Mission Venture Ministries

“Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them a warning from Me.” (Ezekiel 33:7) 

God appointed prophets in the Old Testament and today He appoints believers as ambassadors to proclaim the gospel and the word of God to give people the opportunity to find out about the good news of salvation, because “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). 

A Watchman’s job was to watch from the tower all through the night and guard the entry gate from any enemy attack. They had to keep an eye out to see any encroaching danger. Their job was to warn the people when danger was near. In the same way we are to warn everyone of the impending danger of going to hell instead of heaven if people don’t repent, change their bad habits and come to Christ. 

God delegate to Ezekiel this great responsibility, “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me;” this is so important that God starts off by giving this command first here in Chapter 3:17, and then gives it again in chapter 33:7. “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live, that wicked person shall die for wrongdoing, but his blood I will require from your hand. However if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for wrongdoing, but you have saved yourself” (Ezekiel 3:17-19). 

In other words, God is reminding Ezekiel of his duty to warn in the face of danger. He was to warn the Israelites in light of the urgency of God’s wrath. If Ezekiel refused to warn his people of pending danger the blood would be on his hands and the Lord would hold Ezekiel accountable for his failure to warn them.  However, if he executed his duties properly and warned the person and they still chose wickedness Ezekiel would not be held accountable for their action. 

While the concept of a watchman positioned at the city gates tower to warn people of imminent danger pertains to a time past, the idea that God continues to use us as His mouthpiece to declare the good news of salvation is still very much applicable today and will always be. 

2 Corinthians 5:20, is the most equivalent scripture that reinforces our New Testament expression of being watchman – “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Here we are appointed as ambassadors with the same purpose. God intends to use us as He used Ezekiel to call out to, with urgency that the day of the Lord compels to “be reconciled to God.” 

We are called to declare His truth and call people to faith and repentance; especially to a society that like in Isaiah’s time calls good evil and evil good, (Isaiah 5:20). 

We need to inform and alert those that are within our reach of their wrong thinking and that if there is no change that judgment will come. We must openly talk about the lamentable things that are going on, like the breakdown of marriage and family, the murdering of innocent human life, about the loss of Christian values, and to warn of the coming persecution of Christians. Never forget that Christians are seen by secular progressives and left-wing social movements as narrow-minded and intolerant; and that they would like to silence us completely. Because of their hatred for integrity and truth, all dictators will always attack the truth that true Christians present. 

We need to be courageous for the cause of the gospel so that not only in America, but in every country in the world, people will see the errors of their thinking and come to Jesus while there is still time. 

Sadly the major roadblock is the church, pastors, leaders and immature “Christians”. Too often Christians want to play it safe, not take risks, and just get along with the prevailing culture. Unfortunately that does not change biblical prophecy and the coming wrath of the King of kings during the tribulation and then when Jesus returns as a Judge, to judge the faithful and the unfaithful that remain alive at the end of this terrible time that is still to come. 

Christian pastors, leaders, and congregations are the ones that need to speak up for Jesus and give direction and warning to our fallen culture. Jesus said: “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and don’t do what I say” (Luke 6:46). We are called to speak up and give testimony of our blessed Savior’s love and sacrifice for us. We need to warn of what is to come, or face the consequences of our disobedience ourselves. 

Are you speaking up and being heard? Are you being a watchman for Jesus Christ? In the Old Testament the watchman’s job was also to urge God’s people to live faithfully and warn them of the dangers involved in falling away from the Lord and doing evil. If you call yourself a believer in Jesus Christ then your voice needs to be heard in the same way, wherever you go, testifying of His truth, His purpose, and His judgment. 

The time for Jesus’ return is getting closer every second that goes by, therefore, as believers we need to speak up today, calling people to faith, and giving glory to the Lord Jesus when a soul by grace is saved, through faith; and this is not from ourselves, it is the gift of God; not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

God calls all Christians to be watchmen. Jesus told His disciples to “watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38). We should all be ready and waiting for the Lord’s return, “because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him” (Luke 12:40). 

God has established the believers as watchmen, because we can clearly see the coming danger in both the physical and in the spiritual realm. Therefore, we must not be silent. We must warn the people about the difficult times that are coming upon us and inspire them to abandon sin and turn their hearts towards God. 

Many natural disasters have already caught different nations by surprise in the last few years, including tsunamis, hurricanes, frequent earthquakes and disastrous fires, which have devastated entire cities. These are all signs that God’s judgment are intensifying. Jesus told His disciples: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains” (Matthew 24:4-8). This will take place before Jesus returns to this earth at His second coming; and only those who are spiritually prepared will be saved. 

Remember that Noah warned the people of a great disastrous flood while people had never even seen rain before; however, most people were apathetic. This condition in today’s terms is called the “normalcy bias” syndrome, which describes people who believe nothing really dangerous is ever going to happen, no matter what kind of facts you may present. Normalcy bias is a cognitive bias that makes us believe, irrationally, that nothing bad will ever happen to us because it has never happened to us. That is, everything will always be “normal” and nothing will break with that normality. This was a reason why so many Jews refused to leave Germany before being killed. 

Sadly, when you try to warn people, most will be uninterested, some will appreciate your concern, but others may even become irritated and angry. Consequently, to be a watchman today requires overcoming some serious obstacles, such as the mind-numbing effects of mainstream media and the dumbed-down public education system. 

Though we understand the End Times are a time of heightened trials, there are scriptures that emphasize we are to encourage one another with the blessed hope, since “the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). 

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