History:
Nebuchadnezer and Babylon had conquered Israel and destroyed Jerusalem in 587BC. By 539BC, Cyrus was King of Persia and gave the order to go and rebuild the temple, donating materials along with gifts given by the people themselves (Ezra 1).
42,360 people (+ servants) arrive in Jerusalem (Ezra 2) and there is a settling in period of 7 months before Joshua and Zerrubbabel build an altar and make sacrifices and start to celebrate the feats of tabernacles, new moons etc. Stuff they would not have been allowed to do during their years in captivity. 1 year and 2 months after arriving back, work starts on the temple, the foundations are laid, the people celebrate the passover and celebrate - shouting for joy and weeping (Ezra 3).
The neighbouring kingdoms then set out to discourage the workers, hiring counsellors to work against them and frustrate them (Ezra 4) and it works. By the time Haggai (and Zechariah) start prophesying in around 522/520 BC, around 16-18 years have passed and no further work has been done on the foundations.
Definitions of names:
Haggai - festive, born on feast day
Zerubbabel - born in Babylon (son of Shealtiel - I have asked of God)
Joshua - Jehovah is salvation (son of Jehozadak - Jehovah is righteous [Jehozadak never attained the role of high priest due to the captivity in Babylon])
Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin (Jehovah establishes) who had been King for 3 months and 10 days before surrendering to Nebuchadnezzar and being in prison for 36 years.
Timing:
Sixth month (elul) - around August/September. First day of the month - feast of the new moon (Haggai's birthday?)
Not Yet!
The people had begun work on the temple enthusiastically but when their neighbours/enemies started to discourage and frustrate them, the work gradually ground to a halt and has been left for at least 16 years. Why are they saying that "the time has not yet come"?
- Have they taken discouragement from their enemies as a sign from God to stop work? That doesn't seem to line up logically or biblically with what God had asked them to do in going to rebuild the temple in the first place. It's easy to convince yourself that God would make it easy if the time was right. If anything, we should expect the opposite. We should expect that there will be some opposition to God's work. Yes, God sometimes might close doors and tell us to stop doing something, but opposition shouldn't be the only factor considered when discerning whether God is telling you to stop doing something.
- Are they just waiting for a better time? Do they think it will be easier to build the temple when they've settled down properly (18 years? How much settling in time do they need?) When I've got a house, when I'm married, when I've got kids, when my kids are grown up, when I've paid off my debts, when I've got more money coming in, when I've retired, then I'll build the temple!
- The excuses can be endless. The people hadn't given up on the temple completely, but were waiting for a better time. A better time will never come. We always intend to live fully for God and get on with His mission but that will happen some time in the future when the house, job, family is sorted. Everything will never be sorted. God has called us now. Don't put it off.
How does it link to Jesus?
- Don't put off giving your life to Jesus. A better time will never come.
- We might put it off because we want to do other things first - that's idolatry. How can anything come before the gift He's offering?
- we might put it off because we think we need to sort ourselves out before He will take us. we can approach Him now, as we are, it's Him who does the sorting out!
- When you live for Jesus there will be discouragement. It's not a sign to stop.
Don't take the enemies attacks as a sign to stop. If anything, it's the opposite.
Don't wait for a "better" time to do what God is calling you to do. The better time will never come. Do it now
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