The Watchman Comes
A lot of people have asked me, “Lonnie, what is this Old Watchman character that you portray?”
That’s easy. It’s not a character. It’s what I am. It’s who I am.
What do I mean?
Look to Ezekiel 33
“And the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand. Ezekiel 33:1-6 (NASB95)
Sometimes I am accused at being angry when I issue warnings. I assure you that it is nothing of the sort. I am not angry. I am heartbroken! I issue warnings that I see in God’s word that are recurring today. Not because I’m angry but because I don’t want to see anyone taken away in the own iniquity or in their own blood. On the other hand, I issue warnings because I do not wish their blood to be required from my own hand. There will be no blood on my hands.
It kind of goes back to Jeremiah 6:17: “I have set watchmen over you saying, “Listen to the sound of the trumpet!” But they said, “We will not listen!”
Israel didn’t listen then and they spent 70 years in Babylon. Today’s church, for the most part, isn’t listening today. It’s not a sweet, warm, and fuzzy message. It requires something from them, the church. It seems that most teaching today evolves around what God can do for the individual instead of what the church should be doing for God.
Yes, God loves us. Jesus died for us. Holy Spirit dwells within us. All that is true. But the whole concept of, “I am Holy, you be holy” has gotten lost somewhere in the mix of things. You may be saved, salvation is a monumental free gift, but there is a responsibility that goes along with the gift and there is an accountability to be faced. A day of reckoning is coming! I’ll discuss that reckoning in the next day or so.
I am The Old Watchman, Ezekiel. I’m sounding the trumpet. Are you listening. I certainly hope so for there will be no blood on my hands. Shalom!
