Thoughts for the Day

Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, saying, I am with you, says the Lord. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.

In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you 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; do not fear. 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 the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, 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

After hearing Haggai's words from God to the remnant of the people who had returned from exile in Babylon, the people were rejuvenated and started to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. God's second message to His prophet can be dated to a month later, to early October 520 BCE. The first message had been critical, and God had showed His people how their behaviour was affecting themselves and nature (Haggai 1.9-11). Now, the second message gives encouragement. Three times in the passage God bids His people to 'take courage'. Those who had seen the old Temple could see this current one was but a pale shadow of the old. It was pathetic in comparison, and the people's faith began to waver. Surely they would never be able to produce something as wonderful as the one that had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE?

Imagine then, and now, how people who have fled before invading armies, or seen their houses or place of worship destroyed by bombs or wild-fires must feel? Often the replacement is a temporary wooden structure, quickly thrown up. It must feel as though they had been abandoned. But notice what God says to His people who are the remnant. He says, "I am with you.... according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt". God made a covenant with His people and God will help them build a Temple that will surpass the old one!

God says to us today "My Spirit is with you!" When we put God back at the centre of our life, when we remember that Jesus sent God's Holy Spirit to be with us, and when we have courage, anything is possible.

Lord Jesus Christ,
when life deals us a blow,
and we feel defeated,
we remember the promise
You made to Your disciples
to send the Holy Spirit
to be with them always.
May we never forget
that You are with us
in the worse days
and the best of days,
and turn to You for help.
Amen.