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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: “Tell Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.”

“‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

Haggai 2:20-23

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today, we finish our study of Haggai with words of the Lord to the new leader of a rebuilt Jerusalem, the governor of Judah named Zerubbabel. These words are important as they establish the authority of the new governor, not by way of human terms but rather the terms of the Lord. Look again at these words here:

The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: “Tell Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.”

“‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”  Haggai 2:20-23

The Lord had already spoken to His people at large through the prophet Haggai but as we see in these final verses, the Lord is sending a message directly to the new leader of His people in Judah.

For times were about to change. After a period where first the Assyrian and then the Babylonian empire dominated, the power base of the region was about to return to Israel. The Lord would get the world’s attention as He shook the heavens and earth, overthrowing the “foreign kingdoms” and shattering their power. As the Lord restored His people to prominence, He would bring down their potential opposition.

But that wasn’t all the Lord promised to do. For as we see, He vowed to not only install Zerubbabel as His chosen leader but to grant him power and authority which would be validated as coming from the Lord Himself. This was what the Lord meant by saying He would make Zerubabbel like His signet ring. Let me explain this a little more and connect some dots as to how this fits in with a prior Old Testament scripture passage.

First, let me cover the matter of a signet ring. This ring was very important to any ruler because it was his or her way of validating a document or decree as coming from them and no one else. You see, the ring had an emblem on it that was unique to the ruler and it served as their distinguishing mark. So in order to make sure an official document was authentically sent by the king, a wad of wax would be put on the document’s seam and the signet ring would be pressed into the wax, leaving the ruler’s identifying emblem. The receiver of the document could then be assured that the message within the document had indeed come from the ruler.

Now note that the Lord was saying He was going to make Zerubbabel like His signet ring. In other words, any message that the Judah’s new governor shared with the people would be as if the Lord was speaking it Himself. In essence, the Lord was making Zerubbabel a prophet as well as a governor. This was in stark contrast to the last ruler of Judah, Zerubbabel’s grandfather, Jehoiachin. Look at these words from the Book of Jeremiah:

“As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians.” Jeremiah 22:24-25  

The Lord was fed up with His people and the wicked leaders over them, Jehoiachin counted in that number (2 Kings 24:8-9). They had turned away from Him in almost every way to include abandoning Him to worship false gods and idols. Obviously, Jehoiachin, ruling in evil and sin, was not representing God in any way and so we see in the verses from Jeremiah, the Lord was removing any attachment to the king, comparing him to a signet ring God was going to remove from his hand. Thus, Jehoiachin would stand against his enemies alone and indeed, God handed Him over to King Zebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.  You see, Jehoiachin was also chosen but for judgment instead of the Lord’s service, the major difference between him and Zerubbabel.

Given all this, I think we can see that the Lord is in the choosing business and He does select each of us for specific purposes. It’s our place to seek, find, and fulfill those purposes, serving as His signet rings, each leaving His mark on the people we help. In these instances, we are only extensions of what the Lord is doing in the lives of His people and so we are not really representing ourselves when we carry out His will but rather the Lord Himself. As long as we are faithful to the Lord’s calling, then we will remain in His favor and find Him using us more and more to make a difference within His kingdom.

Conversely, if we decide to reject God’s calling, opting to follow our own desires and/or the desires of the world instead, then we will be seen by God as being like King Jehoiachin, as being evil in His sight. And just as God chose Judah’s final king for judgment before the onset of the great exile, we can also find ourselves on that list and in the crosshairs of God’s punishment, a place no one should ever want to be.

So what does God see when He looks at you today?

Does He see someone choosing to be obedient to His wishes, ever seeking to please Him with every thought, word, or deed?

Or does He someone who rejects and ignores Him, someone who lives as if they can do whatever they want without consideration about how He feels about it?  

If you’re in that latter category, I would carefully consider the way I am living or as God said to His people in this book:

“Give careful thought to your ways.” Haggai 1:5

For God will choose to do one of two things to His people who He has chosen to His service:

He will either choose to bless or He will choose to punish.

It’s up to us which way He will go.

Tomorrow, we begin our study of Zechariah.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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