The Signs of the Times, vol. 28

April 9, 1902

“Restoration from Babylon. The Work of Haggai and Zechariah” The Signs of the Times 28, 15, pp. 3, 4.

BY ALONZO TREVIER JONE

EARLY in the year 521 B. C. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, of ancient Persian line, took the Medo-Persian throne by killing the false Smerdis and his chief adherents. Yet it was nearly a year and a half before work was resumed upon the temple of God in Jerusalem. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.1

The people of God in Jerusalem and Judea had lost faith in God. They knew that the decree of the false Smerdis stopping the work, was secured by false representations; and they knew that the decree was illegal in itself, because of the fundamental principle of Medo-Persian law that no law of the Medes and Persians could be changed. Yet tho they knew that the usurper was dead, and tho they had in their hands the original decree of Cyrus which could not be lawfully reversed by any other Medo-Persian decree, still they did not have the faith to take up the work again. In their lack of faith they had imbibed the notion that the work was really dependent upon kings and their decrees, instead of upon God; that the Lord’s part in the work was really secondary to that of kings and powers; that the kings’ motions and decrees must come first, and then the Lord co-operate; instead of the Lord and His work being first, and then the king’s co-operate. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.2

Also as a consequence of their lack of faith, and so their neglect of the cause and work of God, there had come hard times in the land; the seasons were unfavorable; there was drought in the land, the crops of all kinds were short; what money was received went such a little way that it seemed more as if it had been lost than as if it had really been spent; what was bought with the money seemed to do so little good, that, whether it were food or clothing, it seemed almost as tho they had not had it at all. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.3

In view of all these things, which were only the consequences of their loss of faith in God, in His cause, and in His present work in the world; and in the face of all that God had done, not only before their very eyes, but by their very selves; they actually reached and expressed in words the astonishing conclusion that, “The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built”!! SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.4

To correct these utterly mistaken thoughts, reasonings, and conclusions, the Lord sent to them the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to revive their faith in God; thus to open their eyes, that they might see things in their true light. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.5

Haggai spoke first: The first day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius—520 B. C.—the word of the Lord came to Zerubbabel the governor, and Joshua the high priest, saying, “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? ... SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.6

“Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 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. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.7

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 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. Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.” Haggai I. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.8

This message of the Lord by His prophet was promptly received by all to whom it came. Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua 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. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.9

“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, in the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.” SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.10

In the following month, “in the seventh month,” in the twenty-first day of the month, came again the word of the Lord by Haggai to Zerubbabel, and Joshua, and all the remnant of the people, saying:— SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.11

“Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts: according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. 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 shall come: and I will fill this house 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 2:3-9 SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.12

In the next month, “the eighth month in the second year of Darius,” the message of the Lord came to them by the prophet Zechariah, saying:— SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.13

“The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.” Zechariah 1:2-6. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.14

In the next month, “the ninth month,” the twenty-fourth day of the month, the message of the Lord came again by the prophet Haggai in which He said:— SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.15

“Consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord: Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labors of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord. Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider it. Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.” Haggai 2:15-19. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.16

In the eleventh month and the twenty-fourth day of the month of that same year, the word of the Lord came again to the prophet Zechariah. He saw in a vision a man riding a bay horse, followed by bay, speckled, and white horses. They stood among myrtle trees in a valley. Zechariah asked what were these. The angel answered, “These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.” And they reported to the angel, in the hearing of the prophet, “We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at reat.” Then the angel said, “O Lord of hosts, how long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which Thou hast had indignation, these threescore and ten years?” SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.17

Then the angel spoke to Zechariah, saying:— SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.18

“Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.” SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.19

Next in the vision the prophet saw the four horns—powers—that had scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, and also four carpenters come to repair these desolations. And the angels said:— SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.20

“These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And the Lord showed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.” Zechariah 1:19-21. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.21

Next in the vision he saw a man with a measuring line in his hand “to measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.” Then the angel who talked with the prophet went forth and was met by another angel who said to him:— SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.22

“Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: for I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.23

“Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.24

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.” Chapter 2. SITI April 9, 1902, page 3.25

Next Zechariah saw in the vision “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: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” SITI April 9, 1902, page 228.1

Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. The angel said to others who stood by, “Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.” And Zechariah said, “Let them set a fair miter upon his head.” So they set a fair miter on his head, and clothed him with the beautiful garments. Then said the angel to Joshua:— SITI April 9, 1902, page 228.2

“If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at [a sign]: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.” Chapter 3. SITI April 9, 1902, page 228.3

Next in the vision there was shown to the prophet a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and seven lamps upon it, and seven pipes to the seven lamps; and an olive tree on each side of the bowl; this signifying to Zerubbabel that the building of the house of the Lord was “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.” And in the vision the word of the Lord was spoken:— SITI April 9, 1902, page 228.4

“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.” Chapter 4. SITI April 9, 1902, page 228.5

Next in the vision the prophet saw a flying roll of the law of God; the length twenty cubits, and the breadth ten cubits; revealing the curse, because of the sins, that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth. after that the prophet saw go forth two women, having between them in an ephah “Wickedness,” “to build it an house in the land of Shinar; and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.” Chapter 5. SITI April 9, 1902, page 228.6

Next in the vision the prophet saw going forth four chariots, each with horses; two toward the north, one toward the south, and the remaining one to and fro through the earth. and last he was instructed to take certain men by name, and have them make crowns of silver and gold, and set them upon the head of Joshua the high priest, and say:— SITI April 9, 1902, page 228.7

“Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” Zechariah 6:12, 13. SITI April 9, 1902, page 228.8

Then the crowns were to be for a memorial in the temple of the Lord. SITI April 9, 1902, page 228.9

And the vision closed with the words of confirming promise upon all: “And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.” Chapter 6. SITI April 9, 1902, page 228.10

[The next article in the series is “The Samaritans Compelled to Help.”] SITI April 9, 1902, page 228.11