Keeping Watch

It's been nearly twenty years ago, since my first encounter with what I thought was an angel.  YHWH is truly awesome, in that He sends beings into our lives on our behalf.  This particular incident, I'm quite sure happened, for no other reason than bring YHWH glory, and all these years later, I am so thankful for what was offered that day, and that I get to keep sharing the goodness of our Heavenly Father in the retelling of this account.

This was back in my days of being a restaurateur.  I had come to know YHWH and begun following Y'hshuwah over a year earlier, I believe.  It was about this time of year, I remember school had already started.  I was one of those employers that had High School kids working for me, and between the lunch hour and the closing shift, I was often there by myself.  I must interject this, at this point.  I'm very thankful for the success YHWH gave me in that restaurant, and I'm very glad to be out of that business.  I cannot imagine all the wage issues, religious boycott issues, discrimination accusations . . . yet I digress.

The second shift "rush" had already taken place.  It wasn't so much of a rush, but the place filled up just enough to keep my hopping for about 30 minutes, then there was lull between 3:30 and when my after school help would arrive at 4:30.  Usually, I had things well timed and could take that hour preparing for the dinner rush and closing, but that day, I realized I was out of something and the supplier closed at 4:30.  I didn't have to worry too much about disappointing customers that time of day, as it was the dead hour in the place, so I decided I'd run down to the supply house and be back before my employee even came to work. I grabbed some money out of the cash register, which was nicely filled from the lunch hour and headed out the door and down the road.

The trip didn't take long at all and I was back turning into the parking lot in about 20 minutes, when I realized there was a man standing in the restaurant.  The next realization that occurred to me, was that I had left the door unlocked!  Then things changed . . . As I rushed into the restaurant, not really sure what to expect, I greeted him with a smile and "Hello" and told him I'd take his order in just a minute.  He smiled and said he wasn't placing an order, he'd just been "keeping watch."  That expression caused me to give pause, as I thanked him.   This gentleman appeared to be in his late sixties, nicely dressed in a a gray suit, with hat in hand.  He could have been any of the distinguished gentlemen at Temple, but he wasn't.  I'd never seen him before, and certainly not since.

I again asked him if I could get him anything "on the house" and he responded with "No thank you, he'd be going now, as he was no longer needed here."  I thanked him again for "watching the place."  With that he went out the door turned to the right.  As Hebrews 13:2 hit my heart, I nearly climbed over the counter to get out the front door, but as I'm sure you've already guessed, he was gone.  There had been no car parked in the lot or in front of the restaurant.  I looked to the right, first, but could clearly see both directions up the road and saw no pedestrians.  To this day, I believe he was an angel sent by Elohim, but I can't be certain.  I'm not sure I entertained well, but am very glad that when I thanked him, I offered him food and beverage.
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.                                                                                                 Hebrews 13:2