In v.10-19 that we covered a couple of weeks ago, we saw how God was speaking to the religious leaders and the people of the nation directly… He wanted them to know that holiness came FROM Him and that they were not holy because they were associated with Him, but that they were holy because OF Him… Only God can make things holy, but as sinners they could take what was holy and make it unclean… so God is calling them to live a righteous and holy life… God wanted His people to live like His people… to shine His light to the world around them!
This applies to us today… what we DO does not make us holy, but what we do CAN make us sinful and unclean before God. God and God alone can make us holy, forgive our sin and use us in His plan… we are called to live a righteous and holy (set apart) life so that the world will see God’s glory through our living…
But God was not finished with His message on that day… in v.10 the Bible tells us that the Word of the Lord came to Haggai on the 24th day of the ninth month in the 2nd year of King Darius… and Haggai delivered that message to the people and the religious leaders, but beginning in v.20 we find a 2nd message on that day, let’s look at those few verses as we finish up our study in the book of Haggai…
200The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21"Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, everyone by the sword of his brother. 23On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a] signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts."
Now what I want us to do is to look at these verses and glean the meat that God has placed in them for our spiritual growth… this is great stuff!
200The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month,
I truly wish Haggai would have ‘time-stamped’ his prophetic utterances on this day… however, I don’t believe that these two utterances from the Lord came separate… There is just no way to write things simultaneously!
Haggai rec’d two words from the Lord and I believe God gave them to him and told him… relay them in this order! And I believe we can see ‘logic’ in the order in which these messages are delivered. Haggai had delivered the 1st message and now he was delivering the 2nd… however, what was different about this message was its audience… this message had a very narrow and specific audience, it was meant for ONE person, the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel! Let’s look at v.21-22
21"Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, everyone by the sword of his brother.
This message is clearly directed at the leader of the nation… the person to whom all the rest of the world would associate with the nation of Israel. God sent this message directly TO and FOR Zerubbabel, and God assures him that He is going to do a great work for Israel…
21"Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah,
God had just detailed to the nation that only in HIM could they be holy, and that they should submit in obedience to Him as their God… now God is telling Zerubbabel that when they submit… when they obey…when they make Him the true God of their hearts, then THIS is what is going to happen! God makes a solemn promise to the leader of the nation of Israel…
saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth,
From this point of v.21 and all the way through v.22, God issues what I would call His proposed protection plan for the nation of Israel. This plan would be in effect as long as the nation was serving God and putting Him first and foremost in their lives! If they would serve Him… God was promising to protect them!
We have to remember, they had been TOTALLY conquered two times… 1st when the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians, then when the southern kingdom fell to the Babylonians, and then while in captivity their captors were conquered by the Persians.
These people were living in fear of being overrun by any nation at this time… mainly because they had nothing more than a few swords and shields and no army to speak of… they were defenseless in the eyes of the world, but God wants to paint a different picture for them. God is telling them that they are NOT alone and that they are loved and protected!
Here God is saying he would shake all heaven and earth for His people! What this means is that when they surrendered to God, that He would stop at nothing to be there FOR them… through any and all situations He was going to move and deliver!
This is what Jesus meant when He made the promise to His disciples, “I will never leave you nor forsake you…” He was promising that He would move Heaven and Earth to be there for us… no matter the circumstance, there is NOTHING in heaven NOR earth that can keep Him from being our God and loving us and protecting us and delivering us…
God goes on to describe in more detail His loyalty to His covenanted people: Look at v.22
22and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations,
Those who stand against you will fall… I am about to make some changes! I am going to clean house… I am going to set you up as a force for ME in this world and those who oppose you…oppose Me and I am going to take them down! I want us to notice here that this did NOT mean that God was going to kill all who opposed Him, as has been the case before… but God tells Zerubbabel that He is going to destroy the ‘strength’ of the nations…
That means that even IF they remain large and seem powerful… they will have NO FORCE against God’s people! What does this mean for us? It means that there is NO force in Heaven or ON Earth that can stand against God… no matter how powerful they are in earthly standards, they are powerless against the Creator God of the universe! This had to have been great and wonderful news to Zerubbabel as he knew the power of the Assyrians… Even as powerful as they were, they were powerless against God! God continues His promise later in this verse by saying…
and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down,
The first 2 promises are general in nature, but this promise is one that reveals to Zerubbabel that he has nothing to worry about as it pertains to any military action against them… not any military would prevail against Israel because God was going to take care of them…
Chariots and horses were the strength of any army at this time, and the more chariots and horses an army had, the more powerful the foe! Israel had NONE of these… they were but a small band that had returned to their homeland, and basically had the city of Jerusalem and nothing else…EXCEPT GOD! But they learned that nothing plus God can and will defeat EVERYTHING… there is NOTHING that can stand up to God!
everyone by the sword of his brother.
As God had done in the past, he would use whatever resource He needed to protect Israel, even if He had to turn brother against brother… this was God’s way of saying that the nations who may want to cause harm to Israel/Judah would fall from within… or God would use them against themselves to stop their advance against Israel.
This was nothing new for God, He had used this method when He used Gideon and his 300 to defeat the Mideanites… He turned an entire armies against themselves… and He is promising that He will do what it takes to protect and care for His chosen people!
This tells us today that God is willing and able to meet our needs and to ‘go to bat’ for us as believers. This does not mean we won’t face persecution, but it does reassure us that He is in our corner and we can rely on Him at all times, in all situations!
Then after God reveals His protection plan… He focuses in on ONE person to lead the nation! Zerubbabel! Look at v.23 with me
23On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts."
God declares in this verse that He will take Zerubbabel… meaning that Zerubbabel was God’s chosen man to lead the nation! This was a definite confirmation to Zerubbabel about his leadership AND to the people on whom God wanted to lead the nation.
God says I will TAKE Zerubbabel, my servant… here is another indicator we should NOT overlook. This statement by God was a direct reference to the character and obedience of Zerubbabel as it pertained to God.
When we go back to chapter 1, v. 12 we find Zerubbabel leading the charge for obedience and seeking forgiveness for their apathy toward re-building the Temple. He had shown God his heart and God had chosen Him to lead the nation…
God then affirms His choice to the people by saying… “…and make you like a signet ring…” The signet ring of the king was usually given to the King’s right hand man… the royal counselor… the royal trustee… and that man would use this signet ring to stamp any document and when he did this it would carry the same weight as if it came directly FROM the King.
Here Zerubbabel is being chosen by God to lead this nation and to be his mouthpiece and physical leader. After this, when Zerubbabel spoke, the people were obligated to listen, and his voice carried the same weight as God’s word! He was the personal representative of the King to the people!
Do you know that is what WE are today? We are ALL the personal representatives of Christ… There are many times, the only Jesus someone may see is the Jesus we portray in our lives. The question remains… are you living for Christ as you should? What are we doing to become more obedient and submissive? God is calling us… God has promised His hand of love and protection… and God wants us to show the world His love and grace! Where are you today? Are you loving unconditionally in Christ? Pray...
