A Man for Us All
Haggai seems well aware that when you cannot defeat your enemy you don’t necessarily have to join him, and certainly not to sell your soul to him. Despite their Persian context there is no evidence that the stories of Daniel were around in Haggai’s day but their subject matter seems to relate to that period, and their proximity to Ezra-Nehemiah in the Jewish canon suggests that those responsible for writing them and putting them there saw their relevance to Haggai’s world.
One possibility is that they are a later expression of a different way of life that Haggai was feeling after; a world where a different starting point leads to a different terminus (conclusion) with an emphasis on conviction and commitment rather than achievement. A world in which what you achieve may be of secondary importance to how you achieve it, summed up by Grantland Rice (b 1880), writing in Alumnus Football, when he says, ‘For when the One Great Scorer comes/To write against your name/He marks — not that you won or lost—/But how you played the game’.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are not prepared to put their trust in human efforts or powers. They have no doubt whatsoever about the power of their God to deliver them, but they are not fools and they are no stargazers. They know he can. They are not sure that he will. So wherein lies their faith and conviction?
Possibly in the fact that they had a clear understanding of the prophetic view of history — at times God may appear to lose or to let you down but not in the end. Qualities such as love, truth, justice and righteousness are self-perpetuating whatever happens around them. They have been there from the beginning of time. They will still be there at the end of time. And that is true even if I sometimes feel like the fall guy on the road of life.
From our limited vantage point we may not always see it clearly. Sometimes we may not see it at all. But to believe in it is to have some hope and strength to persist (stand firm). Haggai’s date is unimportant, as are the place and the precise circumstances. He is a man for us all and his message is universal.