In light of current events, I’ve been pondering just how meaningful it is that Jesus is the Watchman, interceding for us and intervening on our behalf. Though His saving, delivering, and healing work was completed at the Cross, He continues to watch over His word until every promise unfolds and is fulfilled across the centuries.

The West is waking up to the trouble and misery that has infiltrated us from within and without. Like England and France, we see what is unfolding in our own nations. The intentional funding of infrastructures that open borders, fracture cohesive societies, and erode moral fortitude is causing nations to crumble.

Like Jesus, we are commissioned to be watchmen who intercede. We join Him in watching over His word—never giving up until its fulfillment. We rarely know how, where, or when His word will unfold on our timeline. Some promises will be fulfilled in the generations after us. But one thing is certain: it is impossible for Him to dishonor His word. He always watches over it from seed to sprout to full maturity.

The foundation of intercession is knowing God’s mind concerning His people. First and foremost, it means meeting with Him and speaking about who He is for us and what He has done. We remember that unfailing love is part of His nature. We acknowledge that only He has the power and grace to intervene and deliver us. He is the best at identifying with the crushing weight of our troubles.

The prophet Hosea describes our times so well. He was a watchman for God over Israel, even though traps were laid for him wherever he went. He faced hostility even in the house of God (Hosea 9:8).

These ten northern tribes of Israel had forgotten their Maker. Thieves had infiltrated them from within and bandits from without. The people worshipped foreign gods that sapped their strength, weakening and aging them. They became like “silly, witless doves”, looking everywhere for help except to the Most High. As a result, they “became as useless as a crooked bow,” unable to hit the target. They “planted the wind and harvested the whirlwind” (see Hosea 7:1-2, 9-16).

How was Hosea to deal with such a broken-down, hopeless society—including the house of God? He intervened on their behalf by clearly and forcefully addressing the troubles. He also declared God’s amazing words of love for His people:

I’m going to romance you and draw you into the wilderness.
There I will speak tenderly to you with words of love
and win your heart back to me.
Though you are surrounded by disappointment,
I will make your Valley of Trouble an open door to hope.
In awe and wonder, you will respond to me with songs of deliverance.
(Hosea 2:14-15).

This wilderness the world is in right now can become the place where we hear God speak more clearly. As watchmen, we intervene on behalf of His people and our nation. We remember His unfailing love and all that He is able and willing to do for us. We remember that the resurrection of Jesus remains the greatest ongoing display of love and power in the entire universe.

We repent and address the places where we have tried to make life work without God—where we have been infiltrated by ungodly beliefs, where we have cared more about acceptance and “relevance” than the whole truth, and where we have remained independent and divided against one another instead of building an infrastructure of support across our cities.

We proclaim His word: You will make our Valley of Trouble an open door to hope.