DESPISE NOT SMALL THINGS Devotion 10 of 24 – Tomorrow:
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying: "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the LORD, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth." Zechariah 4:8-10, NKJV
"His hands shall also finish it.'"
What a marvelous and encouraging word this is! The one who started the work would finish it! The foundation was laid, and the Temple would yet be completed. Zerubbabel started it, and he would "also finish it!"
Many of the people had been driven to despair by their enemies. They gloried in the laying of the foundation, but felt the Temple would never be finished. Their opponents, they thought, were too influential, and their enemies too numerous. Kings from afar had sent dignitaries to stop the work. They had believed the lies that were raised against the Jews and Jerusalem. Those expert in registering complaints and looking at things from an earthly viewpoint could sight many reasons for giving up on the work. Years had passed, and the prospects appeared no better, but only seemed to grow worse.
It is ever true, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick" (Prov 13:12). The heart can become "weary with crying," and eyes "fail while I wait for my God" (Psa 69:3). David was not the last person to cry out to God, "Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not Thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit" (Psa 143:7). Many a remote laborer for the Lord is discouraged this very day. From the standpoint of appearance, even as Elisha's servant, they have seen the overwhelming odds that are against them and said, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" The word for them is the same as Elisha's word to fearful and discouraged servant. "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them" (2 Kgs 5:15-26).
But God will not abandon His work, nor will He forsake His servants. He will send a word to them, that they may be healed, their hope revived, and their hands strengthened. To those who are engaged in His work, the Lord promises, "said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb 13:5). And again, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness" (Isa 41:10). It is ever true, "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength" (Isa 40:29).
This is the kind of word the Lord is sending to Zerubbabel. "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it." This word did not reflect a change in heaven, but reaffirmed a purpose that had already been determined by God. To put it another way, God was not saying He would merely make sure Zerubbabel would finish the work. Rather, Zerubbabel had started this work by the strength of God, and he would finish it in the same strength. This project was not Zerubbabel's project, but God's, The house they were building was not the governor's house, but the house of the lord.
God declares the word that goes forth from Him will not return to Him empty, "but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isa 55:11). His Word will be fulfilled, and rivers that come against it will be dried up.
As it is written of God, "Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, 'You shall be inhabited,' To the cities of Judah, 'You shall be built,' And I will raise up her waste places; Who says to the deep, 'Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers'; Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, 'You shall be built'" NKJV (Isa 44:26-28). The laying of the foundation of the Temple was a confirmation of that truth: "And to the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid'" NKJV (v 28b).
Notice, the promise of God does not say the work of Zerubbabel would finally be finished, but by someone else. It does not declare that another generation will pass before it is completed. No, "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it!"
Ezra records the fulfillment of this prophesy, declaring the builders prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah. "And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia" (Ezra 6:14).
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You for making known Jesus is the End as well as the Beginning, and the last as well as the First. In the name of Jesus, grant me the grace to be involved in what You are doing, and to believe what I begin by Your grace will also be completed.