The Latter Glory: An Encouragement to Persevere
Haggai 2
November 3, 2002
After slightly less than a month's work, the beleaguered exiles now back in Jerusalem found their motivation level quite low in the task of rebuilding the temple. During that month the work was laid aside on the Sabbath and also for the weeklong celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles and Yom Kippur. So the work time was relatively short, and the progress was even slower. They knew that a daunting task awaited them and so they struggled to persevere.
All of us can identify with these workers. We've had those times that we've been deeply convicted by the Lord, perhaps about our church attendance or Bible reading or prayer or giving or service to others. We've made an admirable start at obedience only to feel ourselves faltering along the way.
Maybe you are in such a position right now. You have good intentions and you've even made a start on obedience, but now your motivation level is low, you are discouraged, you see where you want to go but cannot see how you will get there. In such times, let us find our motivation in the Lord and His promises rather than in the amount of "gumption" or energy we can muster.
Haggai counsels us to look to the Lord so that we may not grow weary in well doing. He offers us a divine cure for four diseases of the soul that encumbers our progress in the faith.
I. God's Commands - Cure for Despondency 2:1-5
Scenario in v 1-3: 3 � weeks worth of work had moved out some rubble and put in the foundation or building footprint. As in 18 years earlier, when the older exiles saw it they were saddened by how much smaller and plainer the New temple would be compared to the old.
They compared their lived and their accomplishments to former generations and despaired of going forward. What they saw was true - God did not avoid reality with them (v 3). But it was not an issue with the Lord. He just called them to got on with the work before them. Example: Compare to Great Reformation or the Puritans or the Great Awakening generations - we can despair at how poorly we do. But just like the exiles were not Joshua or David or Solomon or Hezekiah, rather they were to be faithful where God had put them with what He had entrusted to them.
1. Decisiveness of God v. 4 "But now"
(1) See how God has taken action; see how He has intervened; see how He has chosen to work in your lives.
(2) See that God is on your side as evidenced by His promises.
(3) Believe His word to you.
Application: This same language used in the New Testament to describe saving work and the distinction the Lord has made by His work in our lives. Ephesians 4:17-24.
2. Assurance from God vv. 4-5
This is critical because it is the foundation for joyful obedience.
"We here learn that what belongs to our calling and duty is not required from us as though we were able to perform everything; but when the Lord, according to his own right, commands he offers the help of his Spirit; and thus we ought to connect the promise of grace with the precept, of which foolish men take no notice, who deduce free will from what is commanded" (Calvin 353).
The promises of God establish what is needed for obedience. When we simply depend upon our "free will" as Calvin terms it, the arm of our own strength and ability apart from reliance on the Lord, then we will either despair and give up or become rigidly legalistic and obey without joy.
(1) God's presence: I am with you declares the Lord of hosts - the divine name is a reminder of the enormity of
God's presence. Example: Paul at Corinth, Acts 18.
(2) God's promise: As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt - refers to his covenant.
(3) God's Spirit: My Spirit is abiding in your midst (even when they could not see, feel, understand - God's Spirit
was present).
"God had been present even in apparent disaster, and He made His presence known the moment they repented" (Baldwin 47).
3. Commands by God
To move them out of their fearful, despondent condition, God commanded action. The three-fold series of commands in verses 4-5 set forth the action God calls for:
(1) Take courage
How can a fearful people "take courage"? By knowing that the Lord had directed them to that situation in life (Providence) and that He is in their midst (Presence). This is similar to God's word to many of His people through the centuries (ex. Joshua).
"Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, the clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head" (William Cowper, "God Moves in Mysterious Ways").
"And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him, his rage we can endure, for lo! His doom is sure. One little work shall fell him" (Martin Luther, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God").
(2) Work "Work, for I am with you."
This was not a command of cruelty but one of gracious, divine purpose. God had appointed them to the work and every movement in obedience would be accompanied by the divine presence.
It is important to note that God's purpose was not to restore a building like that of Solomon's temple, but to restore a people to lively, faith-filled worship. Though their work lacked the grandeur of the former temple it was no less satisfying to the Lord. God commands the work. Our obedience is His pleasure in the work, not the amount we produce. We are not doing something that God cannot do. He that created the world can speak a mere temple into existence in a moment. Rather God commands so that we might see His faithfulness and glory as God. Our work is to be an act of worship unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24).
(3) Do not fear
This is a reiteration in the negative of the first command. Fear tends to "creep" into our lives and paralyzes our progress. Just like Abraham and Isaac, we can get sidetracked from our obedient cause by giving in to fear. What they were learning was that active, obedient work and service does not leave time to be fearful.
Application: These believers likely had to expend some effort - maybe even with a bit of trepidation - to return to the work. But it is in the act of obedience that the fears and despondency rolls away. When fear has you paralyzed, then rather than trying to build the temple in a day, start by laying one brick at a time. The smallest yet consistent effort accompanied by prayer and trust in the Lord of hosts, can crush our fears.
II. God's Promises - Cure for Anxiety
They wondered about the future; so the right prescription was to get their minds fixed upon what God had promised.
1. The Lord will shake
The reference to the time in Egypt (v. 5) was a historical reminder of God's workings. His work in the past is a wonderful encouragement for the present. vv6-7a - The shaking of earthquakes often pictured cataclysmic times of judgment (Amos 1:1, 8:8,9-15; Isaiah 2:13-21, 13:13, 29:6; Joel 3:16, Ezekiel 38:20).
Here the reminder is: "The future belonged totally to God; He would reorder all things and establish His kingdom on earth" (Kaiser 265).
(1) Nothing man does apart from God is lasting: "the transition will be replaced by the eternal" (Kaiser 266).
(2) Calvin sees this as metaphorical in which God "should put forth the ineffable power of his hand to restore
fully his church; and this is what is meant by the shaking of the heaven and the earth" (357).
(3) Michael Bentley refers it to the removal of one mighty nation after another in preparation for the advent of
Christ ("Building for God's Glory," 58-60).
(4) Hebrews 12:25-29 explains this shaking as relating to (a) the removing of the temporal and (b) the ultimate
establishment of God's kingdom in its fullness.
(5) Application: God is in control so don't be anxious; He has everything on schedule.
2. The Lord will fill v.7
Translation and interpretive questions abound on this verse.
(1) "The treasures of all nations shall come in." Baldwin comments, "Thus the Gentiles are seen to have a
part to play in the achievement of God's purposes by bringing their wealth in homage to Him" (48). Example:
Some point out that just after this Darius released provisions for the temple, and 500years later, Herod did
the same when he refurbished it. Similarly, Calvin states, "that nations shall come and bring with them
everything that is precious in order to consecrate it to the service of God" (360).
(2) James M. Boice: "In my opinion, the 'desire of all nations' refers to people in the sense that 'the chosen, the
elect out of all nations, those gentiles whom God has from eternity foreknown and predestined' [quoting
Theo Laetsch] will increase the glory of the true temple, which is the church (149-150).
(3) "And they shall come to the desire of all nations" posits a clearly messianic tone of which Handel made
popular as did Wesley in one of the beloved Christmas hymns. Walt Kaiser believes that both grammatical
structure and context point to this end, so the emphasis is upon the nations coming to Christ (267-268).
3. The Lord will give vv. 8-9
Evidently some fretted over how they would pay for temple repairs.
(1) In the temporal they needed the reminder that all the gold and silver belonged to the Lord and was at His
disposal
(2) In the long term view, the greater glory of the temple would come from Christ (Like 2:25-35).
(3) Ultimately, God would give a place through Christ.
Calvin: "the future glory of the temple is to be applied to the excellency of those spiritual blessings which appeared when Christ was revealed, and are still conspicuous to us through faith" (361).
1. Presumptuous conclusions vv. 10-17
Spurred by initial activity, some thought that their service and good deeds would merit holiness. But the questions imply that holiness is not transferable - work on the temple did not make them holy nor were they able to make anything holy. Though what they must understand, unholiness is contagious and spreads to all that it touches. The people, the nation, the work of their hands - is all unclean. Their only hope is in the Lord. They must not presume what is not true. Instead they must rely upon God's grace.
To prove the point, he reminds them of how their crops have failed - God had been displeased with them. What folly to presume they could be the source of their own holiness or holiness for others! On top of it, they thought that since they had made a good start 3 � weeks earlier that they should experience plenty. The temple would become a good luck charm for them just as Israel had done in Eli's sons' time with the ark.
They also had the idea that the temple and its worship would make them holy. But Haggai reminds them of their presumption. "This trust in ritualism to remedy and atone for unsanctified hearts was an anathema in the Old and New Testaments" (Kaiser 272). It is only by faith that any will be cleansed.
2. God's intervention
Note first the calling of attention, "But now, do consider from this day onward," to first get their attention - to face the realities of the past and present. And second, note that the Lord smote them and the work of their hands to graciously bring them back. But what was their response? "Yet you did not come back to me."
Application: What does this tell us about man's heart? What does it tell us about our own stubborn persistence in sin even when smitten by affliction by God's hand? Here is the point he applies: "Righteousness cannot come from what a person does for God; it comes from what God does in the heart of a person" (Kaiser 274).
3. Divine benediction vv. 18-19
Again, note "consider," the call to deep, clear, logical thinking. He puts them on notice that from that day forward they would have a bountiful harvest. They had not seen this in years, so Haggai gladly tells them God's promise. "Yet from this day on I will bless you." In this setting, "progress in the spiritual realm was the first indication that success was coming in the agricultural realm as well" (Kaiser 277).
God will give grace rather than our trusting presumptuously upon our performance. The call is to look to Him for blessing and grace rather than thinking superstitiously or even as though God owes us.
(1) Walk humbly before God.
(2) Look to Him with trust
(3) Live in thanksgiving unto Him.
IV. God's Plan - Cure for Loving Things
As the context has shown, the exiles had built themselves "paneled houses" while neglecting priority on the temple. The lure of "loving things" had hindered them from moving to action, instead they explained, "the time has not come to build the temple of the Lord." vv. 20-23: Here is a special word to Zerubbabel the governor as the leader of the exiles in Israel.
Why Zerubbabel? He was in the Davidic lineage but his grandfather, Coniah (Jehoiachim) had been cut off for his rebellion. Now Zerubbabel was the leader. He had faced great discouragement from the first attempt at rebuilding in 538. Now he faces it again. Would he be able to carry them through as their leader? It seemed the most prudent thing to enjoy life in their paneled houses and wait for the messianic age to arrive. But God never finds pleasure in neutrality and passivity; and God never finds pleasure in His people desiring things above Him.
1. God will shake the perishable vv. 20-22
(1) "heavens and earth" is inclusive - all that is transitory will not last, so do not place your affections on
these things.
(2) "thrones and kingdoms...power of the kingdoms of the nations...chariots...riders...sword" point to
the kingdom as political or military structures of men.
Haggai's message: it's all temporary. So put your confidence in an eternal kingdom that will not fail, and eternal power that cannot be conquered.
Application: How often do we become so obsessed with what will fade away? Can you imagine "falling in love" with a snowman in Memphis? You spend time with it, give it gifts, shower it with affections. But it is melting away. So too is this world. Matthew 6:19-21.
2. God's choice wins v. 23
As with many prophecies, there seems to be an immediate aim and an ultimate aim.
(1) Immediate: Zerubbabel needed to know that God had chosen him and was showing him favor: (a) by
re-establishing Davidic lineage of Messiah, (b) calling him a signet ring - that was closely guarded and
cherished by the king, (c) the Lord would accomplish His plans with Zerubbabel.
(2) Ultimately, this prophecy finds fulfillment in Zerubbabel's greater son, Jesus Christ, as ten generations later,
Christ was born (Matthew 1:12-16). "My servant" is well-known messianic title in the prophets (example:
Isaiah 41-53).
Baldwin: "God's future purpose will be achieved and will prove to be more glorious in fulfillment than in prospect by the degree to which Jesus Christ was more glorious than the temple" (55). Christ is indeed the signet seal of the Father as all the fullness of God dwelt in Him bodily. He is the chosen One of the Father, predestined for God's glory and our salvation.
Despondent/fearful - hear and obey God's commands
Anxious - look to and trust in God's promise
Presumptuous about your performance - turn from presumption and cast yourself upon God's grace.
Loving things first - then look at God's plans that will shake the shakable and establish only what is unshakeable for eternity!
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