Is it really a problem?
Nostalgia. It’s the sentimental longing for happier times after experiencing a devastating event. But, have you noticed how nostalgia can emotionally press against the painful circumstances of reality? Nothing is the same following a calamitous event. Depending on the level of devastation, the life we live moving forward can feel disconcerting at minimum and totally disruptive at maximum. All of the sudden, a truckload of emotions slams onto the pavement in front of us and we just don’t know what to do. Meltdown. Reset. Reconsider.
This is the story and I am sticking to it!
Consider how the returnees might have felt when they arrived in Jerusalem. Most of the returnees were born during captivity in Babylon. It had been 70 years since the devastation. There were definitely some of the original Exiled Jews still living among those born into captivity. But, can you imagine the stories the ‘old timers’ told and how the stories were embellished over time?
Imagine this story brewing for seventy years: “Golden lampstands glowed in the Temple courts that held the fire of God. Tens of thousands of Jews gathered for worship as the High Priest for that year brought out the final sacrificial lamb and pronounced, “It is finished,” as the sun set on Passover. The silver sacred elements of the Temple shined like the sun. The holy food and the sacred wine was blessed and plentiful! Pilgrims that journeyed to Jerusalem brought their families for the feasts and they brought offerings to the Temple as the money flowed as the faithful worshipped. Sure, life may have been hard back then but we came together and worked as a community. We understood our place in the world as God’s chosen people. We knew who we were.”
Cold hard facts of reality.
Upon arrival, the mess must have been overwhelming--spiritually, psychologically and emotionally. A classical capital city of antiquity reduced to rubble, dirt and sand. No one inhabited there for all those years--present day archeology confirms it. The rehab work was probably grueling. Long days turned into months and then years--eighteen to be exact. Jewish identity went through a total overhaul. Haggai pronounced the Word of the Lord for the People of God to build the House of the Lord and they responded. But they needed something more to carry them through the emotional rollercoaster of the season of rebuilding.
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” Haggai 2:6-9 NIV
A whole lot of shaking going on!
As we dive deeper into the prophecy of Haggai, we come into contact with the Messianic promise. So much had been lost during the Exile. Perhaps for the first time in a very long time, the People of God listened with new ears to the promise made so long ago to Abram--
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2-3 NIV
What if the house that Haggai mentioned wasn’t made of stone? No one would’ve even thought about anything differently. The People were to build something that would pale in comparison to the former magnificent Temple and that generation would have to live with that fact. A second attempt at building something that would last forever as a testament to the People of God was their vision. But, nothing lasts forever...everything is temporary, except the Kingdom of God. What kind of house lasts forever?
Consider what you are building in light of eternity. Has trying to build something that would ‘last forever’ taken up a lot of your time lately? Let’s learn more about the Messianic Promise together. I look forward to being with you in worship Sunday at 9AM in our sanctuary in Naperville or online at Wheatlandsalem.org.
Pastor Jen