When God Shakes the Heavens: The Message of Haggai

Background

In 586 B.C., Solomon’s Temple was destroyed and the last of God’s people taken captive by Babylon. In 539 B.C., Cyrus the Great took power over the then Persian Empire. About a year later, he allowed displaced peoples to return to their land. This included the Hebrews, many of whom left for Jerusalem around 538 under the leadership of Sheshbazzar. “They had started well, building an altar and offering sacrifices, then laying the foundation for the Lord’s house the following year. Construction had ceased, however, as enemies mocked the builders’ efforts.”[1] Meanwhile, around 522 B.C., a second group of Hebrews returned to the Land under the leadership of Governor Zerubabbel (rightful heir to the kingdom) and High Priest Joshua. “Since Judah was still under Persian control, . . . rule in the community was now divided between the governor and the high priest, giving the priest a more prominent role.”[2] But among the Jewish people “there was a significant amount of expectation surrounding [Zerubabbel] that had a messianic flavor to it. Undoubtedly some expected him to set up the promised kingdom and bring freedom from their slavery (to the Persians).”[3] Nevertheless, he had his work cut out for him. The economy was in shambles and the temple was yet unfinished. This was no small matter. “The temple symbolized God’s presence among his people and served as a tangible reminder of Yahweh’s covenant with Israel. Its physical existence in the midst of the Hebrew community was designed to prompt obedience to covenant stipulations and inspire true worship of the Lord.”[4] Left to themselves the people neglected the building of the temple and occupied themselves with their own personal affairs. So God sent His prophets. “The ministry of Haggai and Zechariah caused people to rally and complete the task within five years. The rebuilt temple was dedicated in 515 B.C.”[5] Haggai’s ministry was short-lived—about four months—but had a major impact on the hearts of the Remnant of Israel. We have a record of four messages he delivered in the year 520 B.C.

August 29 – September 21: “Consider your ways.” (1:1-15)

How can we expect God to honor us, if we are failing to honor Him? The first words, God says through Haggai summarize the problem with the Hebrew remnant: they think rebuilding God’s house can wait. Yahweh, their Delieverer, Who brought them out of captivity (yet again) and into the land of promise, sets them straight. How could they be living in “paneled houses,” which implies that they’ve already made the “finishing touches,”[6] while God’s house remains in ruin? He exhorts them to consider their ways. They have worked hard and have little to show for it. Why? God is withholding His blessing because the people have lost sight of the Source. They are preoccupied with their personal lives and have given no thought to what God wants them to do. God is not about to let His people think that everything is okay, so he makes it so that nothing they do is fruitful. “The remnant must reorder its priorities and complete the temple before it can expect the blessing of God upon its efforts.”[7]

In our lives today, we need to consider our ways. When we work so hard yet have nothing to show for it, there are times when we should consider the possibility of sin in our lives. Now, there may be many different factors that can explain a disappointing season of life; maybe only God knows the reasons for an apparent run of bad luck. But He also knows our hearts and sometimes uses pain or hardship to get our attention and to help us grow up and out of sin. The writer of Hebrews instructs us, “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? . . . Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”[8] God’s aim is never to give us pain, but to train us in righteousness. So when we find ourselves being disciplined by the Lord, we should resolve repentance where necessary and receive any correction or healing the process may bring.

The Apostle James writes, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”[9] The picture painted is one of losing the way and asking for directions. Strangely, the Hebrews lost their way when they got distracted from the worship of God by the blessings of God. As American Christians, this is a very real danger for us as well. So many otherwise good, helpful, and enjoyable things (and, yes, some detrimental things) distract us from what God wants us to do. There is a time to enjoy life and the things God has given us, but not at the expense of putting God first in our hearts and living for Him, submitting our own pleasure and pursuits to His will. Jesus taught us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”[10] And this is the message of Haggai. We need to consider our ways and get our priorities straight. What are we using our time, energy and resources to pursue? When we seek God, we get His blessings too, not earned but “added.” But when we selfishly seek our own gain, we risk ending up with “drought.”

When Haggai speaks to the Hebrews for the first time, it is to a people who have lost their way, and he is calling them to change course and get back on track with God’s ways. Instead of tending to their own houses, they are to gather materials and build God’s house so that He “may take pleasure in it and . . . that [He] may be glorified.” At receiving this instruction their response is to obey and fear the Lord. After all, their eyes have just been opened to the reality of their fruitlessness: God is disciplining their negligence by withholding His blessing from them and no amount of hard work will be able to counteract God’s displeasure. However, by obeying God’s voice and building the temple, they are making the glory of God their priority and changing their ways.

God responds in an awesome way. Through His messenger He reveals a profound and reassuring truth. He simply says, “I am with you.” This revelation stirs the people to work on God’s house. Literally, it opens their eyes to the fact that “the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man.”[11] He does not need the temple in order to be worshiped. He does not need an earthly throne on which to sit. He is already among them. His presence is not predicated on any particular place. He is not having them build a temple out of necessity, but as a symbol of His desire to dwell among them. And with those four short words—I am with you—He communicates the loving message that He is pleased with the hearts of His people as they offer themselves in worship through the building of the temple.

This is not unlike the Great Commission. As Jesus Christ commanded us to make disciples wherever we go, baptizing and teaching them, He also gave this promise: “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”[12] And so we see the character of God in that, when He asks something of us, He will not abandon us to our duty; He will be right there with us until the end.

October 17: “I will give peace.” (2:1-9)

It has been about a month now. The people have been working on the temple. There is no question as to where their priorities lie. The question is now whether they have what it takes to build a temple worthy of the Lord. There are those who have seen the splendor of the former temple that Solomon built. And it is hard for them to stay positive and not to make comparisons to the “good ol’ days.” It is as if Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral was shattered to pieces by an earthquake and he was now forced to build a new basic, wooden structure with a mere $1 million budget. It is discouraging. So God addresses this with an encouraging word through Haggai. First, He acknowledges and validates their feelings and even agrees—the new temple is not much to look at. Second, He reminds them to take courage and be strong because He is with them. It is not the glory of the temple that matters, but the God who dwells there and His covenant relationship with His people. So, to those remembering the past, He takes them even further back to the deliverance from Egypt and His covenant with them at the beginning. He reminds them that He has not changed and He will continue to keep His promises! Third, since His Spirit is with them, He tells them not to fear. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”[13] Power, because it is not in our own strength; love, because it is not for our own gain; and self-control, because it is so easy to get sidetracked and lose our way. They have all they need, by the power of the Spirit, to press on and fulfill God’s commission to build the temple. Finally, God gives the people a reminder of His sovereignty. The people may not have the money or the expertise to build a temple like Solomon did. They wish they could give God more. But He will soon shake the heavens, the earth, the dry land, the sea, and all the nations and will Himself fill His house with glory. All the treasures of all creation belong to Him and He can array His earthly dwelling with untold riches. He Himself will make the glory of the new temple outshine the old.

Of course, we know that God has done what He said He would do. Herod took the temple that the people built under Zerubabbel and expanded and beautified it beyond what any of them could have imagined. Furthermore, as Jack Hayford points out, “It was into this building Jesus himself entered centuries later! Though it was an expanded structure, embellished by Herod’s enterprise, God’s glory incarnate, ‘full of grace and truth’ arrived in fullest splendor as prophesied.”[14] Also, it may be worth noting that the peace God promises to give there may have been at least partly realized when Christ died on the cross and the temple curtain tore in two, signifying the peace that Christ achieved between God and man.

Indeed, the message of Haggai on this day is an encouragement to us who know we have nothing to offer God that He did not first give to us. We do not have to be discouraged when we do not measure up because by His Spirit our sovereign “God will supply every need of [ours] according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”[15]

December 18: “I will bless you.”(2:10-19)

By way of reasoning, God is now trying to help the Hebrew remnant understand their present situation. They have turned to the Lord and devoted themselves to His work. They have been faithful in carrying out His command, even working through some natural discouragement with the supernatural help of the Spirit. Even so, their plight has not changed much. Why not? The answer to this question is obvious says Hayford: they cannot “expect the work of three months to undo the neglect of sixteen years.”[16] It takes time for crops to grow. And it takes time for seeds of blessing to manifest. The message is that, despite appearances, God will bless them from now on.

This is a good reminder for us today. We may have repented and been forgiven of various sins, yet they still haunt us. A past as a con artist on the streets may make it difficult to maintain honest relationships with people. A past in pornography may carry with it images that are hard to forget. A past of betrayal may leave deep wounds of bitterness. A lifetime of materialism may make it hard to budget money or tithe. A past of promiscuity may mean a woman raises a child alone. For many of us, the sins of our past become the struggles of our everyday lives. We are forgiven and pursuing righteousness while still having to deal with the consequences of our past. That is why we are exhorted to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and . . . run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.”[17] “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”[18] Indeed, when we take the time to understand and do what God wants us to do, we will be “fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work."[19]

December 18: “I have chosen you.” (2:20-23)

The final message of Haggai is not addressed to the priest or the people, but to Zerubabbel alone. Again he speaks of God shaking the heavens and the earth. Verses 6 and 21, taken together with Hebrews 12:26-28, allude to a future kingdom that God will establish that will do away with all other kingdoms. Zerubabbel is significant in this prophecy in that he is a descendant of David, through whom the lineage of the Messiah will be traced.[20] God does not call him “governor” here, but “my servant,” and He speaks of him as “chosen.” These terms “have direct association with the Messiah concept presented elsewhere in the Old Testament. More important the signet [is] a symbol of royal authority, much like a scepter or crown.”[21] Here God is reaffirming His covenant with David to establish his throne forever. The prophecy does not so much concern Zerubabbel as it anticipates the coming of Messiah. This is good news for the Hebrew remnant, which is still under the rule of Persia and subject to surrounding enemies. A coming Messiah could give them hope that soon God would vindicate His people and make things right. He will save them from injustice and oppression once and for all.

What this means for us today is that there will be a final shaking of the present age that gives way to the next when the people of God will receive “a kingdom that cannot be shaken.”[22] Like Zerubabbel, who is chosen by virtue of his lineage, we too are chosen in Christ and “in him we have obtained an inheritance” (italics mine),[23] for “if we endure, we will also reign with him.”[24] But this is not simply a future reality. We are even now the Body of Messiah, a royal priesthood invested with the authority and power to act on behalf of His kingdom to bring about His purposes in the world.

Conclusion

The message of Haggai is as relevant for us today as it was to Israel in 520 B.C. Before, God called the His people to leave their paneled houses and build His temple. Now, He calls us to put Him first above all other things. Before, He promised His temple would be a place of peace. Now, He has since made a way of peace between us whereby we can be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Before, He blessed His people though they were still unclean from their past. Now, He now declares us righteous so that He can make us holy and blameless. Before, He shook the heavens and Christ came to earth as Redeemer. Soon, He will once more shake the heavens when Christ comes again as King.



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[1] Jack W. Hayford, Hayford’s Bible Handbook (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 264.
[2] John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 797.
[3] John H. Walton, et. al., The IVP Bible Background Commentary, 796.
[4] Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 531.
[5] Jack W. Hayford, Hayford’s Bible Handbook (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 264.
[6] John H. Walton, et. al., The IVP Bible Background Commentary, 797.
[7] Jack W. Hayford, Hayford’s Bible Handbook (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 261.
[8] Hebrews 12:7, 12-13, English Standard Version.
[9] James 1:5, English Standard Version.
[10] Matthew 6:33, English Standard Version.
[11] Acts 17:24, English Standard Version.
[12] Matthew 28:16-20, English Standard Version.
[13] 2 Timothy 1:7, English Standard Version.
[14] Jack W. Hayford, Hayford’s Bible Handbook (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 261.
[15] Philippians 4:19, English Standard Version.
[16] Jack W. Hayford, Hayford’s Bible Handbook (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 264.
[17] Hebrews 12:1-2, English Standard Version.
[18] Galatians 6:9, English Standard Version.
[19] Colossians 1:10, English Standard Version.
[20] See Matthew 1:12 and Luke 3:27.
[21] Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 529.
[22] Hebrews 12:28, English Standard Version.
[23] Ephesians 1:11, English Standard Version.
[24] 2 Timothy 2:12, English Standard Version.