A Lampstand and Olive Trees

Zechariah 4:1-14 

1 Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, "What do you see?"

So I said, "I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. 3 Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left." 4 So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, "What are these, my lord?"

5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these are?"  And I said, "No, my lord."

6 So he answered and said to me:

"This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel:
'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,'
Says the LORD of hosts.

7 'Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
And he shall bring forth the capstone
With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"'"

8 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

9 "The hands of Zerubbabel
Have laid the foundation of this temple;
His hands shall also finish it.
Then you will know
That the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you.

10 For who has despised the day of small things?
For these seven rejoice to see
The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
They are the eyes of the LORD,
Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth."

11 Then I answered and said to him, "What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?" 12 And I further answered and said to him, "What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?"

13 Then he answered me and said, "Do you not know what these are?"
And I said, "No, my lord."

14 So he said, "These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth."

Here is a vision of a lampstand and of olive trees shown to Zechariah for us to consider in historical and prophetic ways.  The angel shook the prophet awake to see these things and to explain them to a point, leaving some mystery for us to fathom looking back in view of fulfilled prophecy and further understanding by the coming of Jesus and His apostles afterwards to explain some things further.  The angel began by asking what Zechariah saw when presented with the vision set before him.  He observed the lampstand with seven lamps and a bowl on top.  On either side stood an olive tree to supply the oil to burn to keep the lamp lit (Exodus 25:31-32, 27:20-21) continually to keep the worship of the LORD ongoing as a never ending reminder.  The trees standing to each side meant the supply was always nearby.  The question was asked as to what these were, what did it all mean.  The answer was not exactly what Zechariah might have expected; he was told that the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel made it clear that all was done by God’s Spirit and not according to the efforts of man’s strength or rule.  In other words, all was in the hands of the Omnipotent Sovereign LORD who alone made history by raising and taking down kingdoms.  This Zerubbabel was a type of Christ to come as absolute ruler who would not just rebuild an earthly temple, but construct a heavenly one of Himself for us to worship in by His light as an eternal lamp in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:23).  The shouts of that work would resound through all time with, “Grace, grace to it!” as the grace of God’s work in Christ according to His Word.  This Zerubbabel pictured Christ as the one to lay the solid foundation (Luke 6:48, 1 Corinthians 3:11) and He alone would finish that work to build His house for eternal worship (John 19:28-30, Philippians 1:6), both corporately and individually.  This is how we know that God sent and spoke through the prophets, that these things have come true.  The plumb line was given to the man Zerubbabel as a picture of Christ to measure what is straight and stands true.  The seven lamps are also used to represent the angelic messengers as His eyes going throughout the whole world to observe (2 Chronicles 16:9) which seem to correspond to the seven angels mentioned in Revelation as well who look over the hearts of men in action to see who follows the LORD faithfully.  The two olive trees are then more fully explained as being anointed ones who stand beside God Himself as mentioned later in Revelation 11:4 in the judgment to come.  This all assures us that God is Sovereign and is working to build not only an earthly temple, but His eternal house of worship and praise for His work of saving grace and that He tests our hearts and observes our faithfulness.  His plan is certain and has been laid out from the beginning to end.  We can trust and hope with certainty in all these things. 

Vision of the High Priest

Zechariah 3:1-10 

1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?"

3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.

4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, "Take away the filthy garments from him." And to him He said, "See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes."

5 And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head."

So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the LORD stood by.

The Coming Branch

6 Then the Angel of the LORD admonished Joshua, saying,
7 "Thus says the LORD of hosts:

'If you will walk in My ways,
And if you will keep My command,
Then you shall also judge My house,
And likewise have charge of My courts;
I will give you places to walk
Among these who stand here.

8 'Hear, O Joshua, the high priest,
You and your companions who sit before you,
For they are a wondrous sign;
For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.

9 For behold, the stone
That I have laid before Joshua:
Upon the stone are seven eyes.
Behold, I will engrave its inscription,'
Says the LORD of hosts,
'And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

10 In that day,' says the LORD of hosts,
'Everyone will invite his neighbor
Under his vine and under his fig tree.'"

This vision of the High Priest and Branch seem to use the real figure of Joshua (Haggai 1:1) who was the priest standing before the Accuser Satan, who is the accuser of all God’s people.  God puts the adversary in his place quickly by forgiving grace to cover the sins of Joshua as the Christ Joshua (Jesus is the name Joshua) forgives ours by God’s command.  God chooses His own and rebukes the devil who tries to oppose and destroy us with accusations and lies.  He also uses Joshua the priest to point us to our eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ of the same first name but the one who is the forgiving and atoning one of us all.  The man priest was filthy with sin but was made clean by God’s will and command in this vision to be fleshed out later in the gospel through faith and repentance by the God priest (Hebrews 3:1, 4:14, 6:20).  Like Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5, 7), Joshua was cleansed of the iniquity of his sin and clothed with the righteousness of God, another foreshadowing of the gospel to be fully revealed by Jesus Christ and described by the apostles for our understanding.  This message of God’s working to call and save His chosen children has not changed; it has only a mystery made clearly evident to us as we read all of the counsel of God’s word like this passage.  We also have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus as our new robes and hat (1 Thessalonians 5:8) of the understanding of His word according to His Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10, 12, 16) living in all His regenerated sons and daughters.  This passage also speaks of the Servant Branch who is the Messiah (Christ).  This suffering servant is told of in Isaiah 11:1-2 and Isaiah 42:1-2 as the seed from Jesse of King David according to the flesh but of God as well.  Matthew 12:17-18 clearly shows this is Jesus Christ of Bethlehem according to this earthly lineage as promised.  He was to come and remove our iniquities and cleanse us in His righteousness and unite His children in real fellowship to,share in all things as demonstrated in the first church of Acts 2:44-47 where they had all things in common.  Micah 4:4-5 also described this abundant life as one with no fear (1 John 4:18) for those who forever walk in the name of the Lord God in Christ as we know the mystery unfolded within us now (Colossians 1:26-27).  We now have peace with God under our trees as Isaiah 36:16 hinted at and has been given fully in Christ as Romans 5:1-2 assures us now.  We can therefore invite others to know Him and join us under that tree and vine of peace along with us and fellowship in our Branch of righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15-16) together.  He is YHWH Tsidkenu, the LORD who is our righteousness!  All these things were foretold and began to be revealed since that vision long ago to see the gospel being unveiled slowly to us.  We see then that all scripture is profitable for us (2 Timothy 3:16-17) to learn and grow from as we continue in our sanctification to be transformed into the image of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18) as the restored image of God (Genesis 1:27) in which Adam our forefather was made.

Measuring Room to Dwell with God

Zechariah 2:1-13 

1 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 So I said, "Where are you going?"

And he said to me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length."

3 And there was the angel who talked with me, going out; and another angel was coming out to meet him, 4 who said to him, "Run, speak to this young man, saying: 'Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. 5 For I,' says the LORD, 'will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.'"

Future Joy of Zion and Many Nations

6 "Up, up! Flee from the land of the north," says the LORD; "for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven," says the LORD. 7 "Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon."

8 For thus says the LORD of hosts: "He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. 9 For surely I will shake My hand against them, and they shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me.

10 "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," says the LORD. 11 "Many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. 12 And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!"

Here a vision show God measuring the place of His habitation to show there is room for all He chooses and calls to dwell with Him.  This is a picture of the immediate future of Israel restored from captivity but also of all those out of all nations joining them in the New Jerusalem at the end of time and beginning of eternal life.  Zechariah saw this as a man sent to measure Jerusalem to show there was room for all.  In the immediate time, the LORD would rebuild the earthly city as a shadow of the Celestial City to be brought down already built (Revelation 21:2, 10) and indestructible.  What is most amazing and of utmost importance is that God would be the wall around His people as protection and His very presence of glory would be in the midst of it (Revelation 21:3-4) and them!  In 2 Corinthians 6:16 we further see the implications of ourselves also being His temple where He lives and walks with us as we worship God in Christ according to His Spirit who lives in each transformed believer marked as His called and chosen out of all nations (Romans 8:9, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 1:9-10, 1 John 4:13).  He Himself is the glory in our midst!  God specifically told Zechariah that His people of old would be rescued from the captivity of Babylon because they were His own special people whom He cares for and delivers, a foretaste of the eternal freedom from sin’s curse of punishment.  Therefore the comfort was seen in God’s presence among them after being set free, just as it continues today in Jesus Christ until He leads us home into eternity.  Many nations will be joined with Him and them there (Romans 4:18, 23, Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11, Revelation 5:9).  Instead of questioning with doubt, we should hear these words and be silent before the LORD to listen carefully as He stands in our midst with the gospel hope.  Remember that He has prepared rooms for us (John 14:2) to live with Him forever with thankful praise and worship in the Celestial City where He lights up the new temple and the new earth with His very presence! 

From Anger to Comfort

Zechariah 1:12-21

12 Then the Angel of the LORD answered and said, "O LORD of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?"

13 And the LORD answered the angel who talked to me, with good and comforting words. 14 So the angel who spoke with me said to me, "Proclaim, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts:

"I am zealous for Jerusalem
And for Zion with great zeal.

15 I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease;
For I was a little angry,
And they helped—but with evil intent."

16 'Therefore thus says the LORD:
"I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy;
My house shall be built in it," says the LORD of hosts,
"And a surveyor's line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem."'

17 "Again proclaim, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts:
"My cities shall again spread out through prosperity;
The LORD will again comfort Zion,
And will again choose Jerusalem."'"

Vision of the Horns

18 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns. 19 And I said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these?"

So he answered me, "These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."

20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said, "What are these coming to do?"

So he said, "These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it."

The LORD promised to comfort Zion, His people, after His wrath on their sin was forgotten in the mercy of forgiveness.  This was after their seventy years as captives in Babylon to discipline and correct them.  The Angel of the LORD spoke to the Father and comforted the prophet Zechariah with good words of hope because of the zeal of godly jealously for the welfare of His chosen ones.  This is His desire for all the children of God in Christ that we might in return be zealous for doing good (Titus 2:14) as His own special people who are chosen and called to Himself.  He reserves His anger for the nations opposed to His still in rejecting His word, both written and living (John 1:1, 14, 12:48).  Just as then, some appear to help God’s people but hide an ulterior evil intent to serve their own interests.  God nonetheless promised mercy for His own, which mercy has been poured out fully on us (Titus 3:5-7) now in the fullness of His chosen remnants of Israel and from every nation.  His house was to be built in Jerusalem once again, but that was a mere shadow of the house He planned to build with all of us as the stones (1 Peter 2:5) of an eternal house in the heavens (2 Corinthians 5:1), the invisible church of the living God in Christ.  Though the word seems to indicate that the cities of Israel would last indefinitely, He really spoke of this mystery in Christ of the legacy of an eternal prosperity in the redeemed who will inhabit the New Jerusalem to come down out of heaven (Revelation 21:2-3) when God will live before our face forevermore.  This passage also talked of horns of the nations which scattered God’s people and took away their strength, but that He would defeat them and reunite His people.  He will likewise defeat all opposed to Christ’s own and deliver us into glory by that same power and promise as His grace moved Him from wrath on our sin to salvation in Him.  Amen! 

Promised Blessing and Chosen Seal

Haggai 2:15-23 

15 'And now, carefully consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the LORD— 16 since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty. 17 I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me,' says the LORD. 18 'Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid—consider it: 

19 Is the seed still in the barn?
As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate,
and the olive tree have not yielded fruit.
But from this day I will bless you.'"

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

20 And again the word of the LORD came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, 21 "Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying:

I will shake heaven and earth.
22 I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms;
I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms.
I will overthrow the chariots
And those who ride in them;
The horses and their riders shall come down,
Every one by the sword of his brother.

23 'In that day,' says the LORD of hosts, 'I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,' says the LORD, and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,' says the LORD of hosts."

This end of Haggai’s message ending with a promised blessing and a chosen seal.  Before the temple house of God was razed, the people’s rebellion had brought lack instead of abundance and they were told to think hard about those things and why they had brought down on their own heads in disobedience and rejection of the LORD.  They were to also then consider since the temple was rebuilt after its foundation was laid that there would be fruitfulness once more.  He promised to bless them by asking them first if the seed was still unplanted or if their vines and trees had yet borne fruit.  They had to look with trusting eyes of faith instead of with guilt and defeat.  What He promised to complete in them He was willing and able to do as we are reminded personally in Philippians 1:6 as well.  Therefore, Zerubbabel was chosen as a signet ring of belonging to the LORD.  When the heavens and earth were shaken in judgment and all nations brought down, the Chosen One would seal His people as His own (Ephesians 1:13) by the indwelling Holy Spirit given as the Savior rose from death to life and returned to the Father.  He has used His Spirit as a signet ring to mark us forever as His own!  He Himself is our promised blessing and seal of choosing.  Praise Him!  Yes, even though we all have sinned and come short of God and His standards, like Israel we too can see blessings of provision for our soul in the chosen One who sits at the Father's right hand. The Messiah, Christ Jesus, holds all power and authority of God, and He offers deliverance from our disobedience and restoration of our souls before almighty God.  From the day we are reconciled through Him to God we bear true and lasting fruit. 

The Call to Repentance

Zechariah 1:1-11

1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2 "The LORD has been very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Return to Me," says the LORD of hosts, "and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts. 4 "Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds."' But they did not hear nor heed Me," says the LORD.

5 "Your fathers, where are they?
And the prophets, do they live forever?

6 Yet surely My words and My statutes,
Which I commanded My servants the prophets,
Did they not overtake your fathers?

"So they returned and said:
Just as the LORD of hosts determined to do to us,
According to our ways and according to our deeds,
So He has dealt with us.'"'"

Vision of the Horses

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet: 8 I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were horses: red, sorrel, and white. 9 Then I said, "My lord, what are these?" So the angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what they are."

10 And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, "These are the ones whom the LORD has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth."

11 So they answered the Angel of the LORD, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, "We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is resting quietly."

Zechariah (Ezra 5:1) means “Yahweh Remembers/Has Remembered,” or considered.  This theme fills this book that Israel will be blessed because the LORD remembers the covenant He made with the fathers.  This prophetic message to God’s people began with the bad news of His wrath on their unrepentant sin before any good news could be pronounced upon them.  This is the same approach of the gospel which was fully formed and made manifest clearly in Christ for us.  We simply have no desire or understanding for the good news unless we first comprehend the bad news of being under God’s wrath on our inherited and practiced sin.  Only then is the news of deliverance considered good and necessary beyond mere interest or desire.  He remembered the remnant of Israel and does so for all those He has called from before the foundation of this His world (Ephesians 1:3-6).  The LORD called His people to return to Him, to repent of their sins of idolatry and immortality, and He would return to them for their good (Romans 8:28) and His glory.  He pleaded with them and sternly warned them not to be like those before them who were told to turn from their evil ways and evil deeds, but who refused to   hear and heed Him as His prophets warned them time and time again.  He reminded the hearers (and readers) that those of the past were long dead, both those who refused to hear and those who faithfully kept calling to them to repent and believe His word to them as we still call out through the good news revealed at last in all its fullness (Mark 1:15, John 6:29, Acts 20:21).  The word which they had heard was met with unbelief (Hebrews 4:2-3) and they realized the consequences of that disbelief and disobedience to His word, the deeds of unfaithfulness and rejection.  The wages of sin was earned and paid out as promised (Romans 6:23) because they could not see the mystery hidden there of the Christ to come who would pay that price once and for all (Romans 6:10, Hebrews 10:10) for all whom He had chooses and called.  Then Zechariah wrote of the horsemen riding throughout the earth as angels sent as watchers (Daniel 4:17) who reported the state of the world no mankind to the LORD as a testimony to us (God of course sees and knows all we do) of these things and assurance of His watchcare over those who are called as His own through repentance and faith in His word and working which is Christ the Word (John 1:1) and work of our salvation (John 1:12).  The Lord surely calls to us through His word preached (Romans 10:14-15) as He remembers and regards His people!  This is the gospel pattern to be more fully revealed when Christ came to walk the earth.  Before Christ came to stand between God's just judgment and our sinful hearts of missing the mark of obedience, we had no hope.  But He came as man and God to free us from that bondage and dwells within us now!  We have become His very people because of the One sent by God Himself, His Son. This is what He offers as we think of true hope.  We choose to partake of Him who loved and called us out first while we still were lost and deaf to hear Him.  We deserve the consequences of our ways and deeds but instead are given saving faith for grace through awareness of sin to confession through true repentance!  He has considered us and sealed us through the New Covenant in His sacrificial and all-sufficient blood.  Give Him all the honor and praise of thanksgiving! 

Shaken to Desire the Glory of God

 Haggai 2:1-14

1 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying: 2 "Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: 3 'Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? 4 Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,' says the LORD; 'and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,' says the LORD, 'and work; for I am with you,' says the LORD of hosts. 5 'According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!'

6 "For thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts. 8 'The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the LORD of hosts. 9 The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts. 'And in this place I will give peace,' says the LORD of hosts."

10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 11 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Now, ask the priests concerning the law, saying, 12 "If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?"'"

Then the priests answered and said, "No."

13 And Haggai said, "If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?"

So the priests answered and said, "It shall be unclean."

14 Then Haggai answered and said, "'So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,' says the LORD, 'and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.

All will be shaken up to reveal the defilement of all nations and not just God’s people.  The narrative of Haggai begins with the word of the LORD telling the faithful remnant about how the temple had lost its former glory to encourage their restoration work in the strength of God Himself to enable their success to finish it against all odds and opposition.  He was with them in their work and is now with us in the work of building the house of the Lord Jesus Christ with us as the building blocks (1 Peter 2:4-5) for His glory to dwell in us.  His Spirit remained among them then but now remains within us (John 16:7) following Christ’s ascension back to heaven after He rose from death to life as a down payment and seal upon us as His own special chosen people (Ephesians 1:13-14).  We therefore join in hearing the Lord say, “do not fear!” because of the new eternal covenant (Hebrews 12:24, 13:20-21) in His everlastingly effective blood of the sacrifice of Himself as our High Priest who forever intercedes for us.  He promised then to shake heaven and earth along with all nations (Hebrews 12:26-27) as the way to draw all whom He calls to Himself as the Desire of All Nations.  Because of this promise we have a godly fear by grace and peace (Hebrews 12:28) in an unshakable kingdom hope to serve Him joyfully as foretold by Haggai long ago.  We also realize like they were told then that our holiness does not come by mere association with consecrated things nor do we make things holy by our touch; rather, our holiness and righteousness is found by dwelling in Christ because they are His alone.  Everything we make by our own hands, of ourselves, is unclean (Romans 3:20, 23) because we are sinners and only by abiding in the holiness of Christ can anything we touch become righteous because we are in union with Him.  We are clean only in Him.  That is the hope foreshadowed in these words to God’s people then which looked forward to the completion of these things in Jesus Christ our unshakable hope and Desire of All Nations in whose kingdom we now abide.  We have been shaken that we might awaken to desire His glory in an unshakable kingdom that remains of His righteousness and to move and breathe (Acts 17:28) and have our being in Him.  Praise God who does all things well (Mark 7:37)! 

Willing and Joyful Obedience

Haggai 1:12-15

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the LORD. 13 Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, spoke the LORD's message to the people, saying, "I am with you, says the LORD." 14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the 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, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.

The obedience of God’s people rose out of their conviction for neglecting the LORD and His house.  They listened to God chastise them for putting their own desires and interests above the doing their utmost for the Highest first.  The challenge and rebuke to set their hearts on what mattered for eternity was heard and met at last.  They looked with fresh eyes at the ruin of God’s house in disrepair and the words of Haggai the messenger and spokesman for their LORD hit them in the heart and penetrated deeply into their souls.  They feared the LORD and His presence among them because they realized the seriousness of sin and their owed devotion and honor to worship Him which they had neglected.  Haggai addressed them all with encouraging words that he was with them in this regard and endeavor.  He also reminded them that God was with them to do the work on the temple of God as a pattern and picture of our work on these temples of our bodies individually (Philippians 1:6, 2:12-13) and corporately as the church (1 Peter 2:5).  The work was ultimately God’s and not theirs in the sense of their willingness and ability to engage and complete the reconstruction as a reflection of our repentance and subsequent work of sanctification.  God stirred up the leaders, priest, and people to return and work on the house of God where worship and atonement for sins (1 John 1:9) would once again take place.  This remnant of the called and chosen people of the LORD were willing and enabled to complete the work.  We of the remnant of all who hear the gospel and are chosen and called with them work now together in building a habitation of God in the spirit (Ephesians 2:21-22).  May we who read this account by Haggai respond in joyful and willing obedience to work on God’s house, individually and corporately to His glory, honor, and praise.  It is a poignant reminder for willing and joyful obedience in our individual and corporate sanctification, building the house of God in and with us.

Set Your Heart on what Matters!

Haggai 1:1-11

(Ezra 5:1)

1 In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, 2 "Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying: 'This people says, "The time has not come, the time that the LORD's house should be built."'"

3 Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?" 5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways!

6 "You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes."

7 Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified," says the LORD. 9 "You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the LORD of hosts. "Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. 11 For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands."

Haggai was used to being the stern message to the complacent people of God to build God’s house.  It was a call to consider their ways, to literally set their hearts on what really matters.  Jerome commented on this by saying it meant to “consider both what you have done (actively, Lamentations 3:40) and what you have suffered (passively), that they were to ponder earnestly whether they have gained by seeking self at the sacrifice of God.”  It meant that they had put their own interests above those of the LORD by not rebuilding His house, just their own.  We can make the same mistake by putting our interests above those of the church of God in Christ when our priorities are more for ourselves than our brothers and sisters of the Body.  These things should not be!  We should make our main business to be about our Master’s business which is the building up of the body (Colossians 1:28-29, Philippians 2:3-4, Ephesians 4:7, 11-12, 13-14).  May we not repeat this error to think that it is not time to build up God’s spiritual house as we busy ourselves with our own alone first.  Like the people of God that Haggai spoke to, we are not to let the house of the Lord lie in ruin while we sit in comfort.  We also need to consider our own ways in light of this example written for our edification (1 Corinthians 10:11, Romans 15:4) as we learn from bad examples to do the right things.  May we then set our hearts on what really matters for eternity with the goal of Christ in view as Paul reminded us in Philippians 3:12-14 as we run their race to the finish line.  Then what we sow will hear true fruit and we will have our needs met as well by the God who tends the lilies and feeds the sparrows each day.  If we do not put the spiritual house of God first, our money bags of what we earn will have the holes spoken of here.   There will be no eternal gain if we seek only our own.  Haggai commanded in the name of the LORD that the people therefore should gather each other together to finish work on building the physical temple that the worship and sacrifices could resume to praise and honor the LORD.  Unfruitfulness would be all they reaped otherwise.  May we learn this lesson not in order to build grand brick and mortar buildings to worship, but as we keep up the physical meeting places that we may build one another up as the Body stone by stone (1 Peter 2:5) until we come to be the mature church (Ephesians 4:13) of Jesus Christ in worshipping Him through serving one another.  Let us consider our ways and set our hearts on what truly matters!  Amen. 

Joy in God's Faithfulness

Zephaniah 3:14-20 

14 Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!

15 The LORD has taken away your judgments,
He has cast out your enemy.

The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
You shall see disaster no more.

16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
"Do not fear;
Zion, let not your hands be weak.

17 The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."

18 "I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly,
Who are among you,
To whom its reproach is a burden.

19 Behold, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you;
I will save the lame,
And gather those who were driven out;
I will appoint them for praise and fame
In every land where they were put to shame.

20 At that time I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you fame and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,"
Says the LORD.

Such joy expressed for God’s faithfulness by Zephaniah!  Knowing the wickedness of man and the righteousness of God in light of judgment on all and deliverance of a remnant, in all these things the prophet turned to sing praises and entreated the people of God to join him in doing the same.  He called for all who heard to rejoice with everything they had, with a whole heart completely His (Psalm 86:12, Joel 2:12) in repentance and trust.  He acknowledged that the LORD had forgiven them and delivered them from their enemies, a picture of the salvation in the Christ to come where our sins are cast into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19) and we are delivered from our enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26) and the consequences of sin, both inherited from Adam and committed each day by ourselves.  The Sovereign King is in our midst.  He was then with Israel and is now with them and us together as His completed people, the chosen and called children of His marvelous grace.  As the LORD said to Jerusalem to not fear and strengthen their hands for the task at hand with confidence, so we work our our salvation (Philippians 2:12-13) which is our sanctification with faith in His working to compete us into the image of Christ (Philippians 1:6).  We do this with hands made strong in Christ and not with fear that weakens us in our pursuit of Him according to His word.  He who is among us, Immanuel, will save and has saved us.  He rejoices over we His people of the kingdom He set in and among us (Luke 17:21) and God now also settles us in His love (1 Peter 5:10-11) with gladness and singing as the angels in heaven do before the throne without ceasing.  He binds up the wounds of our sorrows as promised even then in verse 18, and He deals with those who persecute us in His appointed times.  Just as God lifted up His people and made their fame known as His own then, so will He continue to put us on display for His glory and praise.  As He gathered the remnant of Israel back in repentance to Himself then with that renown as His own, delivering the captives representing captivity to sin, so has the Lord delivered us with them through repentance and faith to follow and magnify Him to the end of the earth!  He returns the captives of sin brought to us by the deceiver to our forefather Adam to the glorious liberty (Romans 8:21) of all the children of God.  What joy we then possess in God’s faithfulness to His word of promises as it is written. 

A Faithful Remnant

Zephaniah 3:8-13

8 "Therefore wait for Me," says the LORD,
"Until the day I rise up for plunder;
My determination is to gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.

9 "For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language,
That they all may call on the name of the LORD,
To serve Him with one accord.

10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers,
The daughter of My dispersed ones,
Shall bring My offering.

11 In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds
In which you transgress against Me;
For then I will take away from your midst
Those who rejoice in your pride,
And you shall no longer be haughty
In My holy mountain.

12 I will leave in your midst
A meek and humble people,
And they shall trust in the name of the LORD.

13 The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness
And speak no lies,
Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth;
For they shall feed their flocks and lie down,
And no one shall make them afraid."

Again there is a pattern and foreshadowing here of the completed people of God to come in Jesus Messiah.  While these verses do not predict or prophesy exact events to come and concern mainly the people of Israel in the time of Zephaniah, still the marks are evident.  God spoke of His rising up in judgment against the nations to pour out His fierce wrath on them for their sin.  He especially did it to remind His people as it was written that He is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5) who yearned for and demanded their loyal hearts (2 Chronicles 16:9) even with their imperfect ability to live according to His word.   He looked for faith and repentance as He still does, desiring obedience of belief in His working of righteousness which we find fulfilled in Christ.  Yes, He promised to restore the ability to call on Him with a united way to praise and honor and glorify His name.  This did not occur in the days of the theocracy of Israel, but has in the completed people of God in Jesus Christ; in Him we speak the same things (1 Corinthians 1:10, 2 Corinthians 13:11) because He has put His law into our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33, 2 Corinthians 3:3) as He put Himself into us, His very presence to unite us as one from Israel and out of all nations as promised to Abraham (Genesis 17:4-5, Romans 4:11, 17-18).  Then He promised to bring back a remnant of those He dispersed (Micah 4:7), those whom he refined in the fire (Zechariah 13:9) of discipline and shaping in humility to level their pride of their own efforts and accomplishments.  Such is the gospel messenger and work in us all now as well.  He calls us as a people of the unseen kingdom, not of an earthly theocracy, but of a heavenly one.  We fulfill this word together with Israel to serve and worship in humility because we trust in the LORD and His work alone (John 6:28-29).  Just as the remnant of Israel would do no unrighteousness as a practice (1 John 3:6-7), so in Christ we can all set that as our goal which we run towards (Philippians 3:12-13) as we trust in His righteousness which we are found in.  We therefore need to follow the principles of the prophecies that tell us to speak no lies or pursue unrighteousness which is sin.  He alone makes His flock lie down at peace with Him (Romans 5:1) and without fear of eternal punishment (1 John 4:18).  We then feed the flock given to us as well.  Whom then shall we fear (Psalm 27:1, Romans 8:31-33, 38-39) if God Himself is for us as His chosen people?  He is our Great Shepherd and keeper of our souls as a faithful remnant (Romans 11:5-6) on the narrow path to life (Matthew 7:13-14) out of all humanity (Ephesians 1:9-10) who hear the gospel and receive Him (John 1:12) by God-given faith (Ephesians 2:8) to the salvation of our souls.  No one then will make us truly afraid in light of eternity.  He has delivered His people as a remnant out of the world from His wrath on sin to be forgiven and forever with Him!  This is a pattern of all the remnant taken out of all the nations together with Israel as His Kingdom people.