Shalom, everyone. In Hebrew, we say Shalom Lekulam. God bless you. It is our privilege and our blessing to be, once again, studying the Word of God. And yes, the Lord has led us in the last while. We are studying, of course, the prophecy of Habakkuk, the embracer of Israel. And it is our privilege and our blessing today to conclude, with the Lord's help, with the third chapter of the prophecy of Habakkuk. So I would like you please to turn to Habakkuk, chapter 3, and the verses that I want to read are actually the last four verses of this book, or this prophecy. Habakkuk, the embracer of Israel, concluding his prayer in the third chapter, and I'm reading Habakkuk 3, verses 16, 17, 18, and 19, to conclude with what we had before us on the prayer of Habakkuk.

Habakkuk. And so we read, When I heard, my belly trembled, my lips quivered at the voice, rottenness entered into my bones, And I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble. When he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. Then verse 17, Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall the fruit be in the vine. The labor 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, to the chief singer on my stringed instruments. Well, brothers and sisters, as we are going to conclude in the will of the Lord with this ministry of the prophecy of Habakkuk, We get to the final words of Habakkuk as he prays to the God of Israel. Always, it is important for us to remember that Habakkuk was concerned about his beloved nation, the nation of Israel. And by virtue of his name, Habakkuk, the embracer of Israel, Lechabek in Hebrew means to embrace.

And Habakkuk was embracing Israel, and specifically embracing the tribe of Judah, because he is speaking to the southern kingdom of the divided nation of Israel. And while the Assyrians already took, in 721 BC, the ten northern tribes of Israel, the northern kingdom of Israel, the Assyrians took them captive. Now Habakkuk is presenting his concern for the southern kingdom of Judah. When Israel was divided, Judah still remained in the city of Jerusalem, in the land of Judah, in the land of Israel, for another more than a hundred years than the tribe of Israel. The tribe of Judah remained in the southern kingdom, awaiting, sadly to say, the coming of the Babylonians to take the Jewish people to the land of Babel.

And so Habakkuk, you remember, and allow me please to make sure that we get a hold of this. Habakkuk did not, in this presentation, in this prophecy, he does not really speak to Israel. He is not speaking to the tribe of Yehudah. He is really having a dilemma, and he has a dialogue with the God of Israel. And the dialogue was simply because he was concerned because of the problems that existed among the Jewish people, among the tribe of Judah, when there was friction and problems in the midst of the people of Judah, Habakkuk was very much concerned. Why? Because he saw that there existing iniquity and grievance and spoiling and strife and contention.

And he was very sad. So he prayed to God to help because there were treatment, wrong treatment among the people of Israel. Just how it is today, among the people, the church of the living God, there is oftentimes so many, you might say, friction among the people of God and the church, the assembly, the ecclesia is divided. And practically, though, positionally, there is only one body, the body of Messiah. But sadly, like Israel, so it is in this age of the church. Like the failure of Israel, so it is in a failure of the body of Messiah. The vision and friction which caused him to yearn for his people, the Israel, and it should cause us, the believers, to yearn for the body of Christ, the body of Messiah.

Because after all, the people of God are to be united. So he cried to the Lord. The Lord didn't seem to answer immediately. And when finally he answered, he said, I'm going to raise this terrible nation, the Kaladeans, in chapter one and verse six. And it will be a terrible nation, a nation that we read, it's a terrible and dreadful. And they will be the one that will come and take that which is not theirs. They will be coming and spoiling the Jewish people and taking them captive. So Habakkuk is having a second dilemma. And he asked God, he says, Thou art of a pure eye than to behold evil and cannot look upon iniquity.

In chapter one and verse 13, he said, Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and hold thy tongue when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he? He said in chapter one and verse 13. His second dilemma was he asking God, God, how is it possible that you allow a more wicked nation, the Babylonians, the Kaladeans, to come and do what they were going to do to your own people, Israel? And they are more wicked than the nation of Israel. God, I do not understand. And of course, to realize this in our life, many times we do not understand how God is dealing with his people.

And sometimes it seems to be very hard for us to accept it. But God does discipline his people, whether it is Israel or whether it is the church, because for the time is come, the judgment must begin at the house of God. First Peter chapter four and verse 17. The principle remains. God will deal with his chosen people. And sometimes it seems to be very harsh and unfair. But because God is sovereign, because God is completely in control, his providence is over all the earth which he had created, including his beloved chosen people. And therefore, he was going to raise the Babylonians to come to take the Jewish people captive.

And as we have mentioned it repeatedly in the messages on the prophecy of Habakkuk, 605 BC, 597 BC, 586 BC, there were three deportations of our own people of Israel, the Jewish community, out of the land of Israel, which culminated in the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. And sadly, beloved brothers and sisters, we read in Psalm 137, the sad expression that the Jewish people who are a scene in Babylon, predicted by Habakkuk through the word of the Lord, that they will be carried away to Babylon. Psalm 137. Psalm 137, verse 1 said, by the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remember Zion. We hung our hops upon the willows, in the midst of the wrath, for there, this is in Babel, in Babylon, they that carried us away, this is the Babylonian, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song.

And they that wept there, and they that wept there in Babylon, saying, listen to these brothers and sisters, sing us one of the songs of Zion. And look how they wept there in Babylon, and Habakkuk could see what would happen when he was writing his prophecy in about 630 BC, you might say some 50, 50 years or 55, 60 years before the Babylonian came. We could see what the Babylonian will do, and how Israel, the Jewish people, will be sad and broken. And you notice what they said in Psalm 137, verse 4, how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

And it was there that they say, if I forget the old Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. That's what they said there in Babylon, as it was predicted by the Lord through Habakkuk, almost 50, 60 years before it actually happened. And no wonder, Habakkuk, now, as we are closing this ministry of Habakkuk, his dialogue with God that presents before us the heart of Habakkuk, he is now crying to the Lord. He is now saying to the Lord, of course, as we go into the second chapter, and we have already covered how that he is standing upon a watch. He set himself on a tower, and he said, I will watch to see what the Lord, what he will say unto me.

In other words, Habakkuk is waiting for the answer of the Lord, how he is going to raise the Babylonian, and how he will respond to Habakkuk's question, Lord, how can you allow a more wicked nation to discipline your own nation of Israel, specifically Judah? And so, in the whole second chapter, beloved brothers and sisters, we have covered that already. Habakkuk received a vision from the Lord, how the Babylonian will come, and how they will come, and they will discipline the people of Israel, and how the just has to live by faith during those difficult days of the captivity of the Babylonian, and how the Jewish people will be persecuted, but eventually, at the end of chapter 2, the Lord gave to Habakkuk those five-fold woes against the Babylonian, which we have already covered.

If you remember, woe, he says, that the Lord will punish eventually the Babylonian, and that he ultimately will restore the people of Israel. If you remember, we read this in this second chapter. But, beloved brothers and sisters, in the second chapter, we learn that God has given Habakkuk not only the immediate prophecy that will come to pass sometime at 586 BC, when the Jewish people will be taken to Babylon, and the first Salomonic temple will be destroyed. Now, Habakkuk received an information from the Lord, which carried us all the way to the final days of what is known to be the tribulation, and we call it, according to Jeremiah, Tzarat Yaakov, Jacob's trouble.

Now, again, brothers and sisters, you must bear this in mind, and I have to repeat myself again. If we are to correctly understand the Word of God, we must rightly divide the Word of Truth, as Timothy was told by Shaul Paul. Study to show yourself a proof unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. This is very, very important, beloved brothers and sisters. This is found in 2 Timothy, chapter 2, and verse 15. Study to show yourself a proof unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Why? Because if we don't rightly divide the Word of Truth, we're going to get into all kind of theories, man's opinion, man's, you might say, human desires that is really placed into the Word of God that is really not found in the Word of God.

Such as, replacement teaching, that the Church now replaced Israel, and the blessing, the promises that God gave to Israel is now given to the Church, to the Assembly. Or such as, that now Israel has no longer future. And that Israel is done away when Israel did not accept Yeshua the Messiah at His first coming. And so on, and so on. Teaching that are not healthy if we are to rightly understand the Word of God. Remember, beloved brothers and sisters, that when Habakkuk was giving us his prophecy, he never knew, nor was it ever revealed to any man about the age in which we live in, the Assembly, the Ecclesia, the Church age.

According to Ephesians, chapter 3, it was a mystery that was hid in God and was revealed to the Apostle Shaul Paul by the Lord himself. In Ephesians, chapter 3, and verse 9, Shaul Paul said, And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ or Yeshua HaMashiach. Notice how clearly it is given to us in this scripture. In fact, beloved brothers and sisters, according to verse 5 of Ephesians, chapter 3, we read in verse 5, That which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by that Spirit.

What was revealed to them? Look at Ephesians, chapter 3, and verse 4. It says, My knowledge in the mystery of Christ, in the mystery of the Messiah, the Church, the Assembly, and the Messiah, Yeshua, Jesus. In other words, if we are to rightly understand this passage of Habakkuk, especially the last passage that we just read, this final prayer of Habakkuk that received this revelation from the Lord concerning the future, remember that as far as Habakkuk was concerned, okay, God will going to take Israel through the Babylonians, will discipline them, and he will ultimately restore them back to the land. And finally, according to chapter 2 of the prophet Habakkuk, the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the water cover the sea.

This is Habakkuk 2, and verse 14. And secondly, verse 20 of Habakkuk chapter 2, The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. Notice, twice, God revealed to Habakkuk what ultimately was going to happen, that all the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, and that the Lord is in his holy temple, and all the earth will keep silence before him. Now listen, my dear friend, when did this ever happen in history? It never happened in 630 or 640 when Habakkuk received this message. It didn't happen in 586 BC when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, burned with fire by the Babylonians, and the Jews were carried captive, our own people were carried captive.

It did not happen when Yeshua the Messiah came after the second temple was rebuilt, and Yeshua Jesus the Messiah lived among our own people in the land of Israel and died on a Roman cross. And it did not happen since the time that the Lord Yeshua the Messiah died at about 30 AD until today, in the time in which we live in, some 2,000 years pass by, and we can never say that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the water covered the sea. We can never say that it is happening already now. It hasn't happened. We can say that it will be, because it does say for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.

Habakkuk 2 and verse 14. But it hasn't happened as yet. We also cannot say now that the Lord is in his holy temple, and all the earth will keep silence before him. Habakkuk 2 and verse 20, because it hadn't happened as yet. It didn't happen, and I tell you why. Because that takes us to the end of the days in which ultimately God is intending to restore Israel, his people, back to the land. And that the Messiah will come at his second coming after he will allow the world to experience these seven years of tribulation. And at the end of the seven years of tribulation, he will finally come and establish that which he promised to establish.

And he will reign as king of kings. And he will reign as lord of lords. And the whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as it says here, as the waters cover the sea. And that the Lord, Jehovah, the Lord, the Son, God the Son, as men, Yeshua the Messiah, he will be in his holy temple. And all the earth shall keep silent before him because he will rule in righteousness as we read in scripture in Isaiah chapter 11. That he will come and rule. And he will come and he will reign in righteousness as the descendant of David, namely our Messiah, the Lord Yeshua himself.

And so how wonderful that we have this hope, but if we are to rightly understand, Habakkuk does not understand, does not have the truth that you and I have today because we have the complete canon of scripture. We have both the Tanakh, that is the, what is called the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament. And we also have the Brit HaChadasha, that is the new covenant in which the apostles gave this to us. And by divine revelation, we have all the canon of scripture. And if we to rightly understand the word of the Lord and to realize that this present day age of which we live in, in this church or assembly age, the assembly, the church, the ecclesia, is a heavenly company.

And once these days will come to the end and the church, the assembly, will be taken to heaven, God will begin his direct dealing with his people Israel and he will restore the Jewish people back to the land, but not before there will be these Jacob's trouble, Tzarat Yaakov, which according to the book of Daniel chapter 9 will last for seven years. And so now, in this third chapter, as we're concluding this book of Habakkuk, Habakkuk is now praying, as we read in chapter 3, verse 1, a prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, upon Shigionot. Then in verse 2, he is now, in a sense, taking himself and placing himself as he is one of the remnant of Israel that will experience this terrible time because he anticipated to be one of those that will be carried away to Babylon.

God did not give him dates. He didn't give him time. Or what he said in chapter 1 and verse 5 and 6, especially verse 6, I will raise the Chaldeans, the bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breath of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs. So Habakkuk anticipated that the Babylonians will come in his days and that they will cause this affliction upon him and his Jewish brethren, the people of Israel and therefore he says, God, it is not right for you to allow a more wicked nation to do to your own people that which you described in this second chapter. so because God says it will surely come to pass as you remember chapter 2 he says, write the vision make it plain upon tables for he may run that readeth it.

Habakkuk any one of the people of Israel any one of the Jewish people who will read what you put on this tablet he said he will run and he will be faithful to me even though he will experience this persecution. and if you remember he said to him in the very same passage in Habakkuk 2 verse 4 the just shall live by faith by his faithfulness the godly people of Israel who will love the God of Israel they will live for the Lord even though he or they will experience their tribulation period.

And so even though Habakkuk didn't have the understanding that you and I have today and the only reason I have this understanding is because God revealed it through the complete canon of scripture which we have in our hands today and so now as Habakkuk is praying to conclude his dialogue with God he said if you remember in verse 2 of this third chapter he said O Lord O Lord I have heard thy speech and I 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 this expression in the midst of the years is mentioned here in verse 2 it's really

in the midst of the years it's applied specifically in the midst of the years of the tribulation period in the midst of the years when trouble will fall upon Judah and the Jewish people in the midst of the years when Jacob's trouble will occur in the midst of the years when the Lord Yeshua the Messiah said there then shall there be great tribulations such as never was since the beginning of this world Matthew chapter 24 so Habakkuk seeing himself with the people of Israel some call them the remnant but this remnant will be a faithful godly Jewish people who will be doing the tribulation period from our point of view it's still future from Habakkuk

point of view it was also future and we look to the future day when there will be this terrible time terrible events that will occur here upon the earth those of us that belong to the heavenly company the church the assembly the ecclesia according to scripture we believe that the dead in Messiah shall rise first and then we which are alive and remain shall be caught together to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord Yeshua we will meet him in the air and go to be with him at the father's house while while the seven year tribulation occur here on earth and here during these seven years

God will deal with this world in judgment and beloved brothers and sisters as we have already covered from verse 3 all the way to verse 15 of Habakkuk chapter 3 we are looking now at the end of the tribulation when finally the Messiah will come to restore Israel you remember what we read in verse 3 God came from Teiman and the holy one from Mount Paran Selah his glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise and his brightness was as the light and he had horns coming out of his hand and there was hiding of his power before him went the pestilence and burning coals went forth at his feet that

word for horns really supposed to be raised there was the shining power and the shining light of the second coming of the Messiah at the end of what is known to be Jacob trouble the seven years of the tribulation and we have covered these verses from verses 3 to verses 15 in which Habakkuk presents before us the second coming of the Messiah at the end of the tribulation period now brothers and sisters what do we do what do the Jewish people will do during the tribulation period is going to be a very difficult time and in these last and final verses of Habakkuk chapter 3 verses 16 17 18 and 19 Habakkuk now present before

us the attitude you might say of the godly remnant of Israel or the godly from among the Jewish people who will believe in the god of Israel and will believe that he is able to restore them he is able to restore the nation and no matter what they will trust in god and they will also trust that Yeshua that Jesus is the Messiah now again we must connect or link scripture with scripture that's why the Bible interprets itself and that's why if we take the whole canon of scripture it helps us to understand this so we have already covered the fact that the Messiah will come but now in verses 16 17 18 and 19

in these last verses of the prayer of Habakkuk of the third chapter Habakkuk describes before us said the fourfold attitude which will characterize the godly Jewish people who will live during the tribulation age a period and they will have such a trust in the Lord they will be protected by the Lord Yeshua they will already know him during the tribulation period they will testify to the fact that he is the Messiah and they will preach the message of the gospel of the kingdom that is going to come during the seventh year of tribulation while the rest of the nation of Israel will come to the knowledge of the Messiah at the end of the tribulation

period at the end of the seven years when Yeshua the Lord Jesus will come from heaven as to judge and to punish the enemies of the nation who will rise against the people of Israel now I would want before we're going to go through those four verses I want you to turn with me to Revelation chapter 6 for a moment and there I want to read a few verses right now Revelation chapter 6 and verse and I'll read just some verses verse 12 here we are in the book of the Revelation again remember brothers and sisters that the book of Revelation was written about 95 96 and so AD Yeshua already came at about born

at about 5 6 BC died at about 30 AD lived about 33 and a half years he was died on a Roman cross and the church the ecclesia was born at about 30 AD the heavenly company from there on we know that the early apostles preached the gospels to the Gentile world as well beginning in Jerusalem Judea Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth and the last apostle that remained alive was Yohanan John John was carried to the island of Patmos in the island of Patmos the glorified Messiah gave him this vision or the vision that we call revelation God revealed to John through specific information who Yeshua is and Yeshua Jesus the

Messiah gave him this information about future events specifically chapter 6 to chapter 19 all these chapters describe the tribulation period revelation 6 to 19 describe the seven year tribulation that will be upon the face of this earth and in these seven years we have this book that seven seals had to be open and every seal represent a judgment and the seven seals is open then you have seven trumpets that are sound every trumpet represent a judgment of God and when the seventh trumpet is sound then we have seven bowls that poured upon the earth and every one of these bowls represent a judgment of God which will culminate with the coming of the Messiah Yeshua

out of heaven at the end of the tribulation this is found in Revelation chapter 19 but in Revelation chapter 6 we see we are just in the beginning of the tribulation sometime before the middle of the tribulation we find out and I want to read it in verse 12 Revelation 6 and verse 12 and I beheld and when he opened the sixth seal and Lord there was a great earthquake and the sun became blake and a sackcloth of hair and a moon became as blood and the stars of heaven fell into the earth even as the fig tree cast her untimely figs when she is shaken off the mighty wind and the heavens departed as

a scroll when it is rolled together and every mountain and island were moved out of their places and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every freeman hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and notice what it says here and said to the mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand you notice brothers and sisters the wrath of the lamb

who shall be able to stand then in chapter 7 and verse 1 and after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth that the winds should not blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree and I saw another angel sending from the east having the seal of the living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea and then we read beloved brothers and sisters saying hurt not the earth neither the sea nor the tree till have sealed the servants of our God in

their forehead and I heard the number of them which were sealed and there were sealed a hundred and forty and four thousands of all the tribes of the children of Israel and then it gives you that list in verses 5 to verse 8 Judah Reuven Gad Asher Naphtali Menashe Shimon Levi Yisashar Zvulun Yosef and Binyamin interesting that we have the list of those that were sealed 144 thousand Hebrews notice out of all the tribes of the children of Israel so just imagine Habakkuk is speaking about the tribulation the time of trouble he takes us over all the ages and he brings us all the way to these seven year tribulation and he sees himself beloved

brothers and sisters as if he is one of these you might say saints that are called according to Habakkuk 2 and verse 4 that the just shall live by his faith by his faithfulness he is now seeing himself as if he is one of these faithful remnant of Israel during the time of trouble that God is going to seal and protect and ultimately he will restore Israel back to himself and though in revelation it's something that was predicted or given later on to the apostle John on the island of Patmos yet there is a link between Habakkuk 3 and revelation chapter 6 to chapter 19 because both of these men by the way Hebrew Jewish

men predicting or receiving by divine revelation the word of the Lord concerning the final restoration of Israel and the final blessing to the whole world when the Messiah is going to come in his second coming so now beloved brothers and sisters saying all this we look now at the prayer of Habakkuk he asked that the Lord in the midst of his wrath will remember mercy he received the information about the second coming of the Messiah from verse 3 to verse 15 God came from Teman and the holy one from Mount Paran Selah by the way Teman and Paran is the area of present day Jordan where the Messiah according to Isaiah 63 will come to

Bozrah to the area that is in the desert in the wilderness when the remnant of Israel will be preserved and protected by the Lord during the tribulation period so Habakkuk received the information that God this is the Mashiach he will come from Teman this is next to Bozrah and from Paran this is present day Jordan and he will come to the city of Yerushalayim to restore his people Israel back to himself and so Habakkuk in the final verses of this third chapter present before us the attitude of the Jewish people who will trust in the God of Israel during the tribulation period waiting the coming of the Messiah to deliver them out of their enemies

and you notice brothers and sisters in these final verses of Habakkuk chapter 3 verses 16 to 19 there are four distinct personal attitude that each one of these godly remnants seeing in the 144,000 Hebrews in Revelation chapter 7 seeing in the two witnesses and the godly remnant that is found in Revelation chapter 11 and as it mentioned by the Lord himself that these saints of the tribulation the godly saints of the tribulation will have a godly attitude they will have four things that are seen here in these final verses notice that and I'm reading verse 16 now Habakkuk 3 16 the first part when I heard my belly trembled my lips quivered at a voice

rottenness entered into my bones and I trembled in myself notice this that the first thing that we learn about these you might say saints these jewish jewish people a habakkuk seeing himself there not knowing of course that many many years will pass before this will happen but these godly remnant of israel will experience the tribulation and the first thing that we see them in verse 16 the first part is that they will have brokenness before god there will be you might say a person a humble and contrite people who will be broken before the lord in hebrew we call it shvurim or shavur a broken vessel they will be humbled before the lord like abraham

who fell at the feet of the lord in genesis chapter 17 like isaiah in chapter 6 who says woe is me for i'm a man of unclean lips and i dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips like daniel who in chapter 10 have repented before the lord when he saw the power and authority of god as he received information from the lord and so notice how beautiful when i heard my belly trembled my lips quivered at the voice rottenness entered into my bones and i trembled in myself it's not only fear that came upon him but acknowledgement beloved brothers and sisters that he is totally broken before god and totally need the

mercy of the lord he is the one that will be he and the rest of the tribulation saints the godly people of israel that god will use to be a blessing and use as messengers to restore israel and the world to himself you might see them in the 144 thousands of revelation chapter 7 these 144 thousand out of all the tribes of the children of israel who will preach and be faithful to the lord but they will do it in humility recognizing that they are completely dependent upon him in revelation chapter 7 verse 9 we read after this I beheld a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kinders and peoples

and tongues stood before the throne and before the lamb closed with white robes and palms in their hand and cried with a loud voice saying salvation to our God which sit upon the throne and unto the lamb you see the 144,000 Hebrews from all the 12 tribes of Israel will be the ones that will share the message of God but it will come out of this humility and brokenness people they realize as Habakkuk described here that God is the one who is an authority and that he is the one who bring about this judgment upon this world and Habakkuk trembled as it says notice he says my lips my belly my bones I trouble in

myself he was totally troubled because of who God is broken before him in other words humbling prostrate at the feet as it were of the Lord recognizing who God is and what God is intending to do let's remind me in Genesis chapter 17 we read of Abraham our father in verse 3 and Abraham fell on his face and God talked with him saying as for me behold my covenant is with thee and thou shall be a father of many nations Abraham fell at the feet of the Lord Habakkuk fell at the feet of the Lord the 144 thousand Hebrews fell at the feet of God and they were sealed by him and they were used

to be a servant that ultimately they led many others during the tribulation period to come to acknowledge who God is that's first but secondly not only that they were broken vessels before God as Habakkuk described himself here but secondly they only could find rest in God himself you see Habakkuk could see what God had said to him about the coming Babylonian and he in a small way could anticipate the future day in which the remnant of Israel the people of Israel the only place of rest during the tribulation period will not be anywhere else it will be only found in the Lord so what Habakkuk is saying in Habakkuk 3 and verse 16 B the

second half notice not only that he was broken before the Lord he now showed that he found rest in the Lord in Hebrew we say Menucha Manoach he found rest in the Lord during the tribulation and so we read in verse 16 B it said that I might rest in the day of trouble oh what a wonderful amazing truth it is at the only place of rest during time of trouble is found in the Lord many time beloved brothers and sisters we are exhorted to rest in the Lord not to rest in any other but to rest in the Lord come unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden and I will give you

rest Yeshua said when he was in Galilee in the land of Israel when he was appealing to all to come to find rest in him today also as we preach the message of the gospel during this church age we call others come unto Yeshua all you that labor and are heavy laden and you will find rest in him in Yeshua Jesus the Messiah not in any other because he is the one who give us spiritual rest positional rest eternal rest it's found in him even though we at time experience trouble as we read in John 16 in this world ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world oh beloved

friend Habakkuk not only that he had personal brokenness before God when he knew that the only place of rest is in him he also had a personal rest in God in the God of Israel and we know it is the Messiah of Israel because only God can give rest in the middle of trouble you notice I'm reading verse 16 the second half again that I might find rest in that day of trouble when he cometh up unto the people he will invade them with his troops in other words he says when the antichrist when the false prophet when satan and his armies that he will raise during the tribulation gonna come against God's people the

only place of rest is found in the Lord himself you see it always was in history rest is only found in God not in men rest is only found in the person of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah Isaiah said this many years ago in the day his prophecy when he is anticipating speaking really about the Messiah he says behold a king shall reign in righteousness and a princess shall rule in judgment and a man shall be a hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest as rivers of water in a dry place as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land Isaiah in chapter 32 anticipating the tribulation period saying

to Israel that a man shall be in hiding place from the wind this is from the wind of God's righteous indignation against the sin of man during the tribulation a period of time so two things Habakkuk mentioned in his prayer as he concluded his cry to the Lord verse 16a he had his personal brokenness and confession before the Lord verse 16b he has his own personal rest that he found in the Lord as the remnant of Israel will be broken before the Lord during the tribulation the remnant of Israel will rest in the Lord 144 thousand the two witnesses and many others from among our people of Israel during the tribulation period they will find

rest in God rest in the Messiah Yeshua and they will be able to serve him during the tribulation in the midst of a terrible time which they will experience but but not only that beloved brothers and sisters in verses 17 and verse 18 of Habakkuk chapter 3 here's the joy in the midst of trouble that Habakkuk found in the Lord in the Lord the joy of the Lord is your strength Nehemiah said to our people of all rejoice in the Lord Shaul Paul said to the Philippians rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice to the Philippians let your moderation be made known unto all men rejoice in the Lord the joy of

the Lord is your strength here Habakkuk is saying in his prayer to God as the remnant of Israel will say during the difficult days of Jacob's trouble during the tribulation notice verses 17 and 18 and I'm reading this although the fig tree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the vine the labor of the olive tree 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 oh what an amazing testimony of Habakkuk here representing his own brethren the Jewish people who will

experience the tribulation period as far as we know it from today it's still yet future but Habakkuk anticipates his coming tribulation when the Babylonian nation will come to take the Jewish people in his days in 586 BC to Babylon and so notice what he says he says in verse 17 all the God given provision even though they will be removed like the fig tree like the vine tree like the olive tree all the fruit all that which comes out of these the fig tree the vine tree the olive tree all even if the field will not yield any meat any food and even if there will be no flock in the stalls yet I will

rejoice in the Lord and I will join the God of my salvation this is such a beautiful expression the God of my salvation Elohei Yish'i in Hebrew the word salvation is mentioned twice in this third chapter you remember in verse 13 when Habakkuk was speaking about the coming of the Messiah at the end of the tribulation he said in verse 13 thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people leyeshe'a et amcha yeshuat amcha and here in verse 18 the God of my salvation Elohei Yish'i my personal salvation and again I want you to understand this is so beautiful because you remember the name of the Messiah that was born to the virgin Miriam in

the city of Bethlehem the angel have said to Yosef and you shall call his name Yeshua you notice here Yeshua yeshi yeshuati yeshuat amcha it's come the same root word Yeshua simply means salvation the Greek translation of the Hebrew Yeshua is Jesus the English translation from the Greek is from Jesus to Jesus but the Hebrew mean Yeshua and it simply mean salvation you shall call his name Yeshua for he shall save his people from their sins and how wonderful is the third lesson third attitude of the remnant of Israel of the Jewish people during the godly Jewish people during the tribulation period is that they will be broken before the lord verse 16a they will

find rest in the lord verse 16b they will find joy in the midst of trouble in the lord in the god of Israel as we read yet i will rejoice in the lord in jehovah in adonai and i will join the god of my salvation it is fascinating it is really fascinating when habakkuk is expressing this before in prayer before god and he's saying no matter what's going to happen the fig tree may not blossom there will not be fruit on the vine and the olive tree shall fail and the field shall eat no meat that mainly means the field will eat no food and the flocks shall be cut off from the fold and

there will be no herd in the stall yet here is a decision making in the midst of a difficult day I will rejoice in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation what a testimony we can see here in habakkuk first as he prays but in the godly people of Israel during the times of trouble in the tribulation period and I want to mention this dear beloved brothers and sisters the very fact that we have a Bible in our hands today the very fact that we have both the Tanakh that is the old covenant and the Brit HaDashah that is the new covenant we have it in our hands because God has

raised his people the Jewish people to protect his word and to present it for us when you really think about it someone God has chosen to put down for us the holy writ the Torah the Nevi'im the Ketuvim the Brit HaDashah the Lord the Prophets the writing and the New Covenant we have it in our hands because God has raised godly men from among Israel to give us the Bible today and how appreciative any believer in the Lord Jesus the Messiah is to thank God for protecting his word and preserving it for us today to benefit for that and we also beloved brothers and sisters who are saved during this church age are to be

so thankful that God has sent the Messiah Jesus Yeshua through the nation of Israel to us and the world had benefited because God has sent the Lord Jesus the Messiah and yet sadly history shows us how Satan have influenced men people to hate Israel to hate the Jewish people it's always fascinating how can one hold the Bible in his hand and hate the people whom God had chosen to bring us the Bible in our own hands it is really fascinating but it only shows how the sin nature in us all of us Jew and Gentile is so terrible that we are often neglecting to appreciate what God has done for us and you know brothers

and sisters as we read this text Habakkuk give us a great example how we are to love God's people we are to love God's people Israel we are to love God's people the church the body of Messiah and we are to pray for God's people we are to seek the welfare of God's people whether the earthly people or the heavenly people we are to seek God's purposes and plan for his people as Israel fail so the church had failed as Israel gone wrong so we are seeing this today how the church gone wrong during these last days of the church age and imagine when we are going to stand before God it is only his

mercy is only his grace that will bring us to his presence and how thankful ought we to be for his complete grace towards us and we are to like Habakkuk said in wrath remember mercy remember mercy God upon your own people and so finally beloved brothers and sisters while we see the personal brokenness of Habakkuk and the remnant of Israel in verse 16a and we see the rest of Habakkuk and the remnant of Israel found in verse 16b and we see the personal joy that Habakkuk found in the Lord as the remnant of Israel will find in the Lord during the tribulation period the Jewish people doing the terrible days of tribulation so notice the

fourth thing that is found in verse 19 and this is really the final verse of the prophecy of Habakkuk and the fourth you might say attitude is the attitude of personal faith and trust in the Lord during times of stress we read in verse 19 the Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like a hind feet and he will make me to walk upon mine high places notice it is the Lord God that will give me strength Habakkuk says in the middle of trying it is the Lord God that will make my feet like hind feet that will allow me to run and to go forward it is he that make

me walk upon mine high places it is the Lord it's all from the Lord Habakkuk is saying it is all from God the people of Israel and the Jewish people of the tribulation period will say when they will experience the tribulation it is all of God you and I have to say in our life today it is really all of God we think sometimes that it is our self but it is not the Lord is my strength the Lord God is my strength he will make my feet like hind feet he will make me to walk upon mine high places it is all of God you remember what Yeshua said in John 15 without me

ye can do nothing he said this to the disciples in Jerusalem in the upper room before he went to die on that shameful cross for our sins he says without me you can do nothing God said I am your shield and your great reward to our father Abraham it is all of God it is not of man and Habakkuk closed this prayer of his in the third chapter from verse one a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionot notice that that word Shigionot is a passionate song a passionate prayer that the Jewish people would pray throughout the generation and you notice how he close this third chapter and I'm going to read that at the

end of verse 19 I'm just reading it now to the chief singer on my stringed instrument instrument you see in verse one the Shigionot the passionate song was handed over to the chief musician in the temple which at the time was still in existence because the Babylonian did not come to destroy the temple until 586 BC and he handing over that song he's handing over that prayer he's handing over that burden for his people and he's saying this will be the song that I will sing but this is the song that everyone among the people of Israel over the generation have been singing the songs of crying to the Lord in the midst of trouble

and seeking the Lord's help and saying yet I will rejoice in the Lord and I will joy in the God of my salvation David did the very same thing in Psalm 7 Shigion of David verse 1 which he sang unto the Lord concerning the words of Cush the Ben Gemini also David who had been suffering had been rejected had been the one the forefathers of Yeshua the Messiah of Yeshua became descendant of David he took that you might say this Shigion Shigion or Shigion this passionate song of prayer to God and he sang it and here Habakkuk takes the very same passionate prayer and he handed it over to the chief musician the chief singer

in Israel who will lead the whole company of singers in the temple to sing this with stringed instrument unto the Lord the whole choir and to sing that song of praise unto the Lord and what was that song in its culmination verses 17 18 and 19 let me sing it and read it one more time although the fig tree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in 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 joy in the God of my salvation

the Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like hind feet and he will make me to walk upon mine high places in the midst of tribulation it is only the Lord that will preserve his people and will bring eventually the restoration of Judah the restoration of Israel and culminate with the messianic kingdom that will happen yet in a future day and not only Israel beloved friend the whole world will enjoy this kingdom everyone will come from the east and from the west and will worship the king the messiah and they will rejoice as they will come to Jerusalem and they will enjoy that wonderful days of the future day of the

restoration of this world to the Lord we read in Isaiah chapter 2 and I'm going to conclude these verses beautiful verses that we read in Isaiah chapter 2 many many people shall go and say this is verse 3 of Isaiah 2 come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his path for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord form Jerusalem and he shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people and they shall beat their swords into plowshears and their spears into pruning

hooks nations shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war anymore O house of Jacob come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord Isaiah chapter 2 verses 3 4 and 5 O beloved brothers and sisters my heart is longing for this future day when there will be this final blessing to the whole world and the Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lord Israel restored to their place before God the world is restored to the place before God and every people and tongue and nation shall sing that hallelujah song to the King to the Messiah the one who loved us and

who first came to die for the sin of this world and and secondly he came to reign and to rule over the world that finally accepted him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lord this is our blessed Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah well that is the conclusion of the prophecy of Habakkuk the embracer of Israel well God bless you and may God bless his word take care and shalom shalom