Post 101 / The Next Language

Watchman

Ezek 33:6 KJV – “But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.”

Last week I was asked to address a group of people charged with facilitating the translation of the Word into their respective languages.  These were on the margins of their Islamic communities charged with enormous responsibility for communicating God’s Word on the one hand and living as community members on the other.  I likened their situation to the Watchman on the wall who has perspective and responsibilities going both directions – outward and inward.

Before the day of electronic and remote communication the watchman on the wall and the runners were vital to the security of a city.  The watchman was responsible for both bad news and good news.  How far down the road the watchman could see from his high vantage point would determine how much advance warning the news would allow.

The sobering part of this instruction from the prophet is that, from God’s perspective, the watchman on the wall was held responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of communication and any consequent damages from withholding it.  That should be alarming to those who think they can guiltlessly and passively slide through this life with no liability whatsoever for what happens to their family or their neighbor. (And who our neighbor is in our current global village is very different from what it used to be — but that is a topic for a different day.)

This is a caution to the recordists who think they can guiltlessly hold recordings for months (and in some cases years) without processing and ingesting and publishing for the people to hear.  That would certainly represent a watchman who has the news (good or bad) but does not blow the trumpet.

The more I thought about it I realized that this message is not just for those involved in cross cultural Bible translation.  All of us who belong to Christ and are students of the Word already have a lot of insight into the future.  We have both Good News and bad news.  If we consciously withhold that news from those who are affected we certainly run the risk of having blood on our hands.  This is especially true for those over whom we have direct responsibility.

God Bless,

Larry DeVilbiss | Executive Director

Global Recordings Network USA

If you are interested in learning how to share links on social media that will promote use of our recordings and the Gospel in general, please contact RolandHeck@GlobalRecordings.Net

Previous “The Next Language” posts
First the Blade – Post 100
Marghi – Post 99
Talents – Post 98
Berom – Post 97
God is my Wit(h)ness – Post 96
Scarlet Chested Sun Bird – Post 95
Fountains of Water – Post 94
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Tale of Three Sisters – Post 92
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Pick Your Fears Carefully – Post 90
Mixteco del Progreso – Post 89
Go – Post 88
Those Word Lists – Post 87
Altars – Post 86
Oh, for a Thousand Tongues – Post 85
Voices in the Wilderness – Post 84
Nigeria – First Impressions – Post 83
From the Land of Nod – Post 82
Tribute to Mexico – 1967 – 2022 – Post 81
Miniaturization – Post 80
Knowing The Times – Post 79
God Comes to a Dirty World – Post 78
Corn in Mexico – Post 77
When the Church Says No – Post 76
War – Post 75
Theirs Is the Kingdom – Post 74
The Hippie Era Lives On – Post 73
Genesis of a Recording Set – Post 72
Back Tracking – Post 71
Witnesses- Post 70
Who Is Your Owner? – Post 69
An Unsolicited Endorsement – Post 68
Oral Tradition – Post 67
Works of  Man – Post 66
Deliverance – Post 65
New Discoveries – Post 64
The Wall of Pain – Post 63
Is There a Place for the Gospel in Your Story – Post 62
The Love Pyramid – Post 61
Obsession – Post 60
Verb Tenses in Hebrews – Post 59
The Unseen Weapon – Post 58
The Gospel Arrives in Zapoteco:Elotepec – Post 57
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How Big Is Your God? – Post 52
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Dedication Service for Marcos – Post 50
Two Weeks, Two Months, Two Years – Post 49
What Will You Give to Jesus – Post 48
Special Assignment – Post 47
The Good and the Best – Post 46
How Many Languages Are There? – Post 45
Verifying Speech Varieties – Post 44
Those God Things – Post 43
Meet Notch, the Desert Cottontail – Post 42
The Lost Languages – Post 41
The Rest of the Yoke – Post 40
What About Those Last Languages – Post 39
A Yoke That Fits – Post 38
The Other Side – Post 37
It Is Finished – Post 36
On the Ground in Culiacan – Post 35
I Will Go With Thee – Post 34
Unseen Warfare – Post 33
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The Father of Faith Missions – Post 31
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What Are You Doing Here – Post 28
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