Fear of God Leads to Repentance

The second morsel from Verse 13 that we should consider is the word delivered. The word speaks to the distribution of the Lord’s message. It literally can be translated “to hand over.” In other words, strengthening the point we have just tried to make about the messenger’s responsibility, the messenger has no right or responsibility to deliver his own message. Instead, messengers are stewards, managers if you will, of God’s message. To be a faithful messenger, or preacher, is to handle well the stewardship you have been given. This requires of the preacher an intimate understanding of the text he is declaring. It also requires a strict discipline to prioritize the content of the text and to refrain from changing the text into something else. It also expects a certain humility—that preachers would defer any praise received, as they acknowledge that it is not their wisdom, their brilliance, or their authority that is being delivered through the words of the Lord. Instead they are simply receiving the words from God and clearly passing these words along to those who are listening.

The world is full of declarations. Maybe one of the most famous declarations in recent history was by Joe Namath, starting quarterback for the New York Jets, when they were preparing to play the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. Namath was intoxicated and found himself facing down a loud Colts fan who was confident that the Jets could not survive the game against the Colts. So, in front of the crowd, Namath loudly declared that the Jets would win the Super Bowl. In fact, he even went so far as to say that he guaranteed the victory. This was significant because it was not just the loud Colts fan who was convinced that Baltimore would win. The Colts were favored by prognosticators to win by 18 points—a veritable landslide. Instead, the Jets would win chapter 50-7, thus fulfilling Namath’s promise from a few nights before.

Haggai 1:13 ends with a declaration. However, this declaration is more than someone simply making a statement. When Joe Namath made his statement, it was anything but a sure thing. While the outcome was what Namath promised, he was not able to know, for certain, that it would happen that way. This declaration from the Lord is different. Instead of just being a statement of confidence, this declaration actually carries the weight of a legal transaction. It is a certain promise from God to His now-repentant people. This promise is significant as it stands, but we see God make this promise again in Haggai 2:4. What is this promise that God felt so compelled to declare to His people? Simply put, He promises that He is with them. This is no small thing. This promise indicates a change in tone from the Lord. The people were disobedient, so He compelled them to obey. Then they turned from their sin and embraced righteousness, so God immediately began to affirm them and His presence among them. He is with them, and He will be with them. This is a promise of comfort, it is a promise of blessing, and most of all, it is the promise of grace.

First, it is a promise of comfort. In a time when the Israelites were still most likely aware of their recent Babylonian captivity and their return to Jerusalem, it would have been easy for the Jewish people to think that God had forgotten them. He had not. This is a theme that we see across the whole of Scripture. God’s people find themselves in painful or lonely circumstances, and the desire is often to complain or be angry with God for the circumstances. Instead, God’s promise to us is that He will never abandon us, and that commitment should compel us to be strong and faithful. “Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For it is the Lord your God who goes with you; He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deut 31:6). However, although we see this pattern communicated by God to His people over and over throughout Scripture, we continue to see the people of God forget it and attempt to abandon God.

As we walk through life today, we should not assume that we will be any different. Much like Peter in the courtyard when Jesus was on trial, we will be tempted to believe that God is not what we thought He was and that He is not able to do what He promised He could do. Then our natural response will be to reject the image of God that had, at one point, captivated our attention, and to turn to ourselves as our source of hope. In the face of that, God’s promise to the Israelite people here rings true for you and me today. We see this same sort of redemptive promise on display through the prophet Jeremiah.

I am about to gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in My anger, rage and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety. They will be My people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way so that for their good and for the good of their descendants after them, they will fear Me always. (Jer 32:37-39)

Furthermore, this is the lesson of Jesus’ life. Quite possibly the most beautiful title for Jesus is that of Immanuel. “God with us,” it means, and the truth that it communicates is stunning! This is the breathtaking lesson of the gospel, on display in these words of this often-overlooked minor prophet. God is our God and we are His people, and we should be comforted that He does not leave us and He is not changing. He is Immanuel, the God who is with us.

Second, it is a promise of blessing. These people, as the first 11 verses of Haggai 1 remind us, had been planting, drinking, dressing, and earning and yet were never satisfied; they never had enough. In the face of this, God promises His presence. It is a reminder that they will succeed and that they will persevere. They can be confident because of God’s great affection for them and His advocacy on their behalf. John Calvin once said, “Nothing more inspirits men and rouses them from torpor, than, when relying on the promises of divine aid, they have a sure hope of a successful issue” (in Jamieson, Fausset, Brown, Commentary, 825). There have been times when Christians have, somewhat flippantly, stated that they had read the end of the book (the Bible) and they have seen that the Christian, in Christ, has won. While it is not helpful to approach that concept flippantly, it is absolutely true, nonetheless. God is with us, and He will conquer evil in the end. This confidence allows Christians to be like no other group throughout history and to thrive even when we are seemingly being defeated. The third-century lawyer, Tertullian, once said, “That’s why you can’t just exterminate us; the more you kill the more we are. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church” (The Apology, chapter 50).

Christians are able to persevere in a way that the rest of the world cannot for two primary reasons, both of which are intimately connected. First, we persevere because we have the promise, the hope, of resurrection. Paul said this well:

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death. For God has put everything under His feet. But when it says “ everything” is put under Him, it is obvious that He who puts everything under Him is the exception. And when everything is subject to Christ, then the Son Himself will also be subject to the One who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Cor 15:20-28)

Not only are we reminded in this passage that the resurrection is our guarantee, but we are also encouraged to persevere because of the second, and equally important, truth: we will experience resurrection because Christ will conquer and He will reign eternally. We are adopted into Christ’s family through our union with Him in His death and resurrection. Because of this great truth, we can have confidence. Therefore His declaration of His presence is more than just a statement of proximity, it is a statement of Jesus’ victory and our share in that triumph!

Third, and finally, they were recipients of God’s grace. The response of God to their repentance is a foreshadowing of God’s response to our repentance today. They believed God’s word, they turned from their sin, and God affirmed His presence among them. It is a reminder of God’s consistent and unfailing love in the face of our own disobedience and unfaithfulness. There is no more precious truth in all of Scripture than “This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’—and I am the worst of them” (1 Tim 1:15). While we stand as perpetually unfaithful, unforgiving, unloving, and ungrateful, God stands, with affection and grace, ready to usher us into His family through the redemption that is offered in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and all because of His radically sufficient grace. This statement from God that He is with them is not just a statement of presence or just a declaration of victory. It is, maybe most breathtakingly, a declaration of love. It is a message that points us forward to the message of Jesus, taught to us by the apostle Paul: “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!” (Rom 5:8).

Leadership matters. It is not insignificant that the cascading order of obedience in verse 14 is first, the spiritual leadership is enabled; second, the political leadership responds; and finally, the people obey. God certainly does not need to use leaders to accomplish His purposes; for that matter, He does not need anyone to help Him accomplish His purposes. However, in His wisdom and sovereignty, He has ordained humanity to accomplish His purposes, and He has specifically chosen to use leaders to move His people to accomplish His purposes. In this verse, not only does leadership respond, however, but we see leadership respond as God stirs up their hearts. This verse reminds us of a series of important principles that should guide all leaders and leadership processes. First, leadership leads as God enables them. Second, everything is theological. And finally, people generally only respond as their leaders call them.

First, leadership leads as God enables them. We are a fairly helpless lot. By “we” I’m referring to humanity. Our sinfulness and our finiteness limit our ability to do what God has called us to accomplish. Paul’s words in Romans 3 speak to our depravity, but they paint a fairly hopeless picture:

There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become useless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. (vv. 10-12)

Thankfully, because of Jesus’ redemption, the possibility of honoring God can be realized. Even then, however, it will only happen as God enables it. Paul also addressed that issue in his letter to the church at Colossae:

We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me. (Col 1:28-29)

Leadership is unable to lead rightly unless God enables them by supplying His power. Acknowledgment of our weakness and need is a necessary component to faithful and successful spiritual leadership.

Not only is leadership dependent on God’s supply, but this passage reminds us that everything is theological. Notice that the people had a problem. Their problem was their lack of progress on the building project. In spite of that, though, the answer is not viewed as primarily a physical problem but as a spiritual problem. Their lack of physical obedience was a direct result of their unwilling and disobedient hearts. All physical acts, both good and bad, initiate in the heart. Therefore, every behavior is ultimately a spiritual issue. Ultimately this means that every behavior is rooted in some sort of theological position. Everything is theological. Everything a person does reflects the relationship of that person’s heart to God. Why does this matter, then, to leadership? It matters because, not only is leadership dependent upon God’s supply to provide them with the strength to lead, but all leadership begins with the condition of the heart. Good leadership leads the heart first, recognizing that changed hearts lead to changed actions.

Finally we see one more leadership lesson, and that is the truth that every leader is in a position of authority for a purpose. People generally only respond as their leaders call them. God has designed the human heart to follow the leaders placed over them. Leaders lead and people follow. While there are certainly exceptions to that rule, generally speaking this pattern is the way life works, and this pattern honors God. Romans reminds us that all leaders exist in their positions because God placed them there: “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God” (Rom 13:1). Leaders are not a functional necessity, they are a God-ordained reality. When we understand this, we are enabled rightly to emphasize the importance of godly leadership, and leaders are able to comprehend the weightiness of their task. All leaders are stewards, or managers, of the responsibility that God has given them, and ultimately all leaders should lead like Paul, who told the Corinthian church, “For I didn’t think it was a good idea to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2).

These three patterns, or lessons, are emphasized in this passage to highlight God and the way He works. As important as the leaders are in God’s economy, this passage does nothing to highlight the leaders. They are recognized as part of God’s plan—an important part, mind you—and as part of God’s plan, like everything else in this passage, they reflect the goodness and glory of God. As is true of everything in life, good leadership is rooted in the goodness of God who enables us to lead. He allows us the privilege of leading so that others will follow us in such a way that God is honored and His purposes are advanced. This, in fact, is the crux of Paul’s point when he calls us to “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). This is the point of verse 14. Leadership matters, but only so far as it is empowered by God to lead others to honor God and advance His purposes. May it be so of each of us.