“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.” Haggai 2:3-5
Devotional Thought For The Day
The people of God who returned to the land of Israel and to the city of Jerusalem following the nearly 70 year captivity in Babylon had much to ponder. Just as when the children of Israel were captive in Egypt, the knowledge of God had been kept alive among them. They knew the LORD, His covenants with Abraham, His deliverance of the people from Egypt, and the covenant made with their ancestors at Sinai. This was a good beginning. Some of the older people who had returned, however, had also seen the temple which Solomon had built, and although through the intervening years much of the splendor of Solomon’s temple had been lost, it had remained an impressive structure. They had witnessed its total destruction at the hands of the Babylonians prior to leaving for their time of captivity, and now they had to see the beginning of the rather humble temple they were contemplating rebuilding. It must have been very sobering, humbling, and depressing for them.
It was not just the status of the temple that they had to consider. They had been a sovereign nation, and a rather glorious, strong, and proud nation under David and Solomon. The nation had a glorious period in their history and there was always some hope that they might reclaim that glory. After all, it was God’s kingdom here on earth and it ought to reflect His glory. However, the devastation of the Babylonians was real, and now the land had to be reclaimed and the city rebuilt. They had much to do and little to work with. There was a great deal of doubt as to just what they were supposed to accomplish and how to actually get it done. They wondered about their place in the world as children of God, inheritors of the covenant promises. They wondered just how committed God would be to them and whether the work they were doing would be worth the effort.
Through the prophet God assures them that all is well, that the covenants remain intact, that He is still with them, that His Spirit remains in their midst, that they will have success even though their fortunes will not look the same as in previous times, and that their work is important for His long range plans of sending His Son to be Savior of the world, and that in the end His people will be numerous and glorious – including the Gentiles who will come to know and believe His great love for us. So He encourages them: “Be strong, do not fear.” The essential message is to be faithful and to keep with the tasks at hand, and to not allow comparisons or limited vision of the big picture to depress them and sap their resolve. They were encouraged to faith and trust in God which is always the beginning of proper relationship with God and power for the accomplishment of His will.
It is no different for us today. We too would like the kingdom of God to have power, glory, riches, and irrefutable proofs of the realities of God’s love and rule. We too live at a time when the church seems little more than a shell of what it once was. We also wonder about the future of the church, whether it is worth our time and energy to be fully committed to the fellowship of the church and its upbuilding. We may also have questions or doubts as to just how closely God is watching and working with us. So it is important for us to remember that God has promised us the same things, that He is with us always, and that His Spirit dwells within us. He also wills for us to be strong and to not fear, to be strong in our faith and trust in Him. We have our tasks in front of us, to worship Him, to bear witness to His love, to live His love in our relationships with others. He bids us to continue carrying these out and to leave the details of the larger picture to Him. The promises to us are the same, that in the end He will display His power and glory and we will be part of it, members of His kingdom forever. What we see now is not important; that we are His dear children and serve Him with our lives is precious and huge. So let us also take courage and be strong, and not fear what man can do to us!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, we also find the challenges facing the church today to be daunting and frightful, and much has changed for worse in the past few decades. Yet Your power and Your glory are still the same, and evident in some things. Keep us strong in faith and in commitment to Your good and gracious will, and bless us with Your peace and joy. Grant us to look not so much at what is, but at what is to come, what You have promised us in the end. In this way, help us to be eager and zealous to work hard for the welfare and growth of Your kingdom. Amen.