THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS
“For who hath despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10).
God is always working. Even when it seems like things are not moving along as quickly or as effectively as we would like, God is still working just the same. As wise King Solomon said, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). This is as true in the lives and fortunes of men as it is in the natural world. Through the ups and downs of life, the blessings and the disappointments, the joys and the tragedies, the successes and the failures, God still has a purpose and a plan for those who love Him and have been called and chosen in Christ Jesus His Son.
We cannot always judge the “greatness” of a work by some notion that we have of what “great” should look like. Everything that God does is great. Major Ian Thomas, who was an English author and founded a worldwide missionary fellowship, wrote, “Which of these things in the life of Jesus is more spiritual? When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount? When He raised Lazarus from the dead? When He washed His disciples’ feet? Or when He spat on the ground and made clay to anoint the blind man’s eyes? None was more spiritual than the other. Jesus did not divide His life up into little segments of spirituality. He was simply available to do whatever His Father willed.” Our task is to be available to God, whether “in season” or “out of season,” and ready to do His will whether it be some “great” work, or some small act of kindness. When we can understand that God is in all of the details, we’ll be less likely then to despise “the day of small things.”
In
587 BC, Jerusalem fell to the armies of Nebuchadnezzar and became part of the
Babylonian Empire. God allowed this to
happen to His people because Israel had sinned so greatly and had repeatedly
refused to listen to the many warnings that He had sent to them through His
prophets. A large portion of the Jewish
population was displaced and taken to live in Babylonian cities. God decreed that they would spend 70 years in
captivity before being released to return to their homeland. Even in judgment, God did not leave His
people without hope!
Toward the
end of the Jews’ 70 year exile, the Babylonian Empire was defeated by the
Persians, and a king by the name of Artaxerxes became the ruler of the new
Persian Empire. Artaxerxes was kindly
disposed toward the Jews and honored their God by ordering their temple in
Jerusalem to be rebuilt, partially at his own expense. God stirred up the hearts of such men as
Zerubbabel, Joshua the High Priest, Ezra the scribe, and prophets like Haggai
and Zechariah to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple of God and the
city of Jerusalem.
The temple
and the city were not the only things that were in a state of devastation and
needed rebuilding at this time. The Jews
who had remained in Judea, and many who were returning, were not keeping God’s
laws and had forgotten the reasons why they had been conquered in the first
place. They had broken the Covenant that
they made with God and He had allowed judgment to rain down upon them. The temple wasn’t the only thing that needed
its foundation repaired - so did God’s people!
When the exiled Jews returned to Judea, they began the work of clearing the rubble and debris from the temple site and repairing the foundation of God’s House. Among those Jews that were present to witness this momentous event were some who shouted for joy at seeing God’s House beginning to be restored. There were others, however, who had seen the glory of Solomon’s first temple and felt that this temple did not compare at all. These “old-timers” wept openly. “And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD…all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.” (Ezra 3:10-13).
These ancient men were not wrong to feel as they did when comparing the two temples. They were shortsighted, however, in comparing the outward buildings only and not the greater work that God was doing in the hearts of His people. While the builders were working to repair the temple, Ezra, Joshua the high priest, and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah were working to repair the hearts of God’s children. They taught them the Law, and encouraged them with words of hope from God. We can certainly make the same mistake today that those ancient men did by judging things only by what we see in the natural. The greatest work that God is doing today is in secret, in the hearts of men. It may seem like very tiny steps that we are taking, but the Lord knows what He is doing. He has a purpose in everything that He does. He will make all things beautiful in His time, and whatever He does will be forever; nothing can be added or diminished from it. We must never despise the day of small things!
Satan certainly took notice of what God was doing in Jerusalem at this time. After the foundation of the temple was finished, Satan stirred up Israel’s enemies to trouble and weaken the Jews in their building efforts. At first, they offered to help the Jews in their building, but Zerubbabel, Joshua the priest, and other elders refused their help, knowing it was a guise and that their hearts were not with the work. There can be no communion or true harmony between the righteous and the unrighteous, and the leaders of the Jews understood this principle. Their enemies then overtly resisted their efforts and eventually wrote to the Persian king. They accused the Jews of conspiring to rebel against the kingdom and withhold the revenue they were required to pay to the crown in tribute. The king took the word of Israel’s adversaries and sent a letter commanding that all work be suspended. There was no more work done on the temple for 15 years as a result!
God was not happy with this outcome. He began to stir up the hearts of His prophets and encourage His people to believe in the work that He had given them to accomplish. A very graphic passage in Zechariah illustrates the battle that was playing out in the spiritual realm at this time: “And He shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee…” (Zechariah 3:1, 2). You can be certain that any time God begins a work of restoration among His people Satan will resist that work in any way possible. The devil is referred to as the accuser of the brethren in scripture and, just like Israel’s enemies in this case, he will not hesitate to accuse you and me before the King Eternal. The Lord is our defender, though, and He will rebuke the enemy of our souls. It is He, the Savior of our souls, Who has chosen us as His servants and friends. Peter refers to us as “...a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.” (1 Peter 2:9). Paul, also, argues in our defense when he writes, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us.” (Romans 8:33, 34).
The ministry of the prophets was critical at this time. It was they who spoke the words of God to the leaders and to the people in order to fortify and encourage their faith. Fifteen years is a long time to sit on what God has called you to do. It was up to the prophets to remind the people that it was God Who had called them to this work and not man. When one has the assurance in his heart that God has spoken to him, it is then possible to overcome any obstacle and vanquish any fear knowing that it is God Himself Who will defend you.
“Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.” (Ezra 5:1). Consider the faith of these men of God to speak words of action and to challenge the complacency of their fellow countrymen. Haggai particularly used great plainness of speech in expressing God’s heart and will toward Israel. He said, “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built. Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.” (Haggai 1:2-5). The children of the captivity became comfortable with the fact that the king of Persia had commanded them to stop building the temple. They directed their attention and energy instead on their own houses, lands, and earthly pursuits. They were content to believe that the time wasn’t right to build the House of God even though the Lord had already made it plain that it was! We will all face opposition in our Christian walk when we decide to make a stand and follow Jesus, but this is no indication that God has changed His mind and that it isn’t time for us to build, grow and believe. The Church today has become just as complacent as the Jews of the captivity had become. God wants to move us on and encourage us to grow up in Christ, but we say, “The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.” The House of God is not a building! It is God’s people – the Body of Christ. Many believers today are only interested in their “ceiled houses” and have no vision of the true House of God. They get excited about their building programs, erecting bigger and better temples, cathedrals, and churches, while the Lord’s House lays waste. Read the third chapter of 1 Corinthians and understand the work that God has called us each to do in restoring His House.
“Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.” (Haggai 1:6, 7). In spite of the large amount of sowing being done by ministries today, it doesn’t seem like their efforts are producing much of a harvest of mature disciples for Christ. The reason is that so many are focusing on building their own little kingdoms instead of building up the Kingdom of God. They are so busy with their own “ceiled houses” that they have lost the vision of God’s House altogether.
In the beginning, when Jesus planted the first Christian Church in Jerusalem, the disciples worshipped together in one spirit, one mind, and one accord. There was no such thing as “the church of your choice” where you could go if you didn’t like what Peter or James were preaching. There was only one Church, and that was comprised of every believer in Jerusalem. Subsequently, as the Gospel message spread out to the world from Jerusalem, other churches were planted among the Gentile nations by Paul and others. The same pattern was true with those churches as was true in Jerusalem: there was one Church in every city. The disciples learned to love, support, and edify one another in that fellowship of believers. While the original Apostles were alive - those who had walked and talked with Jesus and were eye witnesses of His ministry from beginning to end - they acted as overseers of the truth and shepherds of the flock. After their deaths, however, things began to unravel quickly. Men began to depart from the truth and spread their own doctrines among God’s people. They drew disciples after themselves and built their own “ceiled houses.” Many departed from the old ways and from the ancient paths and began to adopt many of the pagan practices they once abandoned. Churches sought ways to appease the unsaved by mixing pagan beliefs with religious ideas in order to increase their numbers. The result was that certain churches became great and powerful in the world while the House of God was left abandoned. The wheat and the tares became so mixed among the assemblies of Christians that it became impossible to sort them out. The Apostle Paul solemnly warned the elders at Ephesus of this very thing before he was apprehended in Jerusalem and ultimately sent to Rome for judgment and eventual martyrdom. He told them, “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” (Acts 20:29, 30). I’m afraid that in many cases the early Apostles would be heartsick at what they see passing as Christianity today.
God’s instructions were simple: “Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.” (Haggai 1:8). The Lord just wants us each to lay aside our excuses and do the thing that He has put in our hand to do!
“Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, 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 did fear before the LORD. Then spake Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD. And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God.” (Haggai 1:12-14). The Church needs to be stirred up in their spirits in these last days. We need the LORD’s messengers to stand up and speak the LORD’s message to His people so that we may be inspired and emboldened to do the work of God. These men recognized the voice of the Father when they heard it, and they obeyed what He told them to do.
To those Jews who despised the day of small things, God spoke this word through His prophet Haggai: "For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations [Jesus Christ] shall come: and I will fill this house [the body of Christ] with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, saith the LORD of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts." (Haggai 2:6-9). To those of us who may be tempted to question what God is doing today, we have this same promise as an anchor for our souls. The Church does not appear to have the power and the glory that it did in the Apostle’s time, but make no mistake: God is working! What He is building in these last days is going to far exceed the glory of that former house. As this latter house begins to take shape, and the Sons of God begin to rise up and be manifested to the world, God is going to once again pour out His Spirit in miraculous ways and send His Word in great power and anointing.
Consider the ministry of our Lord. By the end of His ministry He only had 120 disciples. Yet, that small group began a work that grew into a mighty move of God that has spread throughout the whole earth! We must not be impatient. We must not despise what God is doing. “For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.” (Romans 9:28). “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:23, 24).
Including Moses’ tabernacle, there have been four Jewish temples built. Of all of them, only Zerubbabel’s temple was built against great opposition. There is a lesson for us in this. Zerubbabel’s temple represents the last day Church which Christ is building, and the enemy of all that is right and true is going to oppose every block and every stone that is in laid in place. Remember, however, that the Lord in us is greater than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4)! Praise His name!
“For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.” (Ezra 9:9 NKJV).
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