The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Esther and Malachi deal with the time period following the seventy years of captivity prophesied by Jeremiah the prophet. During this time period God dealt with a remnant of the people in grace, calling back to the land those that had a heart to go. The few who returned did not see the mighty power of God working openly on their behalf, as had been seen when they came out of Egypt. But the Lord cared for them: “The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him; but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him. So we fasted and besought our God for this: and He was entreated of us” ({vi 12224-12225}Ezra 8:22-23). There was no great outward display of the power of God, but there were the providential ways of God in preserving them from the enemy.
A Day of Small Things
There are those who would say, “It is a day of small things because we don’t think big.” Yet blessing came to those who carried on in obedience in spite of conditions. In Ezra we see how the revival began and then ceased. It began by King Cyrus commanding to “build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (He is the God,) which is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:3). Stirred up by this opportunity, a small remnant of 42,360 plus 7,337 servants return with Zerubbabel. They begin well, for “they set the altar upon his bases” (Ezra 3:3), and there is great comfort in these words. The city had been razed many years before, yet the enemy had not been able to destroy the bases of that altar. In 2 Timothy, a book written for a similar day of ruin, it says, “Yet the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knows those that are His; and, Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity” (ch. 2:19 JND). The power of God to maintain the foundation is greater than the acknowledged ruin of the testimony.
Rejoicing and Weeping
The work of rebuilding the house of the Lord proceeded with considerable vigor at the first, though not without a recognition of its weakness in comparison to the temple of Solomon. “All the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy” ({vi 12109-12110}Ezra 3:11-12). “Which group was right?” I would suggest that both were right; sorrow was appropriate as to the ruin that their disobedience had brought in, as was joy that the foundation, while in feebleness, was once again established. Surely, no less of an attitude becomes us who seek to be faithful to the Lord in a similar day of ruin.
The Work Stopped
But, as we read on in the Book of Ezra, we find that what had begun with such enthusiasm was soon abandoned in the face of great opposition. “When the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem” ({vi 12134-12135}Ezra 4:23-24).
What should the returned remnant then do following this edict? Haggai shows that the answer lay in the spiritual state of the people, apart from the opposition of the Gentile power. “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?” ({vi 22843-22845}Hag. 1:2-4). Notice that Haggai never mentions the opposition of the people of the land or the Gentile power — only the careless and indifferent state of the returned remnant to Jehovah’s house. The real problem was in their hearts as they invested many hours improving their own houses, an activity that raised no opposition from the heathen. Has this any word of warning for us in this day of weakness? I trust that we would be stirred up to meditate on the parallels between this remnant and our day.
Consider Your Ways
In the face of such a condition, what is the word of Jehovah to His people? “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord” ({vi 22848-22849}Hag. 1:7-8). Wood, perhaps, speaks of human weakness, in contrast to the “great stones and costly” that distinguished Solomon’s temple. In Solomon’s day these stones were a picture of the preeminence of the nation of Israel in the millennial day, and such a display of power would have been inconsistent with the feebleness in the days of Zerubbabel and Jeshua. Yet what a profound word of encouragement comes through the prophet Haggai! Even when weakness is displayed today, we can be comforted with the Lord’s words: “Bring wood ... and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified.”
Be Strong — I Am With You
Haggai recognizes the sorrow of those who wept over the feeble condition of things: “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong ... and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts” ({vi 22859-22860}Hag. 2:3-4). Haggai then looks on to a future day, by way of encouragement to the feeble remnant. “I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts. ... The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith Jehovah of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts” ({vi 22863-22865}Hag. 2:7-9 JND). The latter glory of this house will be greater, not because of the glory of the millennial temple, but because of the physical presence of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. We can have the same encouragement in our day: “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20).
Don’t Despise Rebuilding
From the Book of Ezra, we find that Haggai’s words had the desired effect on the lethargic and self-interested remnant. “Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them” (Ezra 5:2). The individual exercise of these two men affected the rest. I take the liberty to translate the following verses from the Spanish Bible: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. For those that despised the day of small things shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven” ({vi 22932-22933}Zech. 4:9-10). There were those who wept over the laying of the foundation, but apparently there were also those who considered it a waste of time and despised it. Yet, it seems that those who despised the feeble work saw the strange sight of one of King David’s descendants working amid the rubble with a plummet! And the other man helping him out there, Shealtiel, was the son of the high priest! These two realized there was work to be done, and in obedience they did it. When others saw them working, the hearts of those that had despised rejoiced, and they set about to help out. “The elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia” (Ezra 6:14).
These four men, Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Haggai and Zechariah undertook to carry on a work long since abandoned; they did not seek to establish a group effort or engage others; they simply began to do it. They did not really have a special gift to do what needed to be done, and yet they set about to do it in obedience to the word of the Lord. Today some tend to despise the day of small things. There are complaints of the lack of effort in the gospel, the lack of blessing in ministry, or the prayer meeting. How much more profitable to “rise up and build” instead of lamenting the sad state of things! Then perhaps there will be others that “see the plummet” in our hand and rise up to help.
Confession and Confidence
As soon as they began again to rebuild the temple, the opposition began. But how did those faithful men counter the opposition? By confessing the bad behavior and poor state that brought them to that point! “Thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon” ({vi 12146-12147}Ezra 5:11-12). Their confession and reference to “the God of heaven and earth” is very striking. They recognized God’s control over the Gentile rulers to allow them to labor in their small sphere. We too ought to recognize these two things — that we are a part of the ruin that has reduced the testimony to feebleness and that God is over all, working among all believers for His glory. Only in humility can we hope to represent the principle here on earth that, in spite of all the ruin, “there is one body.”
P. Fournier