The Watchman

Two familiar metaphors Jesus uses to describe believers are salt and light.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” –Matthew 5:13.

There is a lot of meaning packed into this statement. First, besides adding flavor, in ancient and not so ancient times, salt was used as a preservative. What happens if you don’t have any type of preservative? The food rots. If we–believers, the church–are the salt of the earth, that means that without us, the earth rots and decays. Jesus is not speaking of people caring for the planet, he is specifically addressing believers who are to add flavor and preserve people by sharing the Good News.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.” –Matthew 5:14-15.

Here the inference is that the world is a dark place (has been since the fall of Adam and Eve). I used to read this verse and try to picture what kind of lamp Jesus is talking about. Imagining salt was no problem. Salt hasn’t changed much since Jesus’ time. Obviously, He’s not talking about a electric lamp with a 100 watt bulb. So what is this lamp He’s referring to? I did some poking around on the Internet and found a picture of what a lamp in Jesus’ day would have looked like.

This is a typical Hebrew oil lamp and is most likely the type of lamp Jesus is referring to, it gives feeble light at best but I think that’s the point. We simply need to let our feeble light shine and God will do the rest. He gets the glory. Indeed, Jesus said Himself,

“While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” –John 9:5.

Now that Jesus is no longer in the world physically we, His church, are His light.

In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, God appoints the prophet as a watchman. The role is similar to what our role is now, in this present day.

“Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.” –Ezekiel 3:17-19.

The message from God is clear. If we do not stand against evil and do all we can to correct the evildoer, their blood is on our hands. We cannot simply turn away. This is a powerful verse that still resonates with me.

“Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he shall die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deed which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.” –Ezekiel 3:20-21.

Keep in mind, these verses are before Jesus came and died for the sins of all. However, these verses are still poignant for the believer and unsaved people in their lives that they know they are doing wrong. We need to be sure we are staying salty and filled with the light of Christ so we can share the Good News of Christ.

May He Increase (our saltiness and light)!