This passage, according to all authoritative commentaries, is a prophecy of the doom of Edom. It is a prophecy of the aggression and the ultimate triumph of the military forces of Persia over Edom. This military victory that brought on for
Edom such a dilemma that Edom cried out in her confusion and frustration, having experienced this transition, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, will our plight be better or worse now that we are under a new government, now that we are in the orbit of a new political power? What will our lot be?”

Watchmen, in the scheme of oriental things, were important people. They watched the cities; they watched the communities; they stood upon lofty walls; and the security of these communities depended upon the alertness of these watchmen: for while the city slept, these watchmen watched. They watched for invading armies; they watched for what you would call raids on the part of raiding bands; and they gave the city, or the respective community, notice of the approaching enemy. So that the figure here, on the part of either Isaiah or that anonymous writer that is given the credit of having written that part of the book of  Isaiah after the exile—either Isaiah or the anonymous Isaiah—is saying in this chapter, that because of the plight of Edom, which is referred to here in terms of Dumah, the burden of Dumah, for Dumah was a place in Edom, and this Hebraic prophet declared that in a vision, the dilemma of Edom reached him as he stood upon the lofty wall of vision, and in vision he heard the cry of frustration, and the cry of oppression, coming out of Dumah, and out of Edom, and the cry was an inquiring cry: “Watchman, what of the night? What of the times? What time of history is this? What time of trouble is this?” For after all, history is God’s big clock. For a day is but a thousand years in terms of eternity. (I wish somebody here would pray with me.)

History is but a day is but a thousand years--i.e., a thousand years is but a day --so that history is God’s big clock; and inasmuch as we cannot see within the next five minutes, in our system of time—in God’s system of time, in God’s clock of history, we can’t see---we must call out to our men of vision, we must call out to our prophets, as Edom or as the Edomites did in those long days, or bygone days: to men who can pierce the future; men who can interpret the future; men who can see beyond now; and inquire of them, “Watchman, what of the night? What time is this? What time of history is this? What hour in God’s purpose and in God’s plan in this? Like the Edomites, what will our lot be?” The future is uncertain to us, and we are blinded by the night, we are blinded by the mystery of history, we are blinded by the density of time. (I wish you’d pray with me.)

For to us, it is like it was with John; for John said, he saw an angel standing with a scroll rolled in his hand, and it was sealed on all sides, and nobody could break the seals or read the writing therein, but the lambs. So we know that history is God’s scroll, already sealed, written within and without; and we cannot read the writing, and we cannot break the seal; only God can reveal it to us, or reveal it to his men of mystery. And so, as the Edomites did, thousands of years ago, with the anxiety of the future, with questions of the future, we inquire to the men of vision, who walk upon the lofty walls of God’s inspiration, “Watchman, what of the night?” (I don’t believe you know what I’m talking about.)

For, after all, my brothers and sisters, we are living in times that are like the night times. We don’t know what the morning will bring. We don’t know. We know that Africa is rumbling, that Africa is awakening like a sleeping giant, and that on the horizon we see the Gold Coast emerging as an independent nation. We see the Sudan that has come into independence as a young nation. We see Egypt, having seized and nationalized the Suez Canal. We have seen the English and the French and the Israelite military forces rush across her borders, and then be stopped by the mild force of the United Nations in order to pull out and go back to their own lands. We see Hungaria [Hungary] on the march, defying the pressure and the desire of international Communism to subjugate her. We have witnessed over a hundred thousand of Hungarian citizens fleeing across the Hungarian borders to Austria. We see tension in Germany between East and West Germany. We see Poland resisting those who would deny her sovereign independence. (I wish somebody would pray with me.) We have heard it said that no more is the Big Four America, England, France, and Russia, but rather America, Russia, India, and China. (I wish you’d pray with me a little while.)

We see these signs, watchman, on the horizon of time. We’ve seen changes take place in China. We see India, the second great manpower pool in the world, come to a position of international neutrality. (I wish somebody would pray with me.)  We see oppressed people, not only abroad, but in our own lands, becoming impatient, for full citizenship. Not only Africa, not only Egypt, not only the Arab world, not only Germany, not only China, not only India, but we see Montgomery, Alabama, we see Florida, we see other parts of our own land impatient for world brotherhood and full citizenship.

We don’t know all what these signs mean. We see them, but we are too blind to properly interpret them. And so we call out to our prophets, to our preachers. We call out to our educators, to our philosophers, to our statesmen. We call them watchmen, and we inquire of them, as we view these conflicting signs, “Watchmen, what of the night? What of these times?” (I don’t believe you are praying with me.) “What time is it? And what shall we expect, as history unfolds in this new year?” (I wonder, are you praying with me?) “What shall we expect?”

The writer here gives us a picture of Oriental travelers who had traveled the deserts in the cool of the evening, and as the night had fallen, they came to the foot of a mountain range. And as they came to the mountain range, they decided to camp rather than to risk traveling in the mountains, rather than to risk the treachery and the dangers of the mountains. They decided to camp in the shadow of that mountain for that night, and wait until the morning comes. The night was long, the night was anxious; the night was trying as they waited to resume their journey the next morning. As they camped, the night was dark. They looked on the mountain ranges. They could see the cedars that crowned the top of the mountain like gory monsters in the dark. They could see jagged edges of the mountain cliffs; they could hear the water running from mountain springs that made a menacing noise late in the night. (Pray with me if you please.)

The campers became anxious and restless during the night, for indeed, the night was dark, and indeed, the night was trying. And they called out to their watchman, hour after hour, “Watchman, what of the night?” And no doubt when they had checked the time, they went again, feeling that the time had come, and it was time to arise, and it was time for the sun to be up, and time for daylight to break upon men so that they could see their way in resuming their journey. 

But when the morning came,

Great God,

and when the sun rose,

and the heat mingled with the cool air of the morning,

and created the fog.

O Lord.

The fog hid the mountain,

the fog hid the mountain clefts,

the fog hid the cedars

that stood on the mountain.

O Lord.

So, though the morning has come,

other confusion has arisen

that’s even worse than the night.

O Lord.

As we look out

on history today,

and as we look out

on world situations

the night of slavery has passed.

Great God.

And the night

of many other oppressing things--has passed,

but other foggy conditions are arising,

Yes,

and we want to inquire,

of those that can see,

Yes,

we want to inquire

of those who are standing

in the lofty places,

O Lord,

those that God would lift on higher ground,

“Watchman, what of the night?”

O Lord.

“Oh, watchman!

It’s mighty dark.

And how long

will the darkness last?

How long

will we go through this night?

How long

will we blunder through this fog?

O Lord.       
                
Ohh!

When will the skies clear?

O Lord.

Watchman!

We’ve waited a long time.

Watchman!

We’ve been restless a long time.

Watchman!

( I don’t believe you know what I’m talking about tonight.)

Yes.

“We’ve waited a long time."

Ohh!

How long, how long, how long,

Watchman!

Will we be oppressed?

And will we be cast down?

And watchman!

Would you tell us?

And give us a little light?

And watchman!

Will you give us new hope?

And Ohh!

O Lord,

Oh yes,

We’ve sung

We have prayed,

We have waited,

And we have watched;

Tell us how long.

Oh lord.

Watchman!

Our fathers waited,

Our grandfathers waited,

And their fathers waited,

The slaves waited,

Tell us how long!

Ohh!

How long,

Just how long?

And--we have shed tears,

Yes we have,

We’ve sung--“Pharaoh’s army got drowned,”

we’ve sung “Steal away to Jesus,”

we’ve sung--“We’re going to eat at the feasting table,

one of these old days.”

Ohh! how long--just how long?

Ohh! -- good Lord,

How long?

O Lord.

Ohh, a few more days.

(Did you hear me?)

A few more days.

A little while to wait.

And a little while to pray,

A little while to labor,

A little while to sing.

We’re blundering in the dark,

We’re toiling in the light,

O, tell us, watchman,

Oh, we’re waiting on an answer,

Oh, how long?---

How long?--- 

The Gregorian calendar resulted from a perceived need to reform the method of calculating dates of Easter. Under the Julian calendar the dating of Easter had become standardized, using March 21 as the date of the equinox and the Metonic cycle as the basis for calculating lunar phases. By the thirteenth century it was realized that the true equinox had regressed from March 21 (its supposed date at the time of the Council of Nicaea, 325 AD) to a date earlier in the month. As a result, Easter was drifting away from its springtime position and was losing its relation with the Jewish Passover. Over the next four centuries, scholars debated the “correct” time for celebrating Easter and the means of regulating this time calendrically. The Church made intermittent attempts to solve the Easter question, without reaching a consensus.

….Pope Gregory XIII convened a commission to reform the calendar and their recommendations were instituted by papal bull, February 24,1582. The new calendar sent out through the Roman-Catholic world, was first rejected by Protestant states, but gradually grew into accepted practice. The Eastern Orthodox churches continued to use the earlier Julian calendar.⁹ As international communications and trade developed, the Gregorian calendar became the standard.