On That Day

“‘On that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you.’”

Haggai 2:23

God was not finished with His message of grace. For the second time on that particular day He proclaimed His providence, His control of all things His: “I will shake…I will overturn…I will overthrow” (Haggai 2:21-22). And then to His servant Zerubbabel: “I will take you…and I will make you…for I have chosen you” (2:23). The future was in God’s hands.

To be like God’s signet ring was beyond Zerubbabel’s imagination. He was merely the governor, not the king. But then, he was in the lineage of David. His grandfather, Jehoiachin, was the last king of David’s line to sit on the throne in Judah, and he had lost God’s favor. In fact God had told Jehoiachin He would pull him off His finger if he were His signet ring (Jeremiah 22:24). Oh my!

You see, God had promised the Messiah, Jesus, would be in the lineage of David. And so the restoration of God’s authority to that lineage, pictured by God’s signet ring, was important. A signet ring guaranteed the authority and authenticity of a letter when pressed in soft wax on a written document, like a notary seal today. Of course, Jesus was God’s ultimate signet ring, ultimate authority: David through Zerubbabel to Jesus.

As the promise of Jesus was proclaimed loud and clear to Zerubbabel by Haggai, so too the future of the Almighty’s “On that day” prophecy resounds.

Spring has sprung forth with total abandonment of the laws of nature this year. Not the frost of January nor the rains of March had the nerve to deter the popping of the buds in my gardens and along the azalea trail. And my roses now bloom gloriously. The “He is risen” of Easter sunrise pulled me forward to “that day” in eternity in the unrivalled beauty of God’s heavenly garden.

Nancy P

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV Translation 1973, 1978, 1984, unless otherwise noted