Let’s recap. The Israelites came back from 70-years of captivity in Babylon.
• They rebuilt the altar and started work on the Temple but the local Samaritans opposed them (cf. Ezra 3).
• They were so discouraged they stopped work for some 16 years. Nothing was done to God’s house while they busy themselves with their own houses.
God sent prophets Haggai and Zechariah to get the people back to the work.
• Haggai delivers God’s Word in 4 messages over a span of 4 months.
• Through him, God stirred the hearts of the people and got them to resume the work on the Temple of God.
• The first message was a rebuke and a wake-up call. The people neglected God’s house and hence suffered the consequences of not having God in their lives.
It was not the physical building that was the issue. It was God’s place in their lives.
• Without the Temple it would mean no proper worship. With no worship, it would mean God would be out of their minds and hearts.
• The context of the first message tells it all. We need God for the harvests. Ultimately He is the One who provides and blesses, even the labour of our hands (1:11).
• 1:11 “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.” A drought on all their labours!
• Prayer of Moses in Psalm 90:17 “May the favour of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us - yes, establish the work of our hands.”
• As farmers, the Israelites would understand this more acutely than us.
I liked the way God puts it: “Give careful thought to your ways” (said twice). Think. Think carefully and consider. They were not coerced into it.
• And it took them 23 days to think. The message came on 1st day of the 6th month, and “14…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.” (1:14b-15)
Let’s continue with Haggai 2:1-5.
They started work on the 24th day of the 6th month, and now we have a 2nd message from God on the 21st day of the 7th month, barely a month since the work started.
• And hearing what God said - “Be strong, Zerubbabel”, “Be strong, Joshua” and “Be strong, all you people of the land and work… Do not fear.” - we can almost read the sentiments on the ground.
• They were discouraged and fearful (lack of courage). The Lord was responding to what they were thinking and feeling.
• God asked Haggai to ASK THEM rhetorical questions to surface what the people were already thinking and feeling.
• It shows us God knew and understood. God knows what you are going through.
• It was precisely because God knew that He spoke. The Word came to address their concerns.
Clearly the new Temple was nowhere near as splendid as the old one, the Solomon’s Temple. God knew it, the people knew it, and the leaders knew it.
• The book of Ezra records that later when the new Temple was dedicated, shouts of joy were mixed with sounds of weeping (3:10-13).
• The older returnees from exile, possibly including Haggai himself, remembered the original glory of Solomon’s Temple.
It was a stark contrast. The previous Temple was obviously bigger and grander and glittering with gold, literally.
• If we take a glance at the accounts of how Solomon builds the Temple in 1 Kings 6 and 2 Chron 3, we can understand why.
• On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, Solomon carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the Temple with gold.
• The interior of the temple was made with imported cedars from Lebanon, decked out with precious stones, and the whole place was overlaid in gold.
But this was not the point. The size and beauty of the Temple wasn’t the important part. God wasn’t concerned about the facade.
• He could have provided the gold if He wanted to. “The silver is mine and the gold is mine,” the Lord said (2:8).
• In fact, both times in the rebuilding, at the start and now at the resumption of the rebuilding, resources have been provided for by King Cyrus and King Darius.
• God would move the Persians to give if that was what is truly required.
But pessimism set in when the people began to compare.
• It happens to all of us when we start comparing with the church down the street, the grades our neighbour’s kid is getting, the house our colleague stays in, or the pay my peers are getting…
• Or comparing with the past, like what the Jews were thinking here. Look at the GOOD old days, look at our past glories and achievements. And look at our pathetic situation now.
• And we don’t ask what is God’s will for us, or what does God want us to do, as the people of God back in Jerusalem after 70 years, because of the promise of God?
And the Lord added, “Do not fear” (2:5) at the end, possibly because the work was too daunting for their small group, or that the oppositions against the rebuilding resurfaced.
• But whatever the difficulties, this was the will of God for them.
• 2:4-5 “BE STRONG, all you people of the land,' declares the LORD, `AND WORK.’
• And then the Lord says, “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.'”
The FOR is very important. On what basis you are telling us BE STRONG. How can they be strong? The Lord says FOR and followed by the 3 reasons for our confidence:
• “I am with you” – that God’s presence.
• “I made a covenant with you when you stepped out of Egypt” – that His covenantal promise, that’s about 800 years ago.
• And “my Spirit remains among you” – that’s His power. Jesus says the Comforter (paraclete) will come, He is our advocate, our helper.
If the first message answers the question, “Is this the work of God?”
• Think carefully, is the rebuilding of MY HOUSE something that you need to do?
Then the second message answers the question, “Is God in it with you?”
• Are you doing this alone, and with your own resources? Am I not with you?
• If God is in it with them, then nothing is trivial. So be strong and work!
Notice God directed the people to Himself. It’s not about the work per se but Him.
• His word to Joshua was the same: “Be strong and courageous, because I am with you.” What about the giants in the land? What about us looking like grasshoppers?
• God has already factored everything in when He said, “Trust me. I am with you.”
• Our confidence is not in ourselves; not in our skills, resources, manpower or whatever, although we need them. As God's people, our confidence is in God.
• Is this God’s work? Is God with us in it? If this is God’s will, we stay strong and work.
Frankly the present Temple really pales in comparison to the previous one, Solomon’s Temple. This wasn’t fake news.
• This was a modest structure until the Romans came and King Herod refurbished it and expanded it in 1st Century BC prior to Jesus’ arrival.
• It was small and simple but does it matter? Was this God’s concern?
• Are we looking at the wrong things? Are we using the wrong yardstick to measure success in the work of God?
• Are the Jews looking at the size of the structure and the amount of gold they could see on it?
What about God? What is He looking at? Listen to He says next: Haggai 2:6-9.
Notice the many “I will…” God was looking into the future and telling His people the great plan He has for this place.
• A few things we are sure. (1) This will take place in the future. (2) This place will be filled with glory. (3) The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house. (4) In this place God will grant peace.
God did not give us more details than this. We do not know the precise moment or situation when this takes place. Therefore scholars are divided in their opinions.
• It could refer to the coming of Jesus when He enters into the Temple (Herod’s Temple, the expanded ‘Second Temple’), when the ‘desired’ of all nations will come, referring to Jesus. The Son of God steps into this place.
• Or it could refer to the second coming of Christ, because of the shaking of the heavens and earth, quoted in Heb 12:26-29, which could refer to the Day of Judgment on His return.
• It could also refer to the Temple during the Millennium time, according to the vision that Ezekiel saw (Ezekiel 43), when Jesus returns as the King of kings and the Lord of lords and bringing lasting peace.
• And it could have multiple fulfilments. We don’t have to get hung up on these details.
Whatever it is, the remnant can be sure of this – God will act and the future glory of this place will be greater than that of the past or even what they are seeing now.
• Frankly, how we see things is not as important as how God sees it.
• Whatever the remnant was doing is a precursor to the greater things to come.
• None of them would live to see this ‘glorious’ day the Lord plans for! They were called to obey God and do His will - to build this house of God.
• The ultimate fulfilment of God’s plan will come in the distant future.
The prophecies were not given to them for them to guess and speculate about the future. They were given to strengthen our resolve to build God’s house.
• Notice, success in the work cannot be measured in their lifetime. In order words, they did not see the ‘greater glory’ that the Lord mentions. It’s fine.
• Rev 14:13 says blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. They will rest from their labours and their deeds will follow them.
• God will use what they do to bring about His greater glory. Sometimes, we can only see the fruit of our labours, not at the end of a service, but at the end of age.
The question is, can we stay strong and do the work of God?
• 1 Cor 15:58 “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.”
• How can we stay strong and remain faithful? We trust His presence, His promises and His power for us through the Holy Spirit.
Today we are called to build up the spiritual house of God – 1 Peter 2:1-5.
• Occasionally, of course, God wants us to build church buildings in the mission fields but that’s the exception and not the norm.
• 1 Peter 2:1-5 1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him – 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
This is our preoccupation today:
Building up the body of Christ, the community of God’s people, encouraging one another to grow up as mature disciples who can disciple others.
If we are discouraged or tired, then remember God’s Word here through Haggai.
• Get back to knowing God and understanding His will for us. Remember the 3 P’s.
• We are never alone when we are doing God’s work.
Martin Luther went through a season of his life facing great persecution. He wrote this hymn and we will close with it today.
• Hymn: A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD.
