Kingdom Perspective / Haggai 2:1-9
Well, church, it is good to see you again this week. I want to invite you to turn with me to the book of Haggai. Remember, we said this last week: it is that small little book in the back of your Old Testament with the clean white pages stuck together. That is how you will find it.
If you are just joining us, last week we took a brief break from our Exodus series to dive into this short prophetical book. It is only two chapters and thirty-eight verses—not long at all—but so powerfully relevant and encouraging for our souls and where we find ourselves today in our relationship with God.
Last week, we stepped into a very unique moment in Israel’s history. About eight hundred years after the exodus, Israel, as a divided kingdom, was conquered first by the Assyrians and then by the Babylonians. The Babylonians hauled them nine hundred miles away into exile, away from worshipping God freely in Jerusalem. But about fifty years later, God moved on their behalf and released them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild.
In chapter one, we saw about fifty thousand people return, super excited to get back to work. They began rebuilding the temple that was formerly Solomon’s temple before the Babylonians leveled it. They took all that rubble and laid the foundation. But soon after, Samaritan opposition and persecution set in. That resistance caused them to quit building God’s temple, run back to their own homes, panel their own houses, and build up their own little kingdoms while God’s house lay in ruins.
About fifteen years rolled by before God sent the prophet Haggai to confront and encourage them. Last week, we saw a message of true repentance. God called them to remember that they were not liberated from captivity to build their own kingdoms; they were liberated to build into God’s kingdom. That is where true joy is found. We saw genuine repentance start in their hearts, move to their hands, and lead them right back to the work. Fifty thousand people were stirred in their spirits, fired up, and getting after it.
They worked faithfully for about three weeks. And then something happened that threatened to steal their joy all over again.
The Crippling Power of Comparison
That brings us to Haggai chapter two. Verse one tells us that on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through Haggai again. Historically, this lands us on October 17, 520 BC, roughly three and a half weeks after Haggai’s first message stirred them up.
If you understand the Jewish calendar, that date marks the final day of the Feast of Tabernacles. This was one of the three major national pilgrimage feasts where everyone gathered in Jerusalem. It was a celebration overflowing with joy, marking two great realities: the physical grape harvest that came in each fall, and the forty-year wilderness journey after the exodus where God faithfully provided in the desert while dwelling among them in the tabernacle. Every year, they would build small booths, live in them, and celebrate God’s faithfulness.
Yet right in the middle of this feast of celebration, there is a massive problem. Instead of joy, you find a people who are deeply, profoundly discouraged. They are discouraged to the point that they are ready to put down their tools and quit working all over again.
Have you ever been there? Can that happen in our lives? Can you be right in the middle of something you know God called you to do, knowing He has great plans, yet somehow in the middle of that divine pursuit, you get so downcast and despairing that you cannot see any good in what is happening? Everyone around you sees it, but you cannot. Discouragement settles in, and you conclude there is no way God can do anything with this.
In verses two and three, God puts His finger right on the source of their discouragement. He tells Haggai to speak to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the remnant of the people:
Haggai 2:1-3 (NASB)
On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet saying, ’Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people saying, ’Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison?
God asks for a show of hands among these fifty thousand discouraged workers: “Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem like nothing to your eyes?”
Consider the contrast in their minds: the former temple was glorious; the present temple is nothing. That was their honest assessment. There was a handful of older folks who had been alive sixty years earlier before the exile and remembered Solomon’s temple. Alongside them was a younger generation born in captivity who had never seen Solomon’s temple and had no frame of reference for it.
The book of Ezra runs parallel to this period and gives us an incredible window into the dynamic between these two generations while the foundation was being laid.
Ezra 3:12-13 (NASB)
Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ [households], the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.
Just picture that scene for a moment. You have a younger generation looking at this foundation, thrilled to be building something for Yahweh, the God of the universe. The Sovereign God invited them to be part of it! If you have ever been part of a building project, you know how exciting it is when the foundation is poured and the phases begin. They are shouting with pure joy.
At the very same time, an older generation is weeping out loud because they look at the foundation and think, This looks like a shack compared to what we used to have. Back in my day, you have no idea how glorious it was. This present work is pathetic.
Ezra tells us that their weeping spread like yeast. That discouragement infected the younger generation, killing their enthusiasm until everyone wanted to throw in the towel.
Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever worked hard on something, only for what you are doing now to feel utterly insignificant compared to what once was?
I remember one of the first times I felt this kind of crushing disappointment. It was an elementary school science fair project. I built the classic volcano. I worked so hard on that thing, finally figured out how to get the baking soda and vinegar to erupt, and I was so proud of it. I walked in on science fair morning, set my volcano down, and then looked at the kid next to me. Not only was his display four times the size of mine, but it had a reverse-flow mechanism where the lava went back into the mountain because he modeled it after the original Superman movie, complete with a replica of Superman flying around the fault line to save the town. I looked back at my project, and it looked like a clump of mud on a paper plate. In that exact moment, I grabbed my name tag off the table, shoved it into my pocket, and walked away. Comparison killed my joy instantly.
When Rearview Living Infects the Church
Now, a science fair project is a trivial thing. But it is a whole different reality when that happens in a marriage, in your personal calling, or in the life of a church. It happens when you are pouring your heart into God’s mission, but you start comparing what He is doing in your life to what He is doing in someone else’s.
This is why social media can be so toxic. We do so much pastoral counseling with couples who are miserable in their marriages simply because they compare their real lives to the curated highlight reels on Facebook and Instagram. Nobody posts their screaming matches online. Nobody posts, “We just had a horrible fight, and here are the awful things we said to each other.” But we constantly compare, and it robs our joy.
When that dynamic takes root inside a church, it can be fatal. It cuts the legs out from under what God wants to do.
In this passage, Israel faced two distinct problems. The first was straight discouragement from believing that what was in the rearview mirror was vastly superior to what was through the front windshield. The second problem was allowing that personal discouragement to fester into a toxic cancer that spread to others, trading joy for criticism, bitterness, and slander until the work of God completely halted.
If we ever reach a point as a church where you hear us from this pulpit or in your Life Groups speaking about God primarily in the past tense, we are in serious trouble. When we can only celebrate what God did ten, twenty, or thirty years ago, but cannot rejoice in what He is doing right now, that is a flashing red warning light on our spiritual dashboard.
Israel was meant to build stones of remembrance. God gave them feasts and festivals to look back on His faithfulness, but the purpose of looking back was never to stay parked there. Remembering past faithfulness was intended to propel their hearts to trust God for what was ahead. When we define our spiritual vitality solely by what God did back in our college or youth group days and spend the rest of our lives measuring His activity against that past standard, we are in deep trouble. God’s glory does not expire. He is always moving forward.
Philippians 3:13-15 (NASB)
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of [it] yet; but one thing [I do]: forgetting what [lies] behind and reaching forward to what [lies] ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;
Paul tells us that forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what is ahead is a mark of spiritual maturity. It is an act of mature faith to trust God in your present and future just as much as you did in your past.
When we fail to do that, discouragement quickly turns into gossip, gossip turns into criticism, and criticism turns into division. In just about every church I have served, there are seasons of explosive growth, followed by plateau. If we are not careful, we fall into the trap of looking back and reminiscing: “Man, remember the good old days when we had multiple evening services packed out? Remember when Midweek was on Wednesday instead of Thursday? That’s when Jesus was really here!”
We laugh, but that is where our hearts naturally drift. That slow drip of nostalgia turns into an underlying accusation that God is somehow less faithful now. We start murmuring, questioning decisions, and tearing down the joy of others.
There is a massive difference between calling for biblical reform when a church drifts from the gospel and weaponizing personal nostalgia because the church changed a method or a format. Look at how seriously God views this in Proverbs:
Proverbs 6:16-19 (NASB)
There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness [who] utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.
God lists six things He hates, but highlights the seventh as an absolute abomination: a person who sows discord and dissension among brothers. God cannot stand it when people breed division and drain the joy of the Lord from His people.
Forms vs. Function
The root issue for Israel—and for us—is that we tend to worship forms rather than function.
The function of the church never changes. We exist for the glory of God, to make disciples of all nations, and to proclaim the gospel of reconciliation in Jesus Christ. That is our mission. But forms are simply the vessels and tools that carry that function. While not all forms are equal, forms are adaptable.
The problem with us, like sheep prone to wander, is that we fall in love with preferential forms over the mission. If we were to move the piano to the other side of the stage next week, we would get emails. If we moved the coffee tables out of the back of the room, someone would inevitably feel that Jesus had left the building. But the Great Commission does not say, “Go therefore and preserve the tables in the auditorium.” We have to hold our preferences loosely.
I confess that as I find myself in my mid-forties, I am growing far more nostalgic than I ever thought I would. I am slowly turning into my parents. You can walk into my parents’ house today and it is as though time froze in 1982. They still have the old tube television and the VHS player. If my brothers and I had not pushed them forward, nothing would have ever changed.
Our spiritual lives and our churches can do the exact same thing if we are not careful. We freeze our expectations in a certain era, assuming that was the only season God was truly faithful, and we miss what He is doing today.
The Promise of His Presence
What do you do when that kind of discouragement sets in? Look at how God answers them in verses four and five:
Haggai 2:4-5 (NASB)
‘But now take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the LORD of hosts. ‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’
God gives them four clear directives: Be strong. Get to work. Do not fear. And the foundation underneath it all: “I am with you.”
Notice that God uses the Exodus as the benchmark for their encouragement. Up to this point in Israel’s history, the Exodus was the greatest display of God’s power. It was the moment God parted the Red Sea, brought them out of slavery, and established a covenant with them. In Exodus, God promised, “I will be with you.” Now, hundreds of years later, God looks at this discouraged remnant and says, “My promise has not expired. The same Spirit that hovered over the tabernacle in the wilderness remains in your midst today. I am with you in this work. Take courage and build.”
If you know your Old Testament, these words sound incredibly familiar. They are almost the exact words King David spoke to his son Solomon when they were preparing to build the very first temple.
1 Chronicles 28:20 (NASB)
Then David said to his son Solomon, ’Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.
To a people weeping because this temple looks nothing like Solomon’s, God sends the exact same exhortation David gave to Solomon: The same God who empowered the building of the first temple is fully present in the building of this one. God was just as committed to them in their humble rebuilding as He was in the height of Solomon’s golden age.
We need to hear that same word today. Keep building the church. Keep laboring for His kingdom. Keep heralding the gospel. Keep pursuing reconciliation in your marriages and friendships. Keep Christ at the absolute center of your life. Your labor is not in vain. God did not redeem you to leave you stranded; He is doing a work in you so that He can do a work through you.
A Greater Glory
God concludes this message with a breathtaking promise about the future of this house:
Haggai 2:6-9 (NASB)
’For thus says the LORD of hosts, ’Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. ‘I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the LORD of hosts. ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the LORD of hosts.’
God tells them that what they are building is part of a plan far greater than they can see. If they evaluate this temple purely by sight, it looks like a pile of stones and a humble shack. But God calls them to walk by faith, not by sight.
This passage contains what theologians call progressive revelation—a near fulfillment and an ultimate, eternal fulfillment.
In the near future, this very foundation would be expanded by King Herod. Centuries later, the true Desire of Nations, Jesus Christ, would walk into this very temple complex. As a boy, He would teach in its courts. As a man, He would overturn tables to cleanse His Father’s house. Just outside the walls of that temple city, Jesus would hang on a cross, bear the sins of the world, and rise triumphantly from the grave.
When Jesus stood in that temple during Passion Week, He declared, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The religious leaders thought He meant the physical building, but He was speaking of His own body. Jesus is the true and final temple where God meets man.
Furthermore, Scripture points us to the culmination of all history. In the final days, God will shake the heavens, the earth, and the nations. Earthly empires will crumble, but the kingdom of God will stand unshakable. In the New Jerusalem, there is no physical temple because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple, dwelling among His people forever.
God tells this small, weary remnant: This work you are doing right now is connected to My eternal story. Trust Me. What seems insignificant today is carrying an eternal weight of glory.
Walking Forward in Faith
What are we meant to take away from this message? Four simple truths:
First, discouragement will come. It is not a matter of if, but when. As James reminds us, trials of various kinds are inevitable in this life.
Second, we must fight the temptation to live in the rearview mirror. Jesus warned us in Luke 9 that no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. When you plow a field while looking over your shoulder, your rows become crooked. You cannot move forward into what God has for you while fixating on the past.
Luke 9:62 (NASB)
But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’
We have to guard against letting nostalgia turn into bitterness. Bitterness is like an octopus with tentacles that reach into every area of our lives, suffocating joy and creating discord.
Third, we must lift our eyes from our circumstances to our God. This passage is not primarily about where or how to build; it is about who we worship. When we fix our eyes on the character and promises of God, our perspective shifts from what is lacking to Who is present.
Fourth, keep moving forward. Our lives on this earth are but a vapor.
Romans 8:18 (NASB)
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Our present struggles are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. Your labor for Christ is never in vain.
In your seasons of discouragement, look to the God who was faithful in your past, who is present in your today, and who will faithfully carry you all the way home.
Let’s pray together.
Father, thank You for this powerful word of encouragement. Last week, You reminded us of our kingdom priority—that we were liberated not to build our own kingdoms, but Yours. Today, You give us kingdom perspective, reminding us that we are building into something far greater than we can see.
Lord, I confess that in my own flesh, I am prone to run to familiar places of comfort when I lose sight of the joy ahead. In Your grace, by the power of Your Spirit, recalibrate our hearts. Help us to walk by faith and not by sight. Give us confidence that You are just as active and alive in our lives, our marriages, our homes, and our church today as You have ever been in the past.
Help us to press forward with courage and joy, for Your glory and for our good. In Jesus’ name, Amen.