What of the Night
Isaiah 21:11-12
The burden of Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?…


I. "Watchman, what of the night" of SENSE AND SIN? "The morning cometh" — the morning of sinlessness. "Also the night." Sin now, sin then; sin on sin, sin forever and ever!

II. "Watchman, what of the night" of SUFFERING AND SORROW? "The morning cometh." "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." "Also the night" — the night of eternal suffering and sorrow.

III. "Watchman, what of the night" of MOCKING AND MYSTERY? "The morning cometh," when the mocking mystery will vanish. "They shall see His face." "Also the night" — "the outer darkness," the black profound, where the soul wanders forever Christless, restless, lost.

IV. "Watchman, what of the night" of SOLITUDE AND SEPARATION? In this world we have never met. Men of science tell us that there are in this universe no two atoms in real contact. "The morning cometh," the morning of meeting for the first time in the never parting of the revelation of God. "Now we see in a mirror darkly," etc. "Also the night," the night of a separation eternal. Let another natural law be traced in this spiritual world. If you took away all contrary and opposing forces from a propelled cannonball, and if you secured a perfect vacuum in boundless space, by vis inertiae, the ball would go on forever. If this is the first law of motion in mechanics, it is as really the first law of motion in the wrath of God on an eternally separated lost soul.

(J. Bailey, M. A.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

WEB: The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?"




Watchman, What of the Night
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