Habakkuk 3:17-18: “Although the fig tree does not blossom neither shall fruit be on the vine, the labor of the olive shall fail and the field 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 joyin the God of my salvation.”
“The only ones who did not suffer from the effects of the Great Depression were those who were poor before the Depression.” John Kenneth Galbraith, American/Canadian Economist
Yesterday during our midweek service my pastor commented that we in this country basically suffer from things that others in less developed countries think nothing about. In other words if we had to suddenly go down to the Chicago river every day to wash our cloths we would feel as if the world is on the brink of collapse. If we had to walk three miles every day just for a cup of water we would be wondering why God was putting us through such suffering. Yet people in third world nations do this all the time and don’t think much about it, it is just the way they live.
If you had nothing to begin with it is much easier to weather a recession or depression than if you had couple new cars, house, with all the trimmings and to then suddenly lose it all. Job did not mourn on a pile of ashes because he had nothing; he mourned because he had much and then had nothing.
Israel had entered a time of great prosperity just before the Babylonian Captivity. Suddenly all their wealth and prosperity was torn away. Chapter 3 verse 17 declares they would suffer not only disaster at the hands of man but natural disasters as well, a double whammy. Ever get hit with a double whammy. You look up only hoping someone got the license number of that truck that just ran over you. The last thing you feel like doing is to rejoice. Yet the prophet says that when this happens he will rejoice in the Lord. He is not rejoicing over someone else’s misfortune, he is right in the middle of this misfortune. His stocks and bonds will go down the tubes just like everyone else, yet he says “he will rejoice.” Not only that but the word for rejoice e’elazah which has a paragogic Hei which means he will dance with joy. Well, goody gum drops for Habakkuk, he may be able to dance for joy over losing everything, but I can’t even fake joy after being run down by that proverbial truck.
I know I should be joyful, I should be dancing with joy like the prophet, but that is not my story. So I think I will just sit down and have a little chat with this word Joy and see what this is all about. Now the root word for rejoice is ‘alaz (Ayin, Lamed, and Zayin) and it is found….well it was here a minute ago, Where did he … “Ah ha, I knew it, trying to sneak out to go behind that my Looking Glass hanging from my Daleth were you? ‘Alaz (rejoice) don’t you go crawling away from me like that, you stop right there and come back here, I have few words to…’Alaz, ‘Alaz, don’t make me come after you.” Blast it anyways, there he goes running through myLooking Glass and I have to take in after him through the Looking Glass and I don’t have time for this. I chase ‘Alaz (rejoice) behind my Daleth through the Looking Glass and run smack dap into a giant Gimmel followed by an equally large Yod and Lamed. “Who are you I ask?” I am Gil (joy), Alaz’s (rejoice) big brother. I have ‘Alaz (rejoice) right here, is he trying to run away from you again? “Yeah, you bet your esoteric little heart he is, but how do you fit into all this?” I ask. Gil (joy) replies: “Well, you see that last part of the verse: ‘I will joy in the God of my salvation?’ Well, that’s me, I am that word joy. Now come on, join hands with me and ‘Alaz (rejoice).”
I am forced to take Gimmel’s (joy) hand with my right hand and Ayin’s hand (from ‘Alaz – rejoice) with my left and suddenly we are dancing around in a circle with ‘Alaz (rejoice) singing “Here Go Round The… “Now cut that out” I shout, “My fig tree is not blossoming and I don’t feel like rejoicing (‘alaz).” Suddenly ‘Alaz (rejoicing) starts to cry: “He don’t love me no more” and runs away. Gimmel looks at me sternly, “See what you’ve gone and done now. You wait here.” “No,” I say, “I’ll get him.” “That you will not!” shouts Gimmel, “That is my job” With that Gimmel (the first letter in joy) takes off after his brother ‘Alaz (rejoice). I turn to Yod and Lamed, Gil’s (joy) other two letters whom he left behind and asked why he has to get ‘Alaz (rejoice) back. Yod (which represents the beginning point) says that people are always offending ‘Alaz (rejoice) with their negative attitudes and Gimmel (lovingkindness) always has to bring ‘Alaz (rejoice) back to us. I suddenly realize that the Yod in Gil is the beginning point where‘Alaz (rejoice) is reminded of the Lamed (receiving joy from heaven) the last letter in Gil (joy). “Lamed?” I ask “Yes?” says Lamed standing there with his hand lifted to heaven receiving the joy of the Lord into His heart. “Uh never mind” I reply. Suddenly Lamed starts to glow with the joy of the Lord and turns to me and says, “He, ‘Alaz, needs to be reminded that his joy is not dependent upon circumstances but upon what is given from God. Here, now look, Gimmel (lovingkindness) and ‘Alaz (rejoice) are returning, let’s join hands and form our circle again.” “Hold it right there.” I demand “What is this circle business?” Gimmel now being reunited with his other two letters Yod and Lamed (joy) joins hands with ‘Alaz (rejoice) and me and answers, “Why that is another use for the word Gil(joy) a circle.” “No” I respond stamping my foot in defiance, “Gil means ‘joy.’ “Indeed” replies Gil “But don’t you find such joy when you spin in a circle. You go to an amusement park where there are a variety of ways to spin you in a circle to feel pleasure. The circle is a symbol of God and that is why I (Gil – joy) am much bigger than ‘Alaz (rejoice) because our joy is bigger, it is the joy of the Lord. Look at my belt buckle?” Sure enough on Gil’s belt buckle is a Paragogic Hei adding even more strength to Gil’s (joy) joy.
I return through my Looking Glass with ‘Alaz (rejoice) contently resting in the palm of my hand. I open my hand and he jumps back into my Hebrew Bible. But before returning I mention to Alaz (rejoice) that this was all very interesting but I still do not feel the joy of the Lord. ‘Alaz (rejoice) runs back and whispers in my ear, “When I ran away it was Gimmel (lovingkindness) that brought me back. Now after I jump back into your Hebrew Bible and the Book of Habakkuk, you go and turn to Romans 8:38-39.”
Saying good bye to my friend ‘Alaz (rejoice), I then turn to Romans 8:38-39 and read the words of the Apostle Paul who once had wealth, power, comfort and lost it all when He found Jesus. Here he says that nothing will separate him from not from his wealth, health or things but from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Man or natural disasters can separate me from everything on this earth except one thing: The Gimmel (lovingkindness), the love of God in Christ Jesus, His lovingkindness. As long as I have that I can join hands with ‘Alaz (rejoice) and Gil (joy) and we can sing, dance and praise the Lord together. For you see we will always have the Gimmel (God’s lovingkindness in Christ Jesus) in Gil (joy of the Lord) to chase after ‘Alaz (rejoice) when he tries to run away.
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