Rise and Build

Our New Year’s resolution is to rise from our complacency and build God’s house. We find encouragement to do this from the small book of Haggai.

The name Haggai means “happy,” implying that perhaps this man was born on a feast day. Haggai began to prophesy in 520 BC to the Jewish exiles who had failed to rebuild the temple since their return in 538 BC under the leadership of Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest. Because of their failure to honor God, these people experienced divine discipline for sixteen years. They were affected especially economically, as we are today. Our dollar has been shrinking in value daily. There is ever-rising unemployment and underemployment. We are facing a huge budget deficit, a towering national debt, the flight of manufacturing jobs, a failure of our educational system, a high tax rate that is killing businesses, high personal debt, and coming higher inflation and interest rates.

Many churches today are also in a sad state. They have been seeking peace and affluence rather than God for years. Some have become centers of Baal worship, which permits, promotes, and praises immorality of all kinds, especially sexual. We need a renewal first in the churches that will affect the nation for the better. We need Haggais and Zechariahs to arise and exhort the people of God to consider their ways and turn to serve God according to the holy Scriptures. As we read this prophecy, therefore, let us be encouraged by the assurance Haggai gives that when we obey God, he will begin to bless us. We need spiritual blessings first. May God help us to repent and turn to God and, in turn, be blessed by God, beginning today.

The Disobedience of God’s People

Fifty thousand Jews returned from the Babylonian exile to Judah in 538 BC under the decree and provision of King Cyrus. They came to rebuild the temple, and soon after they came, they laid the foundation and built the altar for sacrifices. Yet within three years, they discontinued the project because of opposition from their enemies. They failed to trust in God to deliver them from all their foes.

Whenever we begin to serve our God acceptably, we will encounter opposition. Satan hates God’s holy people, as we see in the book of Job. Satan hated Job, a blameless and upright man of God. Satan is against God and God’s work. John tells us Satan is the great dragon, the ancient serpent, the devil, the accuser of the brethren, who opposes Christ and his church daily (Rev. 12:9-10). The world is under his control, so the world is also against God’s people.

When he came to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem a century later, Nehemiah also met opposition. But he believed God would prosper his work, and with God’s help, he finished the walls in only fifty-two days. In the same way, we will certainly experience opposition as we rise and build God’s house. This opposition will come not only from the world and Satan, but also from the church itself. We must take to heart the words of Jesus: “I will build my church on this rock, and the gates of hell shall not overcome it” (Matt. 16:18, author’s paraphrase). Jesus defeats all his enemies. Therefore, be strong in Lord and in the power of his might. All forces of evil are arrayed against us. Yet we shall overcome in the Lord. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).

These fearful exiles discontinued the work of God for sixteen years, from 536 to 520 BC. So God took the initiative to rebuild the temple so that he might dwell in their midst and bless them. God wants people who not only start but also continue and finish the job. Paul told Archippus, “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord” (Col. 4:17). In Philippians 1:6 he declared, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” What God starts, he finishes. Therefore, what we start, we also must finish. At the end of his life Paul said, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:5). Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of God who sent me and to finish it” (John 4:34). On the cross he cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

Let us rise and build God’s temple! What is God’s temple today? We are God’s temple. God dwells today, not in ornate, costly buildings, but in his people, individually and corporately. Paul told the Corinthian believers, “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (1 Cor. 3:17). That is why God opposes and destroys those who cause division in the church. Paul also declared, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit . . . You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Our bodies do not belong to us; they are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we have no right to abuse and destroy them.

To rise and build, then, means to repent and turn to God. Then live in obedience to his royal will for his glory and for our own great joy.

The Divine Accusation

God brought charges against his people through his prophet Haggai. Even so, today God speaks to us through parents, teachers, pastors, and other leaders. We must listen to them and be careful to obey them.

At the beginning of this prophecy, God showed his displeasure by calling the exiles “these people” (1:2), not “my people.” God is not pleased with us when we disobey him. Twice he said that his house was in ruins (Haggai 1:4, 9). He was homeless, in effect. Before, he had dwelt in the tabernacle (Exod. 40) and in the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 8). When God so dwells in the midst of his people, we are blessed by his manifest presence as God, King, Priest, and Prophet. He discloses his truth to us. He listens to our prayers and answers them, for the temple is a house of prayer. He accepts our sacrifices for atonement and grants us forgiveness of sins. When God is dwelling in the midst of us, he provides for us. He protects, guides, and rules us as king. God dwelling in the midst of his people is the greatest blessing we can experience. It is living in his presence, coram Deo.

Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33, KJV). The Catechism tells us, “The chief end of man is glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” Only one thing is needful: to know God and commune with him as we live in his presence. Yet this is precisely what the exiles failed to do.

Because they failed to build the temple, the exiles became unclean and their sacrifices were unacceptable to God (Haggai 2:13-14). They engaged in a life of self-sufficiency and independence. But such a life is cursed. A truly blessed life is a one of dependence on God and trust in his sufficiency. These exiles began to experience great frustration, futility, failure, and misery. Joy and happiness eluded them, no matter what they did.

The People’s Defense

Amazingly, the people defended themselves against God’s charge. They agreed that building God’s house was a good idea, but said the time to do so had not yet come. It is surprising how the sinful mind can create excuses. Sixteen years had gone by since they had started. But they still thought, “The time to rebuild the temple is not yet opportune.” How many people remain in a cursed, godless life, unless God himself takes the initiative to wake them up from their stupor! We live in misery when God is not dwelling in our midst.

Now only that, there was also a logical flaw in their argument, which God pointed out to them: They themselves had built luxurious houses and were living in them. He asked, “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” (Haggai 1:4). In other words, God was saying, “You want God to wait? You have time and money to build houses for yourselves, but say you have no time for God? Your excuse is not good.”

The truth was, these people had no interest in spending their resources on God’s house. They thought they could do without God. But it was time for them to build God’s house. It had been time to build in 538; it was time to build in 537, 536, 535, and so on. In God’s will, it is always time for us to be doing God’s work.

“Now is the time of God’s favor,” Paul says, “now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Today is the time we should repent and return to God.

The Divine Discipline

When we disobey God, he disciplines us through chastisement. It is costly to delay building God’s house. We must never postpone seeking God, but always seek God while it is still called Today.

Covenant disobedience leads to curses. In Deuteronomy 28:38-39 God described what would happen if his people did not obey him: “You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.”

A similar revelation was given also by the prophet Amos:

“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD. “I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD. “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, I struck them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD. “I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD. (Amos 4:6-10).

Notice, four times the Lord said that his people had not returned to him, despite the hardships they were experiencing. The divine design in chastising us is that we may repent and return to God and be blessed by him. Paul told the Corinthians it was because of sin that “many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 11:30).

Notice how God was disciplining these exiles: “You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it” (Haggai 1:6). Then we read: “‘You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands” (Haggai 1:9-11). We find the same idea in Haggai 2:16-17.

God himself was responsible for these things: “I blew away” (1:9); “I called for a drought” (1:11); “I struck you” (2:17). I hope we have some respect for God. He is sovereign and almighty. He knows how to deal with us. He touches us where we are most vulnerable.

Our God controls nature (1:10) and nations (2:6-8, 20-23). To him, nations are but a drop in the bucket, like dust on the scales. God also controls the future. So we read:

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 the desired of 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)

Notice all the actions God says he will take. The future is under his control. Thank God, he controls our future; we can trust him.

The Divine Design

God disciplines his people, not to just punish them, but that they might repent, forsake their sin, and turn to him (Amos 4:6-10). Through pain and suffering, he turns us so that we will seek him as our first priority. God demands that he be first in our lives and that we do his will. That is what our confession, “Jesus is Lord,” means. He disciplines us that we may serve him as God and King. He will not take second place to any creature. The best place for us to be is second to God. The prescription for eternal happiness is for God to be first and us second.

These people had not sought God first by earnestly building his house when they returned. So in Haggai 1:8 we read, “‘Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,’ says the Lord.” God was demanding that they begin now to please and honor him. He never begs; he commands, demands, and requires.

Yet these exiles did not repent when God first disciplined them. They failed to understand the divine purpose behind all the punishment they were undergoing. The Lord told them, “I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to me” (Haggai 2:17). Here was the divine design for God’s discipline, but his people did not grasp it. In the same way, great spiritual tragedies take place in some Christian homes. They build the home on sand and it comes down with a great crash (Matt. 7:27). Whenever there is such a crash, God is calling his people to repent, turn to him, and do what is right. We must never forget God’s design in what seems to be a tragedy. Turn to God and seek him first. He longs to bless us as we obey him.

The Divine Counsel

Five times in these two chapters we read the exhortation: “Consider your ways” (Haggai 1:5, 7; 2:15, 18, 18). God wants us to give careful thought to the way we have been living.

These people were traveling on the road to destruction, not the road to eternal life. They were on the road of curses, not blessing. So God was telling them, “Think! Reason! Interpret! Reflect! Analyze! Connect the dots! Use your heads! Think in the light of God’s word about what is happening to you. Think in terms of the present reality of divine chastisement. Then repent and obey God.” That is God’s counsel to all of us: “Consider your ways.”

We live in a time when our culture is dominated by the primacy of emotion. God opposes such elevation of emotion over intellect. Christians must learn to think biblically and draw sound conclusions about what is happening to them. (PGM) For example, if our house did come down with a great crash, God wants us to ask why it happened and draw the conclusion that we built it on the foundation of sand, not on the rock of God’s word.

Sin is irrational. In fact, we have to suspend our minds before we sin. These people failed to think. But repentance is sound thinking. It is thinking straight, thinking right, thinking God’s thoughts. Repentance means we have a God-centered thought life. We cannot repent unless we understand the gospel, which is truth. So repentance means to think in accordance with truth.

But not only were the people to think, they were also to act. We must think first, but then start working for God. God was not going to build the temple himself by fiat. He could do that, but he was not going to. They had to build it. So Haggai encouraged them to cut timber and start building again (Haggai 1:8, 14; 2:4). True people of God are hard workers. Paul speaks of the work of faith, the labor of love, and the patience of hope (1 Thess. 1:3). God himself worked six days (Gen. 1-2). God’s people are to imitate him. Lazy people live disorderly lives and are to be disfellowshiped (2 Thess. 3:14). Not working is a crime against God’s order.

So Haggai told the people to go up to the hills, cut trees, make lumber, bring it to the temple site, start building, and keep on building until they finished. That meant much sweat, money, and time would be involved. Paul explained, “I planted . . . Apollos watered . . . God made it grow” (1 Cor. 3:6). God cannot bless idleness. He blesses our industry.

In this new year, may God give us a new attitude toward work. Work is holy and spiritual. If you can, read the article, “The Ordinance of Labor” in Principles of Conduct by John Murray. In reference to his fellow apostles, Paul wrote, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them” (1 Cor. 15:10). He concludes that chapter, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm, let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). Elsewhere he exhorts, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9).

God uses his people to do his work. In Matthew 16 Jesus said, “I will build my church,” but in Matthew 28 he declares, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20). In other words, God builds his church through us. He is not using angels to do it. He is using fallible human beings.

Whenever we speak about Jesus and the gospel, we are doing God’s work. Therefore, reach out to people. Give them books or other materials to read. Invite them to church or to eat. Engage in regular evangelism. God builds his church through each one of us. God works in us and we work out, as Paul says: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling because it is God who works in you to will and to do according to his good purpose” (Phil. 2:12-13).

The late Dr. James Boice spoke about David Livingstone. Desiring to go to Africa as a missionary, Livingstone applied to the mission society in Scotland to send him. But they told him, “Young man, when God sees fit to evangelize Africa, He will do it without your help.”¹ That is not true. God works, but he does so with our help. Therefore, pray every day that God will bring someone your way and be prepared to speak to people about Jesus.

The Divine Encouragement

After rebuking his people, God encouraged them.

1. “Do not fear” (Haggai 2:5). We face great opposition from the devil, from demons, and from the whole spiritual universe of wickedness. But fear not; God is with us. His holy angels surround us. We have a God who is addressed here as Yahweh Sabbaoth, Lord of the armies of heaven. Elsewhere we read that this God sent one angel to destroy one hundred and eighty-five thousand soldiers of the Assyrian king Sennacherib (Isa. 37:36). Fear not! Do not fear your enemies. God will take care of all of them. So we read, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deut. 31:6). Let us believe that he is Lord and he will help us finish his work.

1. “Be strong” (Haggai 2:4). Three times God says this-to Zerubbabel, to Joshua, and then to all the people. We need strength to work for God. Paul says, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might” (Eph. 6:10, author’s translation). This is not positive thinking; it is the truth. Elsewhere Paul writes, “But [the Lord] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why for Christ’s sake I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9-10). Go ahead: tell God, “Lord, I am weak in this way and that way.” God will infuse his mighty power into us to make us strong. Read Joshua 1:6, 7, 9, 18. Repeatedly the Lord tells Joshua, “Be strong in the Lord.”
2. “I am with you” (Haggai 1:13, 2:4). In Exodus 3:12 the Lord told Moses, “I will be with you.” And in Exodus 33:15 Moses said to God, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” Jesus tells us, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). This means with him we can do all things.

   In Isaiah’s prophecy we read:

   But now, this is what the LORD says- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (Isa. 43:1-3a)

   I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, “You are my servant”; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. (Isa. 41:9-12)

   God is with us! Jesus instructed us to go into all the world. Then he promised, “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the ages.”

   The Lord of the armies of heaven is with us. Fourteen times in these two chapters, the name of the Lord is Lord Sabbaoth. If God is with us, we have great military power! God is saying, “As I was with the people of Israel in the wilderness as a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud, I will be with you. I will be with you as a warrior. As I was with Moses and Joshua, I will be with you.”

3. “This is what I covenanted with you” (Haggai 2:5). God’s covenant with them was still in force, despite their sins, failures, and backsliding. God is always faithful to his covenant. What is the covenant? “I will be your God and I will save you. You will be my people, and you will serve me.” So God was encouraging the people by saying, “I am faithful to my covenant in spite of all your unfaithfulness.”
4. “My Spirit remains among you” (Haggai 2:5). I believe in the Holy Spirit who is with us. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon Jesus Christ-the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord (Isa. 11:1-3). The Spirit abides with us. Though we grieve him, he has not left us as he left Saul, who later killed himself. God is with us by his Spirit. Jesus promised, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Peter said that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey him (Acts 5:32).

   Listen to the counsel God gave the governor Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord Almighty. What are you, O mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you will become level ground” (Zech. 4:6). God will level all mountains that prevent us from doing his work. So God’s Spirit made the Persian king Darius Hystaspis a friend to the exiles. Suddenly, there were no more enemies to oppose them.

   not by might nor by power,

   but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.

   This mountain shall be removed.

5. “The LORD stirred up the spirit” of Zerubabbel, Joshua, and the remnant (Haggai 1:14). In other words, God worked in the minds, wills, and emotions of these people. God works in and we work out. So they began afresh to build God’s house.
6. The Lord asked the exiles, in essence, “Do you see this building? It does not seem like much.” But then the Lord said, “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the previous house” (Haggai 2:9). He was saying the glory of this second temple would surpass that of Solomon’s temple and even Herod’s later temple, which became one of the wonders of the world. What, then, did Haggai mean when he said that the glory of this temple would surpass that of the previous one? We find the answer in Matthew 12:6. Jesus said, “I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.” It is to this very temple precinct that Jesus, who is the temple (John 2:19-22), and who is greater than the temple, came. In Luke 2:27 we read, “Moved by the Spirit, [Simeon] went into the temple courts when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required.” Then Simeon exclaimed, “I have seen your salvation” (see Luke 2:30).
7. “In this place I will grant peace” (Haggai 2:9). What we need is peace. The Aaronic benediction, “The LORD bless you and keep you. . . . the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace,” was fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross. Paul writes, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God” (Rom. 5:1, author’s translation). We were enemies of God before, but through Christ and his blood, we now have peace. Paul declares, “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph. 2:14). Elsewhere he says, “[God was pleased] . . . through [Christ] to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Col. 1:20). We have peace with God; therefore, the peace of God that passes all human understanding fills us to overflowing. Why are we worried and afraid? Let us speak the name of Jesus boldly in this new year!
8. “From this day on I will bless you” (Haggai 2:18-19). Finally, the curse is lifted and a blessing is guaranteed. “Mark this day, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month,” he says. “From this day I will bless you.” Our day of blessing begins the day we repent. God is saying, “Think about these things, repent and confess, and begin to obey.” The very day we do these things, he guarantees to bless us. There will be no more curse. These people had already planted, and now God is saying, “You are going to have a great harvest.” God makes known “the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is to come” (Isa. 46:10). In essence he was promising, “Remember, I control nature, nations, and the future. I am going to give you the former rain and the latter rain and drive out all pests. From this day forward, I will bless you. I have blessed your planting and you shall have a hundredfold increase. Great joy awaits you.”

The People’s Obedience

Five times God told his people, “Think! Consider! Analyze! Interpret! Understand! Examine your situation in the light of God’s word.” Finally, they considered and examined everything in the light of God’s word. They repented and confessed their sins of neglecting God, of independence, of desiring peace and affluence without having to worship God. They listened to Haggai on the first day of the sixth month. Then they went and harvested until the twenty-third. And on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, they went to the hills, cut down trees, brought timber to the temple site, and began to build without stopping. They believed God and his prophets. They worked, they built, and they finished. They were greatly encouraged. They were not afraid. They were strong. They knew God Almighty was with them, the God of the covenant. They knew the Holy Spirit was with them, who would level all mountains in their way. They knew God had forgiven their sins from the example of Joshua the high priest (Zech. 3). Joshua was clothed with a filthy garment, but God said, “Remove it, and clothe him with glorious garments, that his sacrifices will be acceptable.” The atoning sacrifice was accepted, and the sins of God’s people were forgiven. No longer defiled and unclean, these people were now holy in God’s sight. So they began to work.

So on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month of the second year of Darius they started working and continued without stoppage. God made Darius a great friend of these exiles and he supported and promoted the work of the temple (Ezra 5-6). On the third day of the twelfth month of Adar, in the sixth year of Darius, 516 BC, they completed the temple. When God is with us, we will work, we will continue, and we will finish successfully.

Application

God’s word is coming to us as it came through Haggai to the exiles. It is coming through parents, pastors, teachers, and others. God is not sending us angels; he uses ordinary human beings to speak to us. Let us then make the following application.

1. Rise and build God’s house. Beginning today, strive earnestly to build yourself up in the most holy faith. Repent, and let God dwell in you and rule you. Work to build up your family in accordance with God’s word. Build up your larger family, the church, by the grace God is giving you. Be a witness to Christ to your unbelieving neighbors. Be an encouragement to true missionaries.
2. Examine yourself. How is your personal obedience to God? How is your married life? How are your children? Are they serving God? Does God dwell in them? Are they God’s house? Are you building your house to please God so that God may dwell therein and bless you? How is your witness for Christ? What is your Bible study like? How is your worship? Do you hear and do, or hear and forget? How is your work life? Do people respect you for your diligence? Is Christ glorified through you?
3. Know that God is taking the initiative. Thank God, he himself is telling us to rise and build. Consider, repent, turn to God, and build upon the rock of God’s word so that your house will not crash when storms come.
4. Keep working. Do not faint, quit, or postpone.
5. Continue until you finish. Our work is complete either when Christ comes again or when we die in Christ. Know that God is with us.
6. Think biblically. If you are miserable and frustrated, you need to think biblically. There is disobedience. Repent today and do the first works, and you will be happy in the Lord.
7. Believe what God is saying. From this day forward, begin to obey and fear God and put him first in your life. Then rise and build, because from this day forward God will bless you and your family. You will have true peace and prosperity. This is the divine guarantee. God himself promises, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sins and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14). Elsewhere we read, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart'” (Jer. 29:11-13).

May we consecrate ourselves today to build God’s house from this day forward. As we repent and turn to God, may he bless and prosper us and move all our mountains.

¹James M. Boice, The Minor Prophets: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 2: Micah-Malachi (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 141.