Haggai 2:4 (NIV) “But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD.
‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest.
Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work.
For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”
If we believe God is with us - we will be strong in the work of the Lord!
God with us - is the gospel in three Words.
Matthew applies Isaiah’s prophecy of Immanuel (God with us) to Jesus of Nazareth, as part of his amazing gospel that uses the Old Testament prophecies to prove that this Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah. Matthew declares that God came to earth as Jesus, the Son of God yet born of Mary, who walked among the Jews, who rejected Him and killed Him, but the grave could not hold Him, and He rose and appeared to many people. Luke records in Acts 1 that He returned to heaven with a promise that He would return one day to earth, and after a command to wait in Jerusalem for the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost and since that day all who call on the Name of the Lord are saved through the sanctifying Presence of the Holy Spirit within each one of us. Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 6:19 “that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you received from God”
God with us - is the gospel in three Words.
The LORD speaking through Haggai for the purpose of stirring up God’s people to build the physical structure called the 2nd temple, uses His Presence with them as the reason for them to BE STRONG.
Be strong and work - for God is with you.
But what does being strong look like in Haggai’s day and in our day?
If we take the time to look back into the records of Joshua the son of Nun whom God used to bring His people into the Promised Land we will discover the account of Caleb coming to Joshua with a request to allot the hill country that belonged to the giants (Anakites) to him and his family. Caleb was not asking for Joshua to give him this land on a silver platter with no effort on Caleb’s part, rather he was asking Joshua for ‘permission’ to fight and destroy the most powerful people in the promised land. At 85 years old Caleb was as strong as he was when he was a spy with Joshua some 40 years earlier.
Most of us understand this similarity in strength as a miraculous work of the LORD in preserving Caleb’s physical strength, just as He preserved their clothes and sandals, and just as the LORD provided water and food in the desert. I wonder though if that is what is truly meant by this statement in Joshua 14:6-12, for even if Caleb is as physically strong as he was when he was forty five, he is no match physically for the giants, the people group called the Anakites (the descendants of Anak). Caleb reminds Joshua of their spy trip together and their belief that no matter the size of the enemy, the LORD would give them the victory. Numbers 13 tells us that Caleb and Joshua were 2 out of 12 men, the other men didn’t believe that God would give them the victory and they stirred the people up, but Caleb silenced the people with a statement of confidence “we can certainly do it.” in their ability to possess the land.
It takes a lot of strength to stand against the crowd- not physical strength necessarily, but strength of character, and strength of faith in God’s promises despite the naysayers all around us. God's strength.
I believe it is this strength Caleb is referring to when He asks Joshua for permission to fight and destroy the most powerful foe in the land, for he ends his request with these Words; “You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”
Caleb believed God was with him, so he was strong in his work for the Lord and for the Lord’s people.
Do we believe God is with us?
Do we share in Christ?
Do we experience the fellowship of the Spirit in our lives?
Are we strong in the work the Lord has laid out before us?
When discouragement comes (and it will come) and you think to yourself “I don’t want to do this anymore” , may our next thought be “Hey God is with me - I am doing this for Him and through His strength, I should ask Him if He wants me to stop before I quit.”
God is with us!
So lets be strong and work on His house!
No comments:
Post a Comment