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Devotional

Though the fig tree does not bud

Devotional for November 24 · Habakkuk 3:17 · 13-minute read

2O LORD, I have heard the report of You; I stand in awe, O LORD, of Your deeds. Revive them in these years; make them known in these years. In Your wrath, remember mercy! 3God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth. 4His radiance was like the sunlight; rays flashed from His hand, where His power is hidden. 5Plague went before Him, and fever followed in His steps. 6He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled; the perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting. 7I saw the tents of Cushan in distress; the curtains of Midian were trembling. 8Were You angry at the rivers, O LORD? Was Your wrath against the streams? Did You rage against the sea when You rode on Your horses, on Your chariots of salvation? 9You brandished Your bow; You called for many arrows. Selah You split the earth with rivers. 10The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high. 11Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining spear. 12You marched across the earth with fury; You threshed the nations in wrath. 13You went forth for the salvation of Your people, to save Your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked and stripped him from head to toe. Selah 14With his own spear You pierced his head, when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though ready to secretly devour the weak. 15You trampled the sea with Your horses, churning the great waters. 16I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us. 17Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, 18yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! 19GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights! For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.
Habakkuk 3:2–19 · BSB

Context

Habakkuk prophesied in Judah, probably at the end of the 7th century BC (c. 609–597 BC), as Babylon, the power of the Chaldeans, was rising. The book is a frank dialogue. The prophet asks why God tolerates so much injustice in Judah (1:2-4). God answers that He will use the Chaldeans to judge the people (1:5-11). Habakkuk protests again, because the Chaldeans are even worse (1:12–2:1). And God answers that the vision will be fulfilled at the right time and that the righteous will live by faith (2:2-4).

Chapter 3 is a sung prayer, with musical notes at the beginning and the end. First the prophet remembers God's great works in the past, with images from the exodus and the conquest: the sea, the rivers, the sun and moon standing still. Then he returns to the present. The invasion is still coming, and he trembles. Verse 17 lists the backbone of Judah's economy: fig tree, vine, olive tree, fields, sheep and cattle. Losing all that meant hunger.

What the text says

Reflection

The book of Habakkuk begins with a complaint and ends with a song, but the situation outside has not changed. Babylon is still on its way. What changed was the prophet. That is already a comfort: the Bible has room for hard questions put to God. Habakkuk was not scolded for asking; he was heard, answered and led to a deeper place of trust.

Verse 17 does not describe a bad day. It describes the collapse of everything that kept a family alive in that time: no figs, no grapes, no olive oil, no harvest, no flock. Today it would be like losing your job, your health and your savings in the same season. Notice that the prophet does not say it will not happen. He begins with “though.” Biblical faith is not the certainty that the worst will never come, but the decision about whom you will belong to when it does.

And then: “yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!” That joy is not denial. One verse earlier his body was trembling, and both are in the same prayer. Habakkuk's joy has an address: the Lord, the God who saves. And it was fed by memory. Verses 3 to 15 are a long remembering of what God has already done. Whoever forgets what God has done has little to sing about in the dark.

The ending is beautiful and realistic: “GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer.” A deer walks steadily on steep ground. God does not promise to flatten the mountain; He promises feet to climb it. If you are going through a loss like this, you do not have to fake joy or face it alone. Talk to someone you trust, reach out to your church, and if the pain is too heavy, call CVV at 188 (Brazil), any time.

Habakkuk's central line, the righteous will live by faith (2:4), is quoted by Paul to explain the gospel (Romans 1:17). Chapter 3 shows what that faith looks like in practice: trusting when the trees are dry. And in Jesus we see God stepping into our scarcity. He was hungry in the wilderness, wept at a tomb and went to the cross. That is why our joy does not depend on this year's harvest. It depends on who He is and what He has already done.

Connections

To apply

For your journal: What are your “fig trees” today, the things that would shake you if they were gone? Write down what you know about God that would still be true without them.

Prayer

Lord, I have heard the report of You, and I stand in awe of Your deeds. You opened the sea and saved Your people. I confess that my joy often depends on the harvest, and that I tremble when something is missing. I hand You what I have and what I am afraid to lose. In Your wrath, remember mercy. Teach me to say yet, and make my feet steady like a deer's on the heights. In Jesus’ name, amen.

To memorize: Habakkuk 3:18
Today's step: Over the next 24 hours, write a short list of God's works you have already seen in your life and read it when worry tightens its grip.

To go deeper: read Habakkuk 1–3.

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