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Haggai & Zechariah: Doing The Work Of God

CONNIE: Are you a bridge-builder for God? Can others find their way to Him through you? Join us today as we look at the Bible books written by God's bridge builders, Haggai and Zechariah.
Giving God's trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I'm Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I'm Lonnie Melashenko. And Connie, that question about being a bridge builder actually takes me right back to my childhood up in Saskatchewan, Canada.

CONNIE: Were you a bridge builder as a child?

LONNIE: Guess you could say that--you know my parents had five energetic little boys up there on that farm, and I suppose I was only six or seven when we older boys decided we needed a bridge for our bicycles--over a muddy spot in the road. So off we went with our hatchets and saws and cut some branches and laid them across there, so we wouldn't have to rider around the puddle.
CONNIE: It really worked then?

LONNIE: It sure did. And do you know, twenty years later, when I went back and visited that old farm, the first thing I went looking for was that little bridge!
CONNIE: Well, bridges are a great thing--both for what they symbolize--bringing people together--and for what they do, in carrying us across rough places, and our interview today focuses on that--you spoke with Pastor Ron Gladden recently. His ministry is dedicated to helping churches reach out and touch their communities, isn't it?

LONNIE: It does, and he shared some fascinating stories of how churches are learning to reach out and build bridges.

CONNIE: Let's listen.

LONNIE: Hello up there in Vancouver, WA, Ron Gladden. Welcome to the Voice of Prophecy.
RON: Thank you, Lonnie. It's great to be here on the broadcast today.

LONNIE: Ron there's a buzzword out there, and I'm familiar with it because it's happening in my own community. I talk to ministers of other faiths on the way to the airport. It's called church planting, and you're the director of the church planting center. What does that mean?

RON: Well, our objective is to start churches in each community that show the love of God to the community.

LONNIE: Well don't they all? Is there a paradigm shift here?

RON: Well there is a paradigm shift that we need. A lot of Americans consider the church in their neighborhood to be irrelevant, and we need to get back into the community. Our paradigm change is that, sometimes Christians have forgotten what Jesus has told us to do in the gospel commission. Jesus told us to go, and some Christians think that the gospel commission said to come. So that the lost will come to us, but we're suppose to go to them.

LONNIE: What are some of the creative ways that church planting builds those kind of bridges to people? What are you doing that's maybe different, or novel? People up there today could say, hey those are neat ideas maybe we should try those.

RON: Well, one is the door to door surveys, simple four-question survey…well here's a few questions. If you could ask God any question what would you ask? Very non threatening, and we had a gentleman pause, take a deep breath and say, I would ask God why am I dying of cancer, and occasionally someone's heart will show an interest in a deeper contact with God. The last question in the survey is I'm starting a new church, what advice do you have for me? We get all kinds of good advice.

LONNIE: Alright, you've got all kinds of new things that I got excited about when I talked to you Ron, because actually I have the privilege of sitting on your board now. The Voice of Prophecy is very interested in church planting. Talk to us about some of the creative ways to build bridges as Jesus built bridges into our lives and into our world. How do you do that from the church into the home?

RON: a lot of our churches are doing what we call servant evangelism, here are some examples. We will do a car wash that's totally free, and we will not accept any donations and people will say, well nothing's free, and we'll say, God's love is free, and so is this little gesture of God's love. We give them a little card so they can follow up if they have any interest.

LONNIE: And some of them actually do come check you out then?
RON: They sure do. We have done a Christmas gift wrapping at Christmas time, and we don't allow them to pay us. We go into a laundromat and when a young mother comes in with her laundry we ask her, which machine would you like to use, and then we feed the machine, and give her a little card in case she wants a follow up.

LONNIE: That's beautiful.

RON: We've also started what we call IP Parties.

LONNIE: Now that's an interesting expression.

RON: We have a little card we print up, and we give it to someone, maybe we've met them for the first time and we want to invite you to our IP party. Well, they're confused by that term, and they say what in the world is that? That stands for interesting people party, and you look interesting. We've had a number of these parties and we would love to have you come. It's an opportunity, an excuse to invite them into your home, and we find with that little catch phrase that we give that probably three out of four people will come to our home and we can then build a relationship with them and move closer to Christ.

LONNIE: That's beautiful. It's important for people to grasp the concept that we need to bridge the gap. It's our responsibility to go out and bridge gaps from the church to the community.

RON: That's exactly what Jesus did. He mingled with people. He showed them that He cared about them, and He met their needs. Then after they had confidence in him, He said follow me.

LONNIE: Can you give me an example of someone who was changed and transformed, maybe even a baptized church member because of theses creative ways to build bridges?

RON: Yes I can. Dennis, in Medford Oregon received a smoke alarm battery from church members who went door to door just simply saying we would like your family to be safe. There was a little card in there and that evening Dennis called the number on the card and said, would someone come visit me? When the pastor went to visit, Dennis said, You know, I have never heard of a church that gives instead of trying to receive. Can I attend your church? Today Dennis is a baptized member of that church.

LONNIE: That is beautiful. Ron Gladden, the director of the church-planting center in Vancouver, Washington. Thank you so much for sharing with us today on the Voice of Prophecy.

RON: You're welcome. God bless you Lonnie.

CONNIE: It's important, isn't it, to find ways to bridge the gap between the church and the community.

LONNIE: It's the only way to make the gospel relevant, really.

CONNIE: And when we as Christians do that, we're just following the example of our Master, as this song reminds us:

CONNIE: Amen! Jesus is the ultimate bridge builder isn't He--coming from heaven to earth to connect us to God.

LONNIE: That's right. He crossed over the chasm that separates us from God in order to rebuild our connection to heaven.

CONNIE: And we should mention that the men singing that song were two of the little boys who built that bicycle bridge up in Saskatchewan.

LONNIE: That's right. The song is on the "Brothers in Song" CD that my brother Joedy and I produced recently.

CONNIE: You were telling me another bridge story recently . . .

LONNIE: As we were preparing this program, I couldn't help remembering my visit to Australia back in 1976. I was in LONNIE: Tasmania and saw the results of a terrible accident that had happened there--the Tasman Bridge in Hobart had been struck by a freighter, and part of the bridge collapsed. It was on a cool, foggy night, and as I remember the story, there was a car coming along--suddenly saw the bridge gone--the driver slammed on the brakes and stopped--with his front wheels literally hanging over the edge of the precipice.

CONNIE: Scary!

LONNIE: He managed to climb out and run back on the bridge, trying to warn other drivers, but some of them just sped on. I believe about 5 people died in cars that plunged over the edge!

CONNIE: What a tragedy!

LONNIE: But it really illustrates the importance of bridges--doesn't it. You never miss the water till the well runs dry, and you don't really appreciate a bridge until something like that happens.

CONNIE: It's a powerful illustration--a real lesson.

LONNIE: And it ties right in with the message we're looking at from the Old Testament today. You know, there's about a four-century gap in the Bible--between the time of the last Old Testament writers and the coming of Jesus. But God saw to it that that gap was bridged in a very powerful way.

CONNIE: I sense a sermon coming on, Lonnie. Share your message "Bridge Builders for God" with us.

Bridge Builders for God

On Scotland's east coast lies a picturesque estuary with the poetic name "The Firth of Forth." Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh, is on the south bank of the Firth. In 1890, work was completed on the 1 and 2/3 -mile-long Forth Railway Bridge across the firth--one of the most amazing engineering feats of the 19th century. The two center spans are each nearly a third of a mile long, and an interesting story is told about how those spans were joined, completing the bridge.

Construction crews had been working for months, from the two sides, working toward each other, toward the spot at the very center where the two halves of the bridge would come together. Then the announcement went out that on a certain day the span would be complete--the final bolts would be put in place, completing the bridge.

People came from all around to witness the great event, but soon word spread through the crowd that something was wrong. The engineers couldn't get the two halves to come together. Try as they might, with cables, tug boats, and heavy equipment, they just couldn't close the gap between the two sides of the bridge. It was an embarrassing situation, to say the least. How had their calculations gone wrong? They figured and refigured, all to no avail.

Until the sun came out.

Then the massive steel girders began to warm, and as they warmed, they expanded ever so slightly. And within a few hours the two sides of the bridge had come together. Thanks to the warming power of the sun.
It took a special power to bridge the gap between the two sides of the Firth of Forth, and today I'd like to share another story about a great gap--a great divide--that needed to be bridged. And the special power that God supplied in order to successfully bridge that gap.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, a gap opened between them and God. They could no longer meet face-to-face with their Creator. It was then that God gave the first promise of a Messiah: " 'I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.' " These words, found in Genesis 3:15, became the hope of all succeeding generations. Yes, Satan had won a battle against humanity. But he would not win the war. There would be continuing enmity--and God would guarantee the victory to Eve's descendants.

People all through the generations hoped that they would live to see the day when Satan would finally be defeated by the Messiah. And in the meantime God gave them a system of sacrifices and rituals to remind them of His provision for the cleansing of their sins and for victory over Satan.
Innocent lambs and other animals were sacrificed daily to drive home the message: Sin causes death, but God has made a way for you to be forgiven. He will provide a sinless One to die in your place.

In the days of Abraham, these sacrificial ceremonies were carried out at hilltop altars. In Moses' day, God gave instructions for building a tabernacle with altars for sacrifice. And then in Solomon's day, for the first time, God allowed Israel's king to build Him a temple. The sacrificial ceremonies pointing forward to the Messiah were carried on daily in that temple for nearly four centuries--with a few lapses during apostasies when the priests were stopped from doing their work.

Through good times and bad, Solomon's temple stood as a testimony to God, and to His desire to cleanse His people of their sins and to bless them.
Then the unthinkable happened! In 586 BC Babylonian armies surrounded Jerusalem, breached the wall, marched in, and destroyed both the city and the temple. The sacrifices and ceremonies God had given to His people could no longer be carried out. There was a great danger that God's people would forget Him, and would forget that He wanted to be their Savior from sin.
The prophet Jeremiah had prophesied about this time: " 'This whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years' " (Jer. 25:11 NKJV).

The prophet Daniel was so concerned about the state of affairs in his day--when the temple lay in ruins--that he prayed the beautiful prayer of confession and supplication found in Daniel 9. Daniel pled with the Lord for enlightenment about when and how His temple and His people could be restored so that the ceremonies for forgiveness of sins could be renewed.

And God sent a messenger, straight from heaven, to reveal His plan--to reveal that a decree would be given "to restore and to build Jerusalem," and that that decree, and that rebuilding, would be a crucial event, leading up to, and pointing to, the time of the coming of the long-awaited Messiah.
Restoring and rebuilding Jerusalem! Those were exciting words. They guaranteed to Daniel that the temple and sacrificial system would be reinstated--sometime soon!

Finally the time came when God's people were allowed to return to the Promised Land and begin to rebuild the temple. But they soon became discouraged with the work. And they met stiff opposition from neighboring groups. They never got beyond building an altar and laying a foundation. It seemed like the temple would never be rebuilt.

The world was in danger of never having the bridge built that would carry the knowledge of the Lord over from the Old Testament era to the time of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

What could be done? How could the two sides of the bridge be brought together?

Well, remember that story from the Firth of Forth. When the sun came out and warmed the girders, things came together. It just needed some extra power and warmth from outside.

And when God saw that His people were in danger of not rebuilding the temple, not building the bridge that would carry knowledge of Him to the world in preparation for the Messiah's arrival, He sent some special power down to bring things together.

It came in the form of messages delivered by two of the last prophets of the Old Testament: Haggai and Zechariah.

Haggai was the first to begin delivering messages from the Lord. In the late summer of 520 BC, precisely 66 years after the temple had been destroyed (remember--Jeremiah had prophesied 70 years of desolation), Haggai stood up to speak: "You people say it's not time to rebuild the house of the Lord," he said. "But you've rebuilt your own houses!"

Then he delivered a message direct from the Lord: " 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified," says the LORD' " (Haggai 1:7-8 NKJV).

In response to Haggai's message, the people started over again, laying stones for the temple, erecting walls, preparing a house for God to dwell in and minister to His people from. But the rebuilding was not without difficulties, and apparently the work nearly stopped again. That's when Zechariah came long with his messages. First he reminded the people that it was because of their unfaithfulness that the first temple had been destroyed, then the Lord gave him a series of eight visions that called the people to repentance and cleansing, promised a brighter future for Jerusalem, and urged those who had remained in Babylon--the city of wickedness--to come to Jerusalem and help rebuild the temple.

Zechariah looked forward to a time of righteous rule in the Promised Land, with a crown on the head of Joshua the high priest--a time when fasting would be turned to feasting under the Lord's blessing. In his prophecies we find many things that foreshadowed the coming of the Messiah. Does this sound familiar:
" "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey' " (NKJV).

That prophecy, which was fulfilled at Jesus' triumphal entry to Jerusalem half a millennium later, is found in Zechariah 9:9.

And how about these prophecies pointing forward to the ministry of Jesus:
"In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. . . .

"And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur" (Zechariah 13:1; 14:8, NKJV).

Remember, it was Jesus Himself who promised that anyone who came to Him would receive living water. And in John 7 we read that Jesus spoke in Jerusalem and said " 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water' " (John 7:37, 38, NKJV).

Jesus took the prophecies of the Messiah, given through Zechariah, and applied them to Himself. He stood up and proclaimed: I AM the One who was promised by the prophets of old. I AM the One who has come to bring to fulfillment all the sacrifices and ceremonies performed at altar, tabernacle, and temple yea these many millennia.

But in order for Jesus to be able to do that, the temple needed to be rebuilt and the ceremonies reinstated. Faithful men like Haggai and Zechariah had an important role to play in this. They stood up against the popular opinion and said, It's time to do the Lord's work, not just ours. It's time to build the bridge of God.

We have much to thank these men for. Because it was through their ministry, and through the ceremonies of the temple, that we have come to understand and appreciate the ministry of Jesus--the love and forgiveness of God as revealed in Jesus.

Thank God for men and women like that, who stand for what is right, and proclaim the word of God, just when it's needed most! Their lives, their ministry challenge me today. I hope they challenge you too--to be a bridge builder for God. To reach out to those in need and point them to their Savior.