certainly didn't weep with the rest of his peers. He Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am
Haggai 2 help them finish it. Haggai said "Be strong!" to the governor, the high priest, and the people working on the building, and those two words would be very significant to them.
CHAPTER TWO Haggai 2 KEEPING THE WORK ALIVE I
During the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jews had the book of Deuteronomy read to them (Deut. 31:9–13), so they heard the record of the three times Moses told Joshua and the people to be strong (Deut. 31:6–7, 23). No doubt they also remembered that three times the Lord told Joshua to be strong (Josh. 1:6–7, 9); and when King David charged Solomon with the task of building the original temple, three times he told his son to be strong (1 Chron. 22:13; 28:10, 20). "Be strong" wasn't an empty phrase; it was an important part of their own Jewish history.
t's one thing to get God's people back to work and quite another thing to keep them on the job. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. often said that the greatest ability a person can possess is dependability, but too often potential workers excuse themselves and say, "Here am I, Lord; send somebody else." God's pattern for His workers is stated in 1 Corinthians 15:52. "To work is to pray," said Saint Augustine, and God's people can do any legitimate task to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).
It's one thing to tell people to be strong and work and quite something else to give them a solid foundation for those words of encouragement. Haggai told them why they should be strong and work: because the Lord was with them (Hag. 2:4; see 1:13).
The rebuilding of the temple was a very special task, for it meant the restoring of true worship in Jerusalem; and completing the project would please the Lord and be a great testimony to the unbelieving nations who were watching the remnant in Jerusalem. Haggai delivered three more brief messages to encourage the laborers to complete their assignments. In each message, he asked them to look in a specific direction to learn what God wanted them to learn.
The promise of God's presence was an encouragement to both Joshua (Josh. 1:5, 9; 3:7) and Solomon (1 Chron. 28:20). Believers today can claim the same promise as they serve the Lord, "For he himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'" (Heb. 13:5 niv; and see Deut. 31:6, 8). Encouragement: God's covenant (v. 5). The promise of God's presence with His people is guaranteed by His unchanging Word (v. 5). When the tabernacle was dedicated by Moses, God's presence moved in (Ex. 40:34–38), for the Lord had promised to dwell with His people. "Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them" (Ex. 29:45–46 niv). The same Holy Spirit who enabled Moses and the elders to lead the people (Num. 11:16–17, 25; Isa. 63:11) would enable the Jews to finish building the temple.
"Look Up: God Is with Us" (2:1–9) When the foundation of the temple had been laid sixteen years before, some of the older men had looked back in sorrow as they remembered the glory and beauty of Solomon's temple (Ezra 3:8–13). It's likely that Haggai was a member of the older generation and had seen the temple before it was destroyed, but he certainly didn't weep with the rest of his peers. He rejoiced that the work had begun, and he wanted to see it completed.
II. Second message: comparison (2:1–9) A.Discouragement—2:1–3 B.Encouragement—2:4–9 1. Be strong—2:4 2. Fear not—2:5 3. Glory will come—2:6–7 4. God will provide—2:8–9
Discouragement (vv. 1–3). Rather than ignore the problem of discouragement that was sure to come when the people contrasted the two temples, the prophet faced the problem head-on. He picked an important day on which to deliver his message: October 17, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast was devoted to praising God for the harvest and for remembering Israel's pilgrim days in the wilderness (Lev. 23:34–43).
The prophet Zechariah, who ministered with Haggai, also emphasized the importance of trusting the Holy Spirit for the enablement needed to do God's will: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 4:6). A. W. Tozer once said, "If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of this world, much of what we're doing in our churches would go right on, and nobody would know the difference." What an indictment!
But the important thing about the date was this: it was during the Feast of Tabernacles that King Solomon had dedicated the original temple (1 Kings 8:2), and Haggai wanted the people to think about that. The restored building had nothing of the splendor of Solomon's temple, but it was still God's house, built according to His plan and for His glory. The same ministry would be performed at its altars and the same worship presented to the Lord. Times change, but ministry goes on.
Encouragement: God's promise (vv. 6–7, 9). With prophetic insight, Haggai looked ahead to the time when the Son of God would minister in this temple and bring the glory of God into its precincts (John 1:14). Herod's temple replaced the temple Zerubbabel built, but the Jews still considered it "the second temple." Certainly the glory that Jesus brought into that temple was greater than the glory of the tabernacle or the temple Solomon built.
Encouragement: God's presence (vv. 4–9). Haggai didn't deny that the new temple was "as nothing" in comparison to what Solomon had built, but that wasn't important. The important thing was that this was God's work and they could depend on Him to
Then Haggai looked even further into the future and saw the end of the ages, when God would shake the nations and Jesus would return (Hag. 2:7). This