Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Then on
October 17 of that same year, the Lord sent another message
through the prophet Haggai. “Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,
governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to
the remnant of God’s people there in the land:
‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former
splendor? How, in comparison, does it
look to you now? It must seem like
nothing at all! But now
the Lord says: Be strong,
Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of
Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong,
all you people still left in the land.
And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of
Heaven’s Armies. My Spirit remains among
you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.’ “For this is what the Lord of
Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little
while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry
land. I will shake all the nations, and
the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of
Heaven’s Armies. The future glory of
this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of
Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I
will bring peace. I,
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”
Haggai 2:1-9(NLT)
The house of God
was a shadow of its’ former splendor by the time the prophet Haggai arrived on
the scene. God told the people three
things through this prophecy:
#1. Do not be afraid!
#2. Get to work!
#3. Everything you see belongs to God, and I’m
going to shake this place; the glory you remember will be nothing compared to
what you will see in the future!
This prophecy is a
strong reminder that (as Lent is so good at reminding us) finding ourselves in
a very dark place is not the end of light.
And that means the message of Haggai is as strong to God’s people today
as it was when God originally gave it.
The time of Haggai
was after the 70 year captivity of Babylon.
The prophet was probably born in captivity and had never seen
Jerusalem. When the exiles began
returning they found the Temple in shambles.
Work had begun to restore the House of God, but it had stopped abruptly
and people were steeped in their own building projects, restoring their
personal properties while the Temple lay in ruins. Reading what God said through the prophet
ought to stir our hearts to consider the state of God’s house in our local
communities.
Today we live in a
dark culture, obsessed with materialism, sex, and whatever new amusement comes
on the scene. On Sundays most houses of
worship struggle just to keep the doors open.
I am not a prophet
in the sense of foretelling the future.
However, it is a pastor’s calling to be a prophet in the sense of
forth-telling what God has already said, or reminding God’s people of His Word:
God said through
Haggai – do not be afraid.
Apply that to the way we live today, in fear of bombers, shooters, stock
markets, and elected self-serving glory-grabbers.
God said through
Haggai – get to work. No
matter how much it sometimes feels like you may be using a teaspoon to shovel
the tide back into the ocean, whatever you do in God’s name can be multiplied
beyond your wildest imagination; remember that God can feed a multitude of
thousands with a boy’s lunch of a few loaves and fishes.
God said through
Haggai – you watch me shake this place. When God’s people act in faith, get to work,
and leave the rest to God, the world will wonder what just happened!
For You Today
Have you looked
around at the landscape of things and decided, like an exile returning to the
crumbled ruins, that we are beyond hope?
Look up! Our redemption isn’t
that far off! God specializes in shaking
dark places!
You chew on that as you hit the
Rocky Road; have a blessed day.
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