COMPARING GLORIES: THE OLD AND THE NEW
Ezra 3:12 (NIV 1984) But many ...who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.
Haggai 2:9 (NIV 1984) ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty.
When God works in new ways it may have some similarities to the old, but it will probably be significantly different, and though different, it is still God. This causes a dilemma in the minds of believers. Do we praise God for the new thing He is doing, though it may seem less glorious to us, or do we mourn and weep at the memory of a past glory lost at the hands of sinful flesh, not unlike Israel in the context of this passage?
When the newly rebuilt temple’s foundation was laid there were those who compared it to the former glory of the original temple. Some were excited to get back what they once had. Others wept, felt discouraged and had a sense of loss because the new temple seemed small and less glorious than the original. These people no doubt were experiencing the pain of loss, doubts, questions, and certainly regret. They were comparing the present glory with the former glory, yet God was still gloriously present and at work in their midst. He was restoring. He was redeeming. He was giving them back what He took from them. It is a wonderful story of how God’s discipline was only for a season.
Let’s look at the historical context related to the rebuilding of the temple. Before the original temple was destroyed, Jeremiah had prophesied that Israel would be disciplined by God for 70 years, and this discipline would involve the Babylonian takeover and destruction of the temple. Years later, around the end of the 70 years, Daniel, a Jew living in Babylon under Babylonian rule, discovered this prophesy and began praying for its fulfillment (see Dan 9). By the way, it is presumption on our part to disengage because we think God is sovereign and will do what He wants regardless of our input, for God usually, if not always, involves His people in His mission and sovereign will. He even used a pagan king to accomplish His will - Cyrus, the Persian king to whom they were subject. He not only endorsed the rebuild of the temple, he even helped fund it. In fact, the Lord says that the glory of the new temple will actually be more glorious than the former one. God is comparing glories, but His assessment is different than the elderly Jews who were looking through natural eyes, and His estimations are always right. In a way the new work was the same, but different. It was different, but still God.
As Christians there are seasons where we lose some things. It is the nature of following Christ in a fallen world with a sinful flesh that occasionally lifts its ugly head, but God, in His mercy, restores. He give us the beauty of His restored presence for the ashes of our spiritual loss (Isa 61:3). The glory may seem less, yet underneath God is doing something new. He is giving us a glory that is less self promoting and embraces the humility and meekness that characterize a saint that has been refined by the storms of life. Do not despise the glorious work that the Spirit of God is doing in you right now, or even in your church. Though it may be the same in some ways, it will be different, and though it is different, it is still God.
