(LESSONS FROM THE BOOK OF HAGGAI)
THEME: THE STATE OF FINANCIAL MAKOSSA
Text: Haggai 2:9
By: Adeoye, Emmanuel (Evang.)
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Encouragement God’s promise
With prophetic insight, Haggai looked ahead to the time when the Son of God would minister in this temple and bring the glory of God into its precincts (John 1:14). Herod’s temple replaced the temple Zerubbabel built, but the Jews still considered it “the second temple.” Certainly the glory that Jesus brought into that temple was greater than the glory of the tabernacle or the temple Solomon built.
The book of Ezra gives the answers. The priests, Levites, tribal heads, and older men, who had seen the grandeur of the former structure and remembered the majestic glory of Solomon’s Temple WEPT, because the foundations of this second Temple were so much smaller. It was to be a less ornate structure and less substantial than the one destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and many wept aloud.
Despite their distress, Haggai was able to tell these weeping congregation in a most astonishing truth: “The Lord of hosts declares that the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, and in this place I will give peace.”
HAGGAI GAVE AN ENCOURAGEMENT GOD’S PROVISION
Finally, the Lord assured them that, in spite of the had economy and their lack of wealth, He was able to provide all they needed. “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine” (v. 8).
The Church today is the Temple of God, made from living stone, and the Spirit of God indwells our mortal bodies. We have this treasure in clay vessels, so that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.
True, the remnant had promises of provision from the government (Ezra 1:4; 3:7; 6:4), but government grants are limited. God owns all the wealth, even the wealth stored in the king’s treasury, and He can distribute it as He desires. God promises to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory (Phil 4:19).
Despite their distress, Haggai was able to tell these weeping congregation in a most astonishing truth: “The Lord of hosts declares that the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, and in this place I will give peace.”
Even though the rebuilt Temple would be less magnificent than its earlier counterpart, God promised that the ‘final glory of the God’s House’ would eclipse its former glory, which must have seemed impossible to those lamenting elders.
Not only was its glory to outstrip the former Temple, but the Lord also promised to bring peace to the Temple court and the city of Jerusalem.
It’s better to fail in an endeavor that you know will ultimately succeed than to succeed in an endeavor you know will ultimately fail. The humble temple the Jewish remnant was constructing would not last, and even Herod’s ornate temple would be destroyed by the Romans, but there would one day be a glorious temple that nobody could destroy or defile. Knowing this, the discouraged remnant could take courage and finish their work.
LESSONS TO TAKE HOME
- WE NEED TO PLACE OUR PRIORITY ON THE THINGS OF GOD
- WE NEED A PUSH HARD TO ACTUALIZE THESE DREAM – MATTHEW 11:12
- WE MUST REMAIN STEADFAST; BECAUSE OUR LABOR IS NOT IN VAIN – 1 CORINTHIANS 15:58
CONCLUSION
OUR PRAYER’S TO GOD IS TO PLANT OUR FEET ON HIGHER GROUND – HYMN 255
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