12.3: “Come Let Us Adore Him”

Tuesday, December 3

“For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come;”   Haggai 2:6-7*

In Haggai’s time, many of the Jewish people in exile had been allowed to return to their homeland.  Work on the destroyed Temple is progressing.  However, they knew they were still not independent of Persia’s rule and when the Temple is rebuilt, it would be only a pale imitation of its former glory when Solomon built it.  The people would be naturally disillusioned if they are expecting the more glorious restoration foretold by Isaiah.  The prophet Haggai brought several messages from God during this time.  God promises he is not done working through his chosen people and that a grand shake up is coming.  He promised that the Messiah will come in due time.

When I read these verses, I think of how God did shake up the world when Jesus arrived some 500 years later.  However, he was not the political Messiah so many expected.  He arrived as a baby in a manger and not as a conquering warrior or political ruler.  Jesus did shake the Pharisee establishment and delivered unexpected preaching: “Love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you, the first shall be last and the last, first, turn the other cheek, receive the Kingdom of God like a little child.”  What Haggai had foretold came true but was counter to the culture and human instincts of the time.

Prayer:

Thank you, God for delivering a Messiah who does still shake us from our complacency.  May your Holy Spirit breathe new life into our lives and your church.  Amen.

Carl McCune