Late in 17th century, Puritan John Bunyan wrote an allegory of the Christian life called The Pilgrim’s Progress – Book was wildly successful – Sold 100,000 copies in first 10 years – It was translated into some 200 languages and, at one point in time, was second only to Bible in minds of many Christians in West
The story describes long and arduous journey of a man named Christian from Vanity Fair to the Celestial City – It’s allegory of Christian life – At one point, Christian and a fellow traveler, Hopeful, unknowingly shelter overnight on the property of Doubting Castle, which is owned by a Giant named Despair – Giant Despair seizes them for trespassing on his property and throws them in a prison cell in dark dungeon of Doubting Castle
Over next few days, Giant Despair refuses to feed them, to give them water, and to let them see the daylight – He scolds them harshly and beats them even worse – He tells them that they’d be better off taking their own lives than dying a long, slow death in their cell – After a few days, because of lack of bread and water and because of beatings they had received, it was all two men could do just to breathe…and pray
Christian and Hopeful prayed all night and around daybreak next day, Christian has an epiphany – Half-amazed and half-embarrassed that he’d forgotten about it all this time, Christian exclaims to Hopeful: “’I have a key in my bosom, called Promise, that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.’ Then said Hopeful, ‘That is good news; good brother, pluck it out of thy bosom, and try.’
Then Christian pulled it out of his bosom, and began to try at the dungeon-door, whose bolt, as he turned the key, gave back, and the door flew open with ease, and Christian and Hopeful both came out. Then he went to the outward door that leads into the castle-yard, and with his key opened that door also. After, he went to the iron gate, for that must be opened too; but that lock went desperately hard…yet the key did open it. They then thrust open the gate to make their escape with speed… Then they went on, and came to the King’s highway, and so were safe…” to continue their journey[1
This morning we are looking at Haggai 2:1-9, second of four oracles in book – And we will see that Bunyan’s book proposes nothing new or novel, but accurately illustrates experience of God’s people for thousands of years: that doubt and despair are sometimes real and harsh realities of walking with God, but that we have a sure escape from them both through key that is His promise
Let’s dig in to Haggai – We’re just going to work through this section a couple of verses at a time and we’ll talk application at end – Starting in first verse:
Read v. 1
Couple of things to note about dating of this oracle:[2]
First, this oracle was given roughly one month after Israelites had resumed rebuilding Temple in response to first oracle – So, Israelites had received oracle we looked at last week, they had responded by getting back to work, and this oracle comes one month later
Second, this particular day, twenty-first day of seventh month, falls during Jewish Feast of Tabernacles – Feast of Tabernacles was a week-long feast with a two-fold purpose: to celebrate end of harvest by offering tithes to Lord, and to reflect on time of Israel’s desert experience, when they dwelt in tents or “tabernacles” and longed for life in Promised Land – So, for seven days, Israelites would gather in Jerusalem, live in tents, and remember God’s mighty works in Exodus: Passover, parting of Red Sea, leading them in a pillar of fire and smoke, and, most significantly, His powerful revelation of Himself at Mt. Sinai
That’s backdrop for this oracle: Israelites have been working for a month – They’ve gathered together to remember God’s powerful redemptive work – They’ve come to offer tithes to Lord after harvest – But, they are discouraged – And here’s why:
They are gathered not at a beautiful Temple, but at a construction site – It’s not functional – It’s not pretty – It’s not clean – It’s a reminder of Babylon, and defeat, and sin, and exile – On top of that, they don’t have much to offer in form of tithes because, as we know from chapter one, their harvests hadn’t been fruitful because of their disobedience – So, they’ve gathered to worship but they are overwhelmed and discouraged because, visibly, things are in shambles
And it’s into this situation that God speaks to Haggai:
Read v. 2-3
Israelites who had gathered for Feast of Tabernacles could be lumped into two groups: 1) Small group of older generation who had lived in Jerusalem prior to exile and had actually seen and worshipped in Solomon’s Temple – 2) Younger generation who had been born in Babylon, in exile, had never seen Solomon’s Temple, and had no context for its grandeur
And we know from Book of Ezra that this had created some complex dynamics in post-exilic Israel – Ezra chapter three records laying of Temple’s foundation, prior to Haggai’s ministry, and it says that when the foundation was completed, younger generation “shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord” but older generation, who had seen Solomon’s Temple, “wept with a loud voice… so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping” (Ezra 3:11-13)
Imagine that dynamic – One community, weeping loudly and worshipping loudly at same event – This event in Ezra 3 happened roughly seventeen years prior to Haggai’s ministry – So, we know for sure that older generation was wrestling with discouragement – But, by time of Haggai, possible all people were discouraged
Lord is going to address and encourage all of people, but first He acknowledges this unique discouragement that first group was experiencing
He essentially asks them: What do you think of this Temple compared to Solomon’s? – Not much to be proud of, is there? – Lord is acknowledging their viewpoint and discouragement – He acknowledges where they are at – He doesn’t rebuke them for being discouraged – But He is going to challenge them to keep moving forward in face of discouragement
Read v. 4-5
Lord issues three separate commands to His all His people: Zerubbabel, Joshua, younger generation – And older generation:
First, “be strong” – This command is repeated three times – It is addressed specifically to Zerubbabel and to Joshua, and then, generally, to all people of land – This is not a command to go lift weights – Sorry, guys – It is a command focused on internal belief or attitude – “Be strong” in your heart, in your mind, and in your faith – Israelites, who were reflecting on Exodus at Feast of Tabernacles, would have likely heard echoes of God’s command to Joshua as He prepare to take Promised Land
Second command is “work” – “Work” that Lord is commanding them to do is undoubtedly work of rebuilding Temple – This command is an external action: stand up and put your hands to work – Keeping going – Don’t stop
Third command is “Fear not” – We know that fear of neighboring enemies is what had caused Israel to stop building Temple previously (Ezra 3:3; 4:4–5) – Fear was a threat to Israel’s persistence – Like first command, this command focuses on internal belief or attitude – If “be strong” is the positive command to be obeyed with heart/mind/will, then “fear not” is corresponding negative command to be obeyed with heart/mind/will
So, Lord acknowledges reality of Israelites’ discouragement, but then He issues these three commands to summon them to keep moving: “…be strong…work…fear not…”
And, as we saw last week, God’s commands are accompanied by promises – God’s commands, throughout Scripture, are always founded upon something solid – God doesn’t hang His commands in thin air – Anywhere you find a command from Lord, you can be sure that it is tied to His character and/or His saving work in some way
Look at three promises God gives here to go along with His three commands:
First: “I am with you” – This promise is clearly connected to command to work: work because I am with you, or work for I am with you – So, this is not a work of self-confidence – Nor is this merely a human work – God is initiating, leading, and directing rebuilding of His Temple and He’s calling His people to join Him – Which means their confidence must not rest in their skill or ability to create or provide, it must rest in the Creator and Provider of all things – “I am with you”
And why is He with them? – It’s not a result of their merit – It’s not because they are such a great and faithful people – He is with them because He is a promise-keeping God – He’s with them according to covenant He made with them when they came out of Egypt – At a time when they were to be reflecting on Exodus, God is reminding them that, despite what they see visibly, His covenant faithfulness stands: “I am with you”
Second promise is similar, with many of same inferences and applications: “My Spirit remains in your midst.” – His dwelling place may not yet be finished, but His Spirit remains among His people – That’s second promise
To see third promise, we need to look at rest of passage
And as we move to verse six you are going to see a shift from prophetic “forth telling” to prophetic “fore telling” – Forth telling is when a prophet delivers a Divine message concerning realities that were present at his time, just as Haggai has done in up to this point in book – Fore telling is when a prophet delivers a Divine message concerning realities that still lie in his future – Sometimes, forth telling and fore telling get mixed all together – But, as we look at third and final promise God gives Israelites in verses 6-9, we see a clear shift to fore telling – This third promise is future-oriented
Read v. 6-9
Prophetic writings, especially when they are fore telling future events, can be difficult to understand – But we can make sense of it if we do a little work:
Here, Lord is describing a future event that will take place – He begins by saying: “Yet once more, in a little while…” – This tells us two things about this event
“Yet once more” tells us that this event will be a recapitulation of something that has happened before – Something that has happened before will happen “Yet once more…” – And original audience was to view this recapitulating event as being relatively imminent: it will happen “in a little while”
Next, Lord describes event: it will be a “shaking” of entire cosmos: heavens and earth, sea and dry land, and all the nations – It will be universal
And, it will be cataclysmic – Verb for “shaking” is used elsewhere in association with powerful demonstrations of the Lord’s appearance – Given the context of Feast of Tabernacles we think especially of God’s appearance at Mt. Sinai, which was demonstrated with thunder, lighting, a thick cloud of smoke and fire, and a very loud trumpet blast so that people trembled (Ex. 19:16-19) – This verb “shaking” is used to describe that kind of event, when God reveals Himself in powerful ways[3]
And we’re told that result of this recapitulating, imminent, cataclysmic event will be that treasures of all nations will come into Jerusalem and into Temple – Lord will fill His house with a glory that far exceeds Temple of Solomon’s day – And in this more glorious Temple the Lord will give peace – Hebrew word is shalom: an all-encompassing state of wellbeing, harmony, fruitfulness, blessing, satisfaction, and completeness
This is third and future reason that Israelites are commanded: “be strong…work…fear not” – Because God, in His sovereignty, in His power, in His goodness, in His faithfulness, has promised that He will work all this for sake of His name and benefit of His people – God has promised that He will turn their shambles into shalom – That’s prophetic vision by which this second oracle ends
So, as we move to application we, again, have to consider differences between Mosaic Covenant of Haggai’s time and Covenant of Christ, under which we now live
Last week we walked through how Jesus fulfilled and transformed our understanding of Temple – He came as the New and Better Temple and then recast our understanding of Temple by becoming the heavenly cornerstone of Church – So that we can now say that church is earthly extension of the New and Better Temple, founded up Christ, Cornerstone
Thus, “working” on Temple or “rebuilding” Temple is recast in New Testament terms as: pursuit of godliness, evangelism, and discipleship – That’s bridge we built last week
Bridge it is important for us to build this morning revolves around final promise of this passage, this event that was future to Haggai and his generation – Big question we need to answer is: is it still future to us? – Or, is it past to us? – Simple answer: yes – And simple answer to who fulfilled that promise is, no surprise, Jesus – Jesus fulfills Haggai 2:6-9, but it’s so important to note that He does it in two stages
First stage of fulfillment is past – In Jesus, God took on human form and revealed Himself, a revelation that recapitulated but far exceeded revelation given at Sinai – Jesus, through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension shook entire cosmos in cataclysmic way and brought cosmic renewal through Kingdom of God – He shook nations so that treasure of worship to glory of His Name has been gathered into church from across globe, so that glory of church far exceeds glory of any building – And to His church He offers peace: shalom – All-encompassing state of wellbeing, harmony, fruitfulness, blessing, satisfaction, and completeness
But, as you are well aware, those good things are still mingled with sin and suffering, doubt and despair – And, at times, it seems that followers of Jesus get little exemption from these harsh realities of life – We still find that we can thrown into Doubting Castle and thrust under thumb of Giant Despair – How do we make sense of that? – Is God a liar? – Is Christianity just hopeful imagination that disregards reality of our painful existence? – Or does our experience of these things it mean that we are not actually, truly, Christians, or else we would not struggle as we do?
There’s a better way to make sense of it, and it’s to believe what Scriptures say – And Scriptures say that, although stage one is past, stage two is future
In Hebrews 12, author of Hebrews warns New Covenant Christians, people in our covenant context, to hear and obey words of Jesus – How does he try to motivate them? – By pointing to Christ’s return and final judgment – And how does he describe that event? – By citing Haggai 2:6 – He writes: “…[God] has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken…”
You see that there is a second “yet once more” behind the first – Stage one of fulfillment is past – Which means that, in Jesus we really, truly, actually, have Spirit, Kingdom, church, and shalom – We have the key of promise
But, stage two of fulfillment is future – Which means that, in Jesus we really, truly, actually, experience fear and anxiety and loneliness – We sometimes sin against each other and God, and, sometimes, we may find ourselves discouraged, doubting, even wrestling against clutches of despair, itself – You see, we have key of promise, precisely because we will have to use it
We experience some benefits of salvation now – We will experience all the benefits of salvation later – It’s already, not yet
So, where does that leave us, practically speaking? – Well, it often leaves us, as a church, in same place Israelites found themselves: worshipping and weeping – Worshipping at what God has done, but weeping at what remains unfinished, dysfunctional, and incomplete in our own lives and world around us – That is normal experience of Christian life – It’s a weird normal – But it is our normal
Possible some of you are here this morning and you are discouraged at what remains unfinished and dysfunctional inside of you – Maybe you look at yourself, individual stone within this temple that Lord is building from heaven, and you see a flaw here, an imperfection there, a deep sin-crack that years of polishing have not been able to remove – You’ve been trying to polish things up with Lord’s help for a while now – Spending time in Word, prayer, all disciplines, community, accountability – You’ve done it all, maybe for a long time – And yet you go to bed a lot of nights thinking, this looks more like shambles than shalom to me – Maybe that pushes you into discouragement, doubt, even despair
God has given you a key of promise – What God has said through Paul’s pen in Philippians 1:6 is that He has begun a good work in you and He will bring it to completion at day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6) – Living God began work in you through Gospel, by Spirit – And He will finish that work – It will be on His timeline and in His way, but He will do it – Because He always keeps His promises – Your God-given task this morning, and every morning, is to lean on key of promise by faith, utilizing resources God has given you, until lock comes open and you walk out – Be strong, work, fear not
Possible some of you are here this morning and you are perpetually discouraged at what remains unfinished and dysfunctional around you – Maybe you’re always looking at state of our world, or state of our country, another election that threatens to divide and distance people, state of Evangelical church in America
Or maybe it’s closer to home for you, maybe it’s just what’s happening right around you in your family, your small group, our church – People are sick and hurting and doubting and sinning and you find yourself wringing your hands over state of church and your future – And you go to bed a lot of nights thinking, this looks more like shambles than shalom to me – Maybe that pushes you into discouragement, doubt, even despair
God has given you a key of promise – Listen to words of Jesus to Peter in Matthew 16: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” – Jesus will build His church – Period – He is one initiating, leading, directing, protecting, and finishing this work – Your God-given task this morning, and every morning, is to lean on key of promise by faith, utilizing resources God has given you, until lock comes open and you walk out – Be strong, work, fear not
Christ is with us – His Spirit remains in our midst – And “Yet once more, in a little while…” He’ll turn our shambles into shalom
[1] John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995), 134.
[2] Mark J. Boda, Haggai, Zechariah, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2004), 118.
[3] Boda, Haggai, Zechariah, 125.