As if to prove this point, God sent two different prophets
to preach to the remnant in
"This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says: Look at what's happening to you! Now go up into the
hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it
and be honored, says the Lord . You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you
brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins,
says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, while all of you are busy building your
own fine houses. It's because of you that the
heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops. I have called for a drought on your fields and hills--a
drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other
crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you
have worked so hard to get." -- Haggai 1: 7-11 (NLT)
Then Haggai responded, "That is how it is
with this people and this nation, says the Lord . Everything they do
and everything they offer is defiled by their sin. Look at what was
happening to you before you began to lay the foundation of the Lord 's
For every Paul Washer there is a Charles Stanley, peaceful,
serene, yet still preaching the Gospel. Zechariah was the
"I, the Lord , was very angry with
your ancestors. Therefore, say to the people, "This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says: Return to me, and I will return to
you, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies.' Don't
be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets
said to them, "This is what the Lord of
Heaven's Armies says: Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil
practices.' -- Zechariah 1: 2-4 (NLT)
But now I will not treat the remnant of my
people as I treated them before, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies. For I am planting
seeds of peace and prosperity among you. The grapevines will be heavy with
fruit. The earth will produce its crops, and the heavens will release the dew.
Once more I will cause the remnant in
The audience is the same. The time frame is the same. The
message to finish the temple is the same. But the messengers are completely
different. Haggai bringing down the thunder and Zechariah with the velvet
gloves. I see some important considerations for us today. There are reasons God
used these two different styles and why He still uses so many different styles
today. The first consideration is that it is the message that is important --
not the messenger. If you are following a preacher that seems to make it all
about him you need to run! It is all about Jesus Christ beloved. It is all
about God and the
The second consideration for us to consider is that God uses Haggai and Zechariah because sometimes we need the fire and brimstone and other times we need the encouraging teacher. If you look at the life of Jesus; He was not a cookie cutter preacher. He preached on love and forgiveness but also repentance and wrath. He healed the sick and cleared out the money-changers. God knows exactly where we are. He knows if we are so deep in the valley that we need to hear the promises of God to assure us to keep walking through. He also knows if we are backsliding and need a not so gentle reminder of what thus sayeth the Lord. This is what is so dangerous about some modern theologies that seek to pigeon hole God by wrapping Him up in hearts and cherubs or wrapping Him in barbed wire. Neither is Biblically correct because it is only half the picture. You cannot present Zechariah with Haggai.
