Two showers for one - Haggai & Ezra

I have also been reading in the book of Haggai today. Haggai is an interesting book in that it's a series of messages from the Lord. Well, truthfully I suppose that's what all prophetic books are but it really stands out in Haggai.

You have to go back to the book of Ezra to really get the picture right. Cyrus decreed that the Jews could go back to their land and rebuild the temple of the Lord. He was a righteous man, Cyrus, and he believed in God and knew that God should have a temple in Jerusalem. He also decreed that any survivor that wanted to go should be supported by his surrounding community - they were to help them go back. Isn't that interesting ? He even gave Sheshbazzar, one of the princes of Judah, gold and silver from the treasury to take with him.

And so a remnant of about 50,000 returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua/Joshua. The first thing they did was rebuild the Altar and make sacrifices. They were afraid of the people in the surrounding nations though and it took them awhile to really get started on the temple. But in the 2nd year after their return they finally got started laying the foundation. And when it was done they stood around praising God and weeping because what was planned was so poor in comparison to the old temple that was lost. The noise they made was heard by the people around them and they came to investigate. When they found them rebuilding they first wanted to help and be part of it but the Jews said no. (God had commanded them to remain separate from the nations around them.) When they found that the Jews wanted no part of them THEN they began to try everything they could to discourage them and to stop them from rebuilding the temple and Jerusalem.

The building hadn't gotten very far by the time of Darius so their enemies sent to the King and got a decree to halt construction. And so the rebuilding of the temple languished for about 14 years.

And that's where the prophet Haggai comes in. God sent them a series of messages by the prophet.

• You keep saying that it's not the right time to build the temple.
• You've built up your own houses and worked for yourselves. But guess what - you haven't prospered because I have stopped you. I want my house rebuilt first. You're working so hard but getting so little return - it's because I won't prosper you because you are working for yourself.
• I'm telling you that I'm with you - rebuild my house.

At this point you have to remember ... the King had decreed that all construction must stop. So by starting up again, they were not following orders. Yet God said ... I am with you. That was significant. He wanted them to get started again and he would work out the details.

• I know that you've been comparing this poor temple with the glory of the former temple that was lost and by it you've become discouraged. But I am with you just like I promised when I brought you out of Egypt. I am planning to shake up the whole order of things and I will fill this house with glory. It's glory will be greater than the glory of the old temple.
• Whatever is touched by something unclean becomes unclean. But from this point forward, I will prosper you.

This last message doesn't really make sense until you cross-reference it with the book of Ezra. When Ezra returned to Jerusalem he discovered that the exiles who had returned had taken foreign wives and even had children with them. Ezra was a scribe and knew the Law of Moses well. The nations around them were unclean and by making these kinds of connections with them, they had made themselves unclean. It was necessary to purify themselves and put away these foreign wives and children before they could go on. Poor Ezra was horrified because this was the same kind of disobedience that got them dragged away captive to Babylon before. God promised to prosper them once they had purified themselves.

Without reading the book of Ezra I would not have realized what this message meant because it is not clear in the text of Haggai. But Haggai prophesied during the time of Ezra and so the events of both books intertwine.

• I will shake everything up - I will overturn kingdoms and nations, I will destroy armies- eveyone by the sword of another. And when I do it, I will put the person I want in charge - Zerubbabel - and the one I have chosen will be my signet ring, the symbol of my authority.

God's messages to Israel always contained truth for the moment coupled with a look to the future. It seems to me that this shaking is reserved yet for a future day and Zerubbabel is symbolic of his future governmental authority and prefigures Christ. (Zerubbabel was of the king line and was the governor. He could not be King because no descendent of Jeconiah's could be king according to God's judgement. )

When they started rebuilding the temple, their enemies of course appealed to the King again but this time the Jews reminded him of the decree of Cyrus. Not only did the King support their building program but he demanded that his subjects in that region support the building program with their taxes and also to supply the daily needs of the temple from them once it was built - with a severe penalty for non-compliance. He sent more money and gifts with Ezra when he came and utensils to use in the temple. He gave them free access to the treasury and even decreed that the priests and Levites and temple servants could not be taxed.

So you see, God was indeed with them. It pays to heed the messages of his prophets.