The remnant of God’s people that returned to the Promised Land after their release from captivity in Babylon were given a second chance to be a part of the work that God was doing to save the world. The rebuilding of God’s temple in Jerusalem was just the first step in getting his plan back on track. God wanted to completely restore his relationship with his people, but in order to do that, the Messiah had to be born. The prophet Haggai was sent to tell the people that things would get better if they would do what God told them to. Their first priority had to be God’s work (Haggai 1:9). In response to his message, it says in Haggai 1:12, “Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son Josedech the high priest, with the remnant of 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 did fear before the LORD.”

The significance of the people’s response was twofold. First, they took action. “They came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God” (Haggai 1:14). Work on the rebuilding project had probably been stopped for more than a decade. The only things that were in place were the temple’s foundation and an altar for making sacrifices (Ezra 3:3,11). If the people didn’t do something, the temple would never be completed. So, they started working again. Secondly, the people adjusted their attitudes. When it says “the people did fear before the LORD” (Haggai 1:12), it means that the people recognized the power and position of God and rendered him proper respect (3372). Another way of saying it would be that the people realized God was angry with them and they admitted that they were in the wrong. The people began to take responsibility for their future and do what was expected of them.

Something God’s people needed to understand was that it wasn’t enough for them to just live in the Promised Land. They had to cooperate with God in executing his plan of salvation. Whereas before, they could expect God to bless them because they were his people, now there were stipulations to God’s covenant. The second chance God was giving them did not entitle them to his blessing, but guaranteed they would receive it, if they did what he told them to. The guarantee being the birth of Jesus Christ, their Messiah. God told his people, “from this day will I bless you” (Haggai 2:19). Then he placed his seal, perhaps the Holy Spirit, upon Zerubbabel, who was a descendant of King David and likely the rightful heir to his throne. What we know from the genealogy of Jesus is that Zerubbabel was the missing link that reconnected the Messiah back to Abraham after the captivity in Babylon (Matthew 1:12).