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Where will you be?

This week, we approach the time celebrated globally as the “Ball Drop Countdown” to the New Year. Will you stay up until midnight to mark a new beginning?

The first “Watch Night” observed by the church was by the Moravians in 1733. They started the tradition of praying over the year past and praying for the one ahead. John Wesley soon followed suit because he wanted to give people an alternative to the raucous celebrations held in the pubs. He formalized it in 1755, penning an official prayer of consecration for the New Year.

On December 31, 1862, during the Civil War, African Americans brought new meaning to it when both enslaved men and free men met in churches to “watch” for the midnight hour. They were waiting for the legalization of the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect.

Pentecostals started the tradition in 1901, making it an opportunity to pray during the night watch for a fresh “revival.”

Nowadays, the charismatic church has taken up the practice of seeking a prophetic “Word for the Year” for the next year, commonly adopting rhymes to match. I cannot remember 2025 (which does say something), but I remember 2024 being vastly proclaimed as the “Year of the Door.”

My interest lies in what the Bible says about it. Of particular interest to me is the “prayer watch” or “vigil.” I would describe myself as an intercessor, so the night watches have always been of interest. Exo 14:24: But at the morning watch (ašmurâ, noun), the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. This term for watch is a thing, not an action; in OT times there were three watches, and in the NT, the Roman military watch was adopted into four three-hour segments of time when soldiers would be posted for duty. Discover the references to it here. Topical Bible: Time: Division of, Into Watches

But let’s go back even further. In biblical interpretation, there is what is described as the tool of the law of first and last mention. The introduction or first mention of a word, idea, or concept in the Bible is viewed as the core, primary fundamental meaning of a word. The last mention is viewed as the culmination or fullest sense of the word.

The first time the word for watch (šāmar, take heed, keep, observe, wait, save) is used in the Bible is when God placed Adam in the garden to KEEP it. This same word is used in Deu 4:9: “Only be careful for yourself and watch over your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.” This is the same word used when Eliezar was appointed to “watch” over the ark in 1 Samuel 7:1, a watch of the city (2 Samuel 11:16). Job says God “watches” him like this: Job 13:27: “You put my feet in the stocks and watch all my paths; You set a limit for the soles of my feet.” David says he will watch this way over his mouth in Psalm 39. This word is repeatedly used to describe the way wisdom and discretion watch over us. The same word, samar, is used in the famous Psalm 121:5: He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.

Gen 31:49 and Mizpah, for he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other.” ṣāp̄â, to look out or about, spy, keep watch, observe keenly. Lean forward (Qal) to keep watch, spy (Piel) to watch, watch closely. This same word for watch is used in 1 Samuel 4:13: “When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road, keeping watch, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. And the man came to give a report in the city, and all the city cried out.” The heart of Eli was anxious over the ark, but it was a little too late for that. He had not watched over his sons and refused to discipline them. That same day, the Philistines took the ark of the covenant into their possession; Eli’s sons died, followed by Eli; and Phineas’ son Ichabod (“the glory has departed”) was born. The time to watch over our own souls is always now!

This same word for watch is used to say the Lord is watching over the nations in Psalm 66:7 and Micah 7:7: “But as for me, I will be on the watch for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.”

Exodus 10:10 Exo 10:10 Then he said to them, “So may the LORD be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Watch out, rā’â to show, perceive, present yourself, discern; for evil is on your mind!” ~ 2Ch 20:17 ‘You need not fight in this battle; take your position, stand and watch the salvation of the LORD in your behalf, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow, go out to face them, for the LORD is with you.” This word is also used in Habakkuk 1:5 when the Lord tells him to just WATCH—look to see what HE will do!

2Ki 11:5 And he commanded them, saying, “This is the thing that you shall do: a third of you, who come in on the Sabbath and keep watch over the king’s house.” This is the first introduction of this word for watch _mišmere__ṯ (to guard, ward). It is a verb. 1 Chron 9:27 and 2:1.

Ezra 8:29 “Watch (to be sleepless, to be alert) šāqaḏ and keep them until you weigh them before the leading priests, the Levites, and the leaders of the fathers’ households of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD. The Lord is watching in this way in Jeremiah 31:28 to both uproot and plant.

Neh 12:25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping watch (to guard, stand in a confined space, prison) at the storerooms of the gates.

Of the wicked, Psalm 10:8 says, he watches ṣāp̄an (stealthily): “sits in the lurking places of the villages; he kills the innocent in the secret places; his eyes surreptitiously watch for the unfortunate. 9 He lurks in secret like a lion in his lair; he lurks to catch the needy; he catches the needy when he pulls him into his net.”

Mat 14:25 And in the fourth watch (phylakē, ward, post) of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea. Luke 2:8 The shepherds keeping watch over the flock.

Mat 16:6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch (Horaō, stare, discern) out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Mat 26:38 Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch (grēgoreō, alert, vigilant) with Me.”

Luk 11:35 “So watch out (skopeō, contemplate, mark) that the light in you is not darkness.

Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them—for they keep watch (agrypneo, to be sleepless, to be circumspect, attentive, ready) over your souls as those who will give an account—so that they may do this with joy, not groaning; for this would be unhelpful for you.

1Co 10:12 Therefore, let the one who thinks he stands watch (bepo, to discover, weigh carefully, examine) out that he does not fall. 2 John 1:8 Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. This is the last mention of this word watch in Scripture.

Taking all this into account, my “therefore” is this.

Therefore, bear in mind that the Lord, who created us, put us into the context of time to make us stewards. Before the fall, time was not something to which we were enslaved as we are now. Time was measured in being fully aware, alert to “watch,” to “keep,” to guard from intruders, enemies. A fully alive eternal now in the presence of our Father. Original sin introduced conflict in a way that began to mark humanity. Death was now the clock, and one day the bell would toll for us all.

We have been marking time ever since. Instead of having this beautiful container in which to have a way to be relational with God and each other, we have been enslaved to an external construct. The fences, parameters of minutes, hours, days, and years have become a short chain and ball. We give all our time to mere survival with little to no awareness of our hearts or our God. We lose track of time, we waste time, we strap time to our arms, and put it in our earbuds.

Yet this is what God has given us: life. Meant to be spent in awareness and belief in and worship of Him. A prodigal can be defined as someone who wastes money, time, and resources in a way that afterwards makes him feel shameful. Are we not all prodigals? Do we not all need to have a “he came to himself” moment?

The Lord will come again, and when He comes, no matter what watch of the night He comes; will He find us alert? Aware of our own hearts and need for Him? Will He catch you looking up?

There is something other than the material world that can be experienced. It is a HE. Our search for meaning has us looking for fresh chances in the “new year.” No matter what saying or idiom for the new year we adopt, even in the church, life is NOT THERE. It is in Him.

When pondering about time, this song came from the recesses of my mind. Reading comments on the video was enlightening. There is a yearning for something within the passage of time. In the nostalgic song, a line says, “There is something back there that you left behind.” You can frequently hear, “somewhere along the way, I lost myself.” This is part of what keeping watch over ourselves is about. So we know when we are straying.

A love lost, just out of reach. Something just out there. Take a few minutes to listen. Set aside time to “watch” properly. Discern, contemplate, where are you? Are you hiding like Adam, from God, from yourself?

God is eternal; He is outside of time, and our life in heaven will not be comprised of continuous minutes without end. It will be a continual abundant fully present now. There is no other way to abide but in the present. Dare to be present with yourself and with Him.

All the love, my friends. Happy New Year.