September 5th, 2020

The Old Testament text for this Sunday steps briefly into the book of Ezekiel [33:7-9]. And those words begin with a statement to Ezekiel, that the LORD has made him ‘a watchman’. Like many other biblical occupations these days, such a job may not be very well understood. But it certainly is an important one in Israel’s history.

Think of, first of all, that this part of the world could be overrun by bigger powers on almost all sides. Trade routes came through Israel, so why not armies?

Second, it is important to remember that, in such situations, a city with a wall is a wonderful thing. In last week’s text, the LORD promised Jeremiah that he would be a fortified wall of bronze (15:20). It is difficult to imagine such a wall. And imagine the difficulty in getting through such a wall! And you might also want to imagine your perspective on top of such a wall.

Third, that also means that the city gates are important places. If you do not want to go through (or over) a wall, you could try going through the gates. (And cities would usually have more than one gate. I am not speaking about a ‘front and back door’ here; sometimes there was an inner and an outer gate. And perhaps you can imagine the difficulty in getting through THAT as well.) And gates are mentioned many times throughout scripture, from literally Genesis to Revelation.

What may be a helpful text to picture all these elements is from 2 Samuel 18 (verse 19 and following). This is an account that describes how the information from a battle was delivered to King David. In this case, the king’s son, Absalom, was dead. Although Absalom had tried to get rid of his own father, David mourns his death when he hears the news from the messenger who came from Joab, the leader of the king’s army.

The way in which this news is given is interesting. There seems to be two people who were previously designated by the king to give some special news. One was designated to give good news (he was the ‘son of Zadok’, and it should be said that the Zadok referred to was probably the high priest and, therefore, by association with the temple, a good person), and the other, a 'Cushite', to give some other kind of news (being a Cushite was not too important; perhaps the messenger who gave bad news was killed).

This text never ends up being a reading in the three-year series, so I thought it would be a good thing to include it below. And probably the most important thing to note is that the word ‘news’ here is the word that becomes the word ‘gospel’ in the New Testament. That may help our perspective as to the New Testament importance of Jesus and the gospel. Here is a somewhat literal translation:

And Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, said, ‘Let me run, now, and let me take the news to the king, that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of his enemies.’
And Joab said to him, ‘You are not a man of news on this day, and you may take the news on another day, but on this day, you do not take the news, for the son of the king is dead.’
And Joab said to the Cushite, ‘Go, tell the king what you saw.’ And the Cushite bowed to Joab, and he ran.
And Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, added again, and he said to Joab, ‘And it may be whatever, let me run now also I, after the Cushite.
And Joab said, ‘Why are you running, my son? For you are not one bringing the news.’
And he said, ‘It may be whatever, I will run.’
And he said to him, ‘Run.’ And Ahimaaz ran the way of the plain, and he passed by the Cushite.
And David was sitting between two of the gates, and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate on the wall, and he raised his eyes, and he looked, and behold, a man running by himself.
And the watchman called, and he told the king. And the king said, ‘If he is by himself, the news is in his mouth.’ And he came and came closer.
And the watchman saw another man running, and the watchman called to the gate(keeper), and he said, ‘Behold, a man running by himself.’
And the king said, ‘Also he, one bringing news.’
And the watchman said, ‘I am seeing the running of the first one being the running of Ahimaaz, son of Zadok.’
And the king said, ‘This is a good man, and he comes with good news.
And Ahimaaz called, and he said to the king, ‘Peace,’ and he bowed to the king, with his face to the ground, and he said, ‘Yahweh, your God, be praised, who delivered up the men who lifted their hand against my lord, the king.’
And the king said, ‘Peace to the young man, to Absalom?’
And Ahimaaz said, ‘I saw the great confusion when Joab was sending the servant of the king, and I did not know what.’
And the king said, ‘Stand aside and wait here.’ And he stood aside and stood.
And, behold, the Cushite, coming, and the Cushite said, ‘And may my lord, the king, hear the news, for Yahweh delivered you this day from the hand of all the ones rising against you.’
And the king said to the Cushite, ‘Is there peace to the young man, to Absalom?’
And the Cushite said, ‘May the enemies of my lord, the king, be like the young man, and all who rise against you to do evil.’​

As was mentioned above, the bad news hits David quite hard. It seems that David was hoping for two runners that were both giving good news, one good news concerning the battle victory, and the other, that his son was still alive.

Certainly, the watchman in the above text had an important role. But the one delivering that all-important news had an even more important role. And there is simply nothing more important than the good news of the gospel.