A new level.
Read time: 7 mins
Then on October 17 of that same year, the Lord sent another message through the prophet Haggai. “Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God’s people there in the land: ‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all! But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.’
“For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”
Haggai 2:1-9
Do you want to be closer to God? If you recognize that the goal of life is furthering your proximity to God, then you must know that you are signing up for a life of progression. And if you're ok with that lifestyle of growth, you must also be ok with change and letting go. I've often loved using the phrase “you need to let go of your girlfriend to get with your wife.” This saying is just pointing to the life principle that in order to receive you must release. You must allow what has served you in the past to be phased out in order to make room for the better God has for you. The Israelites had to let go of king Saul in order to accept king David. The Israelites acknowledged the greatness of Moses but they had to step into a new season when Moses died and God was ready to use Joshua. Some of the disciples even had to leave John the Baptist in order to follow Jesus.
This practice is hard to engage in. It’s hard to trust God's vision and step into the unknown. But this is the position we find ourselves in. If we want what God has for us, we need to practice letting go of what we know and moving through new and unknown spaces to experience God even better. If we want to grow we have to trust God enough to let go. We can learn from this story.
The Israelites had been in Babylonian captivity for 70 years. At the end of the book of 2 Chronicles, we see that years before this the Babylonians had ransacked the city, taken all the valuables, and burned down the temple. Many of the Israelites grew up as slaves in foreign territory. This is exile where we get stories of people like Daniel and Esther. All these generations had known was tyranny and oppression. They had never seen the former glory that was Israel. But the time had come for this captivity to end and for them to rebuild the walls of their city and their glorious temple. We see most of this action in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Everyone is pitching in to help. The Bible says in Ezra that all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a united purpose. We see lists of who brought what and how everyone gave to this common goal. The goal was to experience God for themselves and go after the things taken from them. The temple represented not only the pride of their community but the presence of God among them, and some of the Israelites hadn’t had a chance to experience it before. But they started their rebuilding efforts. Everything was going amazing. I can imagine the atmosphere was thick with a spirit of teamwork and and excitement. People from all over were united over the goal to seek God again. I can imagine how the younger people finally felt like they got to be a part of the Israel they heard stories about. They finally were getting a chance to worship God like the predecessors they looked up to. The builders completed the foundation of the temple and the party was started. They followed David’s instruction and played instruments and sang a song about how faithful their God was. There was joy in the whole camp because they finally were getting a chance to serve God, but not everyone was happy. Let’s follow in Ezra chapter 3.
When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord, just as King David had prescribed. With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever! Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid.
But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.
Ezra 3:10-13
This is important to understand as we are growing because growth will excite some and terrify others. While many were celebrating the joy that came with the simple idea of having a place to worship again, others mourned the loss of what they used to have. Growth is not always a time of pure celebration. We must have sympathy because while this may be exciting for those new on the block, it can be traumatizing for those who have been here and fought. These times of looking towards the future can be painful reminders of what they may fear losing from the past. There even may be fears and discomfort as you may feel that your place and the work you did will be lost. This new generation is so excited to build the temple because of the testimonies of their grandparents. They just want to experience the “good ole days” too. I want to remind you that while the physical structure of the temple may have changed, the theology behind it didn't. Their kids just wanted to experience the proximity with the same God they did. The reason they fought to rebuild the walls and temple of Jerusalem is because of how much they respected the city of old. I want to remind anyone who may need to hear this that it may be new, but it is paying homage to what you created. You are not forgotten. You are actually needed to inspire, guide, and encourage those carrying the torch, because oftentimes they are just trying to be like you.
You may see method change, but the mission is still the same. The kids that you prayed would experience God for themselves will eventually start a choir with new music the same way you did when you were their age. The method may change, but the mission won't. This new generation was eager to build a temple because of how much they admired and looked up to the generations before them that had experienced the old one. They grew up with stories of the greatness of Israel and desired to experience it for themselves. Forward change isn't an abandonment of the old. It’s an admission that you desire even more of the good that came from the past. While the first generation fears losing the past, the new generation fears missing out on it.
I don't have enough time to pull out every application from this story, but I do want to offer a glimpse of hope, for those who still see the trend of life and fear it will never bring the same peace, joy and fulfillment it once did. As we all struggle with the change that growth brings, I want to remind you of the hope God told Haggai to give to this group of people.
While those who finally got a chance to experience church shouted with excitement, those who noticed the differences between this generation's house of worship and theirs mourned. God sees them in their pain and asks, “Do you remember the old temple? This one seems worthless in comparison right? But I want you to be strong and trust me. Why? Because the future glory of this temple will be greater than its past glory. And in this place I will bring peace.”
I'm talking to many different groups here. But I want to remind you all that no matter how uneasy you may feel about what God may be doing or allowing in this moment, God is asking you to stay strong, get to work, and trust Him because your future will be greater than your past. The kids may look like a hot mess right now, but I'm asking that you don't give up on them. You are not supposed to sit back and criticize them like some bitter aunts. You are called to encourage, guide, inspire and work with them because they are just trying to build what they grew up hearing you talk about. Push them to accomplish more than you could alone. They just want more of the good and you can partner with them to accomplish that.
This generational growth pattern is represented in the idea of the temple itself. Moses creates a tabernacle so the people can be with God and God can be with them. The goal was always presence and proximity to God. Time goes on, war happens and the ark of the covenant is stolen in the days of Samuel. Then years later, David recaptures the ark and his son takes the responsibility to rebuilds the temple. Because David and Solomon desired the same proximity their forefathers had in the past, they fight to build on it. Then that temple is ransacked again and the Israelites are taken into captivity. With this we move to this story. Nehemiah rebuilds the temple. It's a cycle. Each generation seeks to rectify anything that was lost and get closer to God.
But it doesn’t end here. Years later, a 30 year old named Jesus had the audacity to say “I know y'all wanted a temple so God can be with you but how bout I tear it down and you worship me because I am God with you.” And the people want to stone him! They are mad that He is moving from what served them in the past even though He is bringing something better. The goal was proximity right? But it doesn’t stop there. It goes even further when Jesus says “I must die so that I can leave the Holy Spirit. Then I wont just be around you. You will be the new temple and I’ll be in you.” Y’all see this pattern? The goal is proximity to God and God uses what looks like loss to move us closer to Him. In order to get to our best we have to trust God in the jump to our next.
We are all on a journey to keep growing closer and closer to God. And as we grow, there will be moments of discouragement. I remember when I was growing out my locs, there was a middle ground between Afro and hang time which was terrible. People literally call it the ugly stage. But I had to stay true to the course of growth in order to get through it.
The building process may be messy, but it's all a journey to get closer to Jesus. Weeping may endure for a time but there will be joy in the morning. The growth is worth it. So I want to say to you the same thing God said to the Israelites. Be strong, be strong, and be strong again. Get up and get to work. Don’t be afraid. I know you aren't at the destination yet, but the future glory will be significantly better than the past glory. It will be worth it. Hold on. Keep going. Keep building. Be strong.
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