Persevering In The Lord's Work Series

PERSEVERING IN THE LORD’S WORK

Haggai 2:1-9

Quite often, I begin certain projects and about halfway through the process I ask, “what was I thinking getting myself into this?” Sometimes tasks that we think will be relatively easy to accomplish become far more complicated than we expected and it isn’t long before discouragement and frustration set in.

The same is true concerning our work for the Lord. We may volunteer for a certain position within the church, seek to advance the Kingdom in some way outside of the church, or even surrender to a specific call to ministry with great excitement and the best of intentions. Then, after a period of time we find that things are far more difficult that we could have ever imagined. At times we experience great frustration and discouragement and that may lead us to a point where we are ready to give up and quit.

Our selected text shows us that when the Lord calls us to serve Him in any capacity, if we will be faithful and obedient, we can trust in the reality that He is with us, He will equip us, and He will enable us to accomplish any task that He assigns. I would like for us to examine this passage and consider the subject “Persevering In The Lord’s Work”.

Less than a month after beginning the work of reconstructing the Temple, the remnant began to experience great frustration and discouragement. There were some who were alive before the Babylonian exile and had seen Solomon’s Temple before it was destroyed. The current ruins of the Temple seemed “as nothing in their eyes” compared to “the former glory” they once observed.

In a moment that reveals the intimate interest that God takes in the lives of His children, the Lord sent another message of hope through the prophet Haggai. In an effort to encourage His people, the Lord said, “Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts” (v3).

God goes on to assure His people that He would be with them just as He was with their ancestors when He established the nation through a covenant at Sinai. Similar to the way that He shook Pharaoh and the Egyptians, the LORD declares that “in a little while”, He will once again “shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and …all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in”. “The LORD of Hosts” went on to promise that He will “fill this house with glory”. The LORD wanted His people to know that the silver and gold belongs to Him and “the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former”.

This passage provides much encouragement for those who are currently serving the Lord. It also provides reassurance for those who have become discouraged. The remainder of the Book of Haggai shows us that

WE CAN KNOW GOD’S PLAN

Haggai’s first oracle was delivered to the people on August 29; twenty-three days later on September 21st, 520 BC the people began to work; now, less than a month later the Lord sends His people another message though His prophet Haggai. This oracle was delivered “on the twenty-first day of the (seventh) month”, which would be October 17th, 520 B.C. This would have been the next to last day of the Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles).

The Feast of Tabernacles is the seventh feast that the Lord commanded Israel to observe and one of the three feasts that Jews were to observe each year by going to “appear before the LORD your God in the place which He shall choose” (Deuteronomy 16:16). Interestingly, it was during the Feast of Tabernacles that Solomon’s Temple was dedicated to the Lord (1 Kings 8:2).

This feast (as well as the others) was instituted by God as a way of reminding Israelites in every generation of their deliverance by God from Egypt. The Feast of Tabernacles begins and ends with a special Sabbath day of rest. During the days of the feast, all Israelites were to dwell in booths to remind them that God had delivered them out of the land of Egypt, and to look forward to the coming Messiah who would deliver His people from the bondage of sin. All of the prescribed feasts of Israel were a constant reminder to the Jews of God’s provision, protection, and steadfast love.

In chapter one the Lord sent a message through “Haggai”, to “Zerubbabel” & “Joshua”, and then to “the remnant of the people”. In that first message the Lord confronted the people’s attitude; the Temple was not their priority; they were focused instead on building luxurious homes for themselves. Admirably, the people received the Lord’s message and responded with fear and obedience. By this point they have been working on the Temple for three weeks and many had already become discouraged. Now, the Lord sends another message to the same people He had previously instructed to build the Temple.