As Necho, king of Egypt, was on his way to fight against Carchemish, king Josiah of Judah came out against him for battle. Necho assured Josiah that the battle did not involve Judah and that the Lord had commanded him to make haste against the house of Carchemish. In order to turn Josiah’s intervention, Necho reminded Josiah that his intervention would be meddling with the will of God. Josiah refused to listen to the warning and meddled in these matters costing him his life (2 Chronicles 35:22-24). Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, expressed a similar statement when he told his peers that they should let the apostles alone lest they fight against God (Acts 5:34-39).
Many Bible passages connect watchfulness and prayer. While preaching sounds the trumpet of alarm in the ears of men, prayer sounds the alarm in the ears of God. As a watchman, each believer has a responsibility to his brother or sister in Christ. While some believers are spiritually sleeping, unaware of their present danger, other believers ought to be standing upon the tower of watchfulness and calling upon the Lord. This was the point of Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 6:18 when he said, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
If ever there was a man in the early church that qualified as a watchman, it would have been the apostle Paul. Paul includes “in watchings often” in his testimony about the trials he endured. He also mentioned that these watchings approved him as a minister of God (2 Corinthians 6:4-5). We know from the biblical accounts that when many believers were unaware of danger, the apostle Paul stood upon the tower and sounded the trumpet of alarm. While others were spiritually sleeping, the apostle Paul was sober and alert to the needs of the church. No doubt Paul endured sleepless nights, fasted, and went without even the necessities of life because he was watching for the church.
