It was an uncertain, dangerous and discouraging time for the people of God. More than 70 years had passed since Judah was taken captive into Babylon and the city of Jerusalem – including the temple – had been destroyed. After surviving multiple regime changes and oppression in captivity, King Cyrus finally allowed the Jewish exiles to return to rebuild Jerusalem; and during the reign of Darius the Mede the Jews laid the foundation of a new temple.
After a few years and the Jews had finished rebuilding their homes, the temple project was left undone. Haggai the prophet was then sent by God to command the people to actually get about the business of rebuilding of the temple, which they did. However, this new temple was inferior in size and grandeur to the one Solomon built, a fact which the Lord even points out in Haggai 2:3, where He says through Haggai to the people, “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?” This seems like a discouraging word from God as the people labored to build a place to worship Him. Why this seeming insult?
The Lord was not trying to crush the spirits of His people and belittle their work. Rather, He was making a point in these verses that we all would do well to hear. Right after the Lord asks the rhetorical questions in verse three, He immediately follows it up with command that’s also an encouragement – and one that harkens back to the words spoken many hundreds of years earlier to Joshua as he was about to lead the people of God into the Promised Land – “be strong and courageous.” Now, after Israel and Judah had suffered greatly at the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians because of their disobedience, God again commands His chosen people to “Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord.” But, God doesn’t stop there with a hearty, “You’ve got this!” There’s something else that’s an absolute necessity in order for the people to “be strong.”
Why can and should the leaders and people be strong and continue working on an inferior structure? The Lord continues, “Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of Hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt.” Thus, in spite of the current temple being “nothing” compared to the glory of Solomon’s Temple, the covenant-keeping God is saying that His presence – which is true glory that far outshines any temple made with hands – is not only there with them, but that His presence is not dependent on having a majestic temple like that of Solomon’s. Rather, His presence with them – or anyone else – is His divine prerogative to be their God, and for them to be His people.
Thus, the reason why the people of God who were rebuilding the temple could be strong, and the reason why Joshua and the Children of Israel could be strong and courageous is for the very same reason. The famous verse in Joshua 1:9 does’t end with the command, it ends with the promise “…for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go,” just as Haggai 2:5 ends with, “My spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.” In the same way, Jesus declared to his doubting and anxious disciples as He was commissioning them to go into all the nations to teach and make disciples at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
There are two main points to take away from all this today. The first is that we can be strong and unafraid because the Lord is with us. There are so many verses that speak to this truth that I cannot list them all here, but a few are:
– Romans 8:31b: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
– Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.” (emphases mine)
– Isaiah 41:10: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (emphases mine)
God – who is our ever-present help in time of need – is with His people. We don’t have to ask for Him to be present with us, because He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Furthermore, we don’t have to strive harder in order to bring about more fulness of His presence.
The second point is exactly that – that God’s presence is not dependent on if we’re in a massive church with elaborate stained glass windows and a full pipe organ and 40 foot cross that you can see from the third balcony, or setting up and tearing down each Sunday in an elementary school gym. God is present with His people because His Holy Spirit dwells within us! This is why Jesus said with such confidence that it was better that He “went away” back into heaven so that the Holy Spirit would come. If we are sons and daughters of God, adopted into His family and sealed with Spirit that enables us to cry out “Abba! Father!” as Paul says in Romans 8:15, then we can rest in the assurance, hope, joy and strength conferred by our status as the Children of God. His presence is with us, and the measure of faith He has given us and the good works He has prepared for us to do are His to give and ours to receive and participate in.
Thus, it doesn’t matter if we build Solomon’s temple or the inferior post-exile temple. It doesn’t matter if we are called to the mission field of China or our suburban home. It does’t matter if we serve in a church of 5000 or 50. The point is that the greatness of our all we are and do is founded in the surpassing greatness of the God who calls and enables us to be and do anything. Jesus said, “Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5b)
Do you want to experience the presence of God? Do you want to do great things for the Kingdom? Then the real question is this: Are we abiding in Him? James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and will draw near to you.” Are we content to sit as Jesus’ feet and stop worrying about the size of the temple we’re trying to build? Is the “good portion, which will not be taken away” enough to satisfy us? I believe if we taste and see that it is, we will be able to work in strength and joy, for He is with us.
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