No Small Parts - Zerubbabel
September 20, 2020 Sunday Evening Study

I have very few memories of my really early years. I grew up in a town in southern California called Escondido - which means “hidden” in Spanish, as it rests in a valley ringed by mountains in the north part of San Diego county. I lived there until Eleia and I moved to Arizona when I was 22 and we were still in our first year of marriage. In the 22 years that I lived there, I lived in 2 houses - one until I was 5, the other my parents still occupy to this day now 37 years later. When I think about the time before we lived in that house, I have only a few scattered memories with really sketchy details, and as the years go by I lose a little more each year.

I remember one story pretty clearly, however. I had a friend when I was 4 or 5 - his name was Johnny. He lived across the street, and we did what you do at that age - we rode our Dukes of Hazzard big wheels around and played on the swingset in Johnny’s backyard. During those days, there were few things more exciting than hearing the telltale song of the ice cream man coming down the street - even at 4 or 5 I knew what that song meant, but also I didn’t often get to buy anything, as my parents did not have much money.

We had another neighbor who was elderly, and she had 2 fruit trees in her backyard absolutely covered with snails. She told Johnny and I that if we would pick the snails off of her tree, she would give us a penny for every one we got. I saw this opportunity for me to be buying when the ice cream man came around, so I jumped at the chance to earn some of my own money. I knew that my favorite popsicle - the Big Stick - was 15 cents, so I planned for myself to pick 15 snails off the tree. This is the financial planning of a little kid who had watched his parents constantly have just barely enough.

Johnny, on the other hand, had a totally different strategy. We got back there, and I carefully picked my 15 snails, collected my money, and was back home in a matter of minutes. Johnny was there for 2 hours, and legend has it that he walked away with almost 3 whole dollars. He never showed his money to any of us, so some don’t entirely believe that such a sum could be earned, but the story was well known throughout the neighborhood - that is to say, our entire world.

The day came when I finally heard the jangling rendition of “The Entertainer” from 2 blocks over, so I ran and grabbed my prized 15 cents and awaited my day of triumph. The man came, I waited my turn, only to learn that the Big Stick was now 25 cents. I cried - quite a bit - so my mom came out and took me inside to heal from the grievous wound dealt to me by capitalism.

A couple of minutes later, Johnny knocked on the door and gave my mom a “Big Stick” for me and ran home before I could thank him.

This is one of those stories from my past where you can pretty much take your pick of valuable lessons to be learned. There were things to learn from my behavior, Johnny’s behavior, the nature of goals, money management, you name it. I wanted a big stick - but more than that, I wanted victory. I wanted the moment of taking what was mine - but I was only willing to do the bare minimum to get there, and it was not enough.

Open your Bibles to the book of Haggai. Haggai is one of the minor prophets like Amos who we discussed a few weeks back, but his message was different from all who came before him. And there is a very notable character in the story of Haggai’s prophetic word - a man by the name of Zerubbabel.

Read Passage: Haggai 1:1-9, then 2:20-23

Here is a little background information on what is going on. The exiles have been released from Babylon and returned to Jerusalem. When they had first returned, there had been a half-hearted attempt to rebuild the temple that fizzled out as the work became difficult, causing people to focus more on providing for their welfare in the oncoming droughts. 

Haggai listed no catalogue of gross sins like the other prophets did in each of their messages. The Jews who returned to Jerusalem appear to have been law-abiding at this time, restrained still by continuing memories of the exile. What was lacking was dissatisfaction with things as they were, and the consequent drive to initiate action. They had become complacent -  resignation killed faith. The ruined skeleton of the temple was like a dead body decaying in Jerusalem and making everything contaminated. How could the offence be removed? By a concerted effort to rebuild, which would be proof and pledge of a change of attitude from resignation to faith. Once priorities had been put right the presence of the Lord among them would be evident from the prosperity that would accompany both their building and their agriculture.

He challenges their priorities. The pronoun you is repeated in the original Hebrew, so adding emphasis: ‘Is this a time for you, you I say, to dwell in your roofed-in houses?’ The reply might have been that it was unreasonable to expect anyone to live in a roofless house, but the question made its point. What worth did they set on their God when they left his temple in ruins?

We are presented with this character Zerubbabel and the High Priest Joshua. Zerubbabel’s name means “shoot of Babylon” indicating that this man was meant to be the new growth from the exile that would re-establish the Israelite nation. He was the grandson of King Jehoiachin - the king taken in captivity until his death, so he was the heir apparent to the throne in the line of David. He is named as the “governor of Judah” which calls his position into question in a couple of ways.

We learned a little about the governors a few weeks back when we spoke of Ishmael who killed the Judean governor Gedaliah while the exile was still in place. Whenever there was a person named governor in Judean land, they were appointed by the King in Babylon. It has been questioned by many whether or not Zerubbabel’s authority came from such an appointment or because of his lineage. We can tell through the accounts of Kings, Ezra and Nehemiah, and then here in Haggai that Zerubbabel and Joshua likely led the first of the exiles back from Babylon, so he had history with the people he governed, and he had been there when the first attempt at rebuilding had failed.

Also different from most of the other prophetic accounts, when Zerubbabel, and by extension all of those following him, heard the word from Haggai - they immediately agreed and responded favorably. This in itself is enough to warrant a study on the man. Like the king of Nineveh in Jonah’s time, this governor heard the rebuke of God and obeyed without question. This is a very significant change from the Judah we saw before the exile - this is an indication of a lesson learned.

Following the end of the harvest season, they immediately begin the work of clearing the wreckage and rebuilding. Following the first month of grueling labor, they entered into the seventh month of the year - a month that was very heavy with festivals and feast days where no work could be done, which likely was a source of frustration for many who had set to doing the work. They had to accept the fact that the temple would never regain the splendor it had in the time of Solomon, as they did not have the resources or the craftsmen to be able to reproduce what it was. Haggai takes this opportunity to encourage Zerubbabel and the people - to renew their focus to finish the work that they had started.

Zerubbabel is given a promise - a blessing - of the things to come. They are renewed in their faith for a Messiah to come, and God is doing the work of restoring the throne and the house for the Savior in a new age for Jerusalem. Basically, Zerubbabel is God’s chosen man of the hour as this rebuilding takes place. It is natural to assume that Haggai (and Zechariah after him) expected this new age to dawn in their own time as a result of the upheavals they had already seen, and the directions given to Haggai and the visions given to Zechariah. Yet, as time passed, and Zerubbabel was not honoured as had been expected, the messianic hopes were transferred to his descendants. As the writer to the Hebrews realized there was an important principle, amply illustrated in the Old Testament story, in the deferment of the promise (Heb. 11:13 - Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.). Zerubbabel might have been added to the list of those who by faith looked longingly for its fulfilment.

God says through Haggai “I will take you” indicating special selection. Zerubbabel is not only governor (verse 21) but also “my servant,” a title used of David (Ezek. 34:23; 37:24) and prominent in Isaiah 40–55. The tribe of Judah, Mount Zion and David were similarly ‘chosen’ (Ps. 78:68–70) to fulfil God’s purposes. Zerubbabel’s grandfather, Jehoiachin (Coniah), had apparently been rejected, ‘Though Coniah was the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off’ (Jer. 22:24). Now the sentence is reversed. The signet ring, engraved with the king’s seal, was used to endorse all official documents. It was so precious that, to guard it against theft, it was usually worn on the king’s person. This vivid figure attested the renewed election of the Davidic line, represented in Haggai’s day by Zerubbabel. He too would be kept safe to fulfil his God-appointed destiny and pave the way for the Messiah in the line of David.

Later generations thought very highly of Zerubbabel. His name is included with that of Joshua among the famous men of the fathers of Israel, and even today it occurs in the Hanukkah hymn recounting God’s deliverances: ‘Well nigh had I perished, when Babylon’s end drew near; through Zerubbabel I was saved after seventy years.’

The lesson we learn from Zerubbabel continues today. God’s people are continuously called to zealous service. Half-hearted allegiance is no allegiance. Just as I learned as a child that my minimum was no way to be prepared for reality, this lesson rings true for all of us. To think that any time will do to become serious about his cause is to fail him completely. He is waiting to bless, but he cannot do so while his people are apathetic and self-centred. Moreover, in this mood they experience only shortfalls, whereas he wants to shower them with good things. Haggai’s remedy for today, which Zerubbabel accepted wholeheartedly as for his own day, is a church mobilized for action, to which he would say, ‘Take courage, work, fear not.’ It would do us well at Bevier First Baptist to consider how much effort we are putting into rebuilding the temple in preparation for our coming Messiah. Let’s pray.