‘So get to work, Zerubbabel!’—God is speaking.
‘Get to work, Joshua son of Jehozadak—high priest!’
‘Get to work, all you people!’—God is speaking.
Yes, get to work! For I am with you. (Haggai 2:4 The Message)
Fear Not… Then Do Your Job
Haggai’s alarm clock only makes sense in the light of Micah 6:8:
“He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God?” (ESV)
God has delegated authority to the state, the church, and the family. And He critiques society in these three areas, finding all three delegated authorities faulty. The state does not act justly, but tends to act selfishly. The church does not love mercy, but tends to either overlove or underlove God’s law. And the family, intended to teach humility, instead teaches pride, entitlement, and self-protection.
So God tells the state to do just things… the church to understand and love mercy… and the family to be humble, knowing our place in God’s economy.
Haggai continues this theme, but with an added urgency. He writes that those who are God’s stewards (all of us, in some capacity) have fallen asleep at the wheel. “Wake up!” He says.
And do our work.
Zerubbabel, as king, represents the state. Wake up, and remember your job!
The High Priest Joshua represents the church. Wake up, and remember your job!
And “you people” represents the families in the family of God. Wake up, and remember your job!
No matter when God’s people read Haggai’s message, we need to wake up. No matter how difficult our situation, we have a job. No matter how hopeless we feel, we have a job. No matter how lethargy dampens our joy, we have a job. No matter how oppressed by God’s enemies, we have a job.
He even tells us how: He is with us.
Fear not, then do your job.