Thoughts for the Day

In the second year of Darius the king, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by 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 that saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD; work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit abides among you; fear not. For thus says the LORD of hosts: Once again, 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 splendour, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts. The latter splendour of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts.’ ”

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Haggai's 'book' is only two pages long, but as we saw yesterday God has called him to proclaim to the people that they are to restart the building of the Temple, which had stalled years before. Almost exactly a month after the first proclamation Haggai gives them a new message from God, with more specific instructions.

At this point we should have sympathy for those undertaking the work. They would have had to clear away the weeds, find and redress the stone, and maybe remove those people who had sheltered in the old ruins before they could start. And now it was the October which brought some serious festivals, when no work was possible - the Feast of Trumpets on Day 1; the Day of Atonement on Day 7; and the Feast of Booths (Shelters) on Day 15, as well as the week after this (Leviticus 23.1-8).

The people must have looked at their meagre efforts and been tempted to give up, but the prophet Haggai's second announcement is to inspire them. On the the rest day at the end of the Feast of Booths God says they are to take courage! When they remember the glory of old Temple and wonder how they can rebuild it again, they should trust in Him, for He will provide. He has remembered His covenant, and His Spirit is with them.

If, today, we can learn anything about our present chaotic world from this ancient piece of scripture, it is the need for repentance, and for trust - that God's Spirit is present in His world, that He remembers His covenant made through His Son, Jesus, and He will bring to fruition His work at some time in the future.

Heavenly Father,
You call each of us to repentance:
for our apathy at what is happening
in our world;
for our inability to stand up to tyranny;
for our failure to refute the lies on social media;
and for our lack of courage to face the bullies,
or to realise that each person who protests
in any small way, does make a difference.
May we never forget that when we ask for Your help
Your Spirit will be with us,
as promised by Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.