“Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses…” Hebrews 12:1
Dear Ones:
Why do we find in the book of Isaiah that the Lord instructs Israel to: “Look unto Abraham you father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him?” (Is.51:2) It is because Abraham, like a good many more individuals, are sentinels in history, which guard the truth of God’s dealings with men by the testimony of their lives and lips. The definition of a sentinel is: “…a soldier or guard whose job is to stand and keep watch.” Note that a sentinel is described as a soldier or guard. He is prepared to repulse any attack or pressure which would impede or hinder him from fulfilling his role. Specific to our consideration of a sentinel of history is the particular role that they have, to communicate to all who will see, hear, and believe, that God has not only reached down to man, to bring him into a right relationship with Him, but has revealed the depths of His nature and person, His justice and love, in the most eloquent, and yet, blatant manner possible. It will take His Son being put to death on a cross to PROVE His eternal love to a fallen race.
Who are these sentinels, and what is particular about their role as guardians of the truth? The first one is Adam, this first man, created in the image of God, who proclaims to us and all men, that God’s intent in creating him was that he might know the life of God in its fullness, and thus, glorify God. After the fall, we find another sentinel, Abraham, who is being visited by God in visions, and in person, as was the case with the angels visit just prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Key to this sentinel’s role is the demonstration of the revelation of God to him, and communicated to us. Thirdly, we see Moses, whose apparent first extraordinary revelation of God occurred at Sinai in the burning bush. Throughout his life, at different moments, God would manifest Himself to Moses, revealing the essence of His holy character, goodness, mercy, and justice. Then we come to the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, men who had visions of God, which overwhelmed them because of the magnitude, uniqueness and power of the vision. They wrote what they saw, so that we might get an ever-increasing clear vision of our Maker and Redeemer. It seems that after the prophets, the sentinels of the Old Testament, which protect and guard the truth of the revelation of God to man, that God would choose ordinary men from different walks of life to take up the mantle of being His sentinels. These would be the twelve apostles. They see the Lord Jesus, even though they do not realize that they are seeing the Father. However, there will come a day, the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of God comes to dwell in their hearts, that they will powerfully declare the “wonderful works of God.” By the testimony of their lives, and their lips, these sentinels speak to us in magnificent clarity of God’s revelation to man in the person and work of Christ. They are, in a very real way, custodians of the truth of the Creator and Redeemer.
Perhaps the last sentinel of Scripture is found in the book of the Revelation. Here, the aged Apostle John, will receive a vision of God like no other, on the Isle of Patmos. It will be of the glorified Christ. The Spirit of God gives to the apostle a vision of Christ, specifically destined for the churches of Asian Minor, that is overwhelmingly complete and powerful. There is in that revelation the unveiling of Christ as the Almighty God, Creator, and Redeemer, sovereign in all of His ways, and perfect in all of His dealings with us. So, what is the purpose of this, and previous revelations, given to us through the testimony of all the sentinels that have gone before? It is that we might be inspired, motivated, and moved to seek, and KNOW, this God who has revealed Himself to man.
Dear Father, make us to be like those of old, to be sentinels of Thy truth and Life. Give us to be soldiers, guardians of the blessed revelation of God to man, in Christ, faithfully heralding the good news of Your saving grace. We thank Thee in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad