17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (ESV)

Religion’s fortune rises and falls with the stock market. This theory, popularized by early twentieth century sociologists such as Max Weber and R. H. Tawney, argues that when economic good times prevail, a man’s work is his religion. Only when the bottom falls out do people turn to God. Although widely believed, such an argument ignores a basic biblical truth: the righteous are faithful to God whatever their financial circumstances.

Habakkuk knew trouble loomed on the horizon during his lifetime. With fear and trembling, the prophet submitted to God’s sovereign intention to destroy the compromised nation of Judah through the Babylonian regime (chap. 1-2). For His part, God was simply living up to His promises. In Deuteronomy 28:1-14, the Lord outlined a series of blessings that would result if God’s people were faithful to the covenant. These gifts included agricultural, familial, military, and monetary rewards. Verses 15-68, however, outlined curses to ensue if the people broke their agreements with God. The infidelity of Judah activated the full measure of these penalties.

From his bedroom window, Habakkuk could see his beloved nation collapse around him. Having been cursed, many in Judah no doubt lashed out against the God who no longer poured forth milk and honey. But in the midst of a radical change of fortune, Habakkuk seems to have realized that a man should love God not simply for the good things He gives. After his extensive dialogue with God, Habakkuk knew that he should love God for Himself. As theologian John Piper has put the question: “Do you love God because God makes much of you? Or do you love God because He frees you from yourself so that you can make much of Him?” In the midst of economic ruin and dire circumstances, the prophet offered the remarkable conclusion: “Yet . . . I will take joy in God.”

A false religion preaches prosperity as the primary evidence of the Christian faith. False prophets plant weeds, not wheat, when they intimate that life with God is all fair weather and sunshine. Converts to a “prosperity gospel” practice idolatry, for they worship a shallow god whose feeble gifts include little more than the perishing material things of this world.

Teachers of God’s Word disservice their people when they preach a “health-and-wealth” gospel, because faith falters when it has become dependent upon the vicissitudes of material blessings. Love for God ought to stem from a reverence for one holy and all-powerful deity, who preserves the faithful through both suffering and storm.

article adopted from Kairos Journal

First Baptist Church of Perryville is located one and a half miles east of Rt. 222.