15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
In the second year of King Darius, 2 1 on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak,[a] the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LordAlmighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Now and then, I look at my yearbooks from school, and I go online and go through my old pictures on Facebook and Instagram. Doing that makes me feel good inside; sometimes, I want to remember a happy time and feel that way all over again. In the past, while there were some great times, there were also some not-so-great times, and the not-so-great times taught me some valuable lessons that I probably would not have learned if everything had been great all the time. So, when I look at where I am now, I know my present is much better than my past, and my future will be better than my present. I may not get there the way I planned or on the path that I chose, but I know my situation is better now than it was in the past.
Three major characters in the history of the Jerusalem Temple of God are Joshua, Zerubbabel, and Haggai. Joshua was the High Priest at the time, Zerubbabel was the King, and Haggai was the scribe, the prophet if you will. The temple was destroyed, and the people of God got conquered, captured, and enslaved. The people of God were in captivity for a while, but now it is time to go home. When they get home, Haggai wants them to rebuild the temple of God. The prophet addresses an argument in the first chapter of the Book of Haggai; he is ready to rebuild, and some people don't think now is the right time. They want to put it off for some unknown reason, and Haggai says it will never be enough. I know and have dealt with some people like that; they don't want to make decisions and act on them, they want to keep referring them to another committee, won't sing or play a song because they claim to be worried about not doing right, so they don't do anything at all. People pretend like they want everything to be perfect, and pursuing perfection prevents them from taking any action. Haggai says enough is enough, and it will never be enough for all the posturing.
Haggai says in 1:5-6:
5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."
You are planning and doing a whole bunch, but it is never enough. How many business plans sit in someone's head because they haven't taken action, waiting for the right time? How many goals aren't accomplished because we think now is not the right time? How many conversations do we miss out on because we are waiting for a better time to have that conversation?
Les Brown says:
"The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry out their dream."
The other thing preventing the people from participating in rebuilding the temple was nostalgia; they remembered how great the old temple was and because the new temple didn't look like the old temple yet, the people did not want to get involved. By the time Haggai said what God had told him to say, they had been trying to rebuild the temple for nearly 18 years; they had only poured the foundation and not much else. People caught up in perfection and others in love with the past kept the church from getting back on its feet in the present.
Did you know that religious institutions and industries in America contribute about $1.2 trillion a year to the U.S. economy and society? That figure includes church-run hospitals, church-related colleges, and other institutions birthed by churches and other religious groups. But it also includes local parishes of all sizes across our country, even some that are in the process of closing their doors. These organizations are running based on the work our predecessors did. However, we are not putting as many new organizations out there; we are riding on the backs of what we used to do.
At the same time, some of the older members look back to the time when the church was in its heyday. The building was in miraculous shape, the pews were full, and the building buzzed with activity.
Haggai says it is time to get back to helping the church, and you know how he knows it is time? Haggai looks at everyones' homes. This is during the feast of booths, where the people remind themselves what it was like to wander in the wilderness. So they don't stay inside their homes; they build tents outside the houses, like camping. Well, Haggai can see some pretty nice homes and some excellent camping setups and see oh ya'll have time for these things but not for God?
This is not just about money but time and priorities; what are you putting in front of your relationship with God?
Haggai said the people had a job to do, and we needed to get started on it now.
Take Courage
Over and over again, the bible says fear not, and Haggai is telling us we don't have to be afraid of the immense task in front of us. Take courage because you have the most incredible support you could have backing you up. The splendor of the temple will be better than the former temple. That word for splendor in Hebrew is Kabod; it means honor, wealth, glory, literally weight. When God shows up, he will throw his weight around; you have the best VIP pass you can obtain with the weight of the Lord God almighty backing you up. Take courage, and be active in pursuing what God has for you.
Work
This will not be easy; it will take hard work. If it were easy, everyone would have already done it, but I don't know anything worthwhile that doesn't get accomplished without hard work.
God is With You
God will never leave you nor forsake you
Nothing can separate you from the love of God
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In his own time and place, Haggai calls us to hear and rely on the facts: that God is truly present with the people, that the relationship between God and humanity is real, and that the community will flourish in ways pleasing to God.
The same God that brought them out of Egypt is the same God that brought them out of Babylon, and that same God is with them as they rebuild and is with us as we rebuild what we have lost in our lives. Everything belongs to God, and he will help our latter days be better than our former days.
Your Latter Will Be Greater
Your past does not negate God's prophecy; your best is right in front of you. People may try to put a period in your life, but God says it is a comma. Your problems are way smaller than God's promises.
