Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Haggai 1-2
Haggai 2:4
Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:
May you allow me to draw a spiritual conclusion from this physical story? After all, wherein the Old Testament is physical, the New Testament is spiritual. Therefore, consider this.
After being in bondage to Babylon for seventy years, just as Jeremiah prophesied in Jeremiah 25:11, and after being released from that bondage under the decree of Cyrus, just as Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 44:28 (given over 150 years prior), the returning remnant were commanded to rebuild the Temple, God’s house. This was physical.
In the New Testament there is a spiritual equivalent. Upon being born again of the Spirit of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ a person becomes the temple of God. Meaning God lives in them through His Holy Spirit. This is likened to being released from the bondage of sin (symbolized by Babylon) to live free. For His truth sets a person free (John 8:32, 36). In that freedom God’s people have a work to do, just like the returning Jews did during the “restoration” of Jerusalem.
Today, God’s people are to build a house for Him. After all I Corinthians 3:9 states clearly: For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. Then later in that same chapter Paul writes, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (I Corinthians 3:16) Paul writes much about that temple that every believer is building, not only in I Corinthians 3, but also sprinkled throughout all of His New Testament writings.
Just as God had a work for Adam and Eve to do, keep the garden; just as He had a work for Moses and the Hebrews to do in building the Tabernacle; just as He had a work for David and His mighty men to do; just as He had a work for Solomon and the Israelites to do in building the first Temple; and just as He had a work for the Jews to do after being released from Babylonian captivity, He has a work for New Testament believers to do. Theirs was a physical work, ours is a spiritual work. Wherein they were to be strong physically, we are to be strong in the faith (I Corinthians 16:13). As they built a physical building, we are building a spiritual one.
The foundation of our building is Jesus Christ. Upon Him we build a spiritual house. In that house there are many rooms. There is room for love, forgiveness, grace, evangelism, study, moral cleanness, service to others, prayer, and of course the work Christians are to do through their local churches. Yes, there are many rooms that need continual attention, decorating, cleaning, and sometimes remodeling. Hence the “work” of building upon the foundation of Jesus Christ.
This “work” was physical in the Old Testament and is spiritual in the New Testament.
Dr. William T. Howe
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