God Wins
Haggai 2:20-23
Rev. Brian Bill
2/26/12
Since this is the last sermon in our “Now is the Time” series from the Book of Haggai, and the closing passage centers in on just one individual, I’m going to do something a bit different today. I’m going to take on the character of Zerubbabel and explain these verses utilizing a first-person narration. You’re going to have to use your imagination because I’m not going to change my wardrobe or don some sandals. Imagine if you will that my name is really “Zerubbabill.”
In order to understand what I’m going to be sharing let’s begin by reading Haggai 2:20-23: “The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: ‘Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I will shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother. On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
I’ve got to tell you that I felt very alone, discouraged and disappointed. I was in a dead-end job with no future. I had been promised promotions but they never came. When I tried to motivate my co-workers they ignored me and did what they wanted...for 16 years! I was born in another country and never felt like I belonged anywhere. I was embarrassed about my family and was trying to do all I could to break the cycle of spiritual unfaithfulness. Whenever someone would bring up what my grandfather did I would just cringe. On top of all this, I had a name that people made fun of. Even I had a hard time spelling it and just to pronounce it reminded me of my unholy heritage.
My name is Zerubbabel, which means “son of Babel” because I was born in Babylon. My name meant “loser” as far as I was concerned.
Do you ever feel like a failure? Do you feel alone? Discouraged? Are you disappointed with the way things are going? As you look at your family tree do you ever wonder if you can break generational dysfunction? Do you feel like giving up? Is your marriage a mess? Is your confidence shaken? I get the sense that there’s a lot of pain among the people here at PBC so I’d like us to pause right now and pray silently. Pray about what’s on your mind or pray for a hurting person you know.
Let me tell you what God taught me. I don’t want to bore you with my family background but it’s important that you know from whence I come. I come from a line of kings. My grandfather was one of the kings of Judah. His name is hard to pronounce as well. His name was Jehoichin, AKA Jekoniah or Coniah. I think he had different aliases because of some terrible things he did. I’ll try to talk more about him later…if I’m up to it.
When the offer was made to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, I was all in. This was my opportunity to make up for all the failures in my family. What a privilege to go and build! This wouldn’t be so bad. After all, the king was providing money and materials and safe passage for us to get there. I was also going to be with guys I really looked up to – Ezra and Nehemiah, and Haggai and Zechariah, among others.
We jumped in and tackled the task when we arrived. We worked hard for about two years. We finished the foundation and built the altar so we could reinstitute sacrifices and start celebrating some feasts again. But you know how easy it is to start off strong and then hit a wall, don’t you? My teammates started getting bogged down by all the opposition we were facing. The work was hard.
And then they started whining about how they never got a chance to work on their own places. And so they just stopped working…for 16 years! God’s house was in ruins but their own homes were beautiful and even opulent. The people even used the materials designated for the Temple to panel their living spaces! In the interest of full disclosure, I need to say that I became very self-centered as well, thinking I could do life without God at the center.
I was frustrated that they wouldn’t listen to me and I felt like a failure because I couldn’t rally them. I also started to feel sorry for myself. Here I was the governor but really, what did I govern? My relatives were royalty and here I was in this dusty and dry land, staring at unfinished work, feeling like a lame leader, knowing that another king in another country was really in charge. I guess my family’s curse and dysfunction was my destiny as well.
God’s Word at the Right Time
Some of you can relate to how wonderful it is to encounter God’s Word at just the right time. When all hope had almost evaporated, God used Scripture to speak to me. It was during the same day that Haggai preached the sermon you have recorded in Haggai 2:10-19. That sermon really motivated the people to persevere in the task, knowing that God was going to bless them. Later that day, “The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time…”
I thought that maybe God had some more preaching for the people but this time He was singling me out. At first I was afraid that the Almighty was going to clobber me and continue the curse on my life. But it wasn’t like that at all: “Tell Zerubbabel, governor of Judah…” I was surprised when I heard my name but grateful that God was thinking about me and had a message for me. Some of you need to know this morning that God is crazy about you! Hold on to the words found in Psalm 139:1-4: “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.”
After hearing my name I was then called “governor.” I didn’t want to be reminded that I was governor but God knew that’s what I was. Likewise, God knows what situation you are in right now.
And then He said some things that really got my attention. God wasn’t done. He had a plan and He was going to follow that plan. Babylon was big but God was bigger. Persia was powerful but God was more powerful. God was weaving His way and His will for His glory…as He always does.
I was really struck by the forcefulness of the words. There were no “maybes” or “mights” about it. What God says He will accomplish. I’ll read it to you the way I first heard it: “…I will shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.” The first thing that came to my mind was this: He’s God and I’m not. It’s all about the Almighty because He wins in the end.
These words made me think of how he shook the heavens when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. I also remembered what God did to the Egyptians when their chariots and drivers were wiped out by the waters of the Red Sea. Everywhere I looked I saw reminders of the power of Persia, but God was way more powerful. God was about to do something similar in the future, only this time it will be even bigger. I was encouraged to hear that God was going to shake things up and shatter kingdoms. 1 John 2:17 says, “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
God’s Future Plans
And then I heard the Lord Almighty say, “On that day…” I knew that this was a reference to the coming day of the Lord. Many of the prophets used similar words to refer to the “last days.” When that phrase comes up it’s a signal that what follows has do with future fulfillment.
What God said next made me quickly realize that while he uses my name He was talking about me as a representative of the kingly line from the tribe of Judah. Let me explain what I mean by walking through the phrases found in Haggai 2:23.
“I will take you” – The word “take” is a common verb in Hebrew that was used when God changed the status of someone. My mind went back to 2 Samuel 7:8 when God said this about David: “I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel.” God took me from Babylon to rebuild the temple but I think he had more in mind because this word was also used of kings being anointed for kingship. That certainly couldn’t apply to me personally.
“My servant Zerubbabel” – When he called me a servant, I got spiritual Goosebumps. While this was a compliment, there’s more to this title. First, it made me feel like I wasn’t just a governor but that I was actually God’s servant. But more than that, this word “servant” was used in many passages to refer to the coming Messiah, or Promised One. One such use is found in Isaiah 42:1: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.” This was fulfilled by Jesus. Here’s another clear connection from Isaiah 53:11: “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.”
“Son of Shealtiel” – By referring to my father, I was being reminded again of the royalty that was in my genealogy.
“And I will make you like my signet ring” – Three words were ringing in my ears: shake, take and make. He was going to shake things up, take me from being a lonely leader and make me into something that was hard to get me fingers around. You can’t relate to this in your culture but a signet ring was a very common symbol of honor, authority and power. This ring was used to sign and seal documents as it was pressed into hot wax. A king guarded his ring because it represented his reign.
Today you use seals or embossers to authenticate ownership, much like this one your pastor uses to identify which books belong to him (actually, he wanted me to ask if you have any of his books you haven’t returned). For those with kids in college, it would be a bit like your FAFSA Pin Number. For those who are in the process of adopting a child, verification of authenticity is extremely important. I’ve gladly filled out letters of recommendation for several PBC couples on church letterhead and then taken them to be notarized. These documents then need an apostille affixed to them, which is a step above being notarized. In some instances, these documents then need to be authenticated by the consulate from the country where the child is from.
A signet ring accomplished all this…and more. God was telling me that he was going to turn me into a signet ring. There’s more significance to this but I’m going to have to explain what happened to my grandpa in order to fully understand what God is saying.
Before I do I need to be upfront about what my great grandfather did. His name was Jehoiakim. When confronted with Scripture, instead of believing it, he decided to burn it. I heard that something similar happens today when people read the Bible and ignore what it says. Or when they say, “I know what the Bible says, but…” The story about my great grandpa is found in Jeremiah 36. I grew up knowing what verse 31 said: “I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.” That’s not much of a family blessing, is it?
Ok, now I’ll tell you about my grandpa. He only served as king for three months and then was deported to Babylon. I’m going to read from the prophet Jeremiah and I’d like you to listen for the words, “signet ring.”
Jeremiah 22:24-27: “‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘even if you, Jehoichin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear – to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians. I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. You will never come back to the land you long to return to.’”
And there’s more. In verse 30 we read: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.’”
Well, I was one of his offspring…sort of. I don’t tell this to a lot of people, not because I’m embarrassed but more because I’m not entirely certain, but I believe I was adopted by a man named Shealtiel. I found a clue about this in 1 Chronicles 3:19 where my birth dad is named Pedaiah. I hear that there’s an adoption movement taking place at PBC. That’s really cool because you’re engrafting the forgotten into a new family tree of faithfulness. Check this out. If I was adopted then I had all the rights of sonship but the curse that came from my grandpa did not cascade on me. Or, at least this was what I held on to throughout my life. But when I saw how everything was going I was convinced that I was under a curse.
Let me stop and ponder this. If my grandpa was told that he was like a signet ring that was pulled off, then could God be reversing the curse by making me into a signet ring? How could that be? Could God actually be restoring the line to the Messiah through me?
There’s one more phrase found in verse 23: “For I have chosen you” – I was now convinced that while God was speaking to me, He must have someone else in mind. The word “chosen” was used when appointing kings. And you’re aware that this was ultimately used of Jesus Christ in 1 Peter 2:4: “As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him.”
Well, that’s my story…and I’m sticking to it, because God has stuck with me. I’d like to pass along some life lessons that I learned.
Life Lessons
1. Let God’s Word come to you. If you want to hear a word from God, you must be in the Word of God. Don’t wait for a feeling or an experience. Instead, soak yourself in Scripture. In Zechariah 4:6 God singled me out again with a wonderful promise and reminder because I’m prone to try to do things in my own strength: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” This was directed to me but I’m happy to share it with you. Are you in the Word on a regular basis?
2. Trust God’s timing. Have you noticed that we almost always have to wait for God to do something? That’s ok. That’s the way He set it up. The words He said to me didn’t come to fulfillment for five hundred years when Jesus was born. But God’s timing is perfect and He will perfectly carry out His plan. Listen to the five times God uses the pronoun “I” in these four verses.
I will shake
I will overturn
I will overthrow
I will take you
I will make you
If you’ve been waiting for something for a long time, hold on to Isaiah 14:24: “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.” When problems are dominating your life, understand God’s dominion.
3. It’s all about Jesus. Did you notice that I just disappear from the scene after showing up in a couple books of the Bible? Do you know why? Because it’s not about me; it’s all about Jesus. God was reversing the curse beginning with me and now my descendant, Jesus the Christ, has taken the rightful throne of David. The angel Gabriel announced it this way in Luke 1:32-33: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Check this out. It’s pretty crazy. Both Matthew and Luke list my name in the genealogy of Jesus! Matthew 1:12: “After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel.” And Luke 3:27: “The son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel.”
And speaking of Jesus, He became the Signet Ring of God the Father according to John 6:27: “On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.” Hebrews 1:3 adds: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…”
Remember this. When you’re reading the Old Testament, look for prophecies and representations of Jesus Christ because the Scriptures are fulfilled by the Savior. One of the clearest statements about all this comes from Jesus Himself in Luke 24:27: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
By the way, I heard you’re beginning a new series next week from the Gospel of Luke and that you’re celebrating the Lord’s Supper. I hope you take some time to get ready for that.
4. God can free you from dysfunction. God can reverse the curse. You can do things differently than your parents or grandparents did. God can start a new family tree of faithfulness beginning with you! Pour into your kids and grandkids, and into your nieces and nephews. Fill in the gap.
Jesus died in our place, taking our punishment, so that we might be free. We could say it like this: “Because of grace, Jesus took our place.” Maybe you think you don’t qualify because you’ve messed up so much. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done; what matters is what Jesus has done. There is grace for everyone. Jesus has promised to set us free in John 8:36: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
5. Join God’s team if you want to win. If you’re on God’s team by putting your faith and trust in Jesus as your Savior, you win. How can I say that? Because God wins in the end and if you’re on His team you win as well.
If you’re a born again believer, you’ve been sealed with the Holy Spirit according to Ephesians 1:13: “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” And 2 Timothy 2:19 says: “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his…’”
Check out the last two words of the book: “Lord Almighty.” This title means, “The God of the Armies of Heaven.” It’s not about me…and it’s not about you. It’s all about Him. There’s a battle going on between good and evil but the battle’s already been won because of what was done on the Cross.
Closing Song: “Battle”
