Start each day by reading the passages listed above. Then use the summary and reflection provided here to guide discussion around the daily reading.
Under the reign of Josiah’s descendent Zedekiah, King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and carried the last group of Jewish people to Babylon. They remained in exile for seventy years, then were allowed to return to their homeland. During this period of return, Zerubbabel, Josiah’s descendant, served as the governor of Judah and helped rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
Where do you see God’s presence in Zerubbabel’s story?
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39 thoughts on "Zerubbabel, Rebuilder of Ruins"
How easy it is to just do what pleases us and forget that “unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain that build it”
Despite returning to their homeland the people were just living as per usual. We are like that too. We get so settled in the rot that it doesn’t even affect us anymore.
Lord help me to never settle for ordinary. Help me to strive for your best in my life
@LAURA: praying for your 2 children to come back to God.
@CEE GEE: loved what you shared. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this insight. God’s word applies to us today, sometimes it is hard to see it clearly. Sin is a disease that will spread not “if but when” very good reminder!
I feel like God was with his people, and Haggai through the word of the Lord helped tell Zerubbabel how to connect back to God by rebuilding His temple.
God encouraged and empowered him to rebuild the temple. He chose Zerubbabel. He is included in Jesus’ ancestry and the temple that was built was still standing in Jesus’ time! Jesus was at Zerubbabel’s temple.
Amen
Such a long ways and usually it’s just overly cautious findings! Hang in there ❤️
@Maria Baer praying for your results to come back well and nothing to be wrong! Modern medicine has come
I was struck by how God, time and time again told Zerubbabel and the people to “Think carefully about your ways from this day forward.” He gave them the opportunity to think about what they were about to do and to discern that it was God’s will. God does the same for us today. How many times do we think about something we’re getting ready to do, and hear that still, small voice in our heart that gives us pause about what we’re about what we’re doing. If we think carefully about what we’re about to do, God will show us the way to walk. My prayer today is that I will be quiet enough to hear the still, small voice of God, and careful enough to heed it.
@Maria Baer, I am praying for Gods peace to continue holding you. And for good news from the follow up on Friday.
Maria – Praying that through further testing there is nothing
Maria praying for Gods peace to surround you!
Praying for you ladies today and for our nation, the leaders, and any that have a platform to have an encounter with Jesus, be His people? and forever be changed. 2 Chronicles 7:14: if My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Please God! Amen!
HAPPY 4th to my American sisters! Agreeing in prayer for wisdom for our leaders and God’s Hand of Protection. I just want to share this from Got Questions:
Foreshadowings: As with most of the books of the minor prophets, Haggai ends with promises of restoration and blessing. In the last verse, Haggai 2:23, God uses a distinctly messianic title in reference to Zerubbabel, “My Servant” (Compare 2 Samuel 3:18; 1 Kings 11:34; Isaiah 42:1–9; Ezekiel 37:24,25).
Through Haggai, God promises to make him like a signet ring, which was a symbol of honor, authority, and power, somewhat like a king’s scepter used to seal letters and decrees. Zerubbabel, as God’s signet ring, represents the house of David and the resumption of the messianic line interrupted by the Exile.
Zerubbabel reestablished the Davidic line of kings which would culminate in the millennial reign of Christ. Zerubbabel appears in the line of Christ on both Joseph’s side (Matthew 1:12) and Mary’s side (Luke 3:27).
Practical Application: The Book of Haggai draws attention to common problems most people face even today.
Haggai asks us 1) to examine our priorities to see if we are more interested in our own pleasures than doing the work of God;
2) to reject a defeatist attitude when we run into opposition or discouraging circumstances;
3) to confess our failures and seek to live pure lives before God;
4) to act courageously for God because we have the assurance that He is with us always and is in full control of our circumstances; and
5) to rest secure in God’s hands knowing that He will abundantly bless us as we faithfully serve Him.
MARIA BAER – Praying for your peace through the next step. The new machines show so much detail and can pick up things that amount to nothing so hang in there! I had a similar experience 2 years ago and went for 3 ultrasounds before they were satisfied.
Thank you for what you ladies wrote! There are many good takeaways! I read this is my study Bible: Haggai records God’s call to the faithless remnant of Israel to repent and rebuild His temple. A lack of concern showed that the people of God had a deeper lack of desire for God’s presence. In response to Haggai’s ministry, the Lord stirred up the spirit of the people (1:14), and they obeyed (1:12). The rebuilding of the temple was an important part of God’s plan to bless His people, especially because it was connected with the coming Messiah(2:9,23). Haggai looked forward to the day when the glory of God comes to earth in the person of Christ and brings about the long-promised salvation of His people! (Matt 17:1; Phil 2:5-11).
I also read these lessons: it is sinful to be consumed with our own interests while neglecting the things of God’s kingdom.
The Lord rebuked the returning remnant for their self-interest and their indifference to rebuilding His temple. God commends His people for receiving faithful preaching of His message as the Word of God. When Scripture is rightly proclaimed, the Spirit of Christ is speaking through the ministers.
God calls His people to be doers of His word not hearers only.
Everything we offer to God In sacrificial giving belongs to Him. We are merely giving back to Him out of all He had freely given us.
The mere presence of a rebuilt temple will not render them holy as people. God demands genuine change of heart and life, not just mere outward conformity! God’s grace will overcome the sin and defilement of the people. Though He disciplines them, mercy triumphs in the end. This is the outworking of the Lord’s promise in verse 9. When God ultimately shakes all things, everything will be as it should be! Praise God!
Thank You, God for Your Word, mercy, and grace. Please help us to be doers of Your Word, cleanse us, and help us to walk in Your ways! Amen
Thank you for this illustration & sharing
Praise God Almighty!
After God’s discipline, He rebuilds! His Mercy and His grace!
Praying for you Maria.
I can’t help but think about King David who passionately wanted to build God a physical house. David was denied the opporitunity because he was a warrior and (he) David had blood on his hands. However, God told David that He (God) would build David a house (a dynasty). If we diligently tend to the interest of God because we love Him, God will work in our lives well beyond our imagination! I always tear up when God tells David that God would him a house. 2 Samuel 7. God makes an eternal covenant with David.
Praying for you Maria!
Again, repentance led to Mercy and Grace. Hallelujah!
Praying for you, Maria.
Wow,I cannot believe we’re only at 1 more week left! And it’s been amazing to see all these people and stories tie together and lead to the greatest story of all time, Jesus and the Good News of His Gospel and Grace! We see here God is about to do something, He’s moving on hearts and lives…and He still is today..He is even now!!
Sisters, if I can ask you to keep me in prayer. I had a mammogram last week and received a call that the doctors need to do more follow up testing on Friday, because they found . I have been oddly calm and at peace— which is amazing for someone who tends to overthinks everything. So my prayer request is for continued peace as we get more testing done and whatever is next. I know God is with me. I never doubt that. But I just want to remain in this place of peace throughout this week.. and truly, always.
GM She’s!
Happy 4th!
The grass withers, and the flowers fade…But the Word of the Lord remains forever. Thank you Lord when all things crumble, and nations fall, and everything in our life can seem at a loss- we can know that YOU Lord, Father God, are IN command. Isn’t it amazing that the bible has stayed for thousands of years?! The living word, is still here. For us to seek and KNOW the heart of God, and the examples through the genealogy of Jesus. His plan cannot be thwarted! Thank you @Laura and @Theresa for those thoughts today that resonated with me. I basically can count on nothing in this world, except the word, and love, and promises of God. He holds us in his hand, if we stay close to him. Because of his love and mercy for his children.
Thank you again for the prayers!
Hello, I don’t typically write a lot on here (but I am trying to do it more) but I just enjoy the path of rebuild and redemption you can see in this story. God’s people come out of exile and start to worry about themselves until God reminds them who is Lord. Through the rebuild of the temple you can see how the people are returning to their Lord and his promise for them.
From the Lord speaking through Haggai, we see God reaching out to Zerubbabel and Joshua – commanding them and the remnant, calling out sin and lies they’ve told themselves, guiding, warning, punishing and blessing them.
The Lord is so present and involved in Zerubbabel‘s life – and our own. What do we miss seeing of God’s presence, work, guidance and blessings in our lives when we are seeking other things and looking elsewhere?
ERB – thank you for pointing out that the entire remnant listened. Awesome.
Joining KELLY (NEO), SALLY B and other sisters in praying for the U.S. government leaders at all levels. The verse for today on Bible Gateway is Psalm 33:12, which starts with “ Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” NKJV.
LAURA – praying for the 2 of your children who have turned away.
SHARON JERSEY GIRL – I didn’t see an update (and could have missed it), continuing to pray for your sister’s housing needs.
Thank you @Theresa for the good word today!
Happy 4th to my fellow Shes in America. May you stay safe and know the Lord is with you all!
Also, how has it been almost 5 weeks since we started? This study has been such a blessing. And to be honest, it has inspired me to dig deeper into, not just the lineage of Christ, but the Old Testament as a whole.
I love the gentle but firm way in which God rebukes His people about not rebuilding his house, while at the same time reaffirming that He never left them. That through it all He has been the great provider.
This study has been such a blessing. I had no idea how to piece the lineage through the Old Testament together like this. To find the stories and read them chronologically. Thank you, staff at SRT!
God was very direct with Z. He said what he meant & meant what he said, as he continues to do through his Word to us today. Z listened & we must listen too.
Amen
When I listened to the podcast this week, I was struck by the discussion on how our story should not be about us, but about God. It is God’s story through us. It encouraged my heart so much, because I can become so discouraged by my story. It is not always what I had hoped for. I strive to be faithful and a follower of Jesus, yet two of my children have rejected the faith and have turned to their own way. It breaks my heart every day. But then I read how Josiah’s heart was stirred. The story he came from was a mess, yet God still stirred his heart and it was soft and he turned. I have committed to pray for soft hearts for my children, that they will be stirred by the Holy Spirit. And that I can release my sadness about my seemingly failed story and let God build it in His timing. Because it’s not my story. It is His.
What stood out to me this morning was the end of chapter 2. God promises to shake things up and that the new glory of his temple would be greater than the first. It got me thinking, isn’t that how God so often works? Things may be torn down and left in ruins. They may stay that way for years, but God is a creator and a restorer. When he rebuilds, it’s better than the first time. I have definitely seen this promise in my own life. When I’ve had those times where my life is in ruins, God always meets me there. He always rebuilds. And what he restores is more than what was destroyed.
Happy Independence Day to my fellow she’s in the US!
Haggai 1:4
**this verse reminds me that there is a right order to things, and how easily we get distracted from that right order!! God should ALWAYS come first, not ourselves or our comfort!! Thank You God for Your faithfulness and revelations!!
Haggai 1:12-13
**love that the ENTIRE remnant listened, obeyed, followed, feared and were faithful to God. And I love God’s response!! He is WITH us!!! SO Awesome and Wonderful!!! Makes me very Thankful!!
Haggai 2:5-7
**yes, Yes and Amen!! Thank You for Your faithfulness Lord, thank You for dwelling among us, and for Your PROMISES, promises fulfilled!!! Let us not fear anything but You Father.. shake us up and let the treasures You have instilled in us, Your people, fall out, bless and give glory to Your name!!! Amen.
The Lord was faithful to guide His people through Haggai. Zerubbabel had not known what it was like to live in the Promised Land and to worship the Lord in Jerusalem. In His kindness, God told Zerubbabel and Joshua what was needed to please Him and to receive His blessing.
Happy Independence Day. May the Lord be merciful to our government leaders and send them His wisdom.
Yes. I too am really loving this study. To see how God’s plans all work out to the arrival of our Saviour. And still God’s plans are being worked out as to his Masterplan throughout our lives. How thankful I am that he is in control. Blessings to you all with love and hugs
Happy Independence Day Ladies!! As I look back over my notes from this study we have almost completed, what I see is how very faithful our Awesome God is!! Starting with Adam in the garden, through the flood, He has promised to provide a way for those who love Him and obey His word! Through the judges, then kings of the finally divided kingdom, hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt and seventy years of captivity in Babylon – still God has worked through ordinary, sinful people to provide us a Messiah!! We will get new hearts and a new land with a perfect Ruler – King Jesus!! Praise His Holy Name!
In the meantime may we be found faithful! Praying for godly leadership in our nation today on it’s birthday, until the Lord Jesus comes to do it permanently. (Another exceptional study SRT team – two thumbs up!!)