Haggai and Zechariah: Rebuilders of the Temple [Series showing the progressive unfoldment of the Christ, Truth, throughout the Scriptures] Cyrus' conquest of Babylon in 538 B.C. forms a great landmark in the history of the Hebrews. It freed them from their long Chaldean bondage, being followed by royal permission to return to their native land. Thus preparation was made for a new era in the work of Israel's prophets, associated in its early stages with the names of Haggai and Zechariah. Cyrus was originally ruler of the small kingdom of Anshan, but by 549 B.C. he had become king of Media, and soon won over the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor, defeating its fabulously rich king, Croesus, and seizing his capital, Sardis. The conquest of Media to the north and east of Babylon led Second Isaiah to announce in the Lord's name, presumably concerning Cyrus, "I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name" (Isa. 41:25). During the first year of Cyrus' sovereignty over Babylon, the book of Ezra records (1:1, 2), "The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia" so that he published a decree to this effect: "The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." According to Ezra the cooperation and generosity of King Cyrus led to the arrival of more than forty-two thousand Jewish folk in Jerusalem (see Ezra 2:64). Thus the way opened for rebuilding their temple and restoring its sacred vessels stolen by Nebuchadnezzar some sixty years before Cyrus' decree (see Ezra 1:7-11). The prophet Haggai, in his opening chapter, explains the problems faced in 520 B.C. by the two men in charge of the building operations, namely Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and Joshua the priest, the son of Josedech. The people were complaining that this was far from being a suitable time to commence such a sizable project (see Hag. 1:2). Conditions of drought and lack in general were all too prevalent. Why should the breadwinner be expected to contribute to the temple fund? Perhaps later but not now! ... In a series of vivid verses Haggai sets forth the situation facing his associates in this emergency. "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts," the prophet reported. "This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. . . . Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?.. Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes" (1: 2-6). The prophet's message continues with a command to proceed with the work and an explanation of the people's poverty. History provides few details regarding the prophet Haggai, although he may have been one of the few remaining elder citizens who could remember the beauty and glory of Solomon's temple before its destruction. "Who is left among you," asks Haggai, "that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison... as nothing?" (2:3.) Haggai's prophecy covers a period of less than four months within a single year 520 B.C.-during the reign of Darius, and its four brief sections are carefully dated. They comprise but two short chapters, dealing with the challenge of reconstruction. Haggai's work and teaching center around a specific historical situation. His primary mission was to see that the people rebuilt the temple at Jerusalem (see 1:8). His insight grasped the unspoken questionings of the people, making it clear to them that their poverty and want were due to their neglect of God's work, while conversely, attention to that God-appointed work would bring prosperity. Haggai dealt effectively with discouragement and depression, bidding his hearers to be strong and banish fear because God was with them (see 2:4, 5). In the equivalent of November, 520 B.C., about two months after Haggai's brief mission began, he was followed by Zechariah. Both men carried on their work in the same general circumstances, encouraging the restoration of the temple at Jerusalem, although both encountered opposition in doing so. The name Zechariah means literally "Yahweh remembers"-a name he might be proud to bear, for it would remind him. that God supported his mission. Zechariah, both a priest and a prophet, was strongly influenced by Ezekiel. Evidently he wrote only the first eight chapters of the book that bears his name, for in Chapters 9 to 14 there is a sudden change of style, method, and environment, showing that these chapters must date from some two centuries later. The first eight chapters definitely refer to or imply the rebuilding of the temple; the last six make no mention of it. In the opening verses of his book, Zechariah, as Haggai had done, deals with the discouragement and apathy of the men who had recently begun to rebuild the temple, and as so many of the earlier prophets had done, he sees in penitence the necessary solution to their problem: "Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 1:3). Repeatedly their ancestors had ignored. this prophetic message. "Your fathers," Zechariah asks, "where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?" (Verse 5.) But nothing could ever happen to God's Word. Disobedience still brings inevitable punishment. God's demand is changeless and eternal. "Be ye not as your fathers," cries the prophet, for "they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord" (verse 4). In the second section of this first chapter, Zechariah begins to record a series of apocalyptic visions interpreted to him by God through angelic messengers. One of these angels encouraged the prophet by assuring him that God had by no means forgotten or ignored the holy city. "I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it. . . . My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad" (verses 16, 17). In a further vision, as Zechariah reports in the second chapter of his book, appeared "a man with a measuring line," apparently checking on the expansion of the holy city, only to learn that "Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls." The Lord Himself will be to Zion "a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her" (2:1, 4, 5). It is Zechariah who stresses the hopes of his people concerning the coming of the Messiah-termed the "BRANCH" (Zech. 3:8; 6:12) here as in other Biblical passages (Isa. 4:2; 11:1; Jer. 23:5; 33:15). John, in Revelation, apparently attributed great significance to the visions in Zechariah, especially the candlestick and the two olive trees (compare Zech. 4:11-14 and Rev. 11:3, 4). Moreover, Zechariah joyously affirmed the coming of the Messianic age, in which promise of prosperity, safety, and the res toration of true religion would be fulfilled: "Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain" (Zech. 8:3). THOMAS L. LEISHMAN "1 Three months after Moses led the children of Israel across the Red Sea, God told him to say to them, "If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests.' This is mentioned again in Revelation where John refers to Jesus Christ as "him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God." 2 وو Occasionally when important matters are to be decided by a church membership, or when an election for church offices is to be held, someone in the membership has the attitude of being close enough to God to be absolutely directed as to what should be done or who should be elected. When such an individual manages to circulate one of these "right" decisions, the remainder of the membership is given the choice of following the so-called guidance or voting in opposition to God. Such behavior is nothing short of mental malpractice. The practice of Christian Science enables one to realize his relationship to God as his own Mind, to commune with that Mind and be guided by it. Malpractice undermines that ability and causes one to believe that he must lean on another. Right practice inspires individuals to understand God as their intelligence, their source of wisdom, the truth of their being. The propagation of the belief that one person can be an intermediary between God and anyone, wherever fostered, opposes individual growth in Christian Science. Right decisions are important to the progress of a Church of Christ, Scientist. But such decisions can come only as a result of each member's humble search for divine wisdom. And divine wisdom is not itself a human decision-never whether or not a piece of property should be purchased, a new organ installed, or a change made in the hours of services, or even whether Mr. A or Mrs. B shall be elected Reader. Divine wisdom is concerned only with the spiritual ideas known to infinite Mind, and these ideas are revealed only through individual prayer and communion with Mind. To work mentally with realization of the individual's conscious unity with Mindtherefore his limitless capacity to gain guidance through communion with Mind-is to work for a right decision. To work mentally or otherwise to influence the decisions of others on the basis of one member's better communion with Mind is to work against a right decision. A right decision is one that all the members are ready to make. If one feels that he is far ahead spiritually and sees more clearly what is right in a certain case, he can test his spiritual advancement by showing his trust in the di vine Mind to guide all members to find and take the step they are ready to take without the mediation of another person. And that trust may well lead one to give up his cherished belief that he is right and see that the rightness of Mind is demonstrated by the meekness of each member, including himself, before the one Mind. Then the vote of the majority of the members may or may not be very different from the opinion of this one individual, but it will be right because through the prayerful effort of each member the spiritual idea of man's unity with Mind will have been expressed. Every right decision is made in line with the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy, which states, "In Christian Science each branch church shall be distinctly democratic in its government, and no individual, and no other church shall interfere with its affairs." 3 What does a branch church membership do when one member claims to have a corner on divine guidance? In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mrs. Eddy says of such thinking: "The pride of priesthood is the prince of this world."4 And the words of Jesus, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in as the Father gave me comme. But. mandment, even so I do."5" When individual members rule out of themselves as they have divine power to do any influence that would belittle their own capacity to be guided by Mind, the limitless possibilities for constructive, fruitful activity by a branch church begin to appear. And in every business meeting and every election all are united and agreed that the exercise of orderly democratic processes under church bylaws is the demonstration of God's plan for His idea, man. The act of participating in a church business meeting or election need not be thought of as something apart from the healing activity of the church. Actually the healing effectiveness of the church depends upon the kind of mental activity that goes on within the membership. And if this mental activity is carried on in full recognition of each member's holy relationship to the one Mind, the mental effect must extend to the church community the holy influence of the consciously realized relationship of individual man to God. Every moment, therefore, of weighing the pros and cons of a business matter or of seeking light on the election of officers can be a moment of conscious recognition of God as infinite Mind and of man as Mind's intelligent idea. As this recognition becomes evident in the honor each member gives to each other member as one of the priests in Mind's kingdom, the mental influence for good in the community will be felt, and it will attract to the church those who need what the church is giving. 5 CARL J. WELZ 1 Ex. 19:5, 6; 2 Rev. 1:5, 6; 3 Man., Art. XXIII, Sect. 10; 4 Science and Health, p. 270: John 14:30, 31. Expanding Our Sense of Man Christian Science shows us that man's potential is infinitely greater than that of the fallible mortal we see walking around. We learn how to reassess our identity in new, spiritual terms by relating it to God, divine Mind, as its source. Making this reassessment takes some doing because the limited material evidence regarding man seems so utterly convincing. But this false testimony can be shaken, and the process must be started by first learning more of the allness, the infinitude, of the real man's creative Principle, omnipotent, omnipresent Mind. Mrs. Eddy makes this clear. She writes, "We know no more of man as the true divine image and likeness, than we know of God."1 We need have no fear that we will lose anything of real value when we begin looking beyond the material body and brain for evidences of the real you and me. The more we know of God and of man's inseparable unity with Him, the more our native joy, infinite capacities, and impregnable health will come to light. Human experience will improve in every department, for there is nothing abstract about Truth. Christian Science teaches that all limitation begins with a belief in the reality of matter. It uncovers the counterfeit nature of this belief and shows the whole of material existence to be a mortally mental illusion, the subjective expression of material thinking. This fact extends to all departments of so-called material life-the physical body, its environment, and the detailed and multitudinous events and circumstances that affect human happiness and progress. As we learn to reject the limitations of matter, the Christly nature of the real man comes to light. We see that he is the spiritual son of God forever at one with the boundless Mind that conceives him, reflecting its harmony and capacities. This new view deeply affects the human mind, and its phenomena, called body, job, home, companionship, begin to improve. This is the true thought expansion that positively affects the various facets of human experience and leads step by step to a closer approximation of the limitless good that is man's birthright. Mrs. Eddy writes, "God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis." And further on she adds, "The human capacities are enlarged and perfected in proportion as humanity gains the true conception of man and God." 1 Man's real consciousness is as infinite as its source, the All-Mind. We must prayerfully affirm and contemplate this fact, joyfully acknowledge it in everything we do, and begin the process of pushing out our mental borders to approximate closer and closer what we really are. Godlike qualities such as love, wisdom, purity, and integrity are boundless in scope, and by entertaining and expressing them in daily life we spiritualize and expand our outlook. We gradually come to see that these infinite qualities are the fabric of our real being. They are God's thoughts, the Spirit-substance of which we are made. Christ Jesus used a simple analogy to show Nicodemus the unconfined nature of real spiritual selfhood. He said, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." 2 It was because Jesus had so separated his sense of man from material limitations that he was able to master sin, disease, and death quickly and positively. His healing work was instantaneous because he held consistently to the infinite idea of God and man. He rejected the circumscribed. disease-producing belief that man is an or |