And station myself on the tower'. Habakkuk 2:1
Advent is a time for looking back as well as forward. One of the areas we are especially drawn towards is the era of the prophets in the Old Testament. The second and third Sundays of Advent feature John the Baptist especially strongly. He is the linchpin between the Old and New Testaments. He is the last of the prophets: after him there is no need of prophecy in the same way - after Christ's first coming it is the time of mission and the Church. However there is still that same sense of expectation we find in many of the prophets.
Habakkuk who gives us the image of the watchtower lived at the time of the fall of Judah. The book of Habakkuk is a dialogue between himself and God. Habakkuk expresses the fact that Judah fell away from God, and because of this Judah cannot now complain that they are being invaded by a foreign power. Judah has, in effect, forfeited its right to God's care.
Habakkuk however comes to a startling conclusion: one which may be lost on many today. Until this time the Jews always thought of salvation as something which happens to the whole nation and here on the Earth. In other words if the Israelites obeyed God they would all be saved, and their salvation would be in this life rather than in any future life. In chapter two of Habakkuk however the distinction is not so much between Jew and non Jew but between those who are righteous and those who are not righteous. God recognises the injustice in punishing all people for the sins of the few, and therefore Habakkuk emphasises the idea of personal salvation. This is important for us Christians because we believe that our God is a personal God and he teaches and guides us all individually while having the ability to have in perspective the needs of the whole universe. St Paul is much influenced by this idea of salvation for he says, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live'.
Each of us must also set up a watchtower that we might watch for what the Lord has to say to us. Sometimes that might mean putting his wishes before our own selfish pride. Only when pride, that most deceptive of deadly sins, is overcome, can we make room for God in our lives.
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