Where Are The Watchmen

 Around Your House At

 Night?

 

An early missionary to the Dutch East Indies was working amongst the wild Battak tribe. His work, together with his wife, to bring the gospel message to this people was so hard that little progress seemed to be able to be made against their suspicion, their hatred, and their hostility. So often at nights a great fear would come over them that their lives were in danger, that they would spend hours on their knees praying to God for His protection to be upon them. They later shifted their operations further inland, to another tribe which seemed more civilized and friendly. When they had been in their new home for some months, they were visited by a man from the previous area where they had been trying to work with the Battaks. This man spoke to the missionary for a while, and then said:- “I would like to see your watchmen close at hand.” The missionary said:- “What watchmen do you mean – I do not have any?” The man said:- “I mean the watchmen whom you station around your house at night to protect you and your wife.” Again the missionary said that he had no watchmen. The Battak man did not believe him, and asked if he could search through his house to find them. Of course he found none. Then he said:- “When you first came to us we were very angry at you. We did not want you to live with us and we did not trust you. We all resolved to kill you and your wife, but when we went to your house at night, night after night, there always stood around your house a double row of watchmen with glittering weapons, and we did not venture to attack them to get into your house, so we had to abandon our plans. Another fierce man in our tribe said we were cowards, and that he would go with us one night to kill you. This fierce man, swinging his weapon above his head, went on ahead of us, but in a short time he came running back hastily, saying that he could not go ahead alone, because two rows of big strong men were standing all around the house, shoulder to shoulder, with their weapons shining like fire. Thus we gave up our plans to kill you. But, now, tell me, tuan (teacher), who are those watchmen, and why is it that you have never seen them?” Then the missionary told him that these must have been God’s holy angels, that had been sent to protect him and his wife, in their time of peril, in answer to their prayers. He then brought out his Bible, and said:- “See, here, this Book is the Word of our God, and He has promised to guard and defend us, and we firmly believe that Word; therefore we need not ourselves see the watchmen, but you do not believe, therefore the God of Heaven has shown you the watchmen, in order that you might learn to believe.”