Watchman, please tell us

February 2006 "Watchman, please tell us." Some of the week's major events in review...The BBC News... "Italy, Greece and Bulgaria confirm their first outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, in wild swans. "Scientists fear a global epidemic of deadly flu in humans will strike soon as this tends to happen three or four times a century. "Bird flu is the most likely trigger and one virus that causes it - H5N1 - is giving particular alarm. "Highly contagious and deadly in birds - and spread by them - this virus has also killed dozens of people since re-emerging in SE Asia in 2003. "Experts think it is only a matter of time before the virus changes and develops the ability to spread easily among humans." ABC News reports... "Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this week he was inviting Hamas leaders for talks in Moscow. "The Hamas spokesman said the visit would help the Palestinian position. 'It will also represent a division in the Western position led by the United States and aimed to isolate and besiege Hamas.' "The Russian invitation drew an angry reaction from Israel and expressions of surprise from Moscow's partners in the so-called Middle East Quartet -- the United States, the European Union and the United Nations." CBS News reports... "The Iranian president on Saturday rejected Western pressure to freeze the country's nuclear program and issued a veiled threat to walk away from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty "He has declared the Nazi slaughter of 6 million Jews during World War II was a "myth" and that Israel should be 'wiped off the map,' prompting worldwide outrage" MSNBC reports... "(COPENHAGEN, Denmark) - Denmark has temporarily withdrawn its ambassadors from Syria, Iran and Indonesia because their safety was at risk in the wake of a Danish newspaper's publication of drawings of the Prophet Muhammad, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday. "Denmark's embassy buildings in all three countries had been targeted by angry mobs protesting the publication of the caricatures in September. European and American newspapers subsequently reprinted the drawings." USATODAY reports... "(RIYADH, Saudi Arabia) (AP) -- Saudi Arabia's top cleric called on the world's Muslims to reject apologies for the 'slanderous' caricatures of Islam's Prophet Mohammed and demanded the authors and publishers of the cartoons be tried and punished, Saudi newspapers reported Saturday." The question I ask is this. What is America doing while world cultures clash? "(CAMBRIDGE, Md.) -- President Bush defended his warrantless eavesdropping program Friday, saying during what he thought were private remarks that he concluded that spying on Americans was necessary to fill a gap in the United States' security." My thoughts... We stand on the brink of a cultural war becoming a world-wide-war--with the real possibility of nuclear weapons being used against Israel and the West--and still we are arguing over the legalities of the Patriot Act and NSA wiretapping, just to name a few. The world stands on the brink of mass carnage while one of the top news items in the U.S.A. tells us this... "(From WASHINGTON) -- A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Thursday narrowly voted to recommend putting the strongest type of warning possible on widely prescribed stimulant drugs for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD." Now don't get me wrong. I'm for free speech and warning labels on medicines. But I'm thinking that the WARNINGS for today should reach beyond the legalities of wiretappings and stronger warning labels on drugs. I think the world headlines should boldly inscribe these words at the top of every newspaper, everywhere--REPENT! FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND! And I think this scripture should appear underneath the headlines, "The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.'" (Revelation 11:15) What's happening today? I believe that the seventh and final warning of impending, world disaster is sounding but few are listening. For some time now, I've been waking up at 3:00 AM. I've wondered why 3:00 AM? I read the other day that the 3:00 to 6:00 AM watch, according to the ancient, daily-Jewish timeline is the last watch of the day, just before the new day starts. Is the Lord telling me something by the symbolism of the fourth watch? I believe He is. And I want to share it with you. The title of my message today is "Watchman, please tell us." I'm going to speak to you about the responsibilities of the watchman on the walls of Jerusalem and how his responsibilities relate to the fourth watch of these latter days. In order to do this, I must tell you about the watchman in the Bible. Let's begin... First of all the watchman was placed in a watch tower. This was a fortified structure rising to a considerable height, to repel a hostile attack, or to enable a watchman to see in every direction. Many of the Psalms speak of God as our High Tower, our Tower of Strength, our Tower of Refuge, or our Strong Tower of which the Righteous shall "run into and are safe." What does this mean? In order to fulfill the duties of a watchman, we must first embed ourselves in God's covering of Righteousness. Our view into the supernatural should always be through the eyes of God, His Word, His will, His way. Only as we stand in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ can we stand against the enemies of faith. Yes we are watchmen, but watchmen stand in watchtowers to elevate their vision, and cover them against all attacks by the enemy. We receive the Righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, being regenerated by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:1). Secondly, the watchman was watchful. The Jews, like the Greeks and Romans, divided the night into military watches instead of hours, each watch representing the period for which sentinels or pickets remained on duty. Thus we read of 'a watch in the night' (Psalm 90:4). During the days of Jesus, the Jews divided the night into 'even,' 'midnight,' 'cockcrowing,' and 'morning' (Mark 13:35). The morning watch was the fourth watch from 0300 hours to 0600 hours. The word "watch" comes from the original Biblical languages of both Old and New Testaments that speak of being "wakeful and so watchful, either for good or evil." When we read the words of Jesus about the coming of the end of the age, He is always using parables or direct language to warn us of slumbering when we should be awake, scoffing when we should be saying "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand," and above all vigilant for the "night cometh when man will work no more." Sobering thoughts, are they not? Again I say, shouldn't today's headlines be screaming Jesus is coming soon? Get your house in order. Yes, I realize that free speech and warning labels on drugs are important issues for Americans. But what should the watchman be saying? He and she should say, "Wakeup and get ready for "the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." Pastor Terry Dashner Faith Fellowship Church Broken Arrow, OK