Scripture: Haggai 2:1-9, 20-23
Focus on the Word
God's people had lived for decades in the exile of Babylon. God was now opening the door for them to come home to Judah, to rebuild their sacred temple and to live again in their own land. God raised up the prophet, Haggai, to speak God's Word into the lives of the people. His message was simple. It was time to go to work, to remember that God's Spirit was abiding in their midst (see Haggai 2:4-5), to rebuild the Temple that had been destroyed decades earlier, and to go forward in hopeful anticipation that God was "going to shake the heavens and the earth" (Haggai 2:21, NASB).
Their lives and times were in the hands of God. They were caught up into the story of God. God was on the move, and they got to be a part of it. God was going to do something that would shake all heaven and earth. In fact, God said He would shake "all the nations" and that His Temple would be filled with His glory" (Haggai 2:7, NASB).
Some of the nations around them were not happy at all with the freedom of Israel to return home and rebuild the temple, and they fought to stop it. But, this was God's thing, and He promised, "The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former…and in this place I will give peace" (Haggai 2:9).
All throughout, the story of God was unfolding, and it would unfold all the way to Jerusalem and a cross and a resurrection. It would unfold into the day of Pentecost where God did a work that literally shook the nations and the world and all heaven. All that He was doing in the past led to what He did in Christ, which led to the creation of His Church, His new creation, "Living stones…being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (I Peter 2:5, NASB).
In Lent we remember that in Christ, we are God's new creation, the new and living Temple where God dwells. God is present and His Spirit is at work in this world of ours. So, we quiet our hearts, we listen, we pray, we remember that we are caught up in something not of ourselves. This is God's thing.
Listen. Can you hear it? The heavens and the earth are being shaken
Today’s Prayer
You’re all I want in heaven! You’re all I want on earth! When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, God is rock-firm and faithful….I’m in the very presence of God— Oh, how refreshing it is! I’ve made Lord God my home. God, I’m telling the world what you do! (Psalm 73: 25-28, MSG)
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