the facts, that in the last days perilous times should come, that God had given his written word—From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures—and that this written word is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; and able to thoroughly furnish the man of God to all good works. Said he, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” Here is an additional reason given for preaching the word. There will be heaps of teachers in the last days; but they will be teachers of fables. There is a great abundance of teachers at the present time. Go into a little village, and you will find from two to half a dozen houses of worship, the smallest of which perhaps would accommodate all the regular attendants on public worship in the place. But each sect in the place must have its place of worship, and its separate teacher. If there was one teacher that preached the word, and all the worshipers believed and practiced it, no more would be needed. But as it is, there is a heap of them. Now it is quite extensively acknowledged at the present time that we are in the last days of this dispensation. If this is a fact, we are in a time of great apostasy with professors of religion—those that have the form of godliness—and the heaps of teachers that abound, are teachers of fables.
Another part of the watchmen's duty is to tell the time of night. They are expected to be awake, and consequently prepared to give a correct answer to any one who inquires the hour. This present world, since sin entered with all its woes, is well compared to a long dark night, which can end only with the coming of Christ and the resurrection and deliverance of the saints. All christians have a deep interest in the approach of that glad morning, and have a chartered right to ask, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” for the Lord has said, “If ye will inquire, inquire ye.” Isa. xxi, 11, 12. Now suppose you make this inquiry of a professed watchman, and his reply is, “Christ may come to-morrow or next year, or he may not come in a hundred, or thousand, or ten thousands of years.” You may know that he has been asleep upon his post. If you can find a true watchman, at the present day, after so many signs and predictions have been fulfilled, his ready response to this inquiry will be, “The morning cometh, and also the night”—the morning of deliverance and everlasting joy to the saints of God, and the long night of darkness and death to the wicked—the coming of the Lord is near, even at the doors.”
Those who know nothing concerning those prophetic periods of the word of God, which show our nearness to the end, and which have already been fulfilled, are classed in prophecy with “the wicked,” and not with “the wise.” Dan. xii, 9, 10. Speaking of those prophetic periods which were “closed up and sealed till the time of the end,” and which were consequently to be opened and unsealed at that time, the angel said, “But the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Understand what? Understand their whereabouts in the course of time, by the unsealing of those prophetic periods. When? In the time of the end. This shows conclusively that all of God's people—the wise in contrast to all the wicked—will, in the time of the end, be brought into unity of faith. The wise shall understand. They cannot be said truly to understand, unless they have a correct understanding. And if they have a correct understanding, they must, of necessity, understand the matter exactly alike. This shows that the wise, in the last days, will be brought into unity of faith and expectation. But who are the wise in God's account? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do his commandments. Ps. cxi, 10. Those who are willing to keep the commandments of God will understand, will see eye to eye; but the transgressors, the wicked, will do wickedly, and none of them shall understand. As in the days of Noah, they knew not till the flood came, so these will not understand till the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, in the pouring out of the seven last plagues. O Lord! gather not my soul with the wicked; but let me have a part with the commandment-keepers.
The Lord's watchmen will see eye to eye in the last days. But the prophets predict another class of watchmen to exist at the same time, and doubtless they will constitute a numerous class; for they exist in the same period in which Paul says, They shall heap to themselves teachers. They are spoken of in Isa. lvi. Any one can see by reading this chapter and comparing it with other scriptures, that it is a prophecy of the last days of the gospel age. In verse 1 the Lord says, My salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. The Lord brings salvation to his people, and reveals his righteous judgments against the ungodly, at the time when Jesus appears a second time without sin, unto salvation—not to offer a sin-offering, but to save those whose sins have been blotted out, through the efficacy of that blood that was shed on Calvary. Heb. x, 28. He then pronounces a blessing upon those that turn and “lay hold” on the Sabbath in these last days, and in verse 9 bids the beasts to the supper of the great God. “All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.” By comparing this with the description of the battle of the great day, recorded in Rev. xix, it will be seen that it has its application at the time when the slain of the Lord will lie unburied upon the earth, and be food for the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven. Here the Lord introduces the class of watchmen to which I referred, “His watchmen are blind.” It is at the very time when the Lord's watchmen will see eye to eye; but these do not see at all. How secure that city the watchmen of which are blind! Citizens that have eyes would not trust themselves in their care. But the blind will undertake to lead the blind, and both will fall into the ditch. “They are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.” It is a poor watchdog that cannot so much as bark when the thief comes. “Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough”—their salary is never high enough—“and they are shepherds that cannot understand.” Here the term shepherds is substituted for watchmen. The angel said to Daniel, “None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall 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.” For the sake of gain, we will join hand in hand with the world. They are lovers of pleasure, and the only way to get them to hand over the needful is to get up a donation party. “And to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.” Do not heed the warning of coming wrath; to-morrow shall be like this day, only better. “There is a good time coming.” The world is about to be converted. Thus they preach smooth things to please itching ears, saying, Peace and safety, when sudden destruction is about to burst upon them, and they shall not escape.118
These shepherds are also mentioned in Jer. xxv, and here also they are introduced in connection with the battle in the day of the Lord. By reading this chapter, commencing at verse 15, it will be seen that it speaks of a day of wrath, such as the earth has never seen, when all nations will certainly drink of the wine-cup of Jehovah's fury—the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. See Rev. xiv, 9, 10. In verse 29 he says, “For lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and shall ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.” The Lord began to bring evil upon Jerusalem, when they had rejected Christ in his first advent; and people in these times think that it was well enough for those wicked, rebellious and unbelieving Jews to suffer the wrath that came upon them. But it is thought that the Christian world is so much better now that they will escape. But not so. The evil that came upon them is but a faint shadow of that which is coming upon the nations, when the Lord shall call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth. The sword is
coming; and if the Lord has any faithful watchmen, they should blow the trumpet, and warn the people. Where are the watchmen? What an awful responsibility is resting upon them! The Lord is about to “give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth”—the wine-press of his wrath is about to be trodden when blood will flow to the horses' bridles. “For thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” Verses 32, 33. In that awful day the faithful watchmen, that blew the trumpet and warned the people, will have delivered their souls. But what now concerning the blind watchmen—the shepherds that cannot understand? “Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock shall be heard; for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture.” Alas! what a day is just before us! And when the people shall discover, too late, that they have been trusting to blind guides—leaning upon a broken reed—how will their curses and reproaches be heaped upon those false shepherds, who, professing to know the truth, quieted their consciences with the siren song of peace and safety, when sudden destruction was impending over their heads! They appeared, indeed, like “pleasant vessels”—whited sepulchres that appear beautiful to men—but when they fall they will be broken, like any vessel of coarser material, and their filthy contents will be exposed. The blood of the souls they have lured down to the gates of death, will be required at their hands, and they must drink the cup of fury to the very dregs! Oh, awful thought! But the great mass of the popular shepherds, all around us, must share this fate.