Nougat 2

Headlines and life getting you down? Take a nibble at today’s Holy Nougat, for a lift in your Spirits.

“‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all!” ‭‭Haggai‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The entire book of Haggai speaks to God’s call to rebuild the ancient ruins, the Temple. In ch 1, the message came – ‘Why do you live in luxurious homes and my house lay in ruins?’ – a stark contrast to David (2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 28), who desired to build the First Temple, but was refused. Instead, the temple was in ruins, as if proving that the Children of Israel had lost everything.

The icon of God’s anointing upon the people, Israel lay in ruins. Their ‘chosenness’ was fully questionable as many had been carted off to Babylon in exile and all was in tatters. Hope was all but gone, and it seemed there was nothing to live for. and though they had been warned countless times by Jeremiah of the 70-year exile, it caught them by surprise, for other prophets had said it was not to be.

Who to believe? What to believe? Those were probably two concerns for a people fast losing Faith in that season. Some were no longer losing Faith, their Faith was long gone. Those living as exiles in Babylon could not find their song (Psalm 137). They felt defeated, dejected and rejected – the God of Hosts, their Refuge, seemed to have deserted them.

I suspect that many believers are looking at the empty temples dotting the landscapes of our nations. Despite the glory and pride of place they once had, many are empty as the peoples have not returned (for the most part) to churches in the aftermath of Covid-19 lockdown measures. And, even where the temples are filled, the wanton disregard for human life has left many reeling. Some, confronted by the stark realities of rape, violence, crime, and economic instability have lost Hope. Others, caught literally in the crossfires of wars, are trying to discern Who God is and Why God seems so silent.

And sometimes, we have to sit in those uncomfortable spaces if we are to figure out the full measure of our Faith.

Further, we have to discern whether God is silent, or if there’s too much noise around that prevents us from hearing.

Maybe it is the cacophony of the different ruins of our own lives, all that we have invested in – gone. The plans we once had are like the ruins of the ‘ancient’ temple, and the icon of Who we are – has been destroyed. Possibly, it’s the ashes of death of loved ones, of terminal illnesses (Yesterday was World AIDS DAy for example), of suicides, of drug use and abuse in our immediate relationships and we are suffering from emotional fatigue or plain burn out, having tried to cope with all that’s happened in these intense times. Probably it’s all of that and more … and our memories of ‘the way we were’ is all but totally obliterating our ability to live; and to live this moment.

God doesn’t just ask us to draw back the curtains to the successes of yesteryear. God isn’t really asking us to return to the way things used to be.

The Word from Haggai indicates that God wants us to look, to compare and anticipate.

Yes, anticipate

The nougat ends – ‘it must Seem like nothing at all. The introduction of the word Seem is for all of us a game-changer. For it indicates that all is not quite what all can see. Or, as my aunt would say ‘is not how it look, it is!’ Something is changing, the tides are turning. Rebuilding the temple isn’t about returning to the former glory – it is about re-imagining and re-establishing Hope in the One Who is able to Keep Us and Who Prevents us from Falling … into Despair, Depression, Dejection, Burn out, and Hopelessness (see Jude 1:24-25). The One Who places Streams in the Desert places (Isaiah 43:19), Who never leaves nor forsakes us (Deuteronomy 31:8); Who is with us always (Matthew 28:20).

Yes, we remember the house, the temple, the former things. But more so, we place our Hope in the One Whose birth we commemorate round about this time every year (knowing that it’s not the date we remember, but the Hope it brings as we anticipate his bodily return) knowing that our nothing becomes something when our Hope is renewed in Him. Yes, Jesus is our Living Hope.

—

May all we seek be found in Christ