SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/28/2016 9:29 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Obey His Command
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Haggai 1:12-15
Message of the verses: “12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and
Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the
people, obeyed the voice
of the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their
God had sent him. And the people showed reverence for the LORD. 13 Then
Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke by the commission of the LORD to the
people saying, "’I am with you,’ declares the LORD." 14 So the LORD stirred up the
spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the
spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all
the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of
hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second
year of Darius the king.”
What we see
here is God, through Haggai speaking His word to the returning exiles to get to
work on the temple, and as we will see in the SD that is what they did. When God speaks to us by His Word then there
is only one thing to do and that is to obey it.
We simply have to do what the Lord is commanding us to do. Dr. Wiersbe quotes British preacher Geoffrey
Studdert-Kennedy in his commentary: “Faith
is not believing in spite of evidence, its obeying in spite of consequence.” This statement is so true for there are times
when we will be in trouble as we following the commands of the Lord. An example of this is found in many places in
the book of Acts but I want to give one quote from Acts5:40-41 “They took his
advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them
not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. 41 So they went on
their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been
considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.”
What we see
here is that the leaders and all the people began to follow what the Lord told
them to do, they were obedient. Dr.
Wiersbe writes: “Obedience always brings
further truth (John 7:17), and the prophet assured them that God was with them
in their endeavors (Hag. 1:13; see 2:4).”
This
message was given on August 29, 520 BC and the work on the temple began three
weeks later on September 21, 520 BC.
This may seem like a disobedience by these people but they had things to
do before they could once again begin work on the temple, and they did not want
to rush into it, but take some time to plan it and then begin the work. We see no indication from Haggai that there
was a problem with this.
Dr. Wiersbe
gives some advice to the churches today as he writes “Too often we make excuses
when we ought to be making confessions and obeying the Lord…We act as though we
fully understand ‘the times and the seasons’ that God has ordained for His people,
but we don’t understand them (Acts 1:6-7).”
“6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying,
"Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" 7
He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the
Father has fixed by His own authority;”
Dr. Wiersbe
concludes this chapter: “An
interpretation of the Bible that limits God and encourages His people to be
lazy instead of busy in ministry is a false interpretation and must be
abandoned. If the Lord is to be pleased
with us and glorified before an unbelieving world, we must hear His Word,
believe it, and act upon it, not matter what the circumstances may be. After all, God is with us, and ‘if God be for
us, who can be against us?’ (Romans 8:31).”
3/28/2016 9:51 PM
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