I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard-post. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how He will answer my complaint. Habakkuk 2:1

Let’s return to Habakkuk, that prophet out of Judah who complained to God about  His plan to punish the Jewish nation because of its idolatry by turning the vicious wrath of the Babylonians on them. After complaining to God how he did not think it was fair to punish them with a horde of people that were more evil than they were, he decided to climb his watchtower and wait for God’s reply.

His was an honest complaint. It was all about justice and righteousness. Habakkuk did not think it was in keeping with God’s justice to punish His people for their evil without also punishing the Babylonians for their evil which Habakkuk saw as worse. It’s as if he was saying, “I understand you are using the Babylonians to punish your people, but who is going to punish the Babylonians? Are they going to get away with this evil they are bringing on us?”

Of course, God is God and He is just, and does not answer to anyone for His actions. As Paul says in Romans 11:33, “Who knows enough to give Him advice?”

So Habakkuk took his complaint up the tower to see what God would show him.

The nation of Judah was in transition, from impending doom to subsequent restoration. Just like the Jesus Movement was a transition from institutional religion to an experience with Jesus and how His gospel related to the deep, unresolved needs of their generation for love, meaning, community, peace and justice. These “Jesus Freaks” melded the freedom of the Sixties and the Jesus of the Gospels into a new way of looking at Christianity. Could it be that we are in a transition now, where Jesus might move again in a fresh way through those in their twenties and thirties? Would that this could happen! Well, like Habakkuk, let’s climb up our towers to see what the Lord might say.

Consider yourself a modern-day prophet. We are today’s watchmen(and women), guarding the truth, finding out what God is up to in the world and sounding the alarm when we see danger. We are called to provide spiritual vigilance. We don’t know what the future will look like but we are ready for it.

Where is your tower today? Is it that special place you go to escape the clutter? Is it a place that provides clarity; that allows you to see from the Lord’s perspective, and cut through the confusion that exists in our chaotic world? When you’re in the mess, it’s easy to lose track of the meaning. Habakkuk was watching and waiting from his tower, and so are we.

Postscript:

I wrote two songs from my tower in the summer of 1970. Those songs have gone on to influence thousands of people, especially, “Have You Seen Jesus My Lord?” which became the theme song of the Catholic Cursillo movement in the U.S. and the Emmaus Road experience in Protestant mainline churches. My “tower” was a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I’m sure I had a complaint with God when I went up there, I just don’t remember now what it was.

Introducing our new podcast, Between the Answers 

Beginning September 18 through mid-October, the daily “Between the Answers” Podcast will look back to the pioneers of a historical phenomenon: the Jesus Movement, examine why it transformed into a broader social and political force over time, and ask questions about the Movement’s original message and its transformative power today. Our premise lies in the questions we need to ask between the answers.

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