Minor Prophets Study: Haggai Study 5, from Haggai 2:4-9
What is the purpose of our work for the LORD, if He does not need us to do His work, and if our work cannot begin to compare with what He is able to do? As the returned exiles in Haggai contemplated the rebuilding of the Temple, no doubt they surveyed the ruins and wondered this. In one of his lesser-known short stories, “Leaf by Niggle” (published 1945), J.R.R. Tolkien tells the tale of a humble man, Niggle, who has great dreams of painting a beautiful tree on a massive canvas. Throughout his life, Niggle faithfully works on the painting, in painstaking detail, attempting to get even each tiny vein of each little leaf as beautiful and perfect as he sees it in his imagination. Yet at the end of his life, Niggle dies having completed only one small, beautiful leaf of the incredible painting he had envisioned. One might wonder, what was the purpose? Were Niggle’s time and efforts wasted? Was his desire futile?
But Tolkien takes the story further though, into the gates of paradise along with Niggle. As Niggle enters paradise, he is overwhelmed by the sight of a tree – an amazing, lovely, and very familiar tree. It is the very tree that he had envisioned for so long, trying to paint in all its perfection and glory, but standing not as a painting, but in all its real, tangible grandeur, only perhaps bigger and more beautiful than he had imagined! Meanwhile, back on earth, tucked away in the corner of a museum, is a small framed picture of a beautiful leaf, entitled “Leaf by Niggle.” And for those who stop to admire it in its detail and beauty, they are able to begin to envision the magnificent Tree to which this intricate leaf might belong. In Niggle’s unassuming little painting, which had seemed so far from reaching his lofty goal, viewers catch a vision of Paradise.
Perhaps it is helpful to think of the returned exiles coming to rebuild the Temple in the framework of “Leaf by Niggle.” As these returnees see their inadequacy and are tempted to give up in the work of a rebuilt temple that will not even come close to the glory of the former Temple, the LORD speaks to them in a timely fashion. He sees them in their discouragement and feelings of failure, and He speaks His truth to their hearts. He gives them a reminder of their calling to “be strong” and “work,” and a reminder of His promise in the calling, for “I am with you” (Hag 2:5). And even as He calls them to work on a Temple that will indeed not match the former glory, He strengthens them in their work through the promise of a greater fulfillment of their work. Be strong, work, because He will use their work to point forward to a more glorious Temple and picture of God’s presence with His people than human hands could ever create, or human minds could ever imagine!
The Reminder in the Promise (Hag 2:4-5)
Yes, as we have seen, the LORD of Hosts speaks to His people at their most vulnerable point, to remind them that He does in fact see them, and to remind them of His purpose for them, and His promise in this calling. “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD” (Hag 2:4). These first words of promise are not new, but a timely, merciful reminder of His command, and the promise of His presence. Knowing their propensity towards despair and giving up, the LORD first issues a command to “be strong” with threefold repetition. First, He signals out the governor (and therefore leader) of the people, Zerubbabel. to “be strong.” Then, He addresses the spiritual leader, Joshua the priest. And finally, the LORD speaks to all the people. The repetition is pointed, and of utmost emphasis in the Hebrew.1
The leaders must remember and lead in the LORD’s strength, but the people also must see and follow. Though they feel weak and inept, the LORD commands them to “be strong” and to “work” on the Temple, rather than giving up, “for I am with you” (Hag 2:4). While they may look among the rubble and wonder what is the purpose, the LORD reminds them yet again that they are NOT alone; He Himself is with them in their labor! The strength to not give up, to keep laboring in spite of the odds, comes from the incredible reminder of the promise from a few weeks previously (and throughout their history) that “I am with you” (cf. Hag 1:13).
Indeed, even as He commands them to be strong and work, the LORD reminds them of His presence with them now, even as He has always been with His people. He is with them “according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not” (Hag 2:5). Recall that, as they neared the final day of the Feast of Booths, the people had been celebrating a festival of remembering that God had brought His people safely out of Egypt . He had been with them throughout all the uncertainty of fleeing from Pharaoh’s armies, and wandering and camping in the wilderness. He had both guided them visibly and protected with the “pillar of fire” by day, and the “pillar of cloud” by night, allowing His presence to physically stand between them and their enemies (see Exod 14:19-20, and context of 13:17-14:29).
The same God who promised to bring His people safely out of Egypt is the same God who promises to accomplish His work of rebuilding through this motley and disheveled lot. This Spirit in their midst is the same Spirit who stirred up the heart of Cyrus so many years ago to commission the rebuilding; it is the same Spirit who stirred them up to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem to rebuild; it is the same Spirit who has convicted and stirred their hearts to return to the work a few weeks earlier. It is the same Spirit who has always been with His people, giving them strength and courage that they are unable to find within themselves.
Indeed, the command to “be strong and work for I am with you” is but another timely, gracious reminder of God’s ever-presence with His people as He fulfills His covenant promises in and through them. As the LORD was charging Joshua with the responsibility of leading Israel into Canaan, God had commanded him in a very similar way to these returnees to “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh 1:9). As the exiles heard these words and this promise, they might reflect back also to the LORD’s care for Joshua, as Joshua faced the task of fighting the enemies in the land of Canaan, and guiding God’s people to the Promised Land.2
Perhaps even more poignantly, given their context of temple rebuilding, this command to “be strong and work for I am with you,” harks back to David’s words as he commissioned his son Solomon to the God-given task of building the first Temple: “Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished” (I Chron 28:20). Even as the LORD would not leave or forsake Solomon until the work of building His house was finished, so He will not leave or forsake His people in the redemptive work of rebuilding: He will see the work through to its purposes! So they may and must be strong, work, and fear not! The LORD is with them!
And lest they people forget the strength of the One who accompanies them, the LORD reminds them of who He is in no uncertain terms. The LORD refers to Himself as “the LORD of Hosts” six times between verses 6-9 (and 13 times throughout the two short chapters of Haggai). When opposition to the work had arisen at the initial rebuilding, the people feared and quickly became discouraged. But the LORD is emphatic to remind them that it is their God, the LORD who commands all the heavenly hosts (armies), who is with them, protecting them, on their side! They need only cry to HIM! He is with them. It is He who is able to fight not only physical enemies to the work, but also the enemies of fear, despondency, depression, loss of focus, and falling into despair over what has been lost. It is the LORD of Hosts who accomplishes HIS work and secures the victory for His people.
The Fulfillment of the Promise (Hag 2:6-9)
So the people can indeed rebuild the Temple, in the strength of the LORD their God. But what about its glory? What about the promises of a greater Temple from Isaiah and Ezekiel, promises that this crude rebuilding could never even come close to accomplishing? Perhaps we know the LORD’s presence with us, but we wonder what is the purpose of our work? If my witnessing to my neighbor cannot change hearts, why do it? If working on my anger-management will still not get RID of my anger this side of heaven, why worry about it? If working to bring God’s Kingdom here on earth in our daily work (as doctors, as lawyers, as mothers, as teachers, as good stewards, etc.) will not come close to the Heavenly picture of perfection, how does it even make a difference?
As if a reminder of the presence and strength of the LORD of Hosts were not enough, the LORD continues now through Haggai with a glimpse of His purposes for the rebuilding of the Temple. No, this rebuilding will not be the glorious pictures from Isaiah and Ezekiel; rather, it will point forward to His perfect fulfillment of the promised Temple. So the LORD continues with one of the richest promises of Messianic fulfillment:
For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’ (Hag 2:6-9)
Indeed, the rebuilding now is but a redemptive picture that points forward to the LORD’s greater promised redemption for His people.
If the returnees are concerned about the lack of splendor and glory in this imperfect rebuilding, the LORD reminds them that He Himself commands all the treasures of the earth, all the silver, all the gold. He, the LORD of Hosts commands not only the heavenly realms, but also “the earth and the sea and the dry land” (Hag 2:6). And in His timing, “I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts,” a glory that shall indeed “be greater than the former [glory]” (Hag 2:7,9). Yet how are these returnees to understand this promise, as they rebuild but a shadow of the former glorious Temple?
When the LORD promises the greater glory for this Temple, it is with a promise of cosmic “shaking.” Though the Old Testament often uses this term in the context of judgment and upheaval, in Haggai, there is an added glorious, redemptive aspect to this judgment. In His timing, the LORD would bring about the greatest upheaval (for both judgement and redemption) that the world had ever known! The coming of His Son – the dawning of Emmanuel – would bring the greatest upheaval, the greatest shaking, and the greatest glory imaginable.
While the returnees look around them and find no peace in Jerusalem, which was to have been (literally by its name) “the City of Peace,” the LORD promises them that “in this place, I will give peace” (Hag 2:9). This peace is greater than any political or economic peace these Jews could imagine; it is the peace of the Prince of peace Himself (Isa 9:6), the Messiah who will “[make] peace by the blood of his cross” (Col 1:20). For people who have fallen into the turmoil and anxiety of trying to build a glorious Temple in their own feeble efforts, who have become dismayed and discouraged yet again, the LORD promises His presence, and His peace surpassing understanding that can guard their fragile hearts and anxious minds (cf. Phil 4:7). His strength and presence are with them; they can build, anticipating His glory, and His peace! God will indeed use this rebuilding for His purposes: not as the end goal itself, but to point them and others forward to His glorious fulfillment! The rebuilt Temple is, as it were, Niggle’s Leaf, offering a glimpse into what God Alone can and will accomplish.
Even as Isaiah had prophesied earlier,
“darkness shall cover the earth
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isa 60:2-3).
As the Messiah Himself enters the darkness and chaos of lives that feel oppression, people who feel despair over their sin and brokenness, walking among people who have rejected His name, the LORD will shake the nations, and show forth His glory! As Jesus goes to the cross to die as the ultimate Temple sacrifice for His people, the foundations of the earth shake; the curtain of this rebuilt Temple is ripped from top to bottom; HIS glory is displayed as He cries, “it is finished!,” conquering sin and death, fear and sadness, despair, weariness, and discouragement forevermore! The greater glory of this house that the LORD promises in Haggai is indeed the glory of the victorious Christ, who offers Himself as the perfect sacrifice, the perfect High Priest, and the God with Us.
Yes, Jesus’ coming will indeed shake the nations for His glory. In Jesus, it is not about pre-exilic Jew or post-exilic, it is not about Greek nor Jew, nor slave nor free, but about finding hope, joy, and forgiveness through the blood of Jesus, God with Us. Through Jesus, His glory will indeed be present in His Temple, as the LORD uses ordinary, downtrodden, despairing people like the returnees as “living stones” to build a “spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (I Peter 2:5, & context). Through the testimony of this spiritual house, the Church, the LORD will miraculously manifest His glory throughout the earth! Be strong, work, for I am with you: your labors are not in vain!
While the vision in Haggai does point forward to Jesus’ coming, the New Testament invites us to recognize that this vision speaks to the perfected Temple as well, manifested in Jesus’ return! There is no peace in Jerusalem, the City of Peace; but when Jesus returns, He brings the new Heavens and the New Earth, with the restored picture of the Heavenly Jerusalem (cf. Rev 21-22). And it is here that we find the ultimate picture of the glory of the Temple, which far surpasses not just the rebuilt Temple, or even Solomon’s Temple, but anything made by human hands. In Revelation we find “no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb” (Rev 21:22). There is no need for a Temple, because “the dwelling place of God is with man” (Rev 21:3). In this ultimate, most glorious fulfilment of Haggai, the Lamb is enthroned, and the nations and kings are bringing all the treasures that belong to the LORD for His glory (cf. Rev 21:24). Yes, in God’s grace and far greater purposes, the simple rebuilding of the temple in 520BC is to point His people toward the far greater promise and purpose of HIS ultimate redemption and restoration!
For this reason, when the author of Hebrews quotes this promise from Haggai, he uses it also as an incredible encouragement to his listeners – and as a reminder to hear His voice! As the LORD returns, He will indeed “shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land” and He will “shake all nations” to remove all the impurity, all the sin and its remaining effects, for a final time. He will shake away all the dross, but His people will receive “a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Heb 12:28) – a place of His peace, of perfect worship, of perfected restoration, and of a glory far greater than that of Solomon’s temple! So even as the LORD encourages the people in Haggai to work as they look forward to this promise, the author of Hebrews urges his listeners as well to hear His voice, to fall in reverence, and to press onward in His work (of building up the body of Christ, the spiritual temple; cf. Heb 12:18-29). Even as the LORD is showing the returned exiles, their work is not in vain: it is for their good, for their encouragement, as He allows them to be a part of His greater purposes of bringing His glory to bear among the nations.
No, weary builder: the work of building God’s Kingdom here on earth is far from being in vain. He calls us to build in His strength. He calls us to work courageously, to set our hand to the plow, to look forward towards His perfected image, and build, even though what we see now will be but a Niggle’s leaf in comparison. He promises His presence, but also His fulfillment! While we work, He is with us, by His Spirit and through His Word, pointing us forward towards His perfected vision, and giving us a greater longing to see the completed Tree. Incredibly, He uses the work of our hands, by His grace, to reflect, like Niggle’s Leaf, a picture of His glory to others around us, that He might use our hands, feeble as they feel, to help establish His perfected Temple! May we indeed be strong and work in His strength, knowing that He is with us, working in us, and working through us, to point towards His glory! Amen!
Questions for Reflection and Prayer
(Suggested: Either individually, or in a study group, Read through the Scripture passages referenced in this article, and discuss or reflect on what you have read. Reflect on these questions, and then bring your thoughts before the Lord in prayer).
In what areas have you felt that your labor is in vain? In what areas of life have you been tempted to feel like your work for the LORD (whether in calling, ministry, personal sanctification, etc) does not matter? How do you find courage and strength in the LORD’s calling and promise to “be strong and work, for I am with you”? What does it look like to work in His strength? What does it look like, practically, to know His presence in the mundane tasks of life? How are you encouraged to know that the LORD uses our work like Niggle’s leaf, to point us and others to His perfection? How does thinking in this way challenge you to work hard for His glory as well? In what ways do you need to grow in learning to work in His strength? Or in what ways do you need to see that HE is the One who builds His perfect Temple?
References:
- Note that repetition of a word or term in Hebrew writing was a way of showing emphasis and importance. Repeating a word or phrase three times was reserved for only the most emphatic statements. One common example of this would be the cry of “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Hosts” from Isaiah 6:3. The cry of the seraphim from one to another emphasizes the complete, perfect, and unmatchable holiness of the LORD. ↩︎
- NOTE that this command to “be strong” to Joshua was also issued with trifold repetition between Joshua 1:6-9: an emphatic command because Joshua was to find his strength and courage in the strength of the LORD! ↩︎
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