THE PROPHETS TOWER

The Prophets Tower
by Samuel Chadwick

’I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me.’ Habakkuk 2:1.

Habakkuk is the skeptic among the prophets. His prophecy opens with a passionate remonstrance with God. The times in which he lived were sadly out of joint. He looked for God and found chaos; for righteousness and found confusion. Western Asia was being swept by Chaldean armies. Judah was helpless. Prayer availed nothing.

The prophet’s heart was sore. He had hoped, believed, and declared that God would come with swift and miraculous power to overthrow their enemies and deliver His people. He cried unto the Lord, and there was no sign of His appearing. The enemy marched forward unhindered, invincible. Then he shook his fist at the Almighty, and demanded an explanation. The facts he faced made him a skeptic; for skeptic and prophet are both seers. They both faced facts.

The difference is that one finds his way to a tower, and the other does not. One beholds the confusion, and the other rises above it. They both gaze sorrowfully upon the scene of dust, disaster, and din, but the prophet gazes till he sees through it; and he discerns the eternal realities beyond the temporary confusion. That is how prophets are made. It was in the year King Uzziah died that Isaiah saw the Lord, and it was in the broken heart of love betrayed that Hosea found the secret of God’s yearning for sinners. How Long? And Why?

The prophet’s problem is summed up in questions that are with us still. How long? Why? Wherefore? How long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear? Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and cause me to look on perverseness? Wherefore lookest Thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest Thy peace, when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he?

How long shall the oppressed and afflicted appeal in vain? Why are the righteous so helpless against the forces of iniquity? How is it that Heaven’s prospering blessing seems so often to be given to the wrong people? When Carlyle and Froude discussed the affairs of the world, Froude remarked that God did not seem to interfere much in the affairs of men, and that he could only believe in a God who did something. To this Carlyle grunted, ’He does nothing?’ Stand! Watch! Wait!

Salvation comes to the man who has a tower. There is no solution in the thick of the confusion. The seer must get above the crowd. He cannot keep his feet in the seething mass of a shouting, screaming, blaspheming multitude. He must ascend. Like his Lord, he must be high and lifted up. He must be detached if he would understand. Only by getting above the scene can he truly see. In the tower he finds standing-ground for his feet, and control of himself. No voice is without signification, but when they are all heard at once the signification is lost. He must get away from the clamor, that he may give God a chance. With deliberation he must set himself to stand, watch and wait. He climbs that he may see.

Serenity must not be secured by shutting the eyes and hardening the heart. They are false prophets who cry peace when there is no peace. The tower is a point of vantage from which the anomalies and tragedies, that stagger the faith of man, can be seen more clearly and felt more keenly. His vision gains in comprehensiveness and perspective. History in fragments makes God a liar, but the broad sweep of centuries witness to His power.

Eternity rebukes our impatience, and teaches us the secret of tranquil faith. God reigns. He may be invisible, but He is not indifferent. The lesson of history is that the just live, and right ultimately prevails. Things puffed up may loom large, but they do not last. Through all the confusion and contradictions God works to plan. He has His appointed time. It will not fail, neither will it be late. Though it tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come. In the tower men learn that the just must triumph, and right – not might – prevail.

The Wrong Telephone
The weakness of modern life is that it has no tower. We have many politicians, but no prophet. When Lord Rosebery was Prime Minister he made a speech in which he said all a statesman could do was to keep his ear to the telephone of public opinion and carry its wishes into law. That explains much. The most colossal failures in modern politics are due to the fact that the men had no tower. They put their ear to the wrong telephone.

The Church suffers from the same cause. Ecclesiastics wrangle over property and privilege. The Church is in the thick of the world’s activities. There never was so much perspiring haste to hurry up the Kingdom of Heaven. We have no time for towers. The drains are bad, and the devil is everywhere; so the Church hustles and jostles with the rest. Prayer is abandoned. Our fathers imagined Satan was to be conquered with weapons not carnal, but we are a practical generation and we find it handier to fight the world with its own weapons.

To the tower all ye fuming, perspiring, fussy unbelievers who bear the name of Christ! Take your stand upon the eternal realities, look out upon the history of the world, wait to see what God will speak. There you will learn the secret of God’s eternity, and receive of His quietness and strength. The tower makes the prophet. It is the place of vision, the place of wisdom, the place of power, and the place of song.