Christ Current

In the last study, we looked at Haggai’s first message to the people. God exposed the root of their problem: their hearts had a different priority. His house had become secondary and was put on the back burner while they pursued their own comforts and priorities. Through Haggai, the Lord called them to carefully consider their ways and return to the work He had given them.

Will there be a turning point with the people? Will they arise to the challenge? Will they make excuses or will they respond to the Lord’s gracious correction to build?

Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD. 
—Haggai 1:12-13

After fifteen years of delay, the people responded! They listened to the voice of the Lord, received His correction, and even reverenced Him. Then, God answered them with one of the most comforting and encouraging promises found throughout Scripture:

“I am with you.”

Take a moment to consider this loving declaration, which we see repeated throughout Scripture. 

When God called Moses to bring His people out of Egypt, Moses responded with doubt: “Who am I that I should go?” (Ex 3:11). God didn’t reassure Moses of his own abilities. Rather, He said, “I will be with you” (Ex 3:12). 

When God called Joshua to lead His people across the Jordan River after Moses’ death, the Lord encouraged him with the same promise: “I will be with you” (Josh 1:5). 

When God called Jeremiah to proclaim His Word to the nations, Jeremiah responded with doubt: “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” Again, the Lord replied, “I am with you” (Jer 1:6-8). 

When Gideon was called to save the people from Midian’s hand, again, God said, “I will be with you” (Judg 6:12). 

And before Jesus ascended into heaven, after giving the Great Commission to make disciples of all the nations, He left them and us with the same enduring promise: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt 28:20). 

Immanuel, God with us!

His Presence is His Greatest Promise

Under the Old Covenant, God gave Israel the temple as the appointed place where He would dwell among His people. His presence was not confined to the building, but the temple was a visible sign of His dwelling with them. And even though the people had failed to rebuild the place where God had commanded His Name to dwell, He did not turn away from them. In fact, He turned to them! It was their response to turn back to Him that He made the gracious declaration: “I am with you.”

Under the New Covenant, this promise becomes even more intimate. We are now the dwelling of God’s Spirit. God does not merely dwell among His people; by His Spirit, He now dwells within His people. This is only possible because Jesus turned toward us in our sin. He came to dwell among us, bore our sin, died in our place, and rose again so that we could turn to Him in true repentance and become a dwelling place for His Spirit.

The God who said, “I am with you” to His people in Haggai now says, through Christ, that He will never leave nor forsake His people. His presence is not dependent upon our strength or perfection. It is the gracious gift of a God who turns toward His people and makes His home with them.

Repeatedly we see God calling and choosing the weak, the flawed, the insignificant. He doesn’t call us because of our qualifications, abilities, strength, sufficiency. It is not our ability, but His. It is not our strength, but His. It is not our righteousness, but His. He reminds us that His presence is enough. His grace is sufficient. 

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
—1 Co 1:27

I invite you to sit with God’s promise: “I am with you.”

Whatever you are facing right now, God is with you. Whatever God is calling you into today, His presence is enough. Whatever opposition you face, His strength will carry you. Whatever big waves you see headed your way, He goes before you. Whatever work He has entrusted to you, He has not asked you to accomplish it alone. Whatever seems impossible, is possible with God (Lk 1:37). 

Something is Stirring!

So how did the people respond to this gracious assurance that the Lord was with them? The next verses reveal the remarkable effect God’s presence had on their spirits.

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, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.  
—Haggai 1:14-15

Only 23 days after Haggai’s first message did the people begin rebuilding the temple. Amazing, isn’t it? What was it that stirred them up after nearly two decades? It wasn’t guilt. It wasn’t shame. It wasn’t pressure. The stirring came from the assurance that God Himself was with them. This is the most powerful encouragement for all of us!  

Let’s look a little deeper at the stirring. The phrase “stirred up” comes from the Hebrew word ur, meaning to arouse completely, to thoroughly awaken, or spur into action. This was more than an emotional response. It was God awakening spirits that had become dormant for fifteen years! Is anything too hard for the Lord? (Gen 18:14) No! Throughout Scripture, this kind of awakening often precedes God’s work. 

In the first post of this series, we considered the warning in Hebrews against becoming spiritually sluggish (nōthros) and how it leads to stunted growth and spiritual somnolence. Here in Haggai, we see the opposite. God awakens what had become sluggish. He lovingly stirs them out of complacency, arousing them completely.

Consider a remarkable similarity Peter uses in the New Testament: 

I think it is right to stir you up by way of reminder…
—2 Peter 1:13

The Greek word here for stir is diegeiró, which means to awaken or arouse completely. Peter understood that believers do not merely need new or more information, but also a continual awakening to truths we already know. We can let the Good News become old news. We can lose the awe of God’s presence. Verses can become so familiar that we fly by them. We can hear the truth but not walk in it. We are prone as humans to drift, grow dull and become spiritually drowsy. We may have seasons where we do lack that deeper intimacy with the Lord. This is why we need the Spirit’s ever transforming renewal of our minds through His Word (Ro 12:2).

James echoes this same truth.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 
—James 1:22 

The stirring produces a spurring of action. Israel had heard God’s command to rebuild years earlier, yet the temple remained unfinished. It wasn’t until the Lord stirred their spirits that they rose up and began the work. In the same way, we need more than knowledge; we need the Holy Spirit to stir and awaken us so that what we know from the Word becomes how we live and walk. 

Who is it that stirs up and awakens God’s people? God Himself. The Holy Spirit works through His Word to transform us, renew our minds, awaken us from spiritual slumber, strengthen weary hearts, and produce in us both the desire and the power to continue in who He has called us to be and what He has called us to do. He reminds us of God’s promises, especially this great promise: “I am with you.”

What a gracious God and Father we serve! The same God who called His people to build was the One who awakened them to do it. He does not simply give His people a task and leave them to accomplish it alone. May the Spirit continually renew and strengthen us, keeping our hearts awake, our eyes fixed on Jesus, our minds aware of His presence with us, growing in Him, and faithfully stewarding all He has entrusted to each of us until the day our Bridegroom returns. 

In the next study, discouragement returns, but so does God’s encouragement. We’ll see how His abiding presence and His Spirit strengthened His people to continue building despite what they saw before them. 

Haggai Study Series to Date: