Zerubbabel : A Call to Build

Background

Faith

The Book of Haggai: (Pre-intro Ref: Jeremiah 25 – Prophecy of Seventy years in Captivity!)	Haggai was the first of the post-exilic prophets. The other two were Zechariah and Malachi. King Cyrus overthrew the Babylonians in 539 BC (just as the Lord had spoken through the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 45 – about 150 years before Cyrus’s’ time!) and the people of God who were under the Babylonians, in exile - were allowed by King Cyrus to return to their homeland to Jerusalem in 538BC. It is at this time when the prophet Haggai is brought forward to give the Lord’s messages to His people, around 520 BC. There are three central characters in the book of Haggai: Haggai - the prophet, Zerubbabel – the Governor and Joshua-the high priest. The main message of the book is – A call to build the temple of God, especially assigned to Zerubbabel, the governor, and the high priest Joshua. It is a book of great encouragement, a supernatural push, and a stirring to do God’s work that only the Spirit of the Lord can bring. Though it’s a short book with just two chapters – with the Lord’s message in 4 parts to the people, this was probably the rare time when a prophet’s message was heeded with such a quick response by the people – that within 23 days of Haggai’s first message the people began to rebuild the temple under the leadership of Zerubbabel! The book ends with an incredible declaration by the Lord – that there will be a time of great shaking and chaos, and during that very time of turmoil and instability, the Lord will make Zerubbabel like His own signet ring and use him as an instrument of the Lord’s glory because the Lord has chosen him!
The Call and The Work: Even after the Jews were back, their priority ideally would have been to rebuild the temple before their own lives and houses after the exile! The book of Haggai stresses on this priority but the people had left the rebuilding of the temple half-way and soon forgot about it because they got so busy with building their own houses! Read Haggai 1: 2-8.	Prophetic Direction that negated OPPOSITION Now why did they leave work half-way? What had happened? Even when the Jews knew the importance of the temple - why didn’t they build it? As soon as the Jews were back from exile, they did indeed start the work of rebuilding the temple. They obviously knew the order of priority - so in 538 BC they returned to their homeland and by 536 BC the temple construction begins. But we see that by 530 BC the temple work is halted. Only the foundation of the temple was laid. Let us read Ezra 4: 1-5, 24. Hence, severe opposition in the form of discouragement, continual pushbacks, resistance broke the zeal and the spirit of Zerubbabel and the people they just could not go on. It was not a one-off – it was continual attack! They eventually left the rebuilding work and forgot entirely about it, getting on with their lives and the temple sadly in ruins! The work that was stopped in 530 BC resumes in 520 BC when prophet Haggai comes with the message from the Lord and urges the people to relook at how they are living and what their priorities have become! Inspiration that countered DISCOURAGEMENT The message from Haggai was a wakeup call and in Haggai 1:12 we read that the people obeyed the voice of the Lord and the message from the prophet Haggai. In spite of the earlier discouragement and the familiar taste of defeat; when the people paid heed to the voice of the Lord and moved against their feelings in simple obedience we read in verse 14 of Haggai 1 that the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, Joshua the High Priest and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people and they all came and began the work! This was supernatural stirring! The Lord knew what the defeat point was – and that is where he touched. He re-ignited them! Promise that defeated DISAPPOINTMENT. Soon after they begin the work, the message of the Lord comes a second time to Zerubbabel and Joshua in Haggai 2:2-8. Now why would the Lord give this message to them and what does this mean? We find the answer in the book of Ezra Chapter 3 verse 12. The Levites and family heads are those of the older crowd who had seen the first temple that Solomon had built. They had seen the grandeur of the splendor and the glory of it. It was beautiful and magnificent! Solom’s temple had been destroyed about 66 years earlier. Now when these very people saw the new foundation that was being laid for the new temple they wept because it was much smaller than Solomon’s original. The Lord addresses this disappointment of the people that the Lord gives a promise where he says that “the glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house and in this place I will grant peace declares the Lord Almighty!” Haggai 2:9 THE ANTHEM OF THE REMNANT - “BY MY SPIRIT” As the work began, it seemed too insignificant compared to everything- past glory, the huge opposition, personal sense of discouragement. And yet, the Lord spoke through Zechariah encouraging Zerubbabel - “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ Then the word of the Lord came to me: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it.’” (Zechariah 4: 6-10) After a seventeen-year delay, under the next king of Persia, Darius, the Jews were granted permission to continue rebuilding. Within three and a half years after the second effort began, the temple was completed in 516 BC. While the temple Zerubbabel helped rebuild paled in comparison to the size and grandeur of Solomon’s, it far outlasted it. The glory bestowed on Zerubbabel’s temple came centuries later when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, walks into its temple courts. (Ref Luke 2: 41-52) The promised glory of the new temple that the Lord declares in Haggai 2 was not just limited to the messiah entering the temple in flesh and blood 2000 years ago, but the vision is a far reaching one – one that is detailed in Revelations 5 and one that is unravelling even today! The salvation of countless souls. The wealth of the nation’s coming into the temple of the Lord. The promised glory of the latter years will be far greater than the glory of Solomon’s temple!
The Zerubbabel Anointing (in a time of great shaking): There is no one who can stir up our spirit like the Lord can. Motivational words and pep-talk fizzle out quick – but the igniting that the Lord does enables us to be carried when we can no longer walk on our own strength! When this supernatural anointing is met with our complete obedience – it is a recipe of unstoppable glory! As the Lord showed me these portions and highlighted the frailty of this man called Zerubbabel, who with all good intentions and a great beginning, still seemed to succumb to discouragement and stop… left with a bitter taste! And yet when the anointing of the Lord comes upon him, he is ready to do the very work he walked away from! Not just do the work – but finish it. And he pulls off an incredible feat – BY THE MIGHTY SPIRIT OF THE LORD! I heard the words “The Zerubbabel Anointing” as I studied these pages and sensed the Lord say that the time of shaking as mentioned in the prophetic book of Haggai has already begun and in these times, those who have been called to build – will come up and build, even in a time of instability, because they carry a Zerubbabel Anointing!	The Zerubbabel Anointing is the anointing of the Holy Spirit to govern and manage the Lord’s house with great precision and focus. (And eventually govern and manage the nations!) As new covenant believers, we already have the anointing of the Holy Spirit as mentioned in 1 John 2:26 – it is a given. However, just as John the Baptist was likened to one bearing the spirit of Elijah in terms of his work and ministry – the Zerubbabel anointing is a type of anointing that could be understood as a finisher’s anointing. A stirring that Zerubbabel received to complete what he began! It carries obedience to the voice of the Lord. (Haggai 1) It is a movement - in the fear of the Lord. There is a deep assurance and confidence that comes despite the odds because of the Lord who is with them. Haggai 2:5 – The Lord stands by His covenant. There is no fear because His Spirit is with us! It carries a great zeal for the work assigned. It carries a great measure of faith to build! Why Faith? Because Faith can SEE! (Haggai 2:3) Faith moves and works with prophetic vision. There is a Zerubbabel anointing that will enable those who started the work to finish the work this season! Maybe you walked away or maybe you got discouraged and left it halfway – but the Lord urges to focus and heed the call. The Lord is with you - you are not alone.
Conclusion: Towards the end of the book of Haggai, God closes His message to Zerubbabel with this incredible affirmation – “The word of the LORD came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: ‘Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms.’ . . . ‘On that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the LORD Almighty” (Haggai 2:20–23).	His initial assignment of building the temple – which seemed to take up most of his lifetime – starting the work, then leaving it, then coming back to it and then finally finishing it - was only just the beginning! From working FOR God, he now was brought to a place to working WITH God! (Signet ring signifies royal authority!) What begins in the Lord’s house spreads to the nations! In the time of shaking that has already begun, the Lord provides His stability and security in the boundary of His assignment. It is bizarre, but it is His way. I want to close with these words that the Lord gave to Zerubbabel through Prophet Zechariah, as he was faced with the task of finishing the temple: “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground…” (Zechariah 4: 7) “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7) May God bless you!