The Glory of Small Beginnings

Zechariah 4:8-10

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to me: ⁹"Zerubbabel’s hands have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you. ¹⁰For who scorns the day of small things? These seven eyes of the LORD, which scan throughout the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand."

Zerubbabel was the appointed governor of Judah. He was appointed, I presume, by Darius, the Assyrian king who had defeated the Babylonians. He was a contemporary of Ezra the scribe, Nehemiah the king’s cupbearer, and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. He was governor when the deported Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity.

God commanded Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple. It was a bittersweet time for the Hebrews. It was sweet because they were back in their homeland and rebuilding the temple of the LORD. It was bitter because the temple they built was no comparison to the glorious edifice Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed.

Zerubbabel laid the foundation of the new temple. Look at what the Lord said: “For who scorns the day of small things?” There were some who looked at the outline of the new temple contemptuously. It was so small compared to it’s predecessor. They scorned it.

Are we guilty of the same shameful thing? Do we also scorn small things? We look at small beginnings contemptuously. “It doesn’t amount to much!”

But we look at the appearances of things. We see only the outside of the matter. God sees the result, and He rejoices. Great things usually have very small beginnings. The main thing is not the size of the building or the marketing or the crowd, but the blessing of the Lord! Do not scorn small things!!