WHO IS THE WATCHMAN?

WHO WILL HE WARN?

HOW DOES HE WARN PEOPLE?

HOW WILL HE BE RECEIVED?

At the end time, the watchman plays a vital role in events which are about to unfold very soon. The book of Ezekiel gives the duties of the watchman, who he is, who he must warn and how he is to do it.

The watchman is a prophet and will speak only God’s words to whom God tells him to speak. In the last era of God’s church, a prophet will arise, hated by some in God’s church and not who most would imagine he will be. Most would probably think he will come from the higher ranks of God’s church, Why?

Eze 2:4  For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’

Eze 2:5  As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse for they are a rebellious house yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.

The above scripture shows that the watchman is a prophet, and that he will say, what the Lord God wants him to say. Most people today are very good at saying their own words, their own ideas, and interpretations. The watchman, however, will only say the words of God. These will not prove to be very popular in the church or in the nation of Israel which is where the warning message is to go.

The watchman is appointed to the house of Israel.

Eze 3:17  “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:

God tells the watchman what is going to happen and then the watchman is to warn the people.

Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

The watchman is going to the nations of Israel that speak his own language. That is to the English-speaking nations of Israel, America, Australia, Great Britain New Zealand and Canada. Mr. Armstrong learned of the true identity of modern-day Israel. He gave this knowledge to the church. That is how the watchman knows who the people of Israel are today.

Eze 3:5  For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel,

The watchman comes from Ephraim, look at the following scripture.

Hos 9:8  The watchman of Ephraim is with my God; But the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways  Enmity in the house of his God.

The above scripture is amazing. The watchman is from Ephraim and is hated in the house of his God.

We must realise that we are now living in the end time and that the end time events could come very quickly. If you try to get into a conversation, with church people, about the end time events, many people will just say that these events are not for ages yet etc, or they say we have 20 or 30 years to go yet. This attitude is just not acceptable to God, we must be urgently about our Father’s business.

Eze 12:27  “Son of man, look, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’

The above scripture confirms this amazing fact that people are just sound asleep, in a luke warm attitude as world events hot up and the end time looms closer and closer. We are the Laodicean era of the church and we have a luke warm attitude. Beware, the end time is closer now than when you first believed.

The watchman is to send a warning message to Israel, the English-speaking nations, as mentioned above. Now notice the following scripture.

Isa 9:8  The Lord sent a word against Jacob, And it has fallen on Israel.

The warning message goes to Jacob, but the whole house of Israel hears it. This warning message will be well known around the world, when it goes out. It is not difficult to imagine how this will happen with T.V. Newspaper, and Internet. There is also twitter, you tube, and face book which have a global audience. It is so easy for something to be known worldwide overnight, once God decides it is to happen, how and when will be up to Him to decide. The time of this warning message must be exact as the end time events follow very quickly behind the warning message.

When September 11 occurred, the whole world new about it very quickly, God is in charge, He is bigger than any event in human history, He has a plan, He wants the nation of Israel and Judah warned of Jacob’s trouble. It will not be hard for Him to open the doors for this to happen overnight, if that is how He wants to do it. Remember, this will be up to God, not man.

Eze 12:28  Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “None of My words will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

Hab 2:2  Then the LORD answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.

Hab 2:3  For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.

There is a double use of the word tarry, in the above scripture, but they are different in the Hebrew, the first word means delayed, the second means, it will not be deferred.

Mic 7:4  The best of them is like a brier; The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge; The day of your watchman and your punishment comes; Now shall be their perplexity.

Notice how God’s return is very close after the watchman gives his warning.

Jer 4:15  For a voice declares from Dan And proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim:

Jer 4:16  “Make mention to the nations, Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem, That watchers come from a far country And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

Notice the above scripture, someone from the tribe of Dan, will cry out to people. Affliction will be published from Ephraim.

Hos 5:9  Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.

It is so very clear that the nations of Israel will be told most clearly that there are terrible times ahead for them unless they change their ways.

Let’s recap on what we have learned so far. The watchman is a prophet. He will say God’s words to the nations of modern-day Israel, Australia, America, Great Britain, New Zealand and Canada.

The message of the watchman is a warning message of impending disaster on these nations. 2/3 of the nations will die by war, pestilence, famine, and wild beasts. The remaining 1/3 of the population will be taken into captivity by a cruel nation. These captives will be cast all around the world.

Notice the places where God gathers them from when He rescues Israel

Isa 11:11  It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.

At present the population of modern-day Israel is approximately 440,000,000. 2/3 of these people will die which is 294,000,000. The remainder of the population is 146,000,000, these people go into captivity. Unfortunately, only 1/10 will come out of captivity alive.

14,600,000 will be alive out of 440,000,000. That is devastation at its worst. No wonder the watchman takes his calling seriously.

Notice the following scriptures regarding the above devastation.

Eze 5:12  One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.

Eze 5:13  ‘Thus shall My anger be spent, and I will cause My fury to rest upon them, and I will be avenged; and they shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it in My zeal, when I have spent My fury upon them.

Isa 6:13  But yet a tenth will be in it, And will return and be for consuming, As a terebinth tree or as an oak, Whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.”

Amo 5:1  Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:

Amo 5:2  The virgin of Israel has fallen; She will rise no more. She lies forsaken on her land; There is no one to raise her up.

Amo 5:3  For thus says the Lord GOD: “The city that goes out by a thousand Shall have a hundred left, And that which goes out by a hundred Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”

The above scripture is speaking about the nations of Israel, but do not be fooled, the church has also got a severe warning, notice the following.

Zec 13:7  “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.

Zec 13:8  And it shall come to pass in all the land,” Says the LORD, “That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one-third shall be left in it:

Zec 13:9  I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’ ”

The above warning is for the church, strike the shepherd {Mr. Armstrong} and the sheep scattered, {the church certainly is scattered}.

2/3 of the Church are to be cut off and die {spiritually and probably physically} some of this has already happened those who have fallen away from the truth no longer keep Holy Days etc. they are dead spiritually. The one third left will form the Laodicean church possibly around 50,000 people.

Dan 11:33  And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering.

Dan 11:34  Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue.

Dan 11:35  And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.

Unfortunately, there are very hard times ahead for God’s church, this is because they are luke warm, they do not believe God, they do not understand who God is, and will not listen when the truth is told to them. This means they must go through very hard times, to prove themselves worthy to God.

I would like to digress a little for a moment, regarding the way in which this warning must be spoken by the watchman.

As was mentioned above, the fate of 440,000,000 people is at risk.

If you were at a dinner and someone told you that a bomb was planted inside the building and was about to explode, and you had to warn the people. How would you do it?

Would you quietly enter the building, slowly come to the stage, apologise to the people for interrupting their dinner, excuse yourself and hope that no one would be offended by what you were about to say, hope that no one took it the wrong way, and that hopefully no one was upset or put out by what you were about to tell them. Then you quietly asked if everyone could just leave the building, after they finished their meal, so as not to cause indigestion, because there is a slight probability that there could be a small explosion, well may be not an explosion, maybe just a puff of smoke, and that there could be some damage to the building, well maybe not structural damage, just a few chairs, or something like that, and if they could leave when they were ready, because we have received a bomb threat of doubtful origin and we doubt if it is really a serious threat, only probably a hoax.

If you did this and everyone died in that building, who would be to blame?

This person had the knowledge of impending disaster and gave a wishy-washy half-hearted warning to the people.

If you were in this person’s shoes, I am sure you would race in, yell out loudly and clearly, to get out immediately, there is a bomb in the building. You would be urgent, clear and concise, you would state things clearly and take control, so as to save as many people as possible, with the warning and your quick actions.

It is the same for the watchman.

God wants a clear, urgent, warning, of God’s own words to go to the nations.

This is not the time for worrying about people getting upset, about offending people, about treading on eggshells. Since Mr. Armstrong’s death, we have about 100,000 church members, with 100,000 opinions, pretty well all of them different, pretty well all of them wrong. There is total confusion amid the church. This will continue until God allows the truth to be put out to the members. Soon this chaos will end, God’s true church will be united under the truth, they will be drawn together by the truth of God. However, this will be the Laodicean church and some of them will be luke warm, their hearts are far from the work of God.

We have been in God’s church long enough to know that we are now living in the end time.

Mr. Armstrong had the same urgent message to give to the church, he spoke boldly and gave a warning, a serious warning. He said exactly what was going to happen. There was no room for doubt, he was sincere, he simply understood incorrectly when this was to happen.

This happened for a reason.

How many members have left because 1972 and 75 have come and gone?

How many members were only in the church to save their own skins?

How many members honestly believe that Jacob’s trouble will happen at all?

How many members think that Jacob’s trouble is 20 or 30 years away yet?

How many members believe that Israel will receive a spanking? I read that in an article.

If the death of 440 million people is a spanking, I hate to think what a belting would be. That was a totally ridiculous thing to say.

How many members believe that Israel is America, Great Britain etc?

God wants people in His church who are prepared to remain faithful forever. God’s people should be prepared to wait for the end times until they die. If the end does not come in their lifetime, so what, we should be prepared to wait for the return of the Father and Christ regardless of how long it takes. All of God’s people have thought they were living in the end time.

It all comes down to why we are in the church, are we in it to preach the gospel, learn and grow in grace and knowledge, develop the fruits of the spirit, develop perfect righteous character. If so, we will wait patiently for the return of the Father and Christ whenever that may be, we will be so doing.

Or are we in the church to save our own necks?

Look how the church has been sifted, 1972 and 75 happened for a reason, all towards God’s plan. He knows our hearts and intentions, if we are in the church for the wrong reasons, they will soon surface and we will leave or our attitudes will give us away. God is not mocked.

God could have quite easily let these things happen, to see what was in our hearts.

Unfortunately for us, we have come up wanting.

What a group of luke warmers we are.

Look at all the rubbish currently being printed about Mr. Armstrong, now that he is dead and unable to defend himself.

And amazingly, not a word is spoken about Mr. Tkach, who set about to take the church off the track and back to main stream religion. This of course has been followed by his son and we now see Worldwide almost unrecognisable from the beliefs it held under the faithful leadership of Mr. Armstrong.

I am not saying Mr. Armstrong was perfect, not at all, and he knew that, but he was a faithful servant of God, doing a massive job of preaching the gospel to the world. I would like to add that every person who came into Worldwide, before the death of Mr. Armstrong, learned everything from God through Mr. Armstrong. DONT FORGET THAT.

It is very easy to criticise someone who is dead, because they cannot defend themselves. Mr. Armstrong was not in the church to save himself, he only cared about us, the membership. He took his commission seriously, he went many years without money, his family endured many years of hardship. You only have to read his autobiography to see that. Let’s not forget about these things and let’s read about his hard years serving God with absolutely nothing in his pocket.

His whole heart and mind were focused on doing God’s will. He was not perfect, but he did a job better than most could do. God is well pleased with him.

What about us?

How are we standing at the moment?

We have to stand before God and answer for our thoughts and actions. God sees everything.

I hope I have explained the way the watchman will speak, he will not excuse his words, or apologize for them, he will not back track, and hope that no one takes offence. There will be no apology given when he tells Israel their sins. The stakes are too high. This is serious, we need to wake up and take notice of what is being said here.

Let’s now look at who the watchman speaks to. We have already covered the fact that the warning message will go to the English-speaking nations of Israel. But others are also spoken to by the watchman. Notice the following scriptures.

The elders of Judah.

Eze 8:1  And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there.

Men from the Lord’s house.

Eze 11:1  Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the East Gate of the LORD’s house, which faces eastward; and there at the door of the gate were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

Eze 11:2  And He said to me: “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city,

Those in captivity.

Eze 11:25  So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the LORD had shown me.

To the prophets of Israel.

Eze 13:2  “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of the LORD!’ ”

To the daughters of your people.

Eze 13:17  “Likewise, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy against them,

Eze 13:18  and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their sleeves and make veils for the heads of people of every height to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and keep yourselves alive?

To the elders of Israel.

Eze 14:1  Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me.

To Jerusalem.

Eze 16:1  Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Eze 16:2  “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

Parable to the house of Israel.

Eze 17:1  And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Eze 17:2  “Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

A lamentation for the princes of Israel.

Eze 19:1  “Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

To the elders of Israel who come to the watchman to enquire of the Lord.

Eze 20:1  It came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

Eze 20:2  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Eze 20:3  “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will not be inquired of by you.”

To the sons of Ammon.

Eze 25:1  The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Eze 25:2  “Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them.

A lamentation over Tyre.

Eze 27:1  The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,

Eze 27:2  “Now, son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre,

To the leader of Tyre.

Eze 28:1  The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

Eze 28:2  “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,’ Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god

To Zidon.

Eze 28:21  “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her,

To Pharaoh the king of Egypt.

Eze 29:2  “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt.

To Mount Seir.

Eze 35:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Eze 35:2  “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it,

To Gog.

Eze 38:1  Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Eze 38:2  “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

This article shows the importance of the mission of the watchman. When God allows him to speak, we must pay attention and listen. He is God’s servant.

The watchman cannot speak until God wants him to. There is a correct time for him to give the warning message out to the church and to Israel. God will decide when that time is, not man.