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REVIEW
Let’s review last week’s introduction to the book of Haggai:
• Author: Haggai the prophet
• Date: 520 B.C.
• Recipients: The exiled Jews who had returned to their homeland to rebuild the temple
• Occasion: Opposition and apathy had brought the work to a standstill
• Purpose: To motivate the people to complete the rebuilding the temple
The book of Haggai is called a Minor Prophet, but it has a major message for our lives today.
“IT’S NOT LIKE THE OLD DAYS”
Haggai’s first message was given to people who were apathetic about the work. His second message was given to people who were discouraged in the work.
It’s one thing to be motivated to start something. It’s another thing to be encouraged to not give up.
It’s easy to start a new project. It’s easy to start a new diet. It’s easy to start a new exercise program. It’s more difficult to persevere, especially when disappointments come.
[Read Haggai 2:1-9]
Haggai’s second message was delivered on October 17, 520 B.C., almost a month after the beginning of the work. The people were now discouraged. Why were they discouraged? Because they compared the current temple to Solomon’s magnificent temple (destroyed sixty-six years earlier by the Babylonians).
October 17 was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Jews would have been reminded of Solomon’s temple because it was during the this festival over four centuries earlier that Solomon had dedicated his temple (1 Kings 8:2). The older Jews who had seen Solomon’s temple were disappointed with the rebuilt temple. In comparison, it was nothing.
On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?’” (2:1-3).
The older generation had also expressed disappointment sixteen years earlier when the temple’s foundation was completed. “And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard from far away” (Ezra 3:11-13).
“Who despises the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10).
Comparing can easily discourage us. (“I’m nothing compared to…” “Our church is nothing compared to…”)
God’s work done God’s way is never INSIGNIFICANT.
WORDS FOR DISCOURAGED PEOPLE
What does God say to us in our times of discouragement?
1. Be STRONG.
“‘But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work’” (2:4a).
Why? Because of God’s PRESENCE.
“‘For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you’” (2:4b-5a).
a. The ALMIGHTY God is with us.
God is repeatedly called “the LORD Almighty” in the book of Haggai (14 times). The KJV says “the LORD of Hosts.” “Hosts” refers to the armies of angels. “The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46:11).
God said, “My Spirit remains among you.” “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6). “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
b. The UNCHANGING God is with us.
The Feast of Tabernacles was an annual reminder of the Israelites’ exodus and their 40 years in the wilderness. Maybe the great acts of God in the past (ten plagues, parting of the Red Sea, manna) had intensified the people’s present gloom (not even God is what He used to be!). Maybe they were like Gideon, who said, “If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’” (Judges 6:13).
The same God who parted the Red Sea was with them now. God hadn’t changed. And the same God is with us now. God hasn’t changed. And He will never change.
c. The FAITHFUL God is with us.
God had made a covenant with the nation of Israel when they came out of Egypt. He had promised to be with them. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them [your enemies], for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).
Even though the nation frequently sinned against God, He remained faithful to His covenant. And He will remain faithful to the promise He has given us: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
2. Do not FEAR.
“Do not fear” (2:5b).
Why? Because of God’s PLAN.
How is this prophecy of 2:6-9 fulfilled? “In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory” (2:6-7).
Zerubbabel’s temple was rebuilt by Herod (destroyed in A.D. 70). Each temple was seen as a continuation of the previous temple(s).
• The prophecy may refer to the body of Christ.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ But the temple had had spoken of was his body” (John 2:19-21).
“When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split” (Matthew 27:50-51).
Once God met His people in the temple; now He meets us in Jesus Christ.
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple [the church, body of Christ; “shake all nations”?] and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
• The prophecy may refer to the millennial temple.
Many Christians believe that the temple will be rebuilt when Christ returns (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4).
• The prophecy may refer to the heavenly temple.
“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it” (Revelation 21:22-24).
• The prophecy may have all three in mind.
a. The KINGDOM is coming.
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land’” (2:6).
“Once more” speaks of the precedence of the shaking. God had shaken the earth at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16-19). He would shake the earth when Christ was crucified. And He will shake the heavens and the earth when Christ returns.
“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush al those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever” (Daniel 2:44).
“In a little while” speaks of the imminence of the shaking. Christ could return at any moment.
“Immediately after the distress of those days ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn [nations shaken?]. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:29-30).
b. The KING is coming.
“‘I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty” (2:7).
Two possible meanings of “the desired of all nations”: (1) “the treasures of all nations” (NLT), or (2) the Messiah, “the Desire of all nations” (NKJV).
“‘See, I will send my messenger [John the Baptist], who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking [Christ] will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant [Christ] whom you desire, will come,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Malachi 3:1).
Eternal life through faith in Christ is what people really desire, whether they realize it or not.
c. GLORY is coming.
“‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty” (2:8-9a).
“Glory” may means material splendor or God’s presence.
d. PEACE is coming.
“‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty” (2:9b).
God “made peace through [Christ’s] blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20).
Christ will bring world peace as the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). “Of the increase of government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever” (Isaiah 9:7).
In heaven, we will enjoy eternal peace. “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).
THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
Now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things, so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so working God acceptably with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:26-28).
Because of God’s presence and plan, we can live with UNSHAKEABLE strength and courage!
