Garden91季刊 │玉溪有容教育基金會發行

主前七世紀，上帝的選民北國以色列，在亞述統治飽受亡國奴的痛苦和恥辱；接續面臨的卻是巴比倫兵臨城下。先知哈巴谷站在城樓上瞭望，向耶和華上帝呼訴哀情，卻在禱告的結尾得聖靈安慰，於是說：

雖然無花果樹不發旺，葡萄樹不結果，橄欖樹不效力，田地不出糧，圈中絕了牛羊，然而，我仍因我的神，我靈魂的拯救者而歡心。

—《聖經．哈巴谷書》3章17-18節

Around 700 BC, God’s chosen people at the northern kingdom of Israel was taken captive by Assyrians and subjected to brutal oppression, followed by the heavy persecution by the Babylonians. Standing on top of a watch tower, Prophet Habakkuk pleaded with the Lord and at the end of his supplication, his soul was comforted.

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, 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.”

—Habakkuk 3:17-18