Equipping Leaders
| Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: "I am with you," declares the LORD. So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius. (Haggai1:13-15) |
We need to bear in mind that the return to Palestine after the exile had not been as glorious and victorious as the Israelites had hoped. Instead of being faithful to God, they had focused on material things, they'd neglected the vulnerable and the marginalised and had dishonoured the Sabbath.
The consequences of this were a disjointed and dispirited society where city walls and temple were slow to be rebuilt. But God used Nehemiah, Ezra and the prophets to address the nation.
Among these prophets are Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi who challenge the Israelites about their priorities, the importance of justice and even their use of money. But these prophets also talk about how God is concerned with the leaders.
Both Haggai and Zechariah single out Joshua and Zerubbabel. In Zechariah we find the beautiful visions of Joshua in dirty clothes who is cleansed and restored by the Angel of the Lord (Jesus) and the vision of the trees and the lamp and the message to Zerubbabel: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit."
When it comes to the restoration of society, leaders matter.
Use some of your Lent time to pray for our nation and the "kings" and "priests" around you.
Pray that God would stir up their spirits, renew them and empower them...
