The First Word from the Lord
The people's response
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.
13 Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD. 14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.
It is interesting to note the categories of people who responded to the Lord’s command through the prophet. The people in the government responded: Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel. The people in the church responded: Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. The people, the citizenry of the land, responded: “and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God.”
Israel was a theocracy. Still, the Lord used a governor. The history of God’s people certainly shows the importance of a God-fearing leader. When the ruler feared God, the people prospered. When the ruler did not fear God, the people failed. Over and over again this seems to be the pattern—good leadership under God and there is prosperity; bad leadership where God is left out and the people languish.
Because of this fact, certainly a prayer that comes often from the Christian’s heart is that the Lord would provide a godly government. Martin Luther incorporated this into his treatment of the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “Daily bread includes everything that we need for our bodily welfare, such as . . . godly and faithful leaders, good government, good weather, peace and order, health, a good name, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.”
When Governor Zerubbabel stepped forward to lead the rebuilding of God’s house, it was a blessing. The governor heard God speaking to him; the priest heard God speaking to him; the layman heard God speaking to him. When God said, “Build my house,” it was not just the church worker who was supposed to do it. The leader of the country was involved too—the executive and busy businessman. The people did not say, “Building God’s
house is the priest’s business. That is his work; that is what we are paying him for.”
When the people—all of them—heard the words of Haggai, they said, “This is the Lord talking.” And we read, “The people feared the LORD.”
This is what we referred to before as the miracle of a sermon. Haggai was an ordinary man, different only by virtue of his call. Yet the people said, “This isn’t Haggai speaking. This is God himself. We had better listen.” In verse 13 the Lord is quick to say, “I am with you.” That is his name. Immanuel— God is with us. He wants to make his dwelling with us. He stands at the door and knocks. His work is not easy. There will be godless opposition, but our God is on our side! He tells us to be strong and work. He is with us!
He stirred up the spirits of the people. Once again in verse 14 each class of people is mentioned as being “stirred up.” The Lord works in us to will and to do his good pleasure. We certainly do not have that dynamic spark by ourselves. It does not lie sheltered somewhere in our bosoms, ready to ignite the whole course of our lives on fire for God and for his house.
This spark that will quickly burn its way to the surface of our lives is a spark that we, unfortunately, have the power to extinguish. Stephen told his audience: “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” (Acts 7:51).
God works in kind. His Spirit works with our spirits, stirring them up. Spirit to spirit. It was that way already in Moses’ day. “Moses said to the Israelites, ‘See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts . . . And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others’” (Exodus 35:30-34).
This is the thrill of watching God’s church in action. He supplies the gifts to the people in the church. He puts the spirit in them to do the work. The people don’t all have the same gifts, but together they build the church. They all complement one another. They all give evidence of the fact that the same Spirit is at work in them, stirring them into action.
“They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God.” The sermon had its proper effect. The people heard and did something. This is loving God not only in words but in actions and in truth.