Haggai’s Second Message from the Lord
Chapter 2 begins with Haggai’s next message from the Lord. This message is dated a month later than the
prior message. The work on rebuilding
the temple is continuing, but the work is slow.
You might wonder why the work would be slow if so many people are
dedicated to the effort. Remember first
of all that we are talking about the ancient world. They didn’t have earth movers and cranes to
lift heavy loads. Everything had to be
done by hand, by oxen, and at best with the knowledge of things like levers and
fulcrums.
Also, remember that the Hebrew people had been exiled for several
decades. There were foreigners living on
the land for at least 40 years. They
would not have had any respect for the temple area. Therefore, not only did the people under
Zerubabbel have to build a new temple, they had to clear what debris remained from
the old temple and from the interlopers.
Furthermore, as we know from the book of Nehemiah, there was also
armed resistance from the interlopers in the land and the surrounding
non-Hebrew inhabitants. The Hebrew
people coming back to the land needed to defend themselves. This need for defense will also slow down the
repair effort.
This explains why the reconstruction effort was going slow. There was much work to do and it was heavy and
dangerous work. This also explains the
message that God sends here through Haggai.
God wants the people to know that He is with them. He wants them to know that He will provide
for them. This message from Haggai is
not a message of condemnation but of encouragement.
What is also true about this message from Haggai is that there is
a promise. God gives the Hebrew people a
little vision to keep the morale high.
God says that there will come a day when the glory of God will fill the
temple. Their hard work will pay
off.
Haggai’s Third Message
A third time Haggai gives a message to the Lord. This message focuses on ritual purity. The verses begin with a legal question that
is intended to get the people to focus on the past. The truth is that the Hebrew people had spent
time in captivity because of their past impurity. Haggai doesn’t want the people to lose sight
of this fact.
As Haggai then turns to the present, he makes sure that the people
understand that their current surplus of harvest is very small. The do not have much upon which to rely. The reality is that until a few months ago
the people had once more been in rebellion.
Haggai wants them to think seriously about this as well. Turning their back on God didn’t work in the
past generations. Turning their back on
God hadn’t worked very well for the current generation. Now that they were repenting it is the right
time to have them consider the genuineness of their repentance.
What is important is that the people continue in their repentance. God comes and tells them that so long as they
continue in their repentance and humbleness with God that things will go well
with them.
Haggai’s Last Message
In Haggai’s last message, Zerubbabel receives a personal
message. We know historically that
Zerubbabel was Jehoiachin’s grandson.
Jehoiachin was taken captive under Nebuchadnezzar into Babylon. Yet in Jeremiah 22:24-25 we hear that before
the fall God promises to tear of the signet ring off of His finger. In other words, God is removing the kings of
Judah from His presence. Yet in this
passage, we hear God re-establishing that promise in Zerubbabel. God is a God of forgiveness and reinstatement
to the genuinely penitent.
However, in the greater scope of what God is doing in the world
this passage is about something far bigger.
God is not just reinstating the kings; God is reinstating the promise of
the Messiah. God is once more telling
His people where to look for the Messiah.
Yes, God forgives individually.
But God is also saying that the individual rebellion of a people cannot
counter the overarching work of God’s salvation. His Messiah shall still come. The world will be saved. It starts once more with Zerubbabel.
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