God Wants to Be With You

Loneliness - being alone

“It’s all up to you/on your shoulders”

“No one understands me/what I feel/am going through”

“No one knows how to help me”

Exhausted

No time

I just can’t seem to get everything done that I’d like to or even need to.

Life just keeps kicking me

Things are just getting worse - world, circumstances, loss, personal health

No peace

Haggai prophesied in a period of time when the people of Israel felt just like that too. They were barely staying alive and now, God wants them to do more for Him - for His temple and worship practices. They are hungry, scared, confused, worried, and at times, barely hanging on. Now God sends a message of hope to His people that has the power to break the cycle, to stop the hamster wheel or Merry-go-round, a message that is given to help the Israelites to step off the crazy, scary ride of life and plant their feet on solid ground. It was a message meant to bring more than just hope. It was a message that was meant to lead God’s people to Peace.

So take courage, travelers of this world’s life and all it’s peaks and valleys, all it’s struggles and at times pain. God has a message for you through His set-apart servant Haggai and the people of Israel. There is a path to peace and God will walk with you on it until you are there.

Ezra was tasked with, and was tasking Israel with the rebuilding of the temple in order to reestablish their worship of YWHY.

Ezra: Ezra was a priest and scribe who played a crucial role in the restoration of Jewish religious practices and the revival of Torah study after the Babylonian exile. He is traditionally believed to have authored the Book of Ezra and possibly parts of Chronicles. Ezra is known for leading a group of Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem in 559-530 BC. His focus was on rebuilding the temple and reestablishing the proper worship of God in order to reestablish the observance of the Law.

Haggai: Haggai is believed to have prophesied during the same period or according to his inscription at the beginning of his book, just 8 years after Ezra. He is known for delivering messages of encouragement and divine guidance to the Jewish people who had returned from exile and were rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. The Book of Haggai records his prophecies, which were aimed at motivating the people to complete the construction of the Second Temple, emphasizing the importance of putting God first and renewing their commitment to His covenant.

Haggai’s motivation comes to light significantly in this second chapter we God teaches us through Israel’s circumstances, that God wants to be with you.

So take Courage and Work children of God, for God is with you; do not fear, He will restore to you a life of glory, for God will give you Peace.

God is with you (Haggai 2:1-4)

God is with you (Haggai 2:1-4), Do not fear (Haggai 2:5-8)

God is with you (Haggai 2:1-4), Do not fear (Haggai 2:5-8), God will give you Peace (Haggai 2:9)

So take Courage and Work children of God, for God is with you; do not fear, He will restore to you a life of glory, for God will give you Peace.

Do your part and be at peace that God will do His.

Lest critics and doubters say that this is all fine and dandy, but it is for the nation of Israel, not for the body of Christ; or that this was for the temple, not for the church.

Let me leave you with a NT passage, written by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the church of Thessalonica, after encouraging them that were laboring diligently (1 Thess. 5:12) on behalf of those he was admonishing to restore right living (1 Thess. 5:13-22). You see, the methods of God’s administrations of the world through chosen people may change according to His plan, but God Himself changes not (Malachi 3:6). God’s goal for all His chosen people, whether Israel or the church, is the same - it never changes.

So, does God give the NT church the same message, just in different context, that He gave the nation of Israel some 520 years earlier?

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 NASB95

23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

So take Courage and Work children of God, for God is with you; do not fear, He will restore to you a life of glory, for God will give you Peace.