When my brother was three, my parents bought him a “visible engine” for Christmas. The outer casing was clear plastic, so when you flipped the switch you could watch all the parts working inside. Within moments of receiving it, he had taken it all apart. When Mom saw what he’d done she sternly said, “Roy! How could you? Your father spent all night putting that together.” Roy held out a hand and said, “Just hand me the destructions!” He thought he could build it back together!
I’d heard this Bible verse for years, always thinking it was about battle. But it’s not about battle, it’s about building!
Brief backstory: finally consolidated under King David, within two generations Israel split into two nations: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Because of their idolatry, and all its concomitant sins, God sent prophets to both nations to call them back to their true faith in God and righteousness. But they did not repent, and in 722 B.C. Israel fell to Assyria and was exiled from their homeland; likewise Judah was defeated in 586 B.C. by Babylon. Jerusalem was captured, and the Temple of the LORD was razed to the ground. Marched over 1000 miles, the people go into captivity. Yet God promises that in seventy years they will return to their homeland. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the thrilling story of the exiles returning to rebuild their city, their homes, and the Temple of the LORD, right on the Temple Mount where Solomon had built the First Temple. But we pick up the story when the exiles are stalled out – they’ve built the Temple foundation, but nothing more. So Zechariah prophesies to them to rely not on their own strength for the building, but on the Holy Spirit. It’s about building, not battle!
Did you ever feel warn out in service? Weary in well-doing? I have. The exiles are exhausted and feel like they don’t have the strength to go on. But God promises that their human might, their human power is not what will get the job done. Lean into God. It is by His Holy Spirit that the building will be finished. As the first foundation stone was laid, so the final top stone will be placed to shouts of “Grace! Grace to it!” Because of the faithfulness of these returned exiles, Jesus Christ had a homeland into which He was born and the Temple in Jerusalem so that His own mission could be fulfilled. God’s long-term built-in planning prepared the way for salvation.
Prayer: Lord Holy Spirit, when I am weary remind me that You are working in me to finish every work to which You have called me. I don’t have to rely on my human might or my power, but I can fully lean into You for the spiritual strength to finish well. In Jesus name, amen.