One day, a long, long, long, time ago, someone decided to build a house. And before they knew it, the house turned into a building, as more and more people came not only to help build the house but to seek shelter in it, for there were no other houses around. So to shelter all those people it branched out into a building. It was no longer a matter of just building a house.
Eventually, people from other places heard (word of mouth) about the building so they too, wanted to come and live in the building. But since there was no more room in the building, they had to build other buildings until they had enough buildings and commerce (because of the influx of people) and called their block of buildings, a city.
And that spread. Other cities popped up here and there, while some were abandoned for other more fruitful and prosperous cities. Some cities were not that fortunate, they were invaded by others who hated these cities and the people in it, and so burned their city and killed anyone left in it.
Now, some cities survived the same crisis because when they built their cities, they were smart enough to also build walls around their cities. The thicker the walls, the safer the people within them felt.
But not only did they build firm, solid walls, they knew enough to put an alarm system on these walls. So they enlisted strong, young, able-bodied men to take shifts during the night and during the day to guard the walls and the people within them.
These watchmen on the walls had a special mission like no other. They were entrusted with a responsibility similar to our law enforcement people of today. They were selected not only for their strength and agility, but also for their excellent eyesight, and their above average hearing…and their intelligence.
They had to have their sharp vision to see from afar any approaching friend or enemy and be able to distinguish between the two; not only during the day, but also especially during the night. Their hearing was high tuned to detect any strange noises their eyes couldn’t. So, they had to be on the alert in order to know one from the other before they blew the alarm; their shout or their trumpet.
The people within these walls slept soundly and went about their normal business during the day, not just because of the walls, but because of the watchmen on those walls. They had developed emergency plans along with strategic ones in case their walls were breached.
The enemy, wanting to penetrate those walls, also had developed strategic plans of their own. They sent spies who entered the city when opened for commerce. The spies studied the walls, the watchmen shifts, the people and their habits and paid attention to every little detail that would help them carry out their deception.
No one knew who these spies were. Until the enemy struck and it was too late to defend themselves. They trusted in what they saw – the walls, and the watchmen, and the plans they had in place in case of attack.
The problem was because they trusted in these things, as time went by and they were living in peace, they came to believe in this peace and let their plans and their weapons get rusty. They also let their watchmen remain on the walls longer than they should have. For now they were older and their eyes had dimmed, their hearing dulled and they weren’t as able-bodied as before. They had been on those walls for so long and nothing had happened. They should have been replaced with young, strong, able-bodied men, but there was no need to…they thought.
And that was when the enemy felt the safest to attack. They had been keeping track of all this, and like any enemy, bided their time waiting for the right opportunity to strike…when their enemy was the weakest.
The element of surprise was then successful. Not because of the right opportunity, but because they too had set plans in motion and had struck from within. They became familiar with the enemy by living among them, studying them, getting to know their habits, and their thinking, and their way of life. And acting in accordance with the knowledge gained, they stealthily assimilated into the culture becoming so like them that their very presence and hidden agenda was never detected. Nothing was left to chance. The people could not distinguish between a friend and an enemy.
Viruses do that to our bodies. Our land neighbors in other countries do that to our country. And so does the enemy of our soul.
The conquering is from within.
Now, you have another understanding of the word: “watch.”
Maranatha.