39. Two Prophets and a Temple

39. Two Prophets and a Temple - Notes

39. Two Prophets and a Temple - PP

We are now looking at the return and the restoration. Our focus is not on the history, however, but two individuals in particular who were part of the first return from Babylon – Haggai and Zechariah. The history we want, then, is that which places these two.

Haggai, like Elijah, just appears out of thin air, so to speak, with no reference to any background. For Zechariah, we are given his father and grandfather, Iddo, who also happened to be a prophet. On no basis whatever, Haggai seems older to me and Zechariah a bit younger.

Still Hesitant. These two men speak, one after the other, in the second year of the Persian King Darius (different from the Mede).

Specifically, the return had happened fifteen years earlier and the work had begun on the temple, but then Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, became king, and he was not favorable to the Jews. Then, when Cambyses died and Darius became king, the Jews in Jerusalem, led by Zerubbabel, who would have been king, but was now the governor, and Joshua the High Priest, were still hesitant about going back to work on the temple.

Let’s look, now, at the overall pattern of the restoration.

Timeline of the Restoration.
 

539	Daniel interprets writing on wall. Cyrus and Darius take power – Persia Daniel Prays – Psalm 126 Cyrus orders return and restoration	483	Ahasuerus rejects Vashti
		480	Greeks defeat Persians at Salamis Ahasuerus wants a new wife.
		479	Esther is chosen and becomes queen.
537	Daniel in the lion’s den	475	Birth of Nehemiah
536	First group returns, including Zerubbabel – the altar is restored – Psalm 87.	474	Haman plots, Esther intercedes Feast of Purim begins
535	Foundations of temple are laid	470	Birth of Socrates
529	Cyrus dies, Cambyses king, work suspended	458	Ezra returns, declares prayer and fasting Ezra calls for reform, national gathering
525	Cambyses conquers Egypt
522	Darius I becomes king of Persia	445	Nehemiah prepares, appointed governor
521	Haggai prophesies; work restored Zechariah prophesies; work opposed Darius re-asserts Cyrus’s order to restore	444	Nehemiah returns, wall is built Ezra reads law, Tabernacles celebrated
		432	Nehemiah returns, restores worship
517	Temple is completed	429	Birth of Plato
516	Temple is dedicated, Passover celebrated	397	Malachi prophesies God does not speak again until John B.
485	Ahasuerus/Xerxes begins rule

Disciples of Daniel? It is evident that both Haggai and Zechariah had been born in Babylon and grew up there under Daniel, who was usually the prime minister, that is, the first servant.

Could they both have been disciples of Daniel? We have no way of knowing, but consider Daniel and his heart for God’s people. It would be entirely in line with his character if he had, indeed, gathered the faithful of Israel in Babylon under his care. And those faithful likely would have included Zerubbabel and Joshua as well.

Let us make that assumption, then, that Daniel’s vision and heart was carried directly by these two prophets and the two leaders who were building the new temple.

The Time? We begin with Haggai. You see, it’s been a year and a half since Cambyses died, but his shadow still lay upon those who had returned.

In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, “Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.”’”

Someday, someday, but not now, not here, and not us.

Why Are They Thirsty? Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink.

Then we bring in Jesus’ words. “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into age-unfolding life” (John 4:13-14).

Those who remain in the holy place, but will not enter the Holiest, drink and are thirsty again, drink again and remain thirsty. WHY? Haggai tells us exactly why.

Because of My House! Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.”

The book of Haggai was a major definition for us in move of God community. Sam Fife was a worker and he sent us into the work. We were not compelled by the little man, but by the fear of the presence of God that was upon him. The people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the Lord.

Yet though we drank mightily, we remained thirsty.

For the Sake of His Church. Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.

I know thirst. – I no longer thirst. Why? Because rivers of Spirit are always flowing out of me, Christ in my mouth, and I have made my life to be nothing other than Father with me FOR THE SAKE of His Church. This is not some effort of mine, for I have none. Rather, it is the constant declaration of my faith. I never have to “get it right.” Jesus gets it right and He is all there is inside of me.

I do not thirst because I chose Father with me and I am full.

In Your Eyes as Nothing? ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’

Look at the Church today, at all who believe in Jesus across the earth. She is as nothing compared to Bible experiences. Notice, however, how Spirit comes out from Covenant.

What Does Father Want? I am as Haggai, and I call God’s people into Christian Community. – Let us be together the House of God.

What does Father want? – This is our only thought.

For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

Let the Church Be the Church! These words fill my heart and have always filled my heart, and I would speak them into God’s Church. Let the Church BE the Church!

Nothing found in the Bible will even come close to the revelation of Jesus Christ found in our day in His Church upon this earth. The House of God is Christian Community, brethren dwelling together in unity, loving one another with pure hearts fervently.

Let us depart from building our own house, our own ministry, our own survival, and let us build together a Home for our Father, that He might be Peace in the earth.

From This Day On. Haggai spoke in the sixth month and the seventh month, then Zechariah spoke in the eighth month.

Haggai spoke again in the ninth month. “Consider now from this day forward… from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid—consider it: …from this day I will bless you.” After that, we hear no more of him.

Zechariah saw his visions, however, in the eleventh month, so this was quite a flow of the Spirit of God among the people. I have known such intensity upon God’s people, such hearing, such moving of God that everyone runs into the work with joy.

Inside of Jesus Only. We want to turn now to the first several visions that Zechariah saw, in chapters one through four.

But first – Zechariah is quoted very often in the New Testament, but always inside the gospel and to the Church of Christ, for NOTHING is fulfilled outside of Jesus in us, His body, His visible form, the revelation of God. Even though Zechariah sounds very tribal, we never interpret him in that way, as Jesus said, “A natural fulfillment profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit and they are life.”

Zechariah’s words have nothing to do with anything happening in the Middle East today.

Terrified of Us. So long as the Church looks to a natural fulfillment, God is kept out of His House and away from our lives. And when we look at Zechariah’s first visions, we see that God is very angry with those who oppose His Church and keep her from living as the completion of Christ.

Yes, the opposition against faith in Jesus has done what God knew it would do, but now is the time for its destruction.

But the craftsmen are coming to terrify them. – We are the craftsmen, and those we are terrifying are the demons of Revelation 6 who prevent God’s people from knowing what is written upon their hearts.

To Measure Jerusalem. So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”

There is ONLY ONE measurement of Jerusalem, the Church of Jesus Christ, and here is that measurement.

The Church is His body, the fullness of Christ, that is, the full meaning that is Christ filling full all inside of all. – Until we all come down to the unity of the faith and acknowledgement of the Son of God, into being a complete or perfect man, into the measurement of the maturity of the fullness or completion of Christ (Ephesians 1:23 & 4:13).

A Wall of Fire. From the age of twenty, I have measured Christian Community everywhere I go. I see a Community of Christ in every little valley, in every green field, in every place I travel. I plan the dimensions of community, I envision the layout of its buildings, I see its people working together in joy.

“For I,’ says the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

Here is the FIRE and the GLORY Zechariah saw. – Inside of Whom [Fire] the whole building, being fitted together, is increasing into a temple, holy inside the Lord. Inside of Jesus, you also [the Glory] are being built together for a dwelling place of God inside the sphere of Spirit.

The Day of Atonement. It’s a declaration; it’s a calling forth. Let it be, as You say, Lord Jesus; it is so.

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!”

“I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘Everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree.” This is the Day of Atonement and the fulfillment of Tabernacles. This is the Day in which we live.

What Do You See? It is Zechariah 4, however, that I want to emphasize, for the time of its fulfillment is upon us. And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.”

I want you to place this picture of two olive trees deep inside your heart, not as an idea of your mind, but as a Spirit Word planted as Christ inside of you.

The angel then speaks a Word in-between the two parts of the vision, a Word equal to the ruling gospel verses.

By My Spirit. “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’” – Not by inward fortitude, nor by outward ability, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

“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.”

This is age-unfolding life, to KNOW Jesus Sent into you.

A Plumb Line. Jesus began the House of God on the Day of Pentecost when He entered into His Body. He completes that same House, now in our lives today, yet with a glory never before known upon this earth.

For who has despised the day of small things? – The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. We do not consider our smallness or the littleness of our prayers. God has set us as a plumb line for the building of His House. – Because we believe that He has.

How are we then to be the firstfruits of God for the sake of His Church? How are we to be the olive trees that send the oil of God into today’s Christianity?

What Are These? And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?” Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” So he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”

The two anointed ones. – We are not looking for demigods or super-Christ-ness or any such rot.

The LEAST inside of Jesus is greater than anything seen in the Old Testament. Is this not Christ Jesus? And is He not all that there is inside of you?

Call God as IN. Let me now share, just a bit, what God is showing me, a knowing of our present reality that is brand new to me.

When we say, “Call God through our hearts and into our world,” that is an action of faith. And God has exercised us in a simple faith in His word over several years. Very simply – Believe you have already received. Thus we say, “God is come into my world through me. – God is Love in-between me and __________.” Fill in the blank with every specific thing, circumstance, and person.

We do not thing in terms of God in general, but a knowledge of God as a living bubble or plasmoid of LIFE, we might say.

Call Forth Christ as Complete. Or we could use Zechariah’s vision, “God is come through me as PURE OIL into this situation or into this person.” And then we see God, here, inside His creation, as that specific OIL that is transforming our world through our faith that He is.

Rise and measure the sanctuary [the place of divine abode and manifestation], and [measure] the altar, and those worshipping inside of it… And I will give to My two witnesses and they will prophesy… (Revelation 11:2-3).

Measure Jerusalem and call forth the Completion of Christ. This task will show itself further in Symmorphy VI: Mankind.

Reading for Next Time. The next lesson is titled “Esther and Compassion.” Esther was chosen because she had compassion on a fearful tyrant. We are chosen because we have compassion on our Father, that He would win all the Desire of His Heart.

For next time, read the book of Esther. – “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” – “I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

If I have entered boldly into the Holiest, it is because Esther’s word has been my heart for forty years, and because I never imagine that my place here is for any other purpose than for God’s Church in her hour of greatest need.

Let’s Pray Together. When we see God now come through us inside our world, we are seeing something very different from a God who is All Here Now. We are seeing God Love in-between us and all else as far more immediate and dynamic and real than we have ever known.
“Father, we live here always inside Your presence, yet with great purpose, for we stand unmovable for the sake of Your heart, for the completion of Christ in the earth, which is Christ Community, Your dwelling place forever.

“Father, we ask You to fulfill Your desire in our lives.

Christ Community. “Father, build Your house, let us be Your living stones and Your willing hands. Use our lives and our resources that You might have a dwelling place here on this planet, that You might be free to be Yourself inside all heaven-earth.

“Father, we measure Your city, Jerusalem, out over the whole of heaven-earth, that all our inheritance might be filled with Your glory.

“Father, build Your house, bring forth Christ Community for Your sake. Establish us in those places You have chosen for each one of us. Father, the silver and the gold are Yours, and the land belongs to us. Give us, O Father, that place where Christ faithful and true might be known.

Energeo as Love. “Father, we acknowledge and speak that You have entered our world out from our hearts, that Your knowledge is now among men in such a living force that has not been known.

“We acknowledge that You now Energeo as Love between us and all circumstances and people in our lives, even between us and ourselves. Father, we see You as living Fire, Your knowledge in the earth, surrounding us in every direction as we gather together in community, as You are All-Love among us.

“Father, for Your sake, for the Desire of Your innermost Heart, be the completion of Christ through us.”