The Source of Joy … The God of My Salvation
Posted: Monday, July 23, 2007
by Dennis Hill
Sagacity LLC & Boundless Partners, Inc.
So many people today are hurting and searching. Even believers who possess a wonderful hope in eternity lack simple joy. For those without the Lord, a despairing life is understandable, as they live in the bondage of sin with its unpleasant consequences. But when bitterness characterizes the demeanor of a believer, he or she needs to stop for just a moment, taking a respite from the quick pace of the world around them, and reflect on our awesome God. Interestingly, as we reflect on Him, He reflects in us to others (read Matt 5:14, John 8:12 and Philippians 2:15).
17 Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills. [1]
If you’re like me, you don’t own a fig tree. Neither do we grow vines, nor olive trees. Most of us are unaware of farming skills since food automatically appears in grocery store aisles on floor-to-ceiling shelves, rendering the farmer’s field invisible to us. We may see a flock of sheep as part of a larger sheep-fold here and there, but most of us are not farmers, and we are ignorant of farming ways. Nevertheless, these words from God have been recorded for our instruction and the building (or edification) of the Body of Christ. So, we look to His word for guidance in these images which collectively present such a devastating sight before Habakkuk and the reader.
Scripture uses figures, pictures and types to symbolize various people, places and things. For example, the fig tree is a fig tree as we read the Bible literally, and we embrace the meaning on its face in the simplest terms – a fig tree. But the fig tree is also used as a simile or image to symbolize the Nation of Israel, as well. The prophet Hosea wrote
10 “I found Israel
Like grapes in the wilderness;
I saw your fathers
As the first-fruits on the fig tree in its first season. [2]
Many of the prophets use this simile of the fig tree because it is found nearly everywhere in Israel, and even the Lord, Himself, gave instruction for us to learn the parable of the fig tree (Matt 24:32-ff). He cursed a fig tree for its lack of fruit in Matt 21:19-ff, symbolizing a curse upon Israel for its own spiritual fruitlessness.
Similarly, we might search for the meaning of other similes used in Habakkuk - for the vines and the olive tree (and its oil), for the field and its famine, and for the flock which has been separated from the fold.
Let’s consider another word – herd. Think about cattle and what we derive from them - milk and meat? Throughout the Scriptures, we learn that new believers are first given milk or in other words, the simplest Biblical truth. But as believers grow and mature, like a newborn grows into adulthood, they are able (and expected) to consume “solid food" or meat, that is, those Biblical truths which require more time and effort to digest. The study of God’s Word, accepting it literally and spiritually in its figures, pictures or types, may represent a “meaty" truth; whereas, a simpler tenant of faith (or milk) might be illustrated in believing in the atoning death, burial and resurrection of the Lord. But we ought to be wary to realize that one person’s milk may be another’s meat, and one person’s meat, another person’s milk. We are warned in Exodus not to mingle and serve meat and milk - can you find the passage? Send us a note with the citation, and we’ll send you a gift Bible.
Here is one summary of possible figurative renderings for the elements which Habakkuk uses:
Element
Symbolizing
Verses
fig tree
Nation of Israel or the Northern Kingdom of Israel
Hos 9:10; Mic 4:4; Lk 13:6-9; Matt 21:19-21; Mark 11:12-21; 1 Kg 4:25; 2Kg 18:31; Is 36:16; Zec 3:10
vines (in this context only and not the True Vine who is the Lord)
Judah (OT) and Kingdom of God (NT)
Gen 49:11-12, 22; Jer 2:21; Hos 10:1; Jer 6:9; Deut 32:32; 1 Kg 4:25; 2Kg 18:31; Is 36:16; Matt 20:1-11, 21:33-43; Rev 14:18-20
labor of olive =olive oil
God’s Word (lamp light), anointing and offering
Ex 27:20; Lev 24:2; Ex 29:40; Num 28:5; Deut 28:40; Is 61:1; 1 Sam 10:1; Matt 25:3-8; Luk 7:46
fields
The World
Gen 2:5,19,20; Prov 8:26 Matt 13:38;
flock/fold
Remnant or Believers/ Place of Protection
Is 65:10; Jer 23:3; Zeph 2:6; John 10:16
herd(milk/meat)/stalls
Group of Believers or Word of God/Pulpits
Jer 31:12; Deut 12:21; Neh 10:36; 1 Cor 3:2 Heb 5:12-13; 1 Pet 2:2
The back-drop which the prophet paints is devastating – the flower of Israel is not blooming; the church appears fruitless on its vines. The failure of the olive to produce oil may illustrate a lack of fuel for the lamp which lights our way, or it may also connote the lack of true servants (raised by God and anointed or recognized by His people, Jew or Gentile). A famine in the field is discerned quickly as a lack of God’s Word or True Food in the world, while the flock separated from the fold may illustrate the separation of a remnant or an individual believer by ostracism or rejection from a body in fellowship, or perhaps a group of believers who have departed from the protection and safety of a sheepfold (or fellowship). And finally, as already briefed, we see the lack of God’s Word, the true milk and meat, missing from pulpits across the nation where secular messages are substituted simply to make the listener feel good about himself or to encourage positive self-esteem. The herd might also represent a body in attendance at church, alternately.
Yet, despite these visualizations which might lead one to despair, cynicism, discouragement, and disappointment, the prophet rejoices in the LORD, as his joy is found in the God of his salvation. Habakkuk exclaims that the LORD God is his strength, and we can declare the same praise and sing the same hymn to the same God! Do we not rejoice in the Lord Jesus, or should we be searching for earthly or visible events like so many seek in modern Christianity? The times were no different 2700 years ago in Habakkuk’s day. True, abundant joy is found in God alone, and not in the membership of a church which may have many thousands of people or dozens of activities each week. Habakkuk is pointing out the very real possibility that the externals may be far from God and that these are not the source of our joy. Rather, the LORD who is God of our salvation is the center-piece and point-source of our joy. We endeavor to maintain that heavenly focus by His grace, reading and meditating upon His Word, praying and involving God unceasingly in our lives, and worshiping Him each and every day by giving liberty to the Holy Spirit that dwells in each one of us. Our joy is true and abundant, according to that wonderful relationship with and in Christ Jesus.
Just as this lesson may have challenged you to think about Old Testament references as a shadow of things realized (or yet to be realized) in the New Testament, a thought from Paul’s letter to the Colossians comes to mind for further encouragement…
…the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward…holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. [3]
Till our next time together, let us hold fast to our Lord, Jesus Christ, rejoicing in the promises and blessings of our wonderful Father through the forgiveness of sins by His Son’s blood at Calvary.
[1]Hab 3:17-19.
[2]Ho 9:10.
[3] Col 2:16-19.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Dennis, a very good article and Bible study. Earlier tonight, I was talking on the phone with a girlfriend about the very title of this article! I used the exact words. I shared with her the Joy of the Lord is my strength and the God of my Salvation is my source of Joy! She called for a "pick me up" and our conversation blessed me too! I love that you gave scriptures when you explained the similies used in the Bible about the fig tree, vine, olives, herd etc. Not everyone is at the same spiritual maturity and some require the sincere milk of the Word. This is a beautiful article and I thank you for sharing it. Happy to have you as an author!
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