Haggai 1-2 • Desiring God’s Presence

Do you desire God’s presence in your life? Are you intentional about spending time in His presence? There are so many good things available to us in our web-driven, social media-driven, work-driven, and activity-driven pull-apart world. Those good things can become substitutes for spending time with God. In the last blog, we looked at Daniel chapters 1-8, especially how Daniel learned to trust God with opposition he faced and dreams that God gave to him. This is post #4 in the Ezra to Malachi blog series. In this post, we will learn from Haggai how important it is to spend time in God’s presence and not use substitute activities to satisfy that need.

Listen to this post as a similar podcast from our Identity: Sticking to Your Faith in a Pull-Apart World Bible Study covering the last 7 written books of the Old Testament.

Moving Home

God directed the move

The seventy years of exile were up. It was time for God to bring the people back home. He said He would come for them. So, the Lord moved the heart of King Cyrus of Persia to proclaim for all his territory that the people could go home to their land and rebuild their temple to God. Anyone could go. All people were asked to give them donations of gold, silver, and other provisions to use for the temple. And Cyrus sent back with them the temple furnishings, utensils, and treasures that Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon.

God chose the remnant

God moved the hearts of those He wanted to go back to His land and gave them favor among their neighbors. This is what Ezra chapter 1 says:

Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings. (Ezra 1:5-6)

God hand-picked the remnant who would reboot Israel in His land. Around 50,000 people chose to make the trek back to Israel. Today, the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem would take 11 hours to cover the 900 miles. Back then, it took four months. That is the distance between Dallas, TX, and Jacksonville, FL. Imagine doing that on foot with your family! Yet, those families did it.

Settling Back in the Land

The joy of being home

Once back home, they had to learn how to live in their land again. Many of them had only lived in Babylon. Where was their land? What would it take to kick out the squatters? How long would it take to rebuild houses and restore the farms and vineyards? A lot of work awaited them. But they were so glad to be home again.

Psalm 126 was written by the returning exiles and reveals how they felt. Beginning with verse 2,

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. (Psalm 126:2-3)

I picture Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz at the end saying, “There’s no place like home.” What a time of rejoicing!

Have you gone through some difficult years in your life and come out on the other side with relief that it is over? Can you look back and see how God carried you through that time? Are you filled with laughter and joy because of what God has done for you?

The joy of godly leaders

They also had the joy of godly leaders going with them. God provided two very capable men to lead them on this adventure. Joshua served as the high priest, the spiritual leader of the Jews. And Zerubbabel, David’s descendant, served as the governor of the Jews in Jerusalem and Judah. Both men had been born in Babylon. The Promised Land was also new to them. Yet, they were both completely trusting in God to lead them and the people.

One commentary said this:

These men began to inspire other Israelites to reestablish life in the Promised Land. (Dr. Constable’s Notes on Ezra 2023 Edition, p. 9)

Having great leaders is a true gift from God.

The joy of restoring their worship

Ezra chapter 3 records the first thing they did after getting settled in their homes.

Then Joshua and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel and his associates [They] began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices. (Ezra 3:2-3)

The first thing they did was to build the altar of God and resume their sacrificial offerings. For fifty years, no Jew could bring their offering to the temple to have it sacrificed on the altar on their behalf. In Babylon, the Jews focused on what they did have. They had their Scriptures, especially the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy containing the Law of Moses. They could follow the Law in their dealings with one another. And they could pray to their God. The people had learned to live without sacrificing animals to God. So that was a new experience for many of the exiles. It was a first step in restoring their worship of their God.

Right after that, they began laying the foundation for the new temple. They celebrated God’s faithfulness with a time of praise and worship. Ezra chapter 3 verse 13 says that the sound of joy was heard far away. I wondered how far away could one hear that sound of cheering from thousands of people on the heights of Jerusalem.

Hitting a Brick Wall

Then it happened. The people who had been living in the land before the Jews arrived home did everything they could do to block the building. Ezra chapter 4 says this,

Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia. … Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. (Ezra 4:4-5, 24)

The Jewish returnees gave in to the fear and stopped the building of their temple. They returned back to their farms and were content for the next sixteen years to bring their offerings to Jerusalem when necessary and perhaps celebrate some of their annual festivals. There is no record of them consulting God with the Urim and Thummim about whether to stop or not. Apparently, they took the opposition as a “No” from God and stopped. Fear and intimidation stopped their work for God and discouraged obedience to Him.

God Sent Haggai

A stirring message

God let it go for sixteen years, trying to get their attention in other ways such as droughts and other hardships. They did not get the message and seek God’s counsel. So, God sent a prophet named Haggai. God’s words through Haggai drew attention to their sinfulness in neglecting God.

Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” (Haggai 1:5-6)

They were ignoring God and what He had been doing to get their attention. God said they were to give careful thought to their ways.

I had never really studied the book of Haggai before this. Wow! It has so many declarations from God about how He wants to be in their midst and how He wants them to desire His presence with them. God’s presence was represented by the temple in which He placed His glory in the Holy of Holies. Did they want God’s presence with them or not?

What I realized in my study was they had done without the temple while living in Babylon. They had maintained their faith through following whatever part of the Law they could. The temple had been destroyed 50 years earlier, and they did not expect to see it when they returned. They had gotten used to not having it and not needing it. They could do the sacrifices again on the newly built altar. To their thinking, that must have been enough.

So, God told them this,

Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. (Haggai 1:8)

God was not content to be an afterthought! They needed to get to work and build His house—not theirs but His.

Get to work!

What happened next is beautiful!

Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, 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, (Haggai 1:14)

God said to get to work. And He said, “I am with you.”

Within three weeks, they started building again. That was an amazing feat in itself. If you have ever done construction, you know how long it takes to gather materials, hire workers, and get all the necessary permits to get started. Three weeks is amazing!

A promise of future glory in His house

As they began to build, some wept because the new temple was not as magnificent as Solomon’s temple. But God gave them this promise,

I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. “The silver is mine and the gold is mine,” declares the Lord Almighty. “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,” declares the Lord Almighty.” (Haggai 2:7-9)

God’s presence would be with them again in that temple they were building. After they finished, we do not have a record of the glory of God filling it like happened with Solomon’s temple. But God promised He would fill this new temple with His glory so we know that He did.

And one day, their Messiah Jesus would enter the courts of this temple Himself, making the temple they were building have far greater glory than what Solomon built. Jesus was present at the temple many times, including in Luke chapter 2:22-35 and John chapter 12:23-32 when God the Father spoke to God the Son within hearing of His disciples. Jesus was Emmanuel, meaning God with us.

For the Jews of Haggai’s day, God wanted to be with them. But even more than that, He wanted them to desire His presence instead of being satisfied with substitute religious activities.

Substitutes for Spending Time with God

What happened to them can happen to us as believers today. We have the Spirit of God living inside of us, always with us. We have security of our salvation based upon our faith in what Christ has done for us. Yet, we can be like them when it comes to neglecting time with our God. We have so many good things we can fill our time with today instead of being with God, focusing on Him, and interacting with Him. Consider all the options we have:

• Listening to Christian worship music throughout the day.
• Reading books and blogs, listening to podcasts, and watching sermons that all reflect wonderful biblical teaching.
• Practicing Christlike behavior and doing good works for the Lord
• Taking care of our family and work responsibilities with excellence
• Reading a short devotional then moving on to the rest of our day. Most devotionals have a lot more human words than God’s Word in them.
• We can even do Bible studies from an academic stance focusing on what we are learning rather than interacting with our God before, during, and after each study section. That is why we suggest you ask Jesus to teach you what He wants you to learn at the beginning of each day’s study. And we ask you to respond to God about what you learned in that day’s lesson. This is to encourage you to interact with God as you study His Word. Enjoy being in His presence.

Our Father God wants us to desire being in His presence. Yes, you may not have much time to sit and be with God. But when you desire Him, you will choose to spend some part of your day with Him and not all the substitutes that might make you feel good about being a Christian. Ask Jesus to teach you from His Word, read a chapter or passage, and interact with Him while you are reading and afterward. Talk to Him about what you are learning from Him. Trust Him to help you that day.

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.” (Haggai 1:7)

Do God’s work in your life but according to God’s ways. And God’s ways include interacting with Him about what His work and ways are. I desire His presence in my life. Do you? That means you and I are willing to spend time in His presence. That is more valuable than all the other substitutes available to us in our web-driven, social media-driven, work-driven, and activity-driven pull-apart world.

Haggai encourages us to desire God’s presence. In the next post, we will see that his contemporary Zechariah encourages us to trust in the pervasive power and persistent purpose of God.

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with complete trust in Him so that you will follow His way of living life instead of the world’s way or your own way.

All of the above information is covered in the  Identity: Sticking to Your Faith in a Pull-Apart World Bible Study  covering the last 7 written books of the Old Testament.

Recommendation: Take the free course on Haggai offered by Dallas Theological Seminary for more understanding of this short book and the wonderful things it teaches you about God.

Related Resources:

• Identity: Sticking to Your Faith in a Pull-Apart World Bible Study
• Satisfied Series 18 Podcasts (Ezra-Malachi)
• Daniel 1-8: Trusting God with Opposition and Dreams

AI was not used to generate this post.