“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 33:7).
“In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the Word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import—the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.” (LDE 45)
Surely these are times we ought to be thankful for the watchmen amongst us. But apparently not.
The few brave men in our flock who have been obedient to the call that God has placed on their lives have been appreciated by many of us, but in equal measure, have been criticised by others—including from within our own Seventh-day Adventist movement. This is wrong.
Amongst the myriad of denominations that colour the landscape of Protestant Christianity, we stand alone with a specific duty given to us by God: to sound out the Three Angels Message of Revelation 14. Period. That was the task given to our early pioneers, and that is why we still exist. We ought not to be a mirror image of whatever other denomination we choose to fix our gaze upon. We ought to remain a “peculiar people” as Sister White described us more than once. Not weird, but peculiar as in distinctive.
And within that duty set upon each of us there ought to be those in leadership who stand as the watchmen for us all. Guiding us. Warning us. We do not need messages of peace and safety. And we do not need sounds of silence.
Our denomination was borne out of the Millerite movement. After the Great Disappointment, literally thousands scattered, disillusioned, angry, and disbelieving. But a remnant remained. Confused, disorientated, but faith intact, albeit at a low-point. Although faithful nevertheless. Spirit of Prophecy forewarns us of a similar time at the end:
“The Lord has faithful servants who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you. But it may be under a rough and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character will be revealed. In the daytime we look toward heaven but do not see the stars. They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot distinguish them. In the night we behold their genuine luster.” (LDE 181)
I pray that those of us who at present have an “uninviting exterior” will be found not bowing to Baal, instead remaining true at the post, ready to reveal our “genuine luster”.
Reading through the comments posted under Larry Kirpatrick’s 2020 article “All Hail” revealed a disturbing phenomenon within Adventism that has been apparent for some time. Many Adventists no longer follow the Spirit of Prophecy, or hold Ellen White in regard. Yet believing in Ellen White as the Spirit of Prophecy is one of Adventism’s Pillars of Faith.
I also cannot understand a critical attitude towards people such as Pastor Kirkpatrick writing such an article. Surely he ought to be commended for being a faithful watchman? He would be negligent if he did not warn his flock. What is surprising is that more pastors are not doing similarly. Warning us. Telling us to wake up.
I am surprised at the sounds of silence emanating from those in paid pastoral positions.
God said to the prophet Ezekiel,
“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” (Ezekiel 3:17).
This metaphor of a watchman is repeated again in Ezekiel in chapter 33, for further emphasis, and as with many metaphors and prophecies, serves as a type for the end-times. Ezekiel ministered to the divided nations of Judah and Israel, and like Jesus did later, used metaphors that the people of his time could relate to. In those times, watchmen would stand alert, using watch-towers as in the image below, to watch, and to warn. They were to watch for, and sound a warning of any approaching danger.
What does the role of a watchman mean for the work of God today, as this world comes to its prophetic conclusion? Answering these questions is crucial as events implode around us, in a rapidly changing world order.
What is the role of a watchman?
In Ezekiel’s time of writing (565 BC), the ancient world was that of a network of rural communities, in which large watchtowers were placed overlooking the fields, and well beyond, in order to spy any danger well before it arrived. Forewarned meant being forearmed.
During the harvest season, men would stand watch, guarding their ripening crops from any danger, from either animals or thieves. As with any community, food supplies were necessary, and if that was at stake, the future of the entire community was imperilled. So, the first role that a watchman had - to guard the harvest and therefore the food supply - was critical to the survival of any agrarian society.
Therefore we need to ask ourselves: do our watchmen guard the harvest of souls in our community? Are they guarding the spiritual survival of the flock under their care? Are they watching what they are fed? Are they watching that they are ready for the end, regardless of when it comes? (John 10:11).
Outside the Camp
A second role watchmen had that we find in several references in Scripture was to watch outside the town’s fortifications. The watchman was positioned in a location within his watch-tower from which he could observe all the entry-points to the town. Any threat appearing meant he would sound loud a warning. The town would then close its gates and prepare for battle.
So, how are our watchmen going today? Are they vigilant watching what is entering their flock’s sphere of influence? Are they faithful in sounding out a warning about enemies - those who attack and erode our doctrines?—those who come to rob us of our salvation? Those who lead us to one small compromise after another, with its ultimate danger of loss of salvation. Are they sounding out a warning appropriate to these times, or delivering messages of “peace and safety”, or even remaining silent?
Another role that watchmen had in Ezekiel’s time was to simply stand - vigilantly, at all times, observing the daily life of his community. Doing that meant he knew the town’s people: their daily lives, their work, their families, their habits, and their lifestyles. He would know them intimately over time: their worries, their concerns, their strengths, their weaknesses. He would know all what was going on: he would see the various types of activity going on within the walls of the town; in the market-place, on the streets. Often the watchmen were positioned near the city gates, giving them a perfect view of the transacting of business within the city walls. We see this occurring in Ruth 4:1-12:
So in our world, how well do our watchmen know their flock? Their comings and goings? Their daily lives. Their worries and our concerns. How pastoral are our pastors? Are they true shepherds?
We can see why God used the metaphor of a watchman to illustrate the role of a prophet - that of observing and making commentary on their society’s behaviour as well as delivering messages of warning and instruction.
How Does God Want to use the Role of a Watchman to Warn and to Teach?
One point we must remember regarding any prophet, who acts as a watchman, is that the message they bring is God’s message; not their own. Their prophecies are not Ezekiel’s message or Ellen’s message. Their messages are always God’s messages. They are merely delivered through the prophet. That prophet acts as the human instrument through which God delivers His message. The prophetic message comes from God tailored to the situation at hand, using language suited to its audience, and designed to bring people to repentance, which means, ultimately, salvation. So let’s keep this point fresh in our minds.
The Spirit of Prophecy
This brings us to our modern day Spirit of Prophecy, Ellen White. One of the Pillars of our Faith as Seventh-day Adventists is that Ellen White had the gift of prophecy and the role of a prophet, specific to these end-times . As the Fundamental Beliefs from 1981 state:
“That God has placed in His church the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as enumerated in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. That these gifts operate in harmony with the divine principles of the Bible, and are given for the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry, the edifying of the body of Christ (Revelation 12:17; 19:10; 1 Corinthians 1:5-7). That the gift of the Spirit of Prophecy is one of the identifying marks of the remnant church (1 Corinthians 1:5, 7; 12:1, 28; Revelation 12:17; 19:10; Amos 3:7; Hosea 12:10, 13). They recognise that this gift was manifested in the life and ministry of Ellen G. White.”
One disappointing trend is the down-playing of Ellen White’s writings within our church. This is evidenced in a 2002 survey of Adventists worldwide:
To have half of this representative group saying they want to see a “modern reinterpretation” of the Spirit of Prophecy should give cause for concern. This is almost akin to wanting a modern reinterpretation of the Scriptures, in the sense that the both are inspired writings (obviously the writings of Ellen White are not on the same level as the Bible, but you can understand the point I am making). The risk is that once humankind gets involved in this process of ‘reinterpretation’, the concern is that the writings would lose the divine spark within them. One would wonder why so many so-called Adventists want to revise divinely inspired writings, rather than just being thankful for them, putting them into practice, and sharing them with others.
What Does this Mean for the Work of God Today?
For us today, these criticisms of Ellen White are increasingly common. It is difficult to exactly understand why. Possibly it is the age-old issue of people not liking being told what to do. No matter who the prophet or messenger, whether Biblical or Ellen White, a part of the prophet’s message was showing the people how to live and maintain their faith. And by nature, most of us don’t like being told what to do.
However, we need to remind ourselves that Spirit of Prophecy was not giving just a series of frowning, bossy messages, focused on pointing out our problems, in some sort of spirit of condemnation. Instead the goal is to get us to turn back to the Word of God, and in that process, prophetic messages also show us the benefit of doing so, including eternally. Prophetic messages will always show an incredibly positive vision, of both a better way of living that God desires for His people in this world, as well as in the world to come.
One other role that a watchman does is what Isaiah tells us about those preaching the gospel of peace. This shows us that the role of a watchman is not limited to speaking only about the sins and problems of the society, but that the watchman was also charged with proclaiming the good news about salvation. We can find inspiration in Isaiah with passages such as these:
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion… Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has 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” (Isaiah 52:7-10).
This passage in Isaiah paints an image of godly people who are given a special vision into the world of today and the world to come. This message includes teaching people the way to personal peace. It will show the true teaching of God and the way to salvation. It is also a message of how one can prepare for the time of judgment God will bring on the world.
This brings us to our present situation of Covid 19. Debates about whether this is “the” end of the end-times is in some ways irrelevant — what is relevant is that this global situation has meant some people are now open to the Gospel message in a way they weren’t a few months ago. So the call to duty is even more pressing upon us, than it was even at New Year. We should always be vigilant in imparting our special duty of sharing the Three Angels Message, but in these times we really need to step up.
Watchmen in Lockdown
Just because some are still in lockdown does not mean that we are unable to share the Gospel message that is so needed, especially in these times. We have the advantage of electronic platforms such as Zoom to share with others. This is the door of the opportunity - we must use it whilst we can. We are commanded to share the Great Commission - being in lockdown is no excuse not to do so.
One of the most inspirational examples of someone who ended up changing the direction of Christianity whilst in lockdown was Martin Luther. Luther referred to his confinement at Wartburg Castle as “my Patmos". Instead of being overwhelmed by negativity, Luther knuckled down to work. During his time at Wartburg, he translated the New Testament from Greek into German and poured out many writings. It was in this time that he wrote about justification by faith. He also dealt largely with prophecy, in which he broadened the foundations of the Reformation, placing them on prophetic faith. His main interest was centered on the prophecy of the Little Horn in Daniel 8:9–12, 23–25. The antichrist of 2 Thessalonians 2 was identified by Luther as the power of the Papacy. So too was the Little Horn of Daniel 7, coming up among the divisions of Rome, explicitly applied, creating the prophetic heritage that Seventh-day Adventism stems from.
Ellen White is also an example of a productive watchman (or watchwoman!) whilst in isolation. As her son, Arthur White, wrote in the introduction to her biography entitled “The Lonely Years”:
“Ellen White, like the ancient prophets, faced trials and discouraging circumstances as she tried to accomplish her special mission. This volume of the biography portrays the lonely years in her experience. If she had not had to deliver messages of correction, reproof, or rebuke; if the testimony she was called upon to bear had been all of praise and approbation; if she had been able to lean heavily upon human beings to guide her in fulfilling her call, she would not have experienced the periods of loneliness pictured in these pages… It is possible that as you read this volume you may be moved with sympathy for Mrs. White during her lonely years, but it is my hope that you also will be cheered as you note God's guidance and blessings and the favorable response that most church members gave to heaven's messages. Reviewing the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from 1876 to 1891 is an inspiring experience and strengthens one's confidence that God is guiding His people.” (3BIO 10)
It was during these years that Sister White accomplished writings that led her to being the most published female author. There were challenges, such as the 1888 General Conference, and then being sent to Australia to live and work; a move initiated against her will, but which bore such fruit. Good things often spring forth from our trials and tribulations.
Choices and Consequences...
Imagine the consequences of having no watchmen manning the walls. Imagine if we as Adventists did not have the blessing of Ellen White and her writings. Imagine if we did not have faithful pastors and speakers sounding out warnings, alongside their calls to repentance and salvation and the blessed hope.
In many ways, we don’t need to imagine it. We are told that “as in the days of Noah” and “as in the days of Lot, so the end shall be”. When we examine what Scripture tells us about the times that both Noah and Lot lived in, we discover that the behaviour and lifestyle of people in both eras led to the consequences that they suffered. Only eight survived in Noah’s time, and three in Lot’s situation.
One of the common criticisms of warnings at times like Covid 19 is this has all happened before — such as each of our World Wars, the Cold War, the Spanish Flu, and so on. Therefore, the conclusion reached is either not to bother warning again, or that it is no longer important, or even an embarrassment to our faith. With respect, I beg to differ. I have no problem with people sounding out a warning. Due to our natural tendency towards comfort and spiritual laziness, warnings do us no harm (unless they are crying wolf). What does us harm is complacency.
For those of our readers who instead of being thankful for our watchmen of late, such as Doug Batchelor etc, I would say if you find this sort of thing either irritating or you think it is simply inaccurate, just ignore it! No one is forcing you to watch their videoed messages. No one is making you take heed of their warnings.
For those of us who desire to avoid being like the five bridesmaids of Matthew 25—who were found wanting—I would encourage us to appreciate these watchmen doing their work, and to take heed.
Let us spend time in the Word (2 Timothy 2:15).
Let us re-acquaint ourselves with the Spirit of Prophecy’s writings that are particularly pertinent to these times.
Let us consider moving to the country if we aren’t there already.
Let us share the gospel message. It is time . . .
To school ourselves in medical missionary work that we are told by Spirit of Prophecy will be the final way we can share the Gospel.
To check on our family and friends and neighbours via the phone or online.
To encourage one another (John 13:34; 1 Thess. 5:11).
To pray (1 thess. 5:17; Matthew 26:41).
To fast (Matthew 16:24—26).
To plead to the throne of grace for those whom we love who remain unmoved by our entreaties towards salvation (1 Timothy 2:1—3).
To confess our sins (1 John 1:9).
To make things right with those whom we have hurt or offended or wronged in any way.
This is not the time to hold onto past mistakes, thinking God won’t remember - He will, as will Satan.
Preparing for the time to come is a time for sober diligence. And time to pray for a fresh indwelling of the Holy Spirit - for God’s leading and influence in our lives, as we undertake each step of preparation.
Thinking of those five bridesmaids found without oil in their lamps, we do not want to be like them. Found wanting. Found desolate. Found sleeping... So let’s not sleep on our watch, left forever hearing the sounds of silence.
--ooOOOoo--
“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 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 25:1-13)
“The Lord has made us the depositaries of His law; He has committed to us sacred and eternal truth, which is to be given to others in faithful warnings, reproofs, and encouragement.” (LDE 45)
Sharyn Dunn is a “Kiwi Girl” - living at the southernmost part of New Zealand, with her family, serving as a teacher. A committed Seventh-day Adventist, she enjoys pottering in a variety of activities, such as plant-based cooking, in the little spare time she has.