REBUILDING WITH PROMISE

“Be strong, all you people of the land,” declares the LORD, “and work. For I am with you,” declares the LORD Almighty. “This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.” —Haggai 2:4, 5

The prophecies of Haggai are dated to about 520 B.C. at the time that work was underway on rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem.

This was a time of mixed emotions for the returning exiles.

Haggai noted the disappointment that was felt by many of those who remembered the glory of the former temple (see Haggai 2:3), a sorrow that was also recorded in the book of Ezra: “Many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid” (Ezra 3:12).

It should not surprise us that God reminded them of the promises He had given to their ancestors in the time of the Exodus. He also assured them of the continuing presence of His Spirit among them. And He pointed forward to a still more glorious future: “ ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace’ ” (Haggai 2:9). There would be a greater glory in this lesser temple—the revelation of Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, their long-promised Messiah, the One who would bring hope and peace to all humanity. “What is desired by all nations will come” (Haggai 2:7). So, as they worked to rebuild among the ruins of their nation and their memories of what had been lost, God was with them still, and the message of God through Haggai was to say again to the people of God, “Do not fear.”