This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (Jeremiah 25:11)
At the conclusion of the 70 years, the Jews were permitted by Cyrus, the king of Persia, to return to their land to “rebuild the house of the Lord” (Ezra 1:1-5). The construction began with the laying of the foundation in 535 B.C. only to be halted in 530 B.C. by the Samaritan inhabitants of the land contesting the legal right of the Jews to rebuild the temple. This was resolved and construction resumed in 520 B.C. and completed in 515 B.C.
The New Temple
You would expect that there would be universal appreciation for this new temple as it represented a new beginning for the Jewish people after their 70 years of foreign captivity. Yet not all were enthusiastic about this new edifice—and the discontent began even at the laying of the foundation.
Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away. (Ezra 3:12–13)
The Lord reassured Zechariah of the temple’s completion and of those who would be dissatisfied:
The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? (Zechariah 4:9–10a)
Despising the Day of Small Things
The intention of this study is to focus on this phrase: ‘despising the day of small things,’ and to ask the question: What does the Lord mean by this?
But first, two things need to be clarified at this point:
First, the answer to this question is found in the Ezra 3:12 (noted above).
Ryrie notes that at the day the foundation was laid “[M]any older men who remembered the grandeur of Solomon's Temple (destroyed about 50 years before) wept because this Temple was smaller and less magnificent.”1
The Lord, speaking through His prophet Haggai, knew the sentiment of those who despised the new temple as “nothing in comparison” to the former temple (Haggai 2:3).
Secondly, a fuller sense is needed of the word ‘despise’. With additional illumination from the Hebrew lexicon, the term is defined as showing contempt “to the point of rejection.”2 The thrust of this verb within this context describes the status quo—the state of being—of those who had returned from captivity. This emphasizes that their mentality is fixed upon demonstrating contempt towards this new temple.
Why, after 70 years of captivity and having been brought back to the land, would they now have contempt for this new temple edifice? Because their faith in the Lord was shallow. They are more concerned with architecture than in the faithfulness of God and His promises, even ignoring the Lords promise proclaimed through His prophet Haggai while the temple was being constructed:
“I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the Lord of hosts. “The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,” declares the Lord of hosts. “The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,” says the Lord of hosts, “and in this place I will give peace,” declares the Lord of hosts. (Haggai 2:7–9)
The Application for Us Today
Are there any despised matters in our Christian life today? Do we fret that our church building is not a magnificent structure with all the bells and whistles (Jumbotrons, escalators, music, baristas, etc.) in order to appeal, entice and satisfy those in padded pews, like the church down the street? How about our personal status? Do we despise the fact that our standing is smaller than and not as prominent as another Christian worker: preacher, Sunday school teacher, missionary or professor?
The feeling of having a small church building or being a small and insignificant person is tantamount to contempt for God’s plan for our lives. Francis Schaeffer succinctly puts this issue into perspective:
The Scripture emphasized that much can come from little if the little is truly consecrated to God. There are no little people and no big people in the true spiritual sense, but only consecrated and unconsecrated people...as there are no little people in God’s sight, so there are no little places. To be wholly committed to God in the place where God wants him—this is the creature glorified. In my writing and lecturing I put much emphasis on God’s being the infinite reference point...but He must be the reference point not only in our thinking, but in our living. This means being what He wants me to be, where He wants me to be.3
What Schaeffer means by consecrated is that of a Christian who is dedicated to serving God by being led by the Holy Spirit. The solution to this is to stop fixating on people and things and instead to seek our directive from Scripture. This despising and contempt is a violation of the commands which we have been given to be content in what we have:
Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
And to be content with our position in God’s plan, just as the apostle Paul learned to be:
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. (Philippians 4:11-12)
And what gave Paul the resolve to be content? When he realized that he needed the Lord’s enabling:
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
Transformation and Renovation Needed
We should never despise or disparage what may seem to be a "small" place in God's plan. Instead we should rely upon Christ’s strength to help us adjust to whatever situation He places us. Paul tells us that this adjustment can be obtained by the renovating work of His word:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)
What Paul is implying by the command—do not be conformed to this world—is that we should not think as the world (i.e. the culture) does with human viewpoint reasoning. We should always defer to Divine viewpoint contained in Scripture. Therefore, it is imperative that we renew our mind and this necessitates a daily regimen of studying His Word. Its importance to our lives is just as Our Lord stated while refuting Satan:
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)
Only by this approach can we be
contented with our position in His plan and to become a fully enabled witness of
the gospel, glorifying Christ.
[1] Ryrie, C.C. (1995). Ryrie Study Bible, Chicago, IL: Moody, p. 726 Note, Ezra 3:12.
[2] Martens, E. A. (1999). R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.). Chicago: Moody Press, [213 בּוּז] p. 95.
[3] Schaeffer, Francis A. (1985). “No Little People,” The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 3.8-9
© 2022 David M. Rossi
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