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1 In the second
year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month,
came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of
Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high
priest, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying,
This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be
built. 3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai
the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time
for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore
thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. (Haggai 1:1-5)
Haggai
opens his prophecy with a call to labor. Good works and perseverance in labor
are evidence of the abiding Presence of Christ in the heart – the Temple of the
Soul. It is not the MEANS of salvation, but rather the proof of it.
Just
as in the time of Haggai, men procrastinated in putting their hands to the
labor of God’s work, men do the same in our time in questioning the value of
faith and trust: 3 Knowing this first, that there shall come
in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying,
Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all
things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they
willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and
the earth standing out of the water and in the water. (2 Peter 3:3-5) Men today, as then, live their lives as if there will be no end –
but, believe me (or rather, believe God) there shall be an end: 6 Whereby the
world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the
heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store,
reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:6-7) Just as there were scoffers taunting and ridiculing Noah for 100
years while the Ark was being constructed, so were there in the day of Haggai –
and in our own day as well.
God
named His anointed, Cyrus, two hundred years before his birth, to be the king
to liberate the Children of Israel in exile in Babylon. 24 Thus saith the
LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the
LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that
spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; 25 That
frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward,
and maketh their knowledge foolish; 26 That
confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his
messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities
of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: 27 That saith to
the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: 28 That saith of
Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even
saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation
shall be laid. (Isaiah 44:24-28)
This prophecy was written in 712 BC; Cyrus was not born until
576 BC Jerusalem and its inhabitants were carried away captive in 607 BC. So,
imagine how the prophecy of Isaiah must have sounded to a people who were still
living in security in Jerusalem. It would not have seemed sensible to them to
hear Isaiah say to Jerusalem, “Thou shalt be inhabited” when Jerusalem was already
then inhabited. It is for this reason that we must place our trust in God and
not in man or his princes. Perhaps we read of prophecies in Holy Scripture
today that are yet to come about, and are bewildered by them since we only can
see the middle of the fish. To identify the fish, we need to see the head and
tail as well. We live in a brief instant of history and cannot know the state
of our next hour, day, week, or year upon this earth; so how can we understand
the prophecies of God without a true messenger? His Word is the MESSAGE, and
His ministers the messengers if they are true to Scripture.
I
have had the awe-inspiring privilege to stand in the ruins of the home of Cyrus
at Pasargadae, and to view his tomb nearby; and to see the tombs of Darius the
Great on the Mountain of Mercy overlooking Persepolis in old Persia. Because of
our weakness of faith, we are strengthened at the visible evidence of the
veracity of God’s Word. Darius freed Israel to return to Jerusalem. He was a
good and great king because God had anointed him for a purpose. So is every man
and woman whom God anoints for a purpose. Now, the son of Cyrus, Darius by
name, saw through the decree of his father to allow the rebuilding of the
Temple at Jerusalem under Zerubbabel. This is the historic context for the
prophecies of Haggai – the first post exilic Minor prophet.
In
order to grasp the dire need of the Redeemer, those men must exert themselves
to the full limits of their potential in building a physical Temple to God’s
honor. He commanded it! God does not need idle hands, and He never calls such
hands in His work. Each of the Apostles was busy at work when Christ called
them. Without question, they dropped their secular pursuits and followed the
Master. When Haggai wrote, the Temple had been under construction previously,
however, work had ceased for a time. Jerusalem was in ruins, there was no
sovereign ruler over the people, and the people themselves were few, being only
a remnant of the former population. When there is only a remnant of the church
to persevere, as in our own day, the road is fraught with hardships, but
abundant hope as well.
Ezra writes Haggai had been used of God to stimulate resumption of
the Temple construction. 1 Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and
Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in
Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. 2 Then rose up
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build
the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the
prophets of God helping them. (Ezra 5:1-2) Interesting to note
the prophets themselves labored with the people in building the Temple. I
wonder how many fancy-pants ministers of our day would lift a single stone in
building the church? 14 And the elders of the Jews builded, and
they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the
son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the
commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus,
and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. (Ezra
6:14)
By the way, Xerxes and Artaxerxes are also buried in the Mountain of Mercy
alongside Darius the Great.
We in the church often hear the call of God to undertake a great
work, but we say, “Well, let’s take our time and be certain that the time is
just right before we begin to perform that work.” But when God commands a
thing, His commandment is in the present tense! The people to whom Haggai
prophesied did not feel it was the ‘right time’ to renew work on the Temple. This
people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be
built. When God’s timing does not coincide with ours, what will be the
result? Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time
for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore
thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. It is high time
for the modern church, as well, to ‘consider’ her ways. If our way is not that
of Christ, we better change directions in a hurry, for He is the Way, the
Truth, and the Life. Our ways are revealed in our heart-driven labors for the
work of the Lord. Israel slept while God prodded. But He will quit prodding if
we are obstinate.
God exhorts the people to build the Temple – PERIOD! He reminds
them of their materialism – a materialism that is perhaps dwarfed by that of
the churches of our day. (Verse
5-5) God
points out, through Haggai, the abject misery of the people in Verses 6 &
9-11. But God always proffers a blessing for obedience: 7 Thus saith the
LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the
mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it,
and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. (Haggai
1:7-8)
The Fountains of Joy in Heaven always flow downward to those who obey God.
God
not only speaks, but ACTS, through His anointed ministers: 12 Then
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high
priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their
God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him,
and the people did fear before the LORD. 13 Then spake
Haggai the LORD'S messenger in the LORD'S message unto the people, saying, I am with
you, saith the LORD. 14 And the LORD
stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah,
and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit
of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of
the LORD of hosts, their God, 15 In the four
and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king. (Haggai 1:12-15)
When
we look upon the God-blessed mountains and plains of America, we must ask
ourselves, “What happened to make her heart a wilderness, and her name a
mockery, among the nations?” I believe with all of my heart that her ministers
have failed to do their duty in preaching the word, and admonishing those in
high places to follow that word. We do not hear a loud and persistent outcry
from our worldly ministers of today against abortion, Christian liberty to
pray, homosexuality and other sins of the flesh; but rather we hear that many
churches have become accomplices to these sins. The false Gospel they preach
from their false bibles, and the welcoming of the values of the world into the
place of worship, has rendered the churches sterile and impotent. We need a
Haggai of our time to call us back to God and to speak things of the Lord that
may be hard for us to bear. Only then may we revive from our long sleep and our
spirits be renewed to serve in Holiness. \Woe be unto the pastors that
destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. 2 Therefore thus
saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have
scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I
will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 3 And I will
gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them,
and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and
increase. 4 And I will set up shepherds over them
which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither
shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah
23:1-4)
