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Habakkuk 3:17-18
Joy When the Fields Fail
Habakkuk 3:17-18
For even though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food, the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
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Why it is worth knowing
- The list covers every source of income a farming family had: trees, vines, fields and flocks
- The word “yet” turns the passage; the loss is real and the joy is still chosen
- His joy is in God himself, “the God of my salvation,” while the harvest is still missing
- In verse 16 he admits his body trembled; the song does not hide the fear
Where it sits: Habakkuk 3:16-19
I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, for the coming up of the people who invade us. For even though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food, the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and enables me to go in high places. For the music director, on my stringed instruments.
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Background
Habakkuk lived in Judah shortly before the Babylonian invasion. His book opens with hard questions put to God and ends with this song. In a farming economy, figs, grapes, olives, grain, sheep and cattle were the whole household budget, and he pictures every one of them failing. With all of that gone, he still says, “I will rejoice in Yahweh.”