Habakkuk 3:17-19
~26 min read
💭 Consider this: How do you typically define or seek joy in your life? In what ways does this sermon challenge or confirm your understanding of true, lasting joy?
TRANSCRIPT
Good evening to everyone. I praise the Lord for giving me another opportunity to come here in Bethel to minister God's Word. Last time I came as a single man, now I am a married man together with my wife. I am thankful to the Lord.
I would like to say thank you to Pastor Paul and the session for extending the invitation to me to come this time, that I may be able to speak to the youth and even to share God's Word in many ways. For our meditation, let us turn to Habakkuk chapter 3, and I will read. Habakkuk 3:17–19, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places."
‘Jubilation In Desolation’ is the message theme this evening. Pastor Reggor came to Bohol last Sunday in order to preach during our anniversary and thanksgiving service. But he was sick—I know that all of you are aware already about his situation. He has cancer. But he was there to preach with great joy. Some are expecting that maybe he will come with a very low spirit. Maybe he will come with a sad countenance. But we are all wrong. He came just as he is, always—with great zeal, power, and high spirit by the Lord's grace. Many in my church are suffering of minor sicknesses like kidney diseases, or some having gout, that they are very weak, they cannot walk, and they are so sad. But now, they see a man having cancer—very, very energetic and joyful. So they were all rebuked. ‘You are just having kidney disease. You are just having gout or arthritis or rheumatism, and you are now so sad. But here comes a man, a man of great suffering because of his afflictions and infirmities’.
As ever, he was very strong. As ever, he was very joyful and even zealous in the preaching ministry. It is only because of his great understanding that Christian life is always victorious. Christian life is always at its best only in Christ, who is with us all the time. We can be jubilant even in the midst of great sufferings. This is something the world could not and cannot understand. In times of tribulation, in times of great distress, Christians see Christ and His Word. While the unbelievers during tribulation—they would see the crisis, and they would experience the fear of being taken away from the attraction of the world.
When I saw Pastor Reggor preaching the Word of God so powerfully, with great zeal and excitement, I saw in him that he is a man—a genuine Christian—who sees Christ and His Word even in the worst circumstance. It is only Pastor Reggor? No. You, me, we, all Christians are called by the Lord to have this kind of great faith and trust in the Lord. Praise be unto the Lord. If the Lord did not saved us, if we are not saved by His grace—we cannot have this great assurance. Maybe we are one of the many people in the world who are hopeless. Many people who lack comforts. But look at Pastor Reggor. As I see him preaching, I was blessed because I was reminded also that if Pastor Reggor has this kind of trust and assurance, you also must have. Everyone must have—like you and me.
Just like Habakkuk when he said, "Though the fig tree blossom not blossom, I will still rejoice in the Lord." And this is exactly what we are called for. When crisis arises, we see Christ and His Word. We will never see the crisis and the distractions of being taken away from the world's comfort and attraction.
The Lord Jesus Christ said in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace." This is what happened to Pastor Reggor. This has happened to every Christian. Because we are in the Lord, then we have peace in Christ. Peace that the world cannot give. Peace that the world could not understand. Peace that is beyond our understanding. And the Lord Jesus Christ continued to say, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." “Be of good cheer”. Desolations, destructions, hardships, trials, tribulations, and problem may come. But “be of good cheer”.
“Be of good cheer” means be joyful, knowing that nothing's changed in your life as a Christian. The Lord is still with you. You are still in the Lord. And the Lord still affectionately loves you and cares for you. “Be of good cheer” means you can be jubilant even in the great desolations in your life. In the most desolate situation, you can still be joyful and thankful.
Now, let us go to our text. Let us focus on the testimony of Habakkuk, and let us learn from him. Habakkuk is a pre-exilic prophet, ministering and prophesying to the southern kingdom concerning the Babylonian invasion which was soon to take place. The Babylonians will surely come to bring desolation, destruction, to bring disaster, to bring difficult life. And he was aware. He knew for sure, no doubt it will come. He knew for sure that hardships are imminent.
But what did Habakkuk said? Very encouraging. He said in verse 17, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom," if you are a man who farm and sow a fig, your only joy is to see it blossom. Your only joy is to see it bearing fruit. "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines," Your vine become fruitless? Still rejoice in the Lord. Still I can rejoice in the Lord. For my joy is not source in the vine, in the in the in the fruit, but in the Lord.
"The labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls." All their animals were begun and taken by the Babylonians. All their vineyards will be taken by the Babylonians. You are longing to harvest it. You are longing to enjoy the harvest. But here comes the Babylonian taking away all your fruits, enjoying it. Yet Habakkuk said in verse 18, "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."
Now if you consider this very carefully, you would know chapter 3 of Habakkuk is a prayer. This is a prayer—actually the entire chapter 3 of Habakkuk is a prayer—and look at verse 1 and 2. What did Habakkuk said? "A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy." So this is a prayer—”prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.” (Habakkuk 3:1)
According to many Bible scholars and Bible commentators, the word “Shigionoth” is a musical term that refers to a style of music characterised by strong emotions and was to be sung triumphantly and with great excitement. So you can just imagine that this entire chapter 3 of Habakkuk is a song—it is a prayer song—and every time they will sing this, it is sung triumphantly. It is sung with great excitement.
It is like the Baptist—and even today as I hear you all singing, I can see, I can hear loud voices who are really expressing it. You know some Christians, even in my place—I am so blessed to hear today that we sing, we sing it like a choir—but sometimes in my church, I always tell my members there, we are singing jubilant songs—”to the work, to the work”, but somehow they sing it so weakly. When Habakkuk sings this prayer song, he is singing this with great excitement, being triumphant, with great zeal.
It is also just like as Psalm 7. Let us turn to Psalm chapter 7 for a while. We will see the same scenario in which the word “Shigionoth” is being used. Psalm chapter 7, and it says here a prayer for deliverance: "A Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite." (Psalm 7:1) Now “Shiggaion” is singular as it is used in Psalm 7. “Shigionoth” is plural. Now this is according to King James Bible commentators and many Bible scholars.
So chapter 7 of Psalm and chapter 3 of Habakkuk are the same. It is to be sung triumphantly, with great excitement and zeal—as if when you sing it, you sing it so loud, with great emotions and even great zeal. So when Habakkuk said "A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth," it was sing with great expression that he is very confident in the Lord, that his trust is only in the Lord.
And it is very encouraging that he said in verse 17, as I have said a while ago, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom." It's not a comforting word; it is not a comforting testimony. You are toiling hard that your fig tree shall blossom, but even though if it will not blossom—”even though, Lord, if it will not blossom, I will praise you.” (prayed weakly) No, it's not like that. “Lord, I am sincere. Lord, even if my fig tree shall not blossom, I assure you, O Lord, my conscience is clear. I will rejoice still in you.” (prayed confidently)
"Neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail." Now, all this work is tiring. You cannot plant olive. You cannot do all the planting of vines without any strength that you will exert. It is time-consuming. It is very, very, tiring. It is also, expensive in their own time. I may lose income. I may not gain anything because all are gone. But Lord, surely I—I am not exaggerating—O Lord, this is my true and sincere feeling. I still remain the same trust in you and rejoice in you. How wonderful. This is how Christians blessed by the Lord with great feeling of confidence in him. This is what Pastor Reggor experience in the midst of great hardships that we have.
Yes, there are so many of us who are experiencing difficult situations in life. But praise be unto the Lord for his strength, for his comfort, for his assurance that we are able to rejoice and to trust in him. In verse 18, it is very encouraging: "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Remember the word of Apostle Paul. Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." The Apostle Paul did not say "Rejoice in the Lord always." As you can see in the book of—in the King James—it is translated as "Rejoice in the Lord alway." And Dr. Khoo gave a very good explanation: It is not always, because always means sometimes do not come, but alway means all the way.
We all know what happened to the Apostle Paul. He was in the prison cell when he wrote the book of Philippians. When he wrote this letter to the Philippians, to the believers in Philippi, he was in the prison cell, in the Roman prison cell. It is not a comfortable place. As we all know, if you go to the Philippines, the prison cells there are very horrible. I brought Pastor Koshy one time to the prison cell in the Philippines and he was shocked to see all the sufferings of the prisoners inside. Dirty, no food. There is food, but it is just like food of a hog or pig. No water. Sometimes the prisoners there cannot take a bath for a month. I am not exaggerating. This is very true.
Even Elder Ma from Singapore—when they came to behold to my place—I brought them to the prison cell because there is a member of the church who was in prison because of drugs during the time of Duterte. Prison cell is not a place to rejoice. Now, unless you are in prison in Singapore, maybe Pastor Paul can say that the prison cell in Singapore is quite comfortable. Maybe in your country Australia, being a developed country, or America, or even if you go to France, the prisons there have even allowance. Or even in Alaska, I had a friend there also who was rehabilitated in the Gethsemane care ministry in Cebu, but he went back to Alaska and there he was caught again selling drugs and now he was in prison. But I heard he is receiving an allowance from the government. But the time when Paul was in prison, it is a most horrible situation.
When I was in Israel last 2023, when Pastor Koshy invited me to join them in their pilgrimage, we went to the prospect of the place where Apostle Paul was put into prison. Not accurately that is the place, but most probably 95 to 98% this is the place where the Apostle Paul was in prison. But when he wrote this letter, it was in Rome. But Paul also was in prison there in Israel, in a place there in Cesarea. It is not comfortable at all. The tour guide would explain to us that when Apostle Paul was here, this is his situation—like this, like that. But when he wrote Philippia—Philippians—he was in Rome. He was imprisoned in Rome. And Rome is worse.
And here comes the man, being in prison, talking about rejoicing. He is truly jubilant in the midst of desolation. Our joy in the Lord is not based on circumstance—circumstance. It is based upon the truth that we belongs to Him, and He belongs to us. Now we belong to Jesus. This is such a wonderful testimony that only Christians like you and me can claim. And this was truly alive to me when I saw Pastor Reggor preaching. He was having cancer. I know a man who was diagnosed of a cancer. Cannot even eat, cannot even enjoy life anymore. Yes, of course, maybe we can understand.
But when I saw Pastor Reggor preaching with great joy, I was reminded that when we are facing hardships and difficulties in life—because we see Christ in it, because we see that we are attracted to the words of Christ in the midst of it—we are well. It is well. It is well with my soul. The song and the hymn goes.
We Christians are not spared from this. Christians are not spared from trials. As the Charismatic would always say, ‘We, when we become Christian, we are always safe from all alarms. We we are spared from all kinds of troubles in life.’ That's how the Charismatic would preach. But that is not how Christ preached. Christ says, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
Do you have it right now? For sure you will have. And if you will have it, it is not intended to make you suffer, that the Lord may destroy you, but that you may prove that the Lord is good, that you may prove that the Lord give us great comfort and assurance even in the lowest and the worst situation of our life. This is our blessing in the Lord as a Christian. So he said in verse 18, "I will rejoice still in the Lord God of my salvation." You should be able to say this from your heart when when you are confronted with all kinds of difficulties.
You know, I also had a lot of struggles. When I came here 2019. I was a young, I was an a single man. I don't know about problem. Well, problem is always there. But being a single man, you are very—shall I say—live a simple life. Being alone, I can only handle myself. And the Lord gave me problem, only minor persecution. They would always make fun of me, being a pastor, being a born again. ‘You can never be buried in our cemetery’. I can take it. It's okay. I face it. They always mock at me. Even my cousins would say, ‘Where will you where will you be buried if you die?’ They do it to mock me. I am not affected at all.
But when I got married, the Lord allow me to experience real problem that I have not experienced when I am a single man. And this problem is indeed so big. You know, for so long I am a single man. And my problem is only a problem of a single man. But when I got married, then I started to experience real problem of a married man. You know, marriage is a responsibility, and the needs also are not the same as being single.
When I got married, 3 months after our marriage, my wife experienced bleeding. I was already in Anda, and it is 100 kilometres away from my mission church, ministering to the children and the people there. Then my wife said, ‘I'm bleeding’, and she showed to me the picture. It was so much blood and it seems there was a stabbing in my house, because a lot of blood. And I called my mother, ‘please help my wife, go there’. And the doctor said—even the doctor, the OB—was so shocked to see my daughter survive.
Then it happened again after 3 months, the same severity. She again have a bleeding. And I was also in a far place ministering to the people there. Then called again, ‘come home, I am having a bleeding’. Then when I come home, I went straight away to the hospital and I saw my wife there. And the doctor, still there, said, “Your wife is in a very difficult situation.” But thank God, even though he is not a Christian—he is not a born again, he's a Roman Catholic, but he said, “Thank God your daughter is still alive. She should be gone already.”
The doctor told to me, "How old are you now?" I am like this—”44”. "This is your first daughter?" i said, “Yes”. "Wow. You are so blessed." He used the word blessed. I don't know if he really mean it. "Why, doctor?" "Even the first time that this happened, I already considered it as your daughter is gone already. One in everyone 100." And I said, this is the Lord's doing. But I did not share it to the doctor. But I just keep it to myself. The second time the doctor said to me, "Wow, for the second time you still happen. This is something wonderful."
Then, when my wife really will give birth—for one month more—then suddenly water came out from her. Then the baby is also going out already. And the doctor said, go to the hospital and straight away I will made a caesarean. And there, the doctor said again to me, “Your daughter almost gone again, because she's already going out already.” It so happened that the doctor was so quick in responding, and then the doctor managed to save the and my wife.
During the time when when she was born, there was a hole in her heart. Then she was falsely diagnosed of something—one in every 700 cases—rare. But it was falsely diagnosed. Yet it gives me trouble. It gives me problem that I have never encountered when I was a single man. Then she got COVID also, the baby. Then there was a time that, during the COVID time, my baby was infected with a virus. And so if we put her to the hospital—during COVID time—rooms are so expensive. COVID rooms are very expensive, because she is having COVID and at the same time an infection.
So the doctor said, okay, you can bring your daughter to the house. I will put something in her vein, then my wife, being a nurse, can administer the medicine through it. Yet, being a very, very, young girl, she will always move, move and it will be removed. So no choice. My wife has to do the administering of the medicine intramuscular. Intramuscular—three times a day. My wife has to give the vaccine to my daughter three times a day for seven days. And you know, every time my wife will do it, she will cry, of course. Because when she do it, my daughter cry. Painful, of course, I know. And three times a day for seven days, I cannot take it. And every time my wife will administer the medicine, I will go to the rooftop. I don't want to hear my daughter scream and cry for pain.
Then last year, June 19, my daughter was operated in Manila, Philippines. The heart, the hole was patched, closed. Thanks to the Lord for all the help of the brethren. I want to thank personally you all for your prayers. Though I have not shared to Pastor Paul and I have not shared to your prayer item, but I believe you are aware and you are made aware of it, and you prayed and you helped. I was so thankful to the Lord.
But even in the midst of that very, very difficult situation in my life, I have been preaching this text and theme—Habakkuk. That was the very moment that I've been preaching to this church and I was also preaching to another Bible study contacts the same topic. And when everything this happens to me in my life, this problem happens to me, I was comforted that the Lord spoke to me very clearly in this book.
THE BOOK OF HABAKKUKJubilation In DesolationJubilation In DesolationHabakkuk 3:17-19