Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Nov 18 2019 - Haggai 2 – The glory of the new house

Haggai is a short book. In chapter one we saw how Haggai's prophetic preaching, along with that of Zechariah, spurred the Israelites to get on with the task of rebuilding the temple. Today we read the second and concluding chapter of this prophetic book.

Haggai enquires if there is anyone who remembers the glory of Solomon's temple (v. 3). Anyone capable of remembering would have been in their 70s, for the temple had been destroyed some 66 years earlier. Haggai challenges them to compare the glory of the previous temple with the half-built house they now see before them. Many, no doubt, would feel discouraged at the thought of this comparison. How could they ever manage to restore these ruins to be like the glorious temple that once stood here? But Haggai brings them a word of encouragement:

“Be strong, Zerubbabel,” declares the Lord. “Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. 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.” (vv. 4-5)

All those years before, when the Lord rescued his people from Egypt, he promised to be with them and to go before them. Because of their rebellion he had threatened at one point to abandon them, but Moses had pleaded with God for the people saying that if the Lord did not go with them they could not travel on to the land God had promised them. God's presence with his people was part of his covenant promise to them. They may often have been unfaithful to the covenant, but God remained faithful, and here through Haggai he reminds them that his Spirit is still with them and will provide them with the strength they need to do what he is now calling them to do.

But even so, the people must have doubted that the restored temple would ever be half as glorious as the one built by Solomon. In answer to their fears, the Lord promises:

“In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 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.” (vv. 6-9)

Some of you may have heard part of Handel's Messiah ringing in your head here. The promise of future glory for this temple far outstrips anything realised by the Jews in the days of Haggai or at any other time in the Old Testament. This promise finds its fulfilment only in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the temple that was destroyed at the hands of God's enemies and to satisfy God's justice against his disobedient people. He is the one whose resurrection rebuilt or restored that temple as the "place" of our access to God. He is the one through whom we have peace with God.

The Spirit of God is now at work shaking the nations and bringing people of all backgrounds and languages to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. And the day will come at last when he who has become the desire of the nations shall return to reign in glory for all eternity. Then all the glory of the nations, the very best of all that human beings can accomplish, will be devoted to him and become part of the glory of his everlasting and unshakable kingdom (see Revelation 21:26).

Father God, we thank you for the words of this prophecy of Haggai. We also feel fearful at times that the glories and accomplishments of your church in past generations cannot be matched in our time. Help us not to fear but to remember that our risen Saviour promised to be with us to the end of the age and that your Spirit remains among us to provide us with the strength we need to do the work to which you have called us.

Nov 18 2020 - John 11:45-12:19 – The whole world has gone after him

John loves to record occasions when Jesus’ enemies spoke more profoundly than they realised. In these verses we read of a meeting of the Sanhedrin, the council of Jewish leaders. The leaders of the nation are deeply troubled at the growing influence of Jesus, particularly after the raising of Lazarus from the dead. His popularity may lead to such excitement at the coming feast in Jerusalem that the Romans might intervene by force, maybe even destroying the Temple. Caiaphas, the high priest, tells the rest of the Sanhedrin not to get so agitated. It is better for one man to die on behalf of the people than that the whole nation be destroyed.

Caiaphas meant that when the moment came, they would hand Jesus over to the Romans and so save their own skins; the one who could give life to the dead cannot be allowed to live. But John adds that Caiaphas spoke better than he knew, he spoke prophetically. Jesus’ death would be a sacrifice through which the people will be saved: “Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one” (John 11:51-52).

From this moment, John tells us, the Jewish leaders plotted Jesus death.

Two great dramas are being played out here. On the one hand there are the plans of human beings driven by selfish ambition and a determination to preserve their own power, position and control. On the other hand there are the eternal purposes of God – God's great plan to reconcile the world to himself through the sacrifice of his own beloved Son. And these two are not separate dramas; the purposes of God are being worked out through the evil plans and devices of human beings. As Peter was later to declare on the day of Pentecost, "This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him... God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah" (Acts 2:23-24, 36).

Those who hold positions of power in this world still believe that they can shape history to their own ends. But God has not given up his dominion to them. He is still working out his own purposes.

In 12:19, John records a similar remark, though this time without adding his own comment. As the feast arrives and Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey he is surrounded by crowds proclaiming him their coming king. The Pharisees, we read, are deeply troubled and, in their frustration declare, “The whole world (the cosmos) has gone after him.” John surely intends us to read this also as an unintended word of prophecy. Jesus is the King of Israel, the promised Messiah to whom the nations must offer obedience. He is the Lord of the whole cosmos to whom every knee shall bow.

Sovereign God, I praise you that your kingdom purposes cannot fail. Lord Jesus, I gladly bow the knee to you and acknowledge that you are Christ the Lord. Thank you that you are able to work through the confused actions of my own life to bring glory to your name. Help me always to be a willing and active agent in the work of your kingdom, so that many more may come to own you as Lord and serve your purpose to bring life and healing to the world. May the whole world go after you.

Peter Misselbrook