it is the presence
of God. His name reveals the immensity of His power, who commands all
the armies of heaven, angels, or stars, and to whom the forces of the
universe are as the ordered ranks of His disciplined army; and who is,
moreover, the Captain of earthly hosts, ever giving victory to those who
are His 'willing soldiers in the day of His power.' It is not vain to
bid a man be strong, if you can assure him that God is with him. Unless
you can, you may save your breath.

Here is the temper for all Christian workers. Let them realise the duty
of strength; let them have recourse to the Fountain of strength; let
them mark the purpose of strength, which is 'work,' as Haggai puts it so
emphatically. We have nothing to do with the magnitude of what we may be
able to build. It may be very poor beside the great houses that greater
ages or men have been able to rear. But whether it be a temple brave
with gold and cedar, or a log, it is our business to put all our
strength into the task, and to draw that strength from the assurance
that God is with us.

The difficulties connected with the translation of verse 5 need not
concern us here. For my purpose, the general sense resulting from any
translation is clear enough. The covenant made of old, when Israel came
from an earlier captivity, is fresh as ever, and God's Spirit is with
the people; therefore they need not fear. 'Fear ye not' is another of
the well-meant exhortations which often produce the opposite effect from
the intended one. One can fancy some of the people saying, 'It is all
very well to talk about not being afraid; but look at our feebleness,
our defencelessness, our enemies; we cannot but fear, if we open our
eyes.' Quite true; and there is only one antidote to fear, and that is
the assurance that God's covenant binds Him to take care of me. Unless
one believes that, he must be strangely blind to the facts of life if he
has not a cold dread coiled round his heart and ever ready to sting.

The Prophet rises into grand predictions of the glory of the poor house
which the weak hands were raising. Verses 6-9 set things invisible over
against the visible. In general terms the Prophet announces a speedy
convulsion, partly symbolical and partly real, in which 'all nations'
shall be revolutionised, and as a consequence, shall become Jehovah's
worshippers, bringing their treasures to the Temple, and so filling the
house with glory. This shall be because Jehovah is th