Haggai: Jesus Is The One Who Restores Our Worship
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Preaching Christ Through The Bible |
Haggai: Jesus Is The One Who Restores Our Worship
Haggai 2:3-7:
3‘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? 4Yet 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, 5according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”
Think of a time when everything in your life seemed to be going well. Was it when you had no debt, no responsibilities, and no care in the world? Or if we want to be real, for most of us, that may have been life before the pandemic.
Now think of a time in your life when everything seemed to be going wrong and life was out of your control. Again, I think a lot of us would say that time was during the years 2020 or 2021. In those moments, there could be more discouragement and despair than hope. In those moments, a question we might ask is “How do we even worship God?”
For those of us who are asking this today, the book of Haggai is very familiar with this question and answers, “Yes, you can still worship God. Even when it hurts. Even in the ruins.”
Before we dive into our text today, we need to understand some of the characteristics, the setting, and the context of this book. Haggai is the second shortest book in the OT. It is only two chapters long. It is part of the last section of the prophetic books in the Old Testament: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. These prophets were contemporaries who prophesied during the time Israel was rebuilding their nation. Scholars have called this trio of books the post-exilic books. This book is composed of 4 prophecies or oracles that Haggai gave to Zerubbabel, Joshua, the people of Israel, and the priests.
To understand Haggai better, let me give you a quick timeline of the events. We have seen in the prophetic books that the prophets tried to warn everyone that their sins of idola try, injustice, and rebellion against God will be punished. The Lord’s punishment was that Israel was going to be taken captive by the pagan nation of Babylon. In 606 B.C., the Babylonians began the siege against Judah. In 586 B.C., Jerusalem was captured, and the Temple was ransacked and destroyed. In 539 B.C., Babylon fell to the kingdom of Persia. In 538 B.C., King Cyrus of Persia al lowed the first group of exiled Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple. In 536 B.C., the people decided to build the temple in Jerusalem and laid the foundation. The people, however, stopped building the temple for sixteen years. They left the construction of the temple. After 16 years, in 520 B.C., Haggai comes in and motivates the people to rebuild.
Today, let me walk you through the book of Haggai and see how God can restore our worship.
I. The Situation
“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in ru ins?” – Haggai 1:4
After 60 years of captivity from the Babylonians, the Israelites were allowed to return to their beloved city of Jerusalem that the Babylonians destroyed and began to rebuild their nation. The temple of God, which was the center of worship and the symbol of God’s glory being with His people, was ransacked and brought to the ground. It was all in devastation. When that symbol was destroyed, the Israelites themselves were in ruins. Imagine coming back to your hometown and seeing your home and the community’s place of worship in ruins.
To understand this passage better, we have to look at the book of Ezra because it gives a commentary on what is happening here in Haggai. According to Ezra 1, they were allowed by King Cyrus of Persia to rebuild the city and the temple. However, they stopped building the temple after the foundations were laid. In Haggai 1:2-4, it says, 2Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? We see here that the people ceased building the temple and proceeded to build their own houses instead.
According to some scholars, the materials they used in their houses were supposed to be used for the temple. You might be wondering, how could the Israelites do that? How could they prioritize their homes before the house of God? The prophet explains in chapter 1 that they couldn’t enjoy the blessings of God in the Promised Land because of their neglect of the house of God. When we read this we might be tempted to quickly make the judgment that the Israelites simply ignored the work of rebuilding the temple and decided to go on with their lives. However, I don’t think we should jump to that conclusion just yet.
In Ezra 4, we see that King Artaxerxes stepped into the throne. The enemies of Israel urged the new king to stop their work of rebuilding the temple. Then the empire of Persia threatened Israel that if they continued building, there would be awful consequences for Israel. This threat was the rea son why they stopped rebuilding for 16 years. They were disheartened in the middle of the chaos and ruins of Jerusalem. Imagine you were one of the Israelites back in those days. You were in captivity for 60 years, and when you finally come back to the Promised Land, all you see are rubbles of the city of God. Your enemies have done everything they can to stop you. They even used the authorities against you. How would you feel? Isn’t this a familiar feeling for us today? We want to be faithful to the Lord. We want to build His Kingdom here on earth. We want to grow the church. However, it seems that everything is against us. It feels like we’re in the middle of the ruins. We feel discouraged, disheartened, and defeated. Satan and his minions seem to be having their way. How can His people ever get up? How can His people even lift their eyes to the Lord?
And this is why the book of Haggai is essential for us. This world is broken, and we see the reality of evil and sin every day. So the question is, can we still worship amidst the brokenness, the ruins? This is what Paul also expressed when in his trials and hardship while serving God. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 says, 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Paul did not give up because he had a more significant hope. Paul’s hope is the same and just as available for us today. There’s a hope that is bigger than us, so even in the ruins, we can rebuild and worship.
II. The Commands
“Be Strong… Work… Fear Not” (v. 4-5)
After 16 years of stoppage, a new emperor came into the throne in Persia. King Darius came and had allowed the Jews again to rebuild their city and the temple once again. We see this new decree stated in Ezra 5. The people listened to Haggai’s encouragement and words. With the help of Joshua, the high priest, Zerubbabel, led the Israelites to finish the temple in about four years. After all those discouragements, hardships, and ruins, the second temple of God is finally rebuilt. The people could finally worship again. They celebrated and reinstated the feasts again. Actually, that is what Haggai’s name means. It means “feast.” Israel celebrated as they were finally able to worship God through it all.
However, this second temple by Zerubbabel did not look as excellent or extravagant as it did compared to Solomon’s first temple. In Haggai 2:3, it says, “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?” Isn’t that discouraging? After all the time, energy, and resources placed to rebuild this worship site, this new temple might be nothing in the eyes of those who have seen Solomon’s temple.
Haggai then talked to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the Israelites. He gave them three commands to push them to have the proper perspective regarding this new temple. These three commands are: “be strong,” “work,” and have “no fear.” The basis of these commands is first because God is with them. He is and will always be faithful to His Word. He is true to His covenant to His people that He will be their God, and they are His people forever. Second, it’s because the Spirit of God will be with them. He will empower them in everything they will set out to do. God is with them, and they need to trust God in His Word.
How does this relate to us today? Church, do we compare ourselves to our past? Or do we compare ourselves to others who we think have better programs, bands, or buildings? Charles Spurgeon once said,
“We are consciously so weak and so insignificant, compared with the great God and his great cause, that we are discouraged, and think it vain to attempt anything . . . the enemy contrasts our work with that of others, and with that of those who have gone before us. We are doing so little as compared with other people, therefore let us give up. We cannot build like Solomon, therefore let us not build at all. Yet, brethren, there is a falsehood in all this, for, in truth, nothing is worthy of God. The great works of others, and even the amazing productions of Solomon, all fell short of his glory.”
In short, I believe that God is the one who makes our worship glorious––we don’t. Yet, even in the ruins, our worship can still be filled with God’s glory.
I believe this word is for us. There’s no need to compare our present worship experience to that in the past. There are no “good ol’ days” when it comes to our worship. It’s here and now with you and the Lord. Even if we feel we are struggling rebuilding from the ruins, I believe God is here with us. He is giving each of us these three commands today. Be strong. Work. Fear not. Yet, He doesn’t abandon us to keep these commandments on our own strength. He is faithful to you. He has your back. Let’s be encouraged by His faithfulness to be strong, work, and not be afraid in the ruins.
III. The Glory
“And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.” (v. 7)
Now, in Haggai’s time, Zerubbabel’s temple might not look as great. It might not have the fanciest wood or precious stones lined on its pillars. It might not have the best materials, but Haggai said that the glory of God will still fill this temple. At the end of the passage we have read, we see a promise given by Haggai to God’s people. Haggai prophecies that the temple Zerubbabel rebuilt will be greater than what Solomon built. It will even be more glorious than the first temple. The blessing from all over the world will come pouring in and will be experienced by His people.
Some believe that this prophecy was fulfilled when Herod remodeled Zerubbabel’s temple more significantly than even what Solomon did in his time. Herod tried to please the Jewish people and made the new temple his own. However, I do not think this was the case; this rebuilt temple was of greater glory.
There is a phrase here, which says the “treasures of all nations shall come in.” Another interpretation for the word treasure here is “desire.” The temple will be filled with glory be cause the “Desire of the nations” shall be in this temple. Some scholars believe this is a Messianic promise because this “desire will come in and bring glory to the temple. About 550 years after Zerubbabel’s temple was rebuilt, a man walked through this same temple. He is the Promised One who will restore and bring glory to the house of the Lord. In Hebrews 1:3, this “Man” was described as the “radiance of the glory of God.”
Jesus is the one who walked through this temple for people to realize that God is with them. God’s glory radiated throughout because of Jesus. The temple was supposed to symbolize the presence of God with His people and the center for the worship of God. Jesus be came the embodiment of the temple, and because of Him, true worship can be restored. Jesus showed that God dwells with His people. Jesus is the one we look to even when we’re in ruins. Jesus is the One who leads us out of the ashes and into beauty.
So if you’re asking, “Is it even worth worshipping even with discouragements, failures, and ruin?” Let me tell you, He is worth it. The worth of worship is not based on how great the songs are. It’s not based on how great the preachers are. It’s not because of awesome programs or events. And it’s not because of how great we are. It’s because of Him. It’s always been about Jesus.
This is how Haggai encouraged the downtrodden and disheartened Israelites to see beyond their ruins and worship again. This is how Jesus is encouraging us today too. So, even in your despair, let Jesus restore your worship. Even when you are defeated because of your sins or the brokenness of life, let Jesus restore your worship.
While worship needs restoration on this side of heaven, there will be a time that our worship will be fully restored and made new. Worship then will be most beautiful and perfect in eternity where there are no ruins. Revelation 21:3-5 further shows us what that time will be like: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trust worthy and true.”
-Rev. Jerusalem Ona