We have seen, at the close of chapter 1, how mightily the Lord wrought with His word upon the minds of the people, and how, thus stirred up, they responded to the message they had received through the prophet whom He had sent. Before a month had elapsed, “in the seventh month, in the one-and-twentieth day of the month,” He again addressed Himself to the hearts of His servants for their sustenance and encouragement. The subject of this message, like the preceding ones, is still the house of the Lord at Jerusalem.
And what, let us inquire, before we enter upon it, was the occasion of this further prophecy? It was undoubtedly the thoughts of some of His people while occupied with their work. This may be gathered from the opening words: “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, 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?” (vss. 2, 3) There were some then among the remnant who had seen the temple of Solomon in all its magnificence and splendor, and who, as they contrasted it with the building on which they were now engaged, were sadly despondent if not disheartened. We read of them in the book of Ezra. After describing the joy of the people, when the foundations of the temple were laid, he says, “But many of the chief 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; so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a great shout, and the noise was heard afar off.” (Ezra 3:12,1312But 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: 13So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. (Ezra 3:12‑13))
And this sorrow of the ancient men was perfectly natural; for to the outward eye, the contrast present to their minds was humbling in the extreme. The first temple was built amid the glories of Solomon’s reign—the king who was the type of the Prince of peace, and one who used all the resources of his mighty empire and of his tributary peoples to erect an house to be the dwelling-place of Jehovah in the midst of His people; for, as David said, “The house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries.” (1 Chronicles 22:55And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death. (1 Chronicles 22:5)) But the house was now being raised by a few feeble captives, dependent upon a Gentile king for the very materials they were using, surrounded by hostile tribes, and, beyond all this, without any of the visible signs of the Lord’s presence—no Shechinah, and no fire to come down from heaven to consume the sacrifices they laid upon the altar. (See 2 Chronicles 7:1-41Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. 2And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. 3And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 4Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. (2 Chronicles 7:1‑4)) More even than this, for the very things that forced their sad condition upon their minds would but call to remembrance that the loss of the first temple, and their present abject state, were but the consequences of their own sins and transgressions. While therefore not insensible to the Lord’s present mercy and goodness, it was not surprising that sorrow should fill their hearts when they were thus reminded of the past glory of their nation, at a time too when they walked in the sunlight and joy of Jehovah’s countenance. As another has said, “Alas! we understand this. He who now thinks of what the assembly of God was at the first will understand the tears of these old men.”
The point however to which we desire to call attention is, that the Lord read these thoughts of His people, and sent a message of comfort and consolation. It is well for us to understand this; that even the feelings of the saints—feelings engendered in connection with the Lord’s ways or service—are regarded by Him with tender concern. How many instances of this might be gleaned from the Scriptures. David says, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” Again, “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.” Also, “Thou understandest my thoughts afar oft:” And it was because the Lord Jesus entered into the feelings of His disciples that He said, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” How different would be our daily lives, if we were in the realization and power of this simple truth!
But let us now see how Jehovah comforts the hearts of His people before us. He says, “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts: according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.” (vss. 4, 5) It will be perceived that the Lord addresses all the people—the people as well as their leaders. All are before His mind. We too often deal in generalities. Not so Jehovah; the humblest of His servants does not escape His notice, and if therefore He would encourage His people, He cares for the small as well as the great. He recognizes the distinction which He Himself has made, and therefore specifies the governor and the priest; but He is equally concerned for the people under their charge and direction. If, on the one hand, His heart is so large as to embrace the multitude of His saints; He, on the other hand, individualizes every one, that all alike may feel that they are the objects of His mind and heart.
And what is the exhortation He sends? It is, “Be strong;” and the source of their strength is the knowledge of the fact that He is with them., It is so everywhere in the Scriptures. Take two examples: “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, thy exceeding great reward.” (Genesis 15:11After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. (Genesis 15:1)) Again, “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:99Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. (Joshua 1:9)) It was on this account, when the Lord commissioned the twelve to go and teach all nations, etc., that He added, “And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age.” (Matthew 28) It is indeed impossible but that the assurance of the Lord’s presence should inspire His people with fortitude and courage. If He is with us, resting confidently in what He is for us, we measure our foes and difficulties, not by what we are, or by our own resources, but by what He is in all His own omnipotence. Then we can boldly say with one of old, “They that are with us be more than they that be with them;” or with the apostle, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” It was in this way the Lord would strengthen His poor feeble people in all the poverty of their circumstances; He would attract their eyes to Himself, that they might labor in faith, fearing no foe because their God, who was with them, had thrown around them His impenetrable shield. He reminds them, moreover, of His faithfulness to His covenant which He made with them, when He redeemed them out of Egypt, according to which His Spirit remained among them. (See Isaiah 18:11-14) Hence He adds, “Fear ye not.” Jehovah Himself in their midst, and His Spirit remaining among them, they might well take up the language of the Psalmist:” The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
There are few, we apprehend, who will fail to see in this double assurance a remarkable foreshadowing of the blessings of God’s people in this dispensation. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst.” “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.” There is indeed a striking correspondence between the position of this poor remnant, and that of believers who are now gathered to the name of Christ. All was in ruin then, for governmental power had been transferred to the Gentile, because of the sin of Israel and Judah; and those who returned from Babylon, in the mercy of their God, were but a feeble few, and were, as we have seen, without a single external sign of the presence of their God. The fact of His being with them, the acceptance of their sacrifices, the influences of His Spirit, were only known by faith. So now the Church has lost its first estate, and God’s people are scattered in disunion and disorder throughout the world. But in these last days a remnant has been gathered out from spiritual Babylon, and as was the house of their God to these Jewish captives, so the name of the Lord Jesus is to them their only center. Gathered to that ineffable name—expressive of all the truth of His person, work, and authority—on the ground of the Church, as defined by the Scriptures, they have likewise the assurance of these two things—the Lord’s presence, and the abiding of the Holy Ghost. That is all; but we may reverently add, What an “all!” for everything is comprised in the term—the source of all blessing, and the source of all power. If, therefore, Jehovah sent this message at that time to His people, “Be strong; fear ye not;” no less certainly would He address to us the same words. It is true that “a little strength” may now characterize the most faithful of the remnant, that they may have in themselves the most overwhelming sense of their own feebleness (and it is right that it should be so); but if they enter, even in the smallest measure, into the power of these blessed truths—that the Lord is with them, and that His Spirit abides—they will be strong and fearless in the face of the most determined efforts of the enemy, because they will have learned that the Lord’s strength is made perfect in weakness, and that greater is He that is in them than he that is in the world. But it is our failure that we are more occupied with our feebleness, with our circumstances, and with the activities of the adversary, than with the Lord’s presence and the power of His Spirit. May the Lord Himself draw us away, both from ourselves and our surroundings, and engage our thoughts with these blessed assurances of His own word; that He may thus be enabled to use us more in testimony to His glory, His grace, His power and claims.
R D.