Rebecca Weiss: So, we're joined here today with Micah Wood.
Micah: Yes, hello.
Rebecca: Thank you for being here and my husband.
I dragged you onto this one.
I didn't have to drag you, but I just said, "Please be on this
one because we're talking about a really important topic today,"
and that's about being a watchman.
And you got this message and you wrote a book.
It's called "Or Cities Will Be No More."
But it all started with a God encounter.
So, tell us about this God encounter that you had.
Micah: Yeah, so first off, it's really a joy to be on here the
podcast with you and to get to know you and Jonathan
both better.
I've had touch points here and there, but really enjoyed being
here today.
Yeah, so this God encounter happened in June of 2020, came
through a dream, and--but I say it's a God encounter because it
was something a little more than a dream.
It's like God showed up in the night.
Rebecca: Like, it really kind of almost happened to you.
It was like one of those dreams, almost like a vision.
Micah: That's right.
You know, actually Daniel sometimes in Scripture uses the
language, "I had a night vision," which to me it
communicates it was a little more than a dream.
It was something--it was a God happening in the night.
The other thing about dreams is that sometimes dreams are
instructional, like they kind of tell you something, but
sometimes in our--an impartation happens in the dream.
That happened to Solomon.
You know, he has a dream and in the dream, God says, "What do
you want?"
And he says, "I want an understanding heart."
And he doesn't wake up and ask God for what he asked God for
in the dream.
He woke up and he already had it.
He woke up and immediately has this supernatural wisdom.
And so, I wanna encourage everyone listening, pay
attention to those dreams that are those different dimensions
with God where he's doing stuff in the night and he's making you
aware of it through the dream, but you're actually receiving
from him even while you're resting.
And so, that's kind of what was happening.
So yeah, so in this dream, I'm sitting in a church in
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and then all of a sudden this breeze
starts blowing, which I found very unusual and I'm trying to
figure out what it is.
And as I turned to the person beside me to say, "What is
this breeze?"
All of a sudden, the breeze turns into a whirlwind, and it
is a forceful, disruptive whirlwind, but it's not evil.
I know it's God.
I know it's God manifesting himself, his presence,
his glory.
He just shows up as a whirlwind.
And so, it's so forceful and disruptive that it picks me up
and everyone in the sanctuary, and we're all flying through
the air.
And it's one of the most vivid and real experiences I've
ever had.
While I was in the air, I was crying and laughing because it's
like I could feel God tangibly.
It wasn't that I was exercising faith in order to experience God
in a service.
It's that I felt God physically on my skin as wind and this wind
was so powerful that I was being carried in the air.
And so, I'm in the air and I'm thinking dozens of things all
at once.
One of them is, "God is real."
Like, I know God's real, I already knew that, but I'm
experiencing him in an entirely different way right now.
The second thing I was thinking is that, "Oh, this must be what
revivalists of old meant when they use the word revival."
Because just to be honest, I'd gotten a little disheartened
with the concept of revival because it's like, okay, what
is it?
Is it prolonged church services?
Is it really good, you know, ministry?
What is revival?
So, I'd gotten a little disheartened there, but in the
dream when I was experiencing God just showing up and taking
over, I thought, "Oh, this is what revival is.
It's real, it's possible, it can happen," and I want to pray for
revival again.
It's God just showing up however and whenever he wants and doing
whatever it is he wants and it has nothing to do with what
man manufactured.
And so, it like refreshed my heart all over again.
And I was thinking a bunch of other stuff, but I was kind of
fast forward.
So, going into the air, all of a sudden, the whirlwind throws me
down to the ground.
Well I'll say this, right before I landed, I'm thinking to
myself, when I wake up, I need to study the book of Ezekiel
because Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 1 encounters God through
a whirlwind.
And it actually that whirlwind shows up over and over again
throughout the book of Ezekiel.
That's why he says, "And the glory of God showed up the way
it did," you know, "back then."
And so, this whirlwind kept showing up in Ezekiel's life.
So, I'm thinking to myself, "I need to study the book of
Ezekiel to give myself some biblical perspective on what I'm
encountering," which is another kind of footnote for listeners.
When you encounter God in supernatural ways, it needs to
be saturated in Scripture to really get the right theological
framework around what you've experienced.
So, the whirlwind throws me to the ground and I stand up and
I'm surrounded by a group of people and I begin to prophesy
and it's like I prophesized with an authority I'd never known
before because God totally bypassed my mind and just
commandeered my mouth.
It's like--it's not like he whispered in my ear and I got an
impression and I'm trying to figure that out and I'm
releasing it.
It was just boom, straight out of my mouth.
God begins to speak and my mind is disconnected and thinking,
"What in the world am I talking about?"
And so, what I say to the group of people is this, "God is
looking for watchmen or cities will be no more, just like the
nine cities in the west of Israel."
Now when I say that, I'm seeing in my mind's eye, men and women
of God spiritually taking responsibility for cities as
intercessors and praying over them, and I knew if they don't
do that, then those cities will be vulnerable to the plans of
the enemy.
And then if the plans of the enemy begin to take root, then
those cities will become vulnerable to judgment.
And I knew that cities would become no more if intercessors
did not take their place.
So, I'm seeing all of that as I'm prophesying.
Then God like lets go of my mouth and oddly because the
message is pretty heavy that I prophesized, I start laughing
because I'm still refreshed by the wind, like the whirlwind.
And I look at everyone and I say, "What does that even mean?"
Because I'm thinking, "Nine cities in the west of Israel?
Is that in the Bible somewhere?
Watchmen, what does it look like for people to actually
be watchmen?"
So, I'm like lighthearted, even though the message is
very confrontational.
Then I'm starting to walk out of the sanctuary and I'm thinking
two things.
I'm thinking, number one, this is a dream from God.
Number two, I hope I don't forget this dream.
So, I'm like, thinking of both of them.
But then as I'm walking out of the sanctuary, my heart breaks a
little because I hear the pastor or the service MC just going on
with church announcements and I realized that once the whirlwind
left, they put everything in the sanctuary back the way it was
and just went on with the service.
That broke my heart because I realized they encountered the
whirlwind, but they didn't receive the message that came
out of the whirlwind.
They didn't say yes to the call of the watchman.
Instead, they just decided to go on sort of with their
church activity.
That was heartbreaking to me.
Rebecca: There's so much to unpack.
Micah: There's a lot to unpack.
There's a lot to unpack.
Rebecca: It's powerful.
Like I felt God's presence as you were talking.
You know, there's a lot to unpack.
I think the first thing is you think God was showing you as you
were walking out and the church was just going with
announcements, kind of showing you that if church just does
business as usual and they don't receive that message to repent
and to change and to take on the role of the watchman, it's going
to be detrimental to those cities.
Micah: Yeah, 100%.
And just to be honest, I have a bit of a complicated
relationship with the word encounter and I'll tell you why.
Number one, God encounters have absolutely changed my life,
all right?
From the time I was a kid growing up in church and
then I was not walking with God during early teenage years.
I was 15, I had this God encounter that
changed everything.
I believe in God encounters and I think we need more of them.
However, I also think that it's become jargon in the church that
we need a God encounter and so much so that it's almost become
a self-seeking gratification thing rather than realizing the
encounters come to commission us with an assignment.
And so, we want the whirlwind, but we don't want the message
out of the whirlwind.
It's like we want to have sensational stories to tell, but
I don't know that we actually want the responsibility that
comes with the sensational stories.
So, Moses encountered the burning bush.
And from the burning bush, leaves the mountain with
an assignment for a nation--
Rebecca: A heavy call.
Micah: A heavy call that required great sacrifice.
And so, I think that was--the ending of the dream is that we
have to be willing to actually be interrupted.
When Ezekiel encounters the whirlwind, Ezekiel chapter 1, 2,
and 3, it's all the same extended encounter.
At the end of it, this is the middle of Ezekiel 3, it says
that he sat astonished for seven days.
In other words, he allows the encounter to interrupt him.
Then at the end of seven days, God then says, "Son of man, I
have made you a watchman for the house of Israel."
So, the clarity behind the encounter came after Ezekiel was
willing to be interrupted by the encounter, not just enjoy
the encounter.
And so, we have to allow ourselves to pause when we have
these God moments to really consider, pray, journal, what is
God saying through this encounter, not just have
excitement over the fact that I had a sensational experience.
Rebecca: That's such an important word that we're not
just chasing these experiences to have some goosebumps or an
emotional experience or something just for our own
selves, but that we have these God encounters.
There is a responsibility attached to that.
And to take it seriously and even with churches seeking
revival, you're not just seeking for a moment--Terry, you know,
for a moment or for a miracle, but seeking an assignment and
a call for stuff to move forward.
That's just so powerful.
And I mean that encounter that you had, you stewarded
that encounter.
How--what would you--what's some practical advice for people who
receive prophetic dreams or prophetic words or they have
these God encounters?
What's a practical way that they can steward what God has
given them?
Micah: It's a great question.
So, it's all very simple, very simple.
So, the first thing I always do is I write it down.
I like--every dream I write down, even the ones that
seem bizarre.
And it's amazing how much--how easy it is to neglect that step.
And then without writing it down, we don't have a record
anymore, we forget all that stuff.
And I have found that as you write dreams down more
consistently, it has a tendency to kind of open up the dream
space because it's almost as though like the Lord sees that
you're committed there, you're faithful.
So, you always write it down.
To me, a second point in terms of interpretation is I find--I
look for biblical language in it that can be keys to
unlock interpretation.
And there's those God--so whirlwind, okay?
How was a whirlwind used in Scripture?
Where did it show up?
And that becomes a key for unlocking that thing of seeing
beyond the surface.
Another thing I would say is take into the context
of community.
So, I have a very good friend actually, the book is dedicated
to my good friend named Josh Hollingsworth because he's like
my dream stream buddy friend and functions in just
prophetic places.
And so, I often talk about dreams with him.
And so, I would encourage people to find a--it doesn't have to be
like an ultra dream interpretive community, but especially a
community whose heartbeat is prayer.
You take dreams into the space of prayer and they get ignited
to a different level because in the place of prayer, prayer has
a tendency to unlock prophetic language.
And so, those three things is write it down, look for biblical
signage, so to speak, and then take it to a community that has
prioritized prayer.
And in doing that, it helps start unlocking some of the
things God's speaking.
Rebecca: That's so good.
And you know what's interesting about your God encounter as
well, not only the call and the responsibility to deliver this
message to the church of how we need to wake up and walk in our
watchman role, but God was really giving the church a
download of our--like the spiritual warfare going on and
how we have a part to play and it's not just about showing up
at church on Sundays, but that we have an active role to play
in prayer and intercession.
And so, I want to get into talking about watchmen and all
of that.
And so, if you want to start with the book of Ezekiel and
kind of what God downloaded to you.
Micah: Yeah.
Well I think the first step is what I said a moment ago,
and that is holy interruption.
Ezekiel was interrupted by the whirlwind and because of that,
God was able to give him more language.
And, you know, Rebecca, you asked me on--of a different
program that we recorded today about, you know, what did the
whirlwind represent?
And for me it represents the heart of God because Ezekiel
includes an interesting detail in Ezekiel chapter 1.
He describes the whirlwind as being on fire, but then he said,
"And out of the midst of the whirlwind was the color amber."
And I'm thinking if it's on fire, why even bother saying
that there was amber in the whirlwind?
Isn't that implied?
It--he probably included it because it was something
distinct even apart from the fire.
So, where does that amber come from?
And throughout Ezekiel, he mentions not only a burning
whirlwind, but a burning man.
And when he sees this burning man, he says, "And the color
amber came out of his chest."
He says it kind of interesting--he says, "Below his
waist was on fire and above his waist was on fire."
And I'm like, "That's cool, but just say the man's on fire.
Why this distinction?"
He says, "But above his waist came the color amber," and I
think it's because the heart of God is an amber heart that burns
in his chest.
So, when Ezekiel experiences this whirlwind, it's an external
expression of God's internal world.
And the other reason I think it's a whirlwind is because, you
know, when tornadoes show up, they don't negotiate.
You revolve around them, they don't revolve around you.
So, I'm from the state of Alabama.
We have lots of tornadoes and I'm trying to explain to my
British friends the concept of living in a tornado zone, and
they were just flabbergasted.
I was like, "Okay, look guys, like, every now and then
a funnel of air just comes out of the sky and throws cars
into trees."
Jonathan Weiss: It is pretty wild.
Micah: I mean, it is wild and they looked at me in shock
and went, "How would--why would anyone live there?"
Like it was beyond their powers to imagine living in that kind
of space.
I was like, "Yeah, you know, we dig holes in the ground, call
them storm shelters, and we get in there every now and then."
So anyway, but these whirlwinds, what they do is, you know, when
a tornado shows up, you respond to it because it brings
everything around itself and that's where this begins is--are
our lives revolving around the heart of God for our city?
Are our lives revolving around God's perspective and what God
sees, or have we made life decisions based upon our own
convenience and our own preferences?
And so, the first thing about being a watchman is we have to
realize that it's not an addition to a life that revolves
around us.
It is an interruption to a life that revolves around us to step
into a life that revolves around God.
So, I think that's the first step of being a watchman.
Rebecca: Yeah, and it's not, you know, no longer serving God for
your sake, but it's taking that step in maturity to serving God
for his sake and saying, "What is your heart?"
You know, "What is your will?"
You know, "How can I partner with you in intercession and
prayer and service."
So, what's the second step of becoming a watchman?
Micah: I think the next step would be friendship with God,
which is I find an often overlooked step when it comes
to being a watchman.
Most people hear watchmen and they automatically go like
prophetic and intercession, which both are key.
We'll willing talk about both of those, but I think the
next step is friendship with God.
Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane said to his
disciples, "Could you watch with me?"
We all remember that he says, "Watch and pray," but he doesn't
say that until later after they fall asleep.
He first says watch with me because he initially wasn't
concerned about the outcome of their prayers.
He was initially concerned with the fellowship of
their presence.
He wanted them to be with him while he was suffering, while he
was sweating great drops of blood.
And this is really key because a few years ago, I'd gotten
a little wary of like intercessory assignments because
I'd seen myself get like weary with them.
I--there's two things, there's two dangers in the area
of intercession.
One, is to get weary.
The other is to make it an idol.
And we make it an idol when our assignment becomes our identity
and now we are engaging in intercession because our own
understanding of ourselves has gotten intertwined with the
calls that we carry.
And I've seen myself going into both areas and I was--so I was
kind of wary of intercessory assignments.
And so, the Lord began to speak to me about a specific
assignment actually about Israel several years ago.
And I was like super hesitant for lots of reasons, but one of
them is like, "Lord, I just--number one, I've seen
myself sputter out on other assignments and I don't want
that to happen because then I get disillusioned and blah,
blah, blah."
And the other side of it is I've seen myself attach my identity
to these causes, and I don't want that to happen either.
And so, I was really hesitant.
And I was in a service one day and I was on my face in prayer
and I just sense the Lord speaking to me very clearly and
he said, "I'm looking for someone with whom I can share
my heart."
And all of a sudden that changed the conversation for me
about intercession.
God wasn't asking me to add like an agenda to my prayer list.
He was saying, "I've got some things on my heart and I'm
looking for someone that can join me in the conversation."
So, I have found that intercession is best when it's
a conversation between friends.
That's what you see with Abraham.
Abraham is a friend of God.
God calls him a friend.
Scripture calls him a friend.
So, what does God do?
He shares with Abraham his secret about Sodom and Gomorrah,
and then Abraham takes that to the place of intercession.
So, intercession is key, but I find that intercession is
secondary to friendship with God.
Okay, here's the reality about friendship with God.
When you're in a place of intercession, you can endure
long seasons of seemingly unanswered prayer when you're
doing it from friendship because when it's from friendship,
there's even an odd joy in the delay because you know that you
and God are suffering together there.
And so, that relationship side is key.
Jonathan: I love the way you explained it too, because I feel
like part of my understanding of a watchman--I had a similar God
encounter earlier in life and then in Israel, God spoke to me
out of Isaiah 62:6-7, "I placed watchman on your walls of
Jerusalem that you give me no rest day or night until I make
Jerusalem a praise in all the earth."
And right after that verse, he said, "I'm calling you to be
a watchman."
So, I was 22 or something years old at that time.
And so, my understanding of watchman at that time was, okay,
you know, staying on the wall, taking immediate action, and
then over the years, meeting my wife, getting married, stepping
into different areas of calling and ministry I have come to
understand the watchman calling being so much more well rounded
towards the way you're explaining it.
And that friendship piece I've never articulated that way
myself, but that is truly been like foundational to me and my
understanding and my calling.
And my initial understanding of watchmen would have been to see
and to take action, immediate action.
And what I've learned through life and through relationship
and friendship with God is sometimes as a watchman, you
could attest to this, we are being shown something, but we're
to intercede before we take action.
And it's often that intercession and that time of friendship that
is so pivotal and it's easily overlooked because you could be
a man or a woman of action and you're actually missing.
No, God's just showing you, "It's time to intercede over
this, it's time to dialogue with me in a friendship manner
over this."
And it's easy or it's harder to do, you know, it's easier to
say, but sometimes when you have that watchman calling, God put
that in you, he's instilled that in you reckon knows this, so you
want to take action immediately, but actually leaning into the
friendship piece and God's presence piece is so key,
so fundamental.
Rebecca: Yeah, I think, you know, what I love about the
intimacy with God and him sharing his heart.
But then it's so beautiful, but he'll also show you things.
And then in your flesh, you might want to try to do
something to fix the situation and he's like, "I'm not actually
asking you to do anything right now.
I'm just asking you to partner with me in prayer and believe
for me to work in this situation."
And I think people who--I know I made this mistake.
We can get into the prophetic intercession is when I make the
mistake of when God would show me something, I would
immediately like share or do something and he wasn't asking
me to do it and the prophetic is such a beautiful thing and you
can see the right thing, but if you deliver it in the wrong way
or at the wrong time, it actually can be more hurtful
than helpful.
Jonathan: One of our friends and mentors said the other day to us
that, you know, like this--it's like people often are more
likely to listen to what you have to say if you're invited to
sit at the table, not if you just show up with, "Hey, by the
way, Mike, I see this thing going wrong."
You know, it's going to be like, "Whoa, whoa, bro, you know,
take it easy."
But if someone invites you in, then it's often the Lord opening
the door for you to then share that insight, whatever it is.
And I thought that was such a profound, simple way to explain
it, but it's so profound because it is true.
People have their walls up and just because God showed you
something or about a situation, it doesn't necessarily mean it's
that time to speak into it.
Micah: Yes, so good. I love that, big time.
Jonathan: I did have a question.
I don't know if this is going to derail but I was gonna ask about
in the whirlwind and the specific reference point of
nine cities in Israel, did you ever unpack that further?
Is there significance to that?
What is that?
Micah: Super significance.
And yes, so through the nine cities element, the Lord really
confirmed with like this dramatic exclamation point,
"This dream is from me!"
In a very unusual way.
So, my, you know, like I said, the first thing I did when I got
up, I woke up that morning is I wrote the dream down.
I'm just processing it.
And my next question then is, what are these nine cities and
are they connected to the book of Ezekiel, watchmen, what's
going on?
So, I start to do some research and eventually I come across
this like old commentary from like late 1800s and it's just
introducing different books in the Old Testament.
And so, I start reading the chapter that I think is
introducing the book of Ezekiel.
And it says in chapter 1--the prophet names nine cities in
the west of Israel that are pointed for destruction.
So, when I read that, it's like my body goes numb and I'm like,
"God's real, you know, God's real.
There it is.
Nine cities in the west of Israel pointed for destruction."
So, I'm very excited.
I go to the book of Ezekiel and I go through, you know, chapter
1, the verses that it mentioned.
And to my dismay, it doesn't mention any cities and I'm like,
"I must have the reference wrong.
What am I reading?"
So, I go back to the commentary and I realize that I'm not
reading his introduction to Ezekiel, I'm reading in his
introduction to the prophet Micah in Scripture, which I'm
shocked by because obviously my name is Micah.
So, it's like I'm finding my name in the book.
So, I go then to the book of Micah, Micah chapter 1.
There it is.
He names nine cities in the west of Israel that have impending
destruction and judgment.
So, that was one layer of confirmation.
So, I had the dream on a Sunday morning in June 2020.
I go to church that day and I take it to the prayer team.
We're, you know, right before service.
And so, I share it because I still feel a little like not
quite loopy, but I feel a little like I still kind of feel the
wind a little so I'm still like refreshed.
I was like, "Guys, I just--before we pray I gotta
tell you this dream I had."
So, I shared the dream.
It was super fresh, you know, it's kind of just pouring out of
me and my friend that I dedicated the book to, Josh,
he's in the prayer meeting.
So, I share the whole thing, nine cities, you know, book of
Micah, all of it.
As I'm sharing it, the Lord speaks a name to him, and the
name is Linda.
Now he knows a lady named Linda because she leads this like
national intercessory prayer call once a week.
He's not been on it a while, but every now and then he would like
jump in and help lead prayer, but he had not been in touch
with her.
So, when the Lord says, "Linda," he goes, "Oh, Linda needs to
hear this dream about watchmen.
It'll really encourage her prayer network."
So, he goes to get his phone, but he left his phone at home
that day.
He didn't bring it to church.
So, he gets home later in the day and he checks his phone and
to his surprise, Linda had texted him about five times
saying, "Josh, the Lord put you on my heart.
I think you're supposed to lead our prayer call this week.
I feel like the Lord's giving you something to give us."
So, he doesn't say what it is, but he says, "Linda, this
is amazing.
The Lord spoke your name to me.
I feel like I have something significant to share."
Fast forward a couple of days to Wednesday morning.
I'm driving back from Tennessee to Alabama.
I'd gone to preach at a service.
As I'm driving back, Josh calls me.
He had just got off the prayer call and he said, "Micah, you're
not going to believe this."
I said, "What?"
"So, I just got on the prayer call with Linda and I shared
your dream, the whole thing.
God's looking for watchmen or nine cities, you know, will be
no more or cities will be no more like the nine cities.
And I told him about the thing in the book of Micah."
He said, "After I get done sharing it, she got back on
the call and said, 'Guys, guys, I didn't tell them, I didn't
tell him.'"
And he said, "You didn't tell me what?"
Then she explained to Josh, "Josh, what you don't know is
that today is the last day of a nine-day fast.
And the reason we went on this nine day fast is because God
told us you are a watchman for nine cities in America.
So, we've been praying for nine cities in America as watchmen
declaring the Word of the Lord."
Again, when he calls and tells me that, I'm shocked and I have
another "God is real" moment because the book of Micah and
the Josh call, those were to--for me, God's ways of
confirming loudly, you know, the mouth of two or three witnesses,
all things are established.
God confirming loudly, "This is from me, do not ignore this, but
steward it well.
Take it, pray over it, process it," all of that.
Rebecca: I love that.
So, we talked about stewarding your encounters.
We talked about friendship with God.
After that, you said it kind of moves into prophecy
and intersession.
Can you unpack that for us?
Micah: Yeah, I'd say the next would be prophetic--what I call
prophetic sensitivity.
And so, I think one of the things that we need to know as
watchmen, and I think every believer has a watchman dynamic
to their lives.
So, Jesus said in Mark 13:37, "What I say to you, I say to
all, watch."
So, there'll be varying levels of responsibility, but all of us
carry some dimension of this in our lives.
And one of the things we need to know as watchmen is that the
prophetic is not a luxury, it's a responsibility.
Way too often we put the prophetic into a box and we say,
"That's a luxury for a few kind of on the fringe."
No, it's a responsibility.
Joel said, "Sons and daughters will prophesy when the
Holy Spirit is poured out."
So, this is really key.
Isaiah 21, verse 6. I love this verse.
One of my favorite verses about the watchman.
It says, "Go set a watchman.
Let him declare what he sees."
So, if we're not seeing anything by the Spirit, then it's very
hard to be a watchman.
So, what does that look like?
Looks like prophetic sensitivity.
Prophetic sensitivity to me breaks down into a couple
of ways.
One is a biblical worldview.
We've got to be saturated in Scripture in order to have the
right lens to see the world through.
So, that's one area to unpack and think about.
The other is what I would call disciplined silence.
We all know Ezekiel's vocal mandate, right?
It's given to Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 3, "If I show you
judgment coming, you don't say anything, their blood is on
your hands."
And that's probably the most well-known passage about
the watchman.
But what we often miss is the second part of that call in the
latter stages of Ezekiel 3 is when he gives Ezekiel a silent
mandate and he says, "Ezekiel, I'm gonna put you in your room
and you're gonna shut your mouth.
I'm gonna cause your tongue to cling to the roof of your mouth
until I speak to you and unlock your tongue because I don't want
you to rebuke the children of Israel."
So, it sounds a little confusing because if you know anything
about Ezekiel, he does a lot of rebuking, but the key is, it's
all--it all comes from the counsel of the Lord, not his own
assessment and understanding of the situation.
And way too often we think to be a watchman means that we stay
informed about world events and we constantly at our commentary.
That's being a social commentator, not a watchman.
To be a watchman is to stay in the place of friendship with God
until we start gaining access to his counsel through his written
Word, which is shaping our worldview and through the things
that he reveals in the place of prayer or in other
prophetic avenues.
So, this prophetic sensitivity piece is really key to
the lifestyle.
Rebecca: Yeah, and I think too--I know for me like a
personal conviction I felt is that if I'm--if God has given me
this gift in the ministry to speak his Word that I need to
have control over my tongue.
And I feel like even a heavy responsibility for that and it's
always goes back to, are you someone that God can trust?
And so many times people don't have control over their tongues,
so they allow their flesh to say things and it's like if God is
giving you this position and this authority, you need to use
it with his wisdom and through his counsel.
And I think the other thing is too is I think so many people
see things and like you said, they commentate.
And not only do they lack the wisdom of God, but they lack the
heart of God.
And when you get with God in the secret place, he has such a love
and compassion for people.
And I mean, we see that in Scripture, even when you see,
you know, Jonah with Nineveh and God's like, "Go and preach the
gospel, you know, send them this message so they'll repent," and
Jonah's like, "Not them.
They're so sinful."
And so, it's like if we don't align with God in the secret
place, we'll miss his heart for people and we'll miss the call
all together.
Micah: I agree 100% and I think, you know, that idea, I think
takes us into the next part which is the intercession part.
In the book I call it intercessory love, because it's
really the compassion and love of God that fuels us in prayer,
fuels us in intercession.
But Jonah is a great example of someone who had an accurate
prophetic understanding, but he was absent, as you just said, of
the heart of God.
In other words, he prophesized to a city he did not weep over.
And as watchmen, this is why it goes back to the garden of
Gethsemane, "Watch with me."
We've got to be people who not only hear what God's saying, but
our heart breaks where God's heart is breaking, which then
leads us into intercession.
God gives us prophetic counsel because he's inviting us
into partnership.
Going back to Abraham, God revealed to Abraham the judgment
of Sodom and Gomorrah not so Abraham could broadcast it and
publish it and increase his reputation as
an accurate prophet.
God showed the coming judgment so that Abraham would appeal to
him for mercy.
And that's part of the--you see this in the life of Moses
quite a bit.
God would always reveal judgment concerning Israel so that Moses
would appeal to the mercy of God, and that is the role of
intercessors as we see something coming and we contend with God
over what we know his heart actually is, which is mercy,
mercy triumphs over judgment.
So, the intercessory piece taps into the compassion piece.
If we really love the cities where God's placed us, it will
lead us into intercession.
Jonathan: And I think one of the things that's so powerful about
what you were saying about if you lean into what's God's heart
for that matter, you're going to get your perspective to change.
So, sometimes as watchmen, you see, it's like--almost like
because God created us with the ability to see and those that
he's called and set apart as watchmen to some degree,
everyone like you said, but to some, a higher degree, you may
see something and if it's injustice or if it's wrong,
you want it to be handled a certain way.
But if you actually tune into God and what he's saying over
that situation.
You would be shocked how many times it's mercy, and it's love,
and it's compassion, and it's forgiveness, and it's everything
that the flesh doesn't want to do naturally, but it's what his
heart is for that situation, for those people.
Rebecca: Yeah, and people are sometimes too quick to act and
they don't take that time to go to the secret place and ask the
Lord what is his heart?
And I was going to say for people who are listening and
they're saying, Okay, I want to, you know, have access to this
compassion of God, this intercessory love, you know.
I see things, but I'm missing his heart.
How does someone get that?
Micah: Yeah.
So, I think it comes in lots of ways, but not overlooking the
simplicity of being with the Lord in the presence of the Lord
and allowing there to be transformation personally in
the secret place.
Jonathan, you said something earlier about this call of a
watchman that a lot of times we associate it with action, but
sometimes we have to slow down a bit and I often say when I'm
teaching the watchman that if we're gonna be watchmen,
we actually have to learn how to embrace boredom because if you
think about what a watchman is, they watch.
And a watchman in ancient cities, they didn't have
the most, you know, exciting job all the time.
They're like on a wall just looking at a horizon and
something may or may not be happening, may or may not be
coming, and I think that's actually those areas where we
grow in friendship, we grow in actually the compassion of God
is that in those seemingly boring places of being with him
in the secret place, it has a way of softening our hearts.
So, here's how that works for me practically.
Sometimes, you know, I'll just--I get up in the mornings
and I'll have my specific time with the Lord.
And sometimes, I don't feel like there's a lot happening.
Like, I don't feel like it's revelatory or there's a lot
of emotion going on.
I'm just kind of there.
And so, I will remind myself, "Lord, I don't really feel like
a lot's happening right now, but I'm watching.
And so, if you don't say anything today or tomorrow or
the next day, that's fine.
I'll still be watching."
And that unlocks again--
Jonathan: And I think that one thing that's beautiful that ties
into that about being in the friendship piece is that even
when that moment ends, and I'm sure you can attest to this, as
you go about your day, just because you had that moment of
intentionality earlier on, he might or he will speak to you
later in the day and you won't be expecting it.
Like he'll surprise attack us with revelation or he'll
surprise attack us with the Word.
And one thing that I wanted to say is for anyone who's watching
and listening and you feel like you're a watchman or you're
called to be a watchman over your city, we'd love to hear in
the comment section what city you're in and how you're praying
over that city just because I love to hear about other
people's calling and what God is doing in cities around
the world.
Rebecca: I do too.
That's so good.
How does someone, and this is actually another thing that I
heard you talking about on another show that I think is
important to mention is that we're called to cities, we're
also called to our families.
You know, there's different things that we can
intercede for.
Can you kind of tell us some of those things?
Micah: Yeah, I think that we need to start thinking just in
terms of responsibility.
And so, there are layers of responsibility.
So, me, as--I'm a husband, I'm a father, I'm a son, I'm
a brother, I'm an employee, I'm a boss to some people.
And so, there's all these layers of responsibility.
I think in the same way, in a spiritual way we need
to consider that.
That the families God puts us within we're not just a part
of the family.
We have a responsibility there.
The cities God places us in, we don't just live in those cities,
we have a responsibility there.
I had a friend recently who spoke at our church in
Manchester and he said, "On the earth, there is no
neutral ground."
There's no neutral ground.
Every square inch of the earth is contested area where the
enemy is fighting for dominion in that area.
We have a responsibility to take responsibility.
I'm repeating myself, but we have, you know, we have to be
aware of that.
And so, our family is not neutral ground.
Someone is going to take responsibility there, it should
be us so that in prayer, we are taking an active posture
of contending for the purposes of God.
Rebecca: Yeah.
And it's understanding that people are like the territory of
the kingdom.
Like it's--there's geographic locations, but it's because
there's people gathered in that city.
That's actually is what is the focus.
It's that where--it's the fight over in every person's soul
there's a battle over every person's soul.
And so, we need to contend for people and for families and for
cities because it's people that the kingdom of God is
spread through.
We are his living temple.
And so, that's why we're advocating for those things.
For maybe the person who's just starting out and they're maybe
listening to this and they're feeling this like stirring
within them, what would your advice to them be?
Micah: Yeah, I would say don't get too overwhelmed.
We're talking about a lot and we're--and there's, you know,
even like book of Ezekiel is like, "Whoa," I mean, that's
a lot to digest.
I would say start with the simplicity of friendship with
God, and that's gonna lead you into all kinds of places,
surprising places, because when your heart gets attached to him,
you begin to love what he loves and you'll do anything in the
world for real relationship once you're attached to someone.
And so, that's my recommendation is if all of this feels like
it's wow, these are a lot of boxes to check in my prayer
time, don't do that.
I don't do that.
I don't go to my prayer time thinking, "Okay, let me pull out
my outline for what it means to be a watchman and do all that."
It's much more.
I'm here for friendship with God and wherever he goes, I go,
we go, you know.
And that will naturally lead you into conversation that will
naturally lead into response, which would be intercession,
that will naturally lead you into those steps of obedience
because his will becomes more clear.
So, focus on the friendship side and the spiritual responsibility
will come with that.
I love that.
Jonathan: There's just two practical tips that I wanted to
share for watchmen over the family, and I'd be curious to
hear if you have additional ones, but one of them is just
watching what your kids are watching because this day and
age is so--there's so much out there and it's so easily
accessible by everyone, including five-year olds.
And so, being intentional about making sure what your kids are
watching is safe and uplifting.
And just protecting those eye gates and then watching who your
kids are around.
That's also important.
And so, I don't know if there's anything that you want to add
to that, but those are just simple things that people can do
no matter what your calling is, you're called to be a watchman
over your family.
And that--those are two ways that you can really safeguard
and protect your kids as you raise them up in the ways of
the Lord.
Rebecca: I think too stewarding the presence of God in your home
and modeling that for your children, I think praying for
your spouse, praying for your kids, and I think asking God to
give you a prophetic picture of their calling and their destiny
so that you can pray into that and help steward that is
something that came to me.
What would you say?
Micah: Well, a very loud amen to what you guys both just said.
I would say an additional one would be considering what kind
of community you're part of because the community you're
a part of, you know, your church community, the congregation, the
close friendships that has a direct impact on appetite.
And what they feel is important and what are we going after
and all of those things.
So, you know, for those listening, maybe there are
people out there considering big life decisions like
geographically where do we live, you know, it's type of, you
know, me and my wife have walked through some of that lately.
And one of the key questions we asked is, "Well what kind of
community do we want our children to be a part of and
where do we find that?"
And so, that's another area where you can then parent and
disciple your children's appetite is by connecting to
the right community.
Rebecca: I love that.
I think there's just like one other thing I kind of wanted to
talk about and then we can wrap.
I just wanted to ask you about, and I think you both could speak
to this is, you know, God has given us such a heart for Israel
and it's been a, you know, one being married to him, but it's
also just been this outpouring over time through relationship
with God and I was just wondering like in the watchmen
calling that God is giving you, what God has shown you about
Israel and what do you think God is doing there?
Jonathan: Add three hours to the clock.
Micah: Yeah, come on.
Oh, what an amazing, amazing topic.
Jonathan, do you want to start?
Jonathan: Sure.
I would say when I first heard God speak to me about being
a watchman, I was in Israel, I was on the city of David.
I was with a mutual friend of ours, Michael Onnifer, and I
remember at that time thinking that, "Okay, I know what
this means.
I'm going to go home, say goodbye to my parents.
I'm gonna move to Israel.
I'm going to make Aliyah, and I'm going to join the IDF,"
because Israeli Defense Forces, this is how you be a watchman.
So, I think that my understanding has certainly
evolved over time as I've grown closer to the Lord and what he's
called us to do.
But for all believers, one thing that's so key in that verse I
quoted earlier on, Isaiah 62: 6 and 7, he says, "Give me no rest
until I make Jerusalem a praise in all the earth," and he's
speaking prophetically to everyone.
So, we are all called to give the Lord no rest, which means
that we're praying, we're interceding, we're standing with
the Jewish people, we're standing with the nation of
Israel on behalf of the Lord all the time.
Now again, don't get overwhelmed.
I'm not saying that everyone needs to stay up 24/7 or start
a 24/7 prayer room.
I'm just saying that it's so central to God's heart and it's
so burning in God's heart that it should be in ours.
And as you draw close to the Lord, like Micah said earlier,
which was, I think the perfect place for people to start, just
draw into the Lord in a friendship way, and he'll reveal
everything to you.
But as you do, you'll be shocked at how quickly you begin to see
Israel and you see the Jewish people in God's heart for them.
Micah: Amazing.
I love it, love that response.
There's so many things to say, so many starting points
for Israel.
What I would say is this.
Most of us have forgotten that when we step into the kingdom of
God, we don't just step into a kingdom, we step into a story,
and that story is not finished yet.
And not only is it not finished yet, but we play an active role
in that story.
And God's story--Israel is a major part in God's story.
It's unavoidable unless we do a lot of theological gymnastics
to try to get Israel out of God's story, which a lot of
people attempt.
But in my opinion, you can't do credible biblical scholarship
and take Israel out of God's story.
So, I think we need to remember that.
So, we're a lot like, for those that know "The Chronicles of
Narnia", we're a lot like the Pevensie children.
When they go into Narnia, they know they went to
a different place.
They don't know they stepped into another story.
And it wasn't until they're sitting down with Mr. and Mrs.
Beaver on the table and they're talking about prophecy that they
suddenly realize that, "Oh, not only is this a different place,
it's a different story.
Not only that, but I play a part in this story."
And so, to me, that's what the church needs to hear and
understand about the kingdom of God is that there's a story
in play.
We play a part and it's a significant part regarding God's
purposes for Israel.
We can't ignore that.
If we do ignore that, the danger is that we start working against
what God's story actually is.
And so, now we are within a kingdom that we're working
against the purposes of the king.
And so, it's--it moves into really dangerous territory.
So, we have to soften our hearts, open our minds, revisit
Scripture afresh and do it prayerfully in the place of
friendship with God.
Jonathan: And one powerful thing that I can attest to and speak
to is my wife Rebecca, because when we're dating, you know, I
began to share with her earlier on like, "Hey, I'm Jewish, you
know, I believe in Jesus, but this is a central piece to like
my identity and how I want to raise my family."
And I remember her just being like, "Yeah, I love Israel.
Like, let's go."
And so, at the time, that was enough because I obviously felt
madly in love and, you know, but I've seen her just because of
who she is and being attuned to the Lord and wanting to be a
friend and abide in him grow so dramatically in an understanding
of the prophetic significance of Israel and the prophetic
significance of the church with an understanding of Israel and
the centrality of it for end times, end time revival.
I mean, it's a lot of stuff to unpack.
We're not gonna get into it all right now.
And so, I just want to encourage everybody that it's out of that
childlike faith, childlike curiosity, and the heart posture
that Rebecca had earlier on is just, how do I love this God?
Or how do I serve this vision, God?
And as that was her heart posture, now, you know, she
leads our family through Shabbat every Friday, you know, she's
always the one was quickly putting on Israeli worship in
the home for our children.
You know, these are like the dreams that were in my heart,
but because we became one and she had that heart posture,
it's become her identity as well.
Rebecca: Yeah, and I would just say it's so important and I
would just encourage people listening that if you can allow
yourself to humble yourself before God and surrender what
you thought you know about him and his Word and open up to the
fullness of Scripture, he will show you so much if you just lay
down your own understanding and ask him for his heart and
his understanding.
If you walk in humility and ask for that, he will lavish it on
you in ways that you could never comprehend.
And it really is the most beautiful thing because his
heart is the most beautiful thing there is and to be able to
partake in that and have that communion with him is an honor.
And then it's a higher honor that would not only be his
friend, but we get to partner in his work in the kingdom.
And so, you know, like you said, Micah, which I thought was so
great is we don't want to work against the king, and I think
that's a huge tactic of the enemy right now is that people
are doing things that are hurting the body of Christ, that
are hurting the kingdom, and they think they're doing good.
And, you know, I remember even recently in this past season
there was just so much going on.
I think it was during like election time and there was all
these opinions and all this stuff, you know, there's always
news and things like that.
But I remember I was sitting one day and I felt the Lord said,
"The kingdom of God is within you," and I just started
researching about God's kingdom and what I began to realize is
I think so many times we're so focused on outward noise and
we're not getting along with him and asking God for his
perspective and his heart.
And so, we're doing things that are hurtful instead of helpful
to the body of Christ and the kingdom of God.
Micah: That's so amazing.
I had a similar experience.
It was around I think the 2020 elections, and as you said,
there's so many opinions flying around and trying to make sense
of the world and COVID and there was a lot happening and that's
when I had this dream about the watchmen.
So, I knew there was an increased prophetic thing coming
and I felt very intimidated because I was like, "Lord, like
I can't do this.
I don't--it seems like you're asking me to step into a new
prophetic expression, but I feel very intimidated.
I don't know what's going on with all these things.
I don't even know my--hardly my own opinion on some of this."
And I felt the Lord say to me very simply, "To be prophetic is
not to be omniscient."
And where that encouraged me is in my understanding, to be
prophetic was you had something to say about everything.
And so, the Lord was like, "To be prophetic is not to be
omniscient, it's to hear, receive, and release when
I'm speaking to you."
And so, just what you were saying, the kingdom of God being
within you, how do I perceive and receive what God is speaking
to me and then faithfully steward that?
And it may not be--and this is where the Lord kind of dealt
with my own pride.
He said, you know, Isaiah was a prolific prophet, but Obadiah
was just as much of a prophet even though he didn't write
as much.
And so, not every prophet is an Isaiah releasing 66 chapters.
Sometimes I'm looking for an Obadiah that'll just take
the handful, the bit that I give them, and they're faithful
with it.
And so, for whoever listening to this and like Rebecca just said,
there's a lot of noise going on, but what is the Lord speaking
to you and what are you doing with it?
Rebecca: That's so good.
Can you just leave the people in a prayer who are just feeling
stirred right now and they want to say yes to that watchman
calling and just ask they have wisdom and that the Lord would
touch them.
Micah: Yeah, certainly.
Well Lord, we--I thank you that this call to watch is your
call, Lord.
It's not our call, it's the one that you gave Jesus.
You said, "What I say to you, I say to all, watch."
Lord, you're the one that said to Ezekiel, "I have made you
a watchman."
That it's not something Ezekiel made himself, it's something
that you made him.
And so, Lord, give us eyes to see and ears to hear.
As it says in Proverbs, "A seeing eye and the hearing ear,
both alike are from the Lord."
So Father, we want to receive that from you.
We want to receive a seeing eye.
We want to receive a hearing ear.
We want to have a heart, just as Solomon had an understanding
heart, a perceptive heart, we want to have a heart that feels
your heart, Lord.
So, Lord, do that in us.
Just as you made Ezekiel a watchman, make us the watchmen
you're looking for or may we grow in friendship and as we do,
may we say yes to the responsibility you wanna give us
for our families, for the churches we're part of, for the
cities you've placed us in and ultimately, Lord, for nations.
In advance we say yes to you.
Whatever it is you want to give us, we say yes to you and I
thank you Father, that as you give it, you also give the grace
to go with it.
In Jesus's name, amen.
both: Amen.
Rebecca: Well, thank you, Micah so much for being with us
and thank you for joining us too, honey.
Jonathan: Absolutely.