We quickly move in time from the period immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem to when the remnant returned, after 70 years of exile in Babylon. Sixteen years later, two remarkable prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, were sent by God to the people living in Judah and Jerusalem (Ezra 5v1). Haggai’s word of the Lord (v1) came during the second year of king Darius and was a message for the two main leaders who had led the return from captivity, Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua, the priestly leader.
WE NEED TO BUILD GOD’S KINGDOM
The people had been putting off the decision to rebuild God’s house (v2) and their excuse was that they thought the time wasn’t right. The truth was that they had been looking after themselves and building their own “panelled houses” while God’s house lay in ruins (v4). This was disastrous because the value of the kingdom lay in God’s house, the place of God’s presence. It is still true, today, that if we do not give priority to the presence of God in our lives then things just do not work out as they should. Look at verse 6, “ you have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag full of holes.”
The foundation of the temple had been laid, shortly after their arrival under the leadership of Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:8-13), but opposition to the rebuild, approved by the Persian emperor Artaxerxes, stopped work for 16 years. It was, then, that God raised up Haggai (Ezra 5:1-2, 6:14) to give his message, a message of four separate prophecies and all within 4 months.
A PLACE OF HONOUR FOR GOD’S PRESENCE
The Lord told the people to get working (v8), to “go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house”. The Lord wanted to take pleasure in the place where his presence dwelt (v8), he wanted it to be a place where he was honoured. The Lord had withheld His blessing from His people and, even though, they could seem to gather much (v9) it all came to little, because He blew it away. The heavens (v10) had withheld their dew and the earth its produce. The Lord had called for a drought (v11) which affected all their production. In God’s kingdom we are the place of God’s presence and perhaps we, too, sometimes see famine in our own lives. It is possible that God’s blessing is withheld because we do not honour Him as we should.
GOD STIRS UP OUR SPIRIT
In verse 12 we can see that the remnant, leaders and people, for all their frailty and weakness, quickly responded to these words to obey and fear the Lord. They were encouraged with the promise (v13) “I am with you, says the Lord.” Once their heart was right, God could give them the spirit for the task ahead (v14) and they started work only 23 days after the Lord first spoke.
Notice in Ezra 1v1, God had stirred up the spirit of the Persian king Cyrus and then, in Ezra 1v5, we read that He stirred up the spirit of the remnant to return to Jerusalem. Now he was stirring up the spirit of his people to work.
GOD IS WITH US
In chapter 2 we read a second word of encouragement from the Lord that came through the prophet Haggai, about a month later. Their work seemed so insignificant (v3), especially to those who were old enough to have seen the glory of the previous temple. They were to take courage in their work because God was with them (v4) and He had promised, when they came out of Egypt (v5), that His Spirit would be among them and there was no need to fear. God reminded them that He was still working with them, just as He did in those ancient times when he demonstrated his power in such a remarkable way. It may seem small now but God was, “in a little while” (v6), about to shake the heavens and the earth and shake treasure out of the nations and fill the house with splendour (v7). The point, here, was that all the silver and gold was God’s anyway (v8). The latter splendour of the house was going to be greater than the former (v9). Hebrews 12v26-27 alludes to verse 6 and compares the shaking of nations, mentioned here, to his second coming when all created things will be shaken away and only God’s kingdom will remain, one that cannot be shaken. The house, therefore, is symbolic of God’s kingdom, the kingdom of his presence.
FROM THIS DAY ON I WILL BLESS YOU
Approximately two months later, yet another word came from the Lord when He told them that all the people, every offering and every work of their hands were unclean (v14). He reminded them of the barrenness they had experienced during the many years since the the foundation stone of God’s house had been laid (v18). Now, despite their weaknesses and seeming insignificance, God would make that very day a life changing occasion. God’s blessing was being restored (v19) and from that day He would bless them.
THE MESSIAH WOULD COME
A second time, on the very same day, the Lord had a special word for Zerubbabel, the governor. He promised that He was about to shake the heavens and the earth and to overthrow the throne of Gentile kingdoms. This He would do “every one by the sword of a comrade” (v22), using Assyria to punish their ally Israel, Babylon to punish Assyria, Medo-Persia to destroy Babylon etc. On that day, His “servant” Zerubbabel would be made like a signet ring because the Lord had chosen him. Jesus, a direct relative of Zerubababel, was to have the perfect servant heart, be chosen and anointed. As governor of Israel, descendant of David and ancestor of Jesus, Zerubbabel represented the Messianic hope that was being renewed and would ultimately be fulfilled with the coming of our Saviour. Kings sign their orders with a signet ring and Jesus is the signet ring on God’s right hand for He is now seated at the Father’s right hand with all power and authority.
This was only 500 years before the coming of Christ. This small remnant of people would become the nation in which the Saviour was born and, from Israel, would begin the great growth of God’s kingdom and from there into every nation of the world.
DWELLING PLACE FOR GOD
The letter to the Ephesians (2v17-22) explains how Jews and Gentiles have the same access to the Father through one Spirit. We who are in God’s kingdom are growing into a holy temple to the Lord, where we are built together, spiritually, into a dwelling place for God. (see also 1 Peter 2v5 and 1 Corinthians 3v16).
Haggai reminds us that we should give priority to God’s presence in our life and although the foundation has been laid, Jesus Christ Himself, the need for building upon the foundation remains. Living in a materialistic society we must remember not to be distracted from living lives that honour him. In obedience, we should follow Him and His Holy Spirit will empower us to build his kingdom.