The rebuilding of the Temple of God came to a halt, because of the harassment from the Samaritans and the pressure from the Persian officials.
• And it stopped for 16 years, until the 2nd year of King Darius’ reign. With the Temple unbuilt, God was left out of their mind and their lives.
• The remnant was distracted into other concerns and neglected the work of God completely. They needed a wake-up call.
Read Ezra 5:1-2
We started Ezra 1 with the move of God, stirring the heart of King Cyrus and also the remnant, leading them to take the journey back to Jerusalem.
• We have yet another move of God in Ezra 5. God raised His prophets to stir the hearts of his people back to work on His Temple.
• Haggai spoke regarding the Temple of God, while Zechariah encouraged the people with visions of God’s future plans for Israel.
The long neglect to the Temple led to spiritual apathy. With God out of their minds and their lives, the people became complacent. They needed to hear from God.
• And God spoke, through Haggai - Haggai 1:1-11
1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "These people say, `The time has not yet come for the LORD's house to be built.'"
3 Then the Word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 4 "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while this house remains a ruin?"
5 Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."
7 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honoured," says the LORD. 9 "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labour of your hands."
Clearly the people has forgotten about God. They spent their time building their own houses and their own lives.
• Yet they were not really living well because they have ignored the true Source of their blessings. They were making a living by their own efforts.
• The Lord described their situation this way – they were planting much but harvesting little; they eat and never get enough; they drink but never get satisfied; they earn their wages but always lacking, like putting money in purses with holes.
• These were signs of their abandoning God. They left God out of their lives.
The Lord says, “You need to give careful thought to your ways” (mentioned 5 times in this book).
• In order words, if they think properly and ponder carefully, they would understand the reason why.
• They need to return to God. And the first step towards that is to rebuild the house of God!
Not that they have not started. The foundation to the Temple had already been laid, some 16 years ago.
• Clearly they were discouraged by the persecution and side-tracked into looking at their own concerns rather than God’s concern.
The people heard the Word of God. Haggai 1:12-15.
12Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.
13Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: "I am with you," declares the LORD. 14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.
They knew it was the Word of God. They did not regard it as Haggai’s words or some good suggestion.
• The people OBEYED the VOICE of the Lord and the message of Haggai BECAUSE God has sent him. And the people FEARED the Lord!
• Faith comes from hearing the Word of God. God stirred the spirit of Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the whole remnant of the people.
We see yet another amazing move of GOD’S SPIRIT.
• Verse 14b They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, 15on the 24th day of the 6th month in the 2nd year of King Darius.
• When did they first hear the Word of God from Haggai? Haggai 1:1 says in the 2nd year of Darius, on the 1st day of the 6th month.
• In just over 3 weeks! The people responded to God’s Word and got back to work in 3 weeks, after 16 long years of inaction.
This is the move of God. Revival is a work of God. No one can manufacture this.
• It is the work of God’s Spirit as man responds to His Word. They are not Haggai’s words but the words of the LORD Almighty.
• God can restart something in 24 days even though it has been dead for 16 years!
Man’s part is to give careful thought to his ways and respond to God’s Word in faith and obedience. Don’t resist Him; let him stir your heart.
• Do not quench the Spirit (1 Thess 5:19). Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God… (Eph 4:30)
And don’t under-estimate what God can do. Haggai spoke FOUR messages of God in his short two-chapter book (2nd shortest in the OT after Obadiah).
• All 4 messages given over a span of 4 months in the 2nd year of Darius’ reign.
• Quite insignificant, right? Yet God uses Haggai to accomplish something great.
Why didn’t God speak earlier? We do not know. God did not explain.
• If earlier, the situation might not be right - people’s hearts may not be ready, the Persian pressure is too strong, or that God is preparing His prophets for the task.
• But whatever the reason, we know that at this right time, God sent Haggai and moved His people to fulfil His purpose.
• You say ‘The time has not yet come…’ (cf. 1:2), the Lord says, it has come now.
What happened next? They restarted the work. Again they faced resistance, but not as bad as the previous one.
Read Ezra 5:3-17
The governor of the land and his associates questioned the workers: Who give you permission to do this? What are the names of those doing this?
• They were being watched, but not just by Tattenai; author Ezra says “the eyes of God were also upon the elders” (5:5) who were leading the project.
• What God sets in motion, He watches over. The authorities called for an official investigation but the work continued by God’s grace, under His watchful eyes.
About a month on, the Lord assured them of His presence and protection.
Hagga 2:1-9
1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 2 "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, 3`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? 4 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. For I am with you,' declares the LORD Almighty. 5`This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.'
6 "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. 7 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. 8`The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. 9`The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. `And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."
“Be strong, be strong, be strong, for I am with you. Do not fear.”
• And if they think that this Temple is pathetic compared to the former, let me tell you this, “I will fill this house with glory. The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,” says the Lord Almighty.
• It could be a reference to Christ, Son of God, stepping into the Temple in NT times, or further into the future in the millennium based on the vision Ezekiel saw.
• But the point is, the latter is glorious than the former. Don’t keep looking back and feel sad. The greater glory is in front!
The other prophet ZECHARIAH prophesied through the 8 visions he received, not just the completion of the Temple but the future reign of the Messiah from Jerusalem.
• His theme is that this nation would be judged for sin (5:1–11) but they would also be cleansed and restored (3:1–10), and God would rebuild His people (1:7–17).
• At the end of his book, Zechariah prophesied into the distant future, proclaiming that the Messiah would eventually reign and Israel be delivered (12:1–14:21).
• God lifts the eyes of the remnant from the present, to the glorious hope and salvation that He is accomplishing through this nation.
And looking back at the present, if they think that the resources were limited, then remember this: “the silver is mine and the gold is mine.” (Haggai 2:8)
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As they continued the work, the Persian officials reported it to Darius.
• Through this report, we see a revived remnant testifying of their faith in God.
• They are “servants of the God of heaven and earth”, not some local god that Cyrus might have thought.
• They recounted their history and confessed their sin, admitting that they had angered God and were punished. But God brought them back again.
God is present and He watches over His people. He guides them through every situation and moves them to fulfil His will.
• We keep faith with this God today. We do not want to be discouraged or be distracted by earthly concerns. We heed His call and do what He says.
• We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, remember.
