"In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, "Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 'Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet 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. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.'" Haggai 2:1-9 ESV
Bernard Gilpen was a faithful bible believing word centered preacher who was taken into custody for preaching the gospel during the time of Queen Mary who was radically persecuting Protestants. He was taken to London for certain death by being burned at the stake, but to the amusement of the guards he kept saying, “Everything is for the best.” On the way he fell off his horse and was hurt, so he could not travel for a few days. He told the amused guards, “I have no doubt even this painful accident will be a blessing.” Finally, he was able to resume his journey. As they were nearing London later than was expected, they heard the church bells ringing. They asked why this was so. They were told, “Queen Mary is dead, and there will be no burning of Protestants.” Gilpen looked at his guards and said, “Ah you see, it is all for the best.” God used the delay caused by his painful fall to save his life.
What kept Bernard Gilpen from caving in to discouragement? How was he not conquered by it? Here is a man who served the Lord, faithfully preached His word, and what did he get for it? Persecution, arrest, and certain death coming his way? How did he maintain the perspectives of “everything is for the best” and “I have no doubt that this painful accident will be a blessing”? He was encouraged by faith in a good, loving, providential, and sovereign God which caused him to be able to say “Ah you see, it is all for the best.”
Haggai gives us a new perspective of a God who is working in you and in your life. He wants you to see that just like Bernard Gilpen, God has a design for your life and God promises to take your life and what you are doing, fill it with his glory, and make your labors with a million times more than you ever imagined.
I. The Peoples Discouragement (Haggai 2:1-3)
If you remember from last week’s blog I mentioned that when the people left Babylon and Persia, they returned to Jerusalem and began rebuilding the temple. They laid the foundation, but then, due to opposition and then apathy they quit the work for some sixteen years. After all that time, the prophet Haggai was sent by God to get them back to work. Haggai’s called the people to “consider your ways, go,and build”.
His message produced a revival, and the people were awakened and repented of their sins. After neglecting the work on the house of God for sixteen years, the Holy Spirit stirred their hearts to begin to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and they resumed building the temple. Now they have been at work about a month, and discouragement has seeped into the community once again. Perhaps the weeds and the rubble of the years of neglect proved daunting to clear away. But more than that, the inferiority of this temple compared to the splendor of Solomon’s, seemed to weigh everybody down especially the older ones who had seen the former temple’s glory.
Solomon’s temple had been a glorious building: one of the great wonders of the world. It had been built with the imported cedars of Lebanon, had been decked out with precious stones and the whole thing had been overlaid with gold. The altar, the cherubim, the floor, the front porch and the holy of holy's were all covered in gold. Even the nails were gold. It’s no wonder the older people who looked at this new building, were so sorrowful and discouraged, and wanted to quit.
If you read back in Ezra 3:12, you learn that when the foundation had been laid 16 years earlier, in middle of everyone else celebrating, “many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid.” Why did they weep? Because they had seen the glory of the first temple. In other words, yes, they were going to build a temple, but it was not going to be anywhere near the greatness and the size of the former temple.
This is what Haggai 2:3 says as God Himself asks, “Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?” In the eyes of the older people, the new temple looked like nothing; a big zero and God understood their discouragement. Once more, God’s people were in danger of abandoning God’s work.
Seeing how discouraged his people were becoming, God sent words of encouragement to his people through the prophet Haggai. Haggai was told to prophesy to Zerubbabel the prince, Joshua the priest, and to the people--the remnant of the Israelites. What makes this message so practical and relevant is that we can see ourselves so easily in the workers. And God's encouraging words to those who are discouraged become very easily words of strength for us, too to help us to look up and ahead and focus on the new things God is doing and is going to do.
II. God’s Encouragement to Persevere- (Haggai 2:4-5)
In the dismal situation that the Jews are in God spoke three words through Haggai to his people in order to encourage them to persevere in their task of rebuilding the temple. Though God understands how they feel, God clearly does not agree with their assessment of the situation. If they think their work on the temple is of so little significance that they can quit, they are very wrong, for God says three encouraging commands:
1. Be strong (verse 4)
Three times God gave this imperative: Be strong! He does this repetition precisely because of our discouragement. In other words, "Prince, be strong! Priest, be strong! Leaders, be strong! People, be strong! Fathers, be strong! Mothers, be strong! Workers, be strong! Children, be strong! This was God’s call from Moses to Israel, to Joshua, from Joshua to the Jews, from David to his son Solomon. That is the divine imperative for us as well. Be strong, church! Do not give up! Do not quit! Persevere! Be strong!
2. Fear not (verse 5)
The second word God spoke to his people is "Fear not." We fear when we are looking only at our problems. Now, we must see our problems, but we must also see God. When we see God, we need not fear. We find this imperative over and over in the Scriptures. When Abraham was afraid in Genesis 15, God told him, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." In Isaiah 41:10-11 God tells us, "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God." Do not fear! Oh how often Jesus tenderly encouraged His disciples. In Matthew14:25-27 we find Jesus Christ walking on the lake in the middle of the night. As he approached the boat, the disciples were afraid and cried out, "It’s a ghost!" But Jesus said, "Take heart! It is I. Don’t be afraid." Jesus is saying the same thing to us today.
3. Work! (verse 4)
The third word is a command to work. You see, God calls us to be strong and not afraid for a purpose. In the case of the people of Haggai’s time, it was for building the temple of God. They had been using their strength and energy on their own houses, but now God was commanding them to build His house. Work! In other words, persevere in building the house of God! Don’t give in to discouragement and gloom and nostalgia! Persist in your spiritual tasks! Continue to seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness! Keep on serving God in the place he assigned you! Be faithful in the task God has given you. 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain”. Why? No matter how insignificant it may seem to us, the task God gives us to do is significant in the total scheme of his divine plan.
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment