BY THE REV. NEIL MACINTYRE, STORNOWAY, MODERATOR OF SYNOD.
Preached at Opening of Synod in the Free Presbyterian Church, Inverness, on 1st July, 1913.
THESE are the words of the Lord to Zerubbabel. He and a considerable number of the Jews had returned some years previously from Babylon, where they had been in captivity for seventy years. On their return they found their holy and beautiful house, where their fathers worshipped, burnt up with fire. In the second month of the second year after their return they laid the foundation of the house, but no sooner had they begun to build than they met with opposition from enemies, which caused the work to be stopped for many years. During this suspension the people became indifferent regarding the building of God’s house, and were more concerned about their own houses. It was at this time that the Lord sent them two prophets—Haggai and Zechariah—with messages of reproof and encouragement, reproving them for their inactivity and indifference. “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. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses and this house lie waste?” (Haggai i. 2-4). In this passage under consideration they are encouraged to go forward and build the house which had been so long neglected. “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it.”
In considering this passage we shall take—
I.—A brief review of the history of Israel at this period.
II.—Consider the laying of the foundation. “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house.”
III.—The building and finishing of the house. “His hands shall also finish it.”
I.—A brief review of the history of Israel at this period.—God had delivered Israel into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, for their sins—particularly the sin of idolatry—and they were kept in bondage for seventy years, and had little or no prospect of ever returning to the land of promise. “By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion; we hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.” When God’s set time came to restore them He soon made the crooked places straight and the rough places plain. He turned the heart of Cyrus, King of Persia, in their favour. “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.” “The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, King of Persia: The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (he is the God) which is in Jerusalem” (Ezra i. 1-3).
Then rose Sheshbazzar, Prince of Judah (who is Zerubbabel) and with him forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty people, together with seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven servants, and came to Jerusalem, and in the second year, in the second month, laid the foundation of the Temple. No doubt, having the authority and permission of the king, they would naturally conclude that they would meet with no opposition, but they soon found out that they had bitter and cruel enemies to contend with. These enemies were the Samaritans. These Samaritans were transplanted from Babylon and adjacent places, and placed in room of the ten tribes. They continued their Babylonish idolatry, for which cause God punished them by destroying many of them by lions. Suspecting the cause of their destruction, they appealed to the king to send them a Jewish priest, “who would teach them the manner of the God of the land.” A priest was sent, who instructed them in the Jewish religion, with the result that they blended the Jewish religion with their own idolatry. When Zerubbabel therefore began to build the Temple, these Samaritans came to him, saying, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as ye do, and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Ezarhaddon, King of Assur, which brought us up hither” (Ezra iv. 2). But Zerubbabel was a discerning man, as future events proved, and would have none of them, and answered, “Ye have nothing to do with us, to build an house unto our God, but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus commanded us.” Zerubbabel and the rest of the people knew from bitter experience that it was an evil and bitter thing for them to mix with the heathen and learn their ways. They had spent seventy years in captivity on account of this very thing, and they believed that, if they were to join in affinity with these idolaters, the consequence would be that, instead of their overcoming and checking the evil practices of the Samaritans, their evil practices would overcome them, and that they would probably find themselves again in captivity. So they answered, “Ye have nothing to do with us.” When the Samaritans saw that their offer was rejected, they immediately showed what spirit they were of. They sent letter after letter up to Babylon, accusing the city, Jerusalem, of being a rebellious city and the people to be disturbers of the peace, and that there could be no peace or safety until the work was stopped and this impracticable element silenced. During the reign of Artaxerxes they had their desire, for a proclamation was issued authorising them to stop the work, and on receipt of this letter “they immediately went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power” (Ezra iv. 23). They had now legal and regal force and power behind them, and they were determined to take full advantage of it. They might possibly have used the argument which many of their successors did—”that they were only carrying out the law in the matter.” We see, however, how unscrupulous they were, for in the proclamation issued by Artaxerxes there is no mention of the Temple—it is altogether about the city. But these were evidently more concerned about the building of the Temple than the city. They, no doubt, saw that if the Temple were built it would be a standing monument to the glory of Jehovah, that His worship would be established, and that thus a permanent witness would be raised against their own idolatry.
Satan, who is an ingenious adversary, cannot see the cause of Christ advanced without rage, and “the gates of hell” engage to fight against it, either by plausible means or by open persecution. We believe he is more afraid of a body of men, however small and insignificant they may be, who hold fast the Word of God and establish themselves in the land, than he is of any number of individuals who still remain in fellowship with a Church which is corrupt in principle and in practice, though they may disapprove of its errors. In the case of the latter, he (Satan) knows that one of two things will most likely take place: either that they will gradually cease to denounce error—like the blacksmith’s dog, which gets accustomed to the sparks from the anvil and gives up barking—or that they will soon pass away to eternity and leave the field at his disposal.
We do not here stay to make any application of this wonderful piece of history, but any careful and observant person may see that it corresponds with many chapters in the history of the Church of Christ in our land.
II.—Let us consider the laying of the foundation. “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation.”
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Who laid the foundation? Zerubbabel. He was a Prince of Judah. He was the leader and commander of those fifty thousand who returned from captivity. He also brought back some of the vessels of the Temple which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away and had put them in the house of his own god in Babylon. Now Zerubbabel may be taken as type of Christ. Christ is “the Prince of the tribe of Judah.” He is “given as a leader and commander to the people.” It was part of His mission “to proclaim liberty to the captives.” “He is the nail in a sure place and upon him shall they hang all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity from the vessels of cups even to all the vessels of flagons.” The Lord by Malachi asks the question: “Can a man rob God?” And He answers, “Yet ye have robbed me.” It is impossible that the essential glory of God can be invaded, but His declarative glory can be and has been invaded. We read of Christ that “He restored that which he took not away.” He restored to God all the glory of which He was deprived by the disobedience of man, and also delivered from their captivity not fifty thousand of Adam’s lost race, but a “great multitude which no man can number of all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues.”
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Let us now consider the laying of the foundation. Solomon laid the foundation of the first Temple and built it. It was a most magnificent building, “the joy of all the land,” but Nebuchadnezzar with his army destroyed it and burnt it to its very foundation, so that when Zerubbabel returned from Babylon, he found it in heaps and ruins. Now the first Temple may be taken as a type of man as created by God. He was created in a holy and happy state. He was the crown and copestone of all creation, a most magnificent building. His glory and happiness depended on his obedience to the law of God. Satan, who is a murderer and destroyer from the beginning, enticed man to disobey God, and the foundation being removed, the whole fabric collapsed. This beautiful Temple became heaps and ruins. “By the disobedience of one many were made sinners” (Rom. v. 19).
When Zerubbabel began anew to lay the foundation of the Temple, he had much to clear away before he could lay one stone of it. It was much easier to lay the foundation of the first than of the second Temple. Solomon probably had little more to do than to begin and lay the foundation, but Zerubbabel had to clear away the heaps of rubbish which were lying on the site before he could begin to build. In like manner, when God created man, He had simply to say, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” But when man was to be saved it was impossible to say regarding him, “Let us make man in our own image,” until first satisfaction was given to law and justice for man’s disobedience.
Where was the second Temple built? It was built on the same “site” as the first, but not on the same foundation. When God created man, He placed him under a law and that law was “the site” on which his eternal happiness was to be built, but the foundation of that design was man’s own obedience. If man is to be saved from the ruined condition in which he is by nature, it must be in a way which shall be agreeable to the divine and holy demands of the law. Now it is impossible that the second Temple—the Church—can be built on the old foundation—man’s obedience, “for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified in the sight of God.” Christ, our Zerubbabel, undertook to lay a foundation on this site—the law of God—in His obedience and sufferings. He entered into covenant with the Father on behalf of His elect people, and that covenant to Him personally was a covenant of works, for we find Him continually referring to Himself as the servant who “must work the works of him that sent him.” He also speaks of “having finished the work which the Father gave him to do.” It is His finished work which is the foundation of their salvation. “The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake; he will magnify the law and make it honourable.” This covenant is one of grace to them through Him. The first foundation was man’s own obedience; the second is Christ’s finished work.
Now before this foundation could be laid much had to be removed.
(1) There is the curse of a broken covenant. God’s law had nothing but condemnation for these “lively stones” in their natural state, which were to be laid on this foundation. “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them.” This mountain the sinner could never remove. But “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.” Christ, our Zerubbabel, went surety for us, and God the Father as Judge imputed to Him the sins of His elect people. “He made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” In being made sin, He was made a curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.” In His obedience and sufferings He “finished the transgression, made an end of sin, made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness” (Daniel ix. 24). The curse of the law is removed and their salvation is laid in eternal righteousness.
(2) There is the wrath of an offended God. God is angry with them because of sin. Sin is the only thing with which He is angry. No creature would ever know that there was anger in Him were it not for sin. “Where there is no wood,” said Solomon, “there the fire goeth out.” But where there is the least chip of this wood, sin, it will keep the fire of God’s anger burning forever. Now, this mountain is so great that the sinner can never remove it, but “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.” God the Father, as judge, laid the sins of His people upon Him who is “mighty to save,” and He willingly took them, and in laying their sins, He also laid upon Him the wrath that was due to sin. Christ made an end of sin, and when He made an end of sin, He also made an end of wrath. There is no wood, so the fire goeth out. “For this is as the waters of Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee.”
Another thing to be observed in connection with the foundation is that, though the enemies stopped the building of the Temple for eighteen or twenty years, yet they were not allowed to touch the foundation, and when Zerubbabel began to build again, it was on the same foundation which he had laid at the beginning. Now, God has laid the foundation stone in Zion, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. “Heathen and people and kings and rulers may take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away our cords from us.” But God will laugh at them.
God in His mercy and love laid the foundation of the Temple of His Church in our land, but many attempts have been made to destroy it. More than once the State and professors of religion joined together to persecute the poor Church of Christ in Scotland, but persecution could never destroy her. It only helped to establish her more firmly. When Satan saw that this mode of attack was unsuccessful, like a wily general he changed his tactics. He got men to flock into office in the hitherto faithful Church who had no regard for truth or principle. These have done all in their power to remove the foundation by denying the inspiration of God’s word and corrupting His worship, turning the house of God into a den of thieves. “But the foundation of God standeth sure.”
There is another attempt made in the present day to remove the foundation. The people of the Established and United Free Churches are anticipating a union between these two large bodies, and as far as we can learn from the press, it is to be consummated in a way which will remove the establishment principle from her constitution, except some slight connection which will secure to them the endowments. The Established and U.F. Churches ought to understand that the establishment principle, embodied in a national Church as the nation’s tribute to Christ, is not the principle of any one Church in Scotland. It is a national principle—a part of our national heritage. It is one which was bought for this nation by the shedding of much blood. But it is more; it is a scriptural principle, and therefore one of which no civil or ecclesiastical power has the right to deprive us. May we have grace to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints!
III.—Let us briefly consider the building and finishing of the Temple.
i. The building of the Temple.—When a house which has fallen is to be rebuilt, the stones of the former house are generally used in the building, though not necessarily all. It is for the builder to choose which stone he will take and leave. When God purposed to build a Temple for Himself He also purposed that all the stones be taken from the ruined race of Adam; yet He did not purpose that all the stones of that ruin be used. But who can find fault? “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” The stones which He has chosen were in the heap, and were as lost and ruined in their state and nature as the rest of mankind. “They were the children of wrath, even as others.”
When the builder goes in search of a stone to put in the building there must be much digging and clearing away of the rubbish with which it may be covered. So it is with the Holy Spirit when He comes to translate the sinner from a state of nature to a state of grace. He finds him dead in trespasses and sins. He quickens him, and makes him realise that he is a lost sinner, guilty of transgressing God’s law in thought, word, and action. The sinner now sees his sins as mountains rising between him and God, and does all in his power to remove them by his own obedience, for he is convinced that unless these mountains be removed he can never have peace. It would, however, be as likely that the child with his little barrow could remove the sand on the seashore, as that he could remove his sins. When the sinner is thus convinced of his inability to atone for his sins he is then ready to conclude that they can never be blotted out. But “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.” When the Spirit reveals Christ to him in the glory of His person and finished work, and he is enabled by faith to receive Him as He is freely offered in the Gospel, he there sees a foundation on which he can lay his guilty soul. “For I know,” saith Paul, “whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” In that day his sins, which were many, are forgiven, and a foundation by grace laid which shall never be removed. “The expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.” Again, all the stones were not laid on the wall in one day. It probably took them four or five years to build the Temple. Neither does God build His own Church in one day. He began to build in the beginning of time, and He has been laying stone after stone, and will continue until the last is put on. Christ is to have a seed in the world while sun and moon endure.
- The finishing of the Temple.—”His hands shall also finish it.” The finishing of it is to be “with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.” It may be difficult to understand the application of these words, “Grace, grace unto it.” Was this predicted concerning Zerubbabel or the Temple, or may we apply it to both? We think it may be applied to both.
(1) In applying it to Zerubbabel or Christ, it may be taken as a prayer, the Church praying for Christ. It is written, “Prayer also shall be made for him continually” (Psalms lxxii. 15). Does this mean that Christ needs their prayers personally on His own behalf? No, for that would be blasphemy, but He needs their prayers on behalf of His cause in the world. It is the desire of every true believer that His cause and kingdom would prosper in the world. Like David, they pray, “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.”
(2) It may more particularly be applied to the Church. (a) It may be taken as an acknowledgment that their whole salvation is of grace. They have no reason to boast. “Where is boasting? It is excluded.” If they are saved from their awful condition, it is not to them the praise is due. “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.” “Grace, grace unto it.” (b) It may be further taken as a prayer on behalf of the Church that favour may be shewn it, and a prayer by the members of the Church on behalf of one another. They pray that God would be favourable to each individual soul in the building by giving much of His presence, that He would give grace that their feet might be kept from falling and their eyes from tears, that they might be preserved from bringing reproach on the cause of Christ in the world, and that they might be enabled to stand steadfast in the truth in a backsliding generation. (c) It may be finally taken to mean that when the last sinner is converted, and all the members of the Church of God are brought home to glory, this will be the general chorus to the praise of grace. “Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” “He shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.” May we be among the number of the redeemed in that day!