From church history and in magazines we have seen articles that have appeared under the title: Watch over Zion. In the past but also today, this word combination has been used by people to indicate that within the Church something precious is under a threat. A theological school, for example, or a concept that is perceived as valuable. With the motivation of the biblical-sounding expression “watch over Zion”, one jumps into the breach, to guard the endangered heritage. In others this can cause irritation such as: here we go again, someone is at it again with long-known hobby-horses. In this article and next week's article, we hope to scrutinize whether these concerns do justice to their biblical content.

The Conservative Guardian⤒🔗

It is unavoidable that being a watchful keeper is connected to the preservation of the old. When you see something important happening that is in danger of disappearing and you act as a watchman, there is a conservative tone in it. Guardians are people who remember the good old times and safeguard the heritage of the fathers, and rightly so.

But precisely because it has acquired such a conservative sound, it is striking that such a name as being “conservative” disappears. Who wants to have that image? There are plenty of people within the church who know themselves to be guardians, but as time goes by, they no longer wish to go under that banner.

That is too bad, because it is an important concept in the Bible. Especially with the prophets of the old covenant. Mainly, because the word “keeper” indicates much more than what the cranky backward-looking person believes; for whom all change is unacceptable. The concepts of being a guardian or keeper directs us again to the source of faith: God's Word itself.

That is why I would like to draw attention to God's Word in this article and in next week's article. It would be a pity for today's church if the backward-looking concept of a guard-preservation desire, secures itself. Or when in another way real faith becomes connected to being critical of anything that does not smell old. When the depth of faith is measured by the degree of concern about the developments of our time.

Intent←⤒🔗

A few parts of the Bible are very important here. First, we will look at Jeremiah 6 to see what the guardian is basing his warnings on. Then to Ezekiel 33:1-9 that speaks about the responsibility of a watchman. In the second place, let us pay attention to Isaiah 62:7. That is the text where the combination of a guard on Zion's walls comes from. This text gives insight into the great responsibility of a keeper. We then return to Ezekiel 33:7-9, where the duties of a watchman are clearly stated:  "Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul." We will then look at Jeremiah 6: 16, 17:  "Thus says the LORD: Stand by the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'we will not walk in it'. I set watchmen over you, saying 'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!'  But they said, 'We will not pay attention.'" The first impression you receive from this text confirms the combination of a guardian tradition. In the old King James version, it says: “Ask for the old paths.” So, what was the tradition in Jeremiah's time? He performed his task when things went bad with God's people. He began his ministry during king Josiah's reform and experienced the road into exile and over time he ended up in Egypt. In chapter 44 of his book, he explains what happened next. To his horror and amazement, he saw that the people were going to worship the queen of heaven again. Because he is the watchman and needs to warn the people, he addresses the people accordingly. The people's answer is revealing: As long as we worship this queen, things will go well for us. When we started listening to you, things went wrong. In other words, the people saw the service to the Lord and the old way of obedience to the King of heaven as a novelty. But by worshipping their idols they persisted in what they had learned from their father and grandfather. It is amazing that among God's people a new and ungodly tradition is only a couple of generations old.

Tradition←⤒🔗

Now the Bible also has tradition, faith in God is passed on from generation to generation, look at Psalm 78. In the New Testament, think of 2 Timothy 1. It tells us how Timothy's mother and grandmother passed on the faith to him. The book of Proverbs urges mothers and especially fathers to hand down and practise God’s ways properly, if necessary, correctively.

Jeremiah's call to go the old ways should never be used simply in defence of traditionalism. The old roads are not those of human tradition. In his situation, Jeremiah tells the people to discontinue with tradition. They must give up the familiar idol worship and go back to the real old ways, to the Word of the Lord. That Word is by definition critical of human tradition. Although we have indeed received it ourselves in the way of tradition. For the sake of the tradition of Psalm 78, there must be a biblical line through human thought, however familiar.

Tradition and the Watchman←⤒🔗

From this point of view, the word “watchman” does indeed have a critical charge. The guard warns the people. The word used here indicates someone standing on the city walls, who looks around and when danger appears, blows the trumpet. Jeremiah does that. See also Jeremiah 6:1: "Flee for safety, o people of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms out of the north and great destruction." See also Jeremiah 4:5: "Declare it in Judah, and proclaim it in Jerusalem, and say, 'Blow the trumpet through the land’; cry aloud and say, 'Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities!'". This is a clear picture in a time with no spy satellites and with much more difficult communication than we are used to in our time. A city without guards was vulnerable. Guards must clearly be critical in times when God's people are falling away from the Lord's ways. They must test the evil in their contemporary world against the Lord's ancient ways. But they lose their meaning when they are encapsulated in conservatism. Their real meaning lies in their repeated call to return to the old ways in the Bible from every human thought, whether it be progressive or conservative.

Guardians, Who are They?←⤒🔗

In Jeremiah 6 it is clear who are referred to by that beautiful word. These are the God-controlled prophets. That is also clear from the prophet Ezekiel. That is how the Lord addresses them. But who are these prophets in this day and age? We no longer know of men like Jeremiah, Elijah, and all those other prophets, no matter what your idea is about the gift of prophecy in the church. Theirs was a beautiful, but limited, time of prophecy. But there was a lack of guards who guarded the people against falling away from the truth. They were lonely figures: while everyone was asleep, they did their work faithfully. That is clear from all the prophetic books in the Bible. But in the New Testament, it is different. There is an abundance of prophets because all God's people have become prophets, so there is an abundance of guards. Everyone is called to keep going on these old roads and to urge each other to walk in them. It is not good to reserve the function of a guard for certain groups in the church, that would be wrong. We are all involved to stay on the right track, because we have all received the Word of God.

 The Responsibilities of Guardians←⤒🔗

So, what is left of their duties? If it is everyone's duty, we do not have to worry about each other. We can say that, but I think this is not so, because the danger of relativism is great. There are several different opinions in the church, but we tend to leave it that way. That is the easy way out; weary and taxing discussions are easily put out of the way. It is therefore good to see clearly that we are all called to be guardians; that will exclude relativism. It is wrong to retreat into our own little corner and that we do not care what the other person thinks or does, as long as the other person leaves me alone with my opinion. Keep in mind that relativism and individualism go together.

When we pay close attention to the responsibility of a guard, we see that it should not be done that way. Please read Ezekiel 3:16-21, in combination with chapter 33. Ezekiel has been appointed a guard. That means that God is going to hold him accountable for the people he has to warn. If he fails to do so, he will be partly to blame before the Lord for the evil they have done. For Ezekiel, being a guard meant a very tough and difficult road. As a watchman for Israel, God had forbidden him to mourn the death of his own wife. He also had to notice that all these warnings did not help: the people just kept going on their evil way, they laughed at that strange man and, in accordance with the message of the prophets, they were finally taken away into exile. But even then, Ezekiel was not allowed to retreat. A “told you so” attitude did not suit him. God renews his appointment, and he must be a watchman again, he could not shirk that responsibility.

We are moving forward in our time. He who wants to be a watchman must realize that he has a place amid God's people. He is not allowed to back off. God demands that we hold on to each other and discuss with each other when one guard gives a different sound than the other.

Summary←⤒🔗

If we sum up what we have discussed so far, the following things will come to the fore:

• Being a watchman cannot be coupled with nurturing traditions; there is only one authoritative tradition; that of God's Word.
• Being a watchman should not be claimed just for yourself or for a particular group; it is an assignment for every member of God's people.
• Being a watchman means that you always live among God's people and are prepared to save them. Being a guard and retreating from your duties does not square with each other.

In the next article we hope to discuss what this warning sound entails. We will pay close attention to Isaiah 62. It is mainly a question of whether the words “keeper on Zion's walls” rightly has a warning sound.