Haggai 2:4b: “Be strong all you people of the land, saith the Lord, and work for I am with you saith the Lord of Host.”
“Work is love made visible, and if you cannot work with love only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms from those who work with joy.” – Kahlil Gibran
Haggai was a prophet to the people who had returned to Jerusalem from captivity under the Persian King Cyrus and were preparing to rebuild the temple. God told them to get to work because He was with them. There is nothing odd about that statement in modern English. Obviously when God said to get to work He was referring to the building of the temple. God did not tell the people to labor, to stay busy, or even build the temple because he said, “I am with you” to ashah (work). Every English translation renders ashah as work. When we think of work, we think of toil, sweat, labor, etc. Yet to say ashah (work), “I am with you” suggest something a bit different. “I am with you.” is ani itikem.
I asked ashah (work) to come out of my Hebrew Bible so we could have a little chat. Ashah (spelled Ayin, Shin, and Hei) stepped out of my Hebrew Bible dressed in blue jeans and hard hat asking what I wanted as they busy. “Busy doing what?” I asked. They simply replied,“Working.” “Working at what?” I questioned. Ayin, Shin and Hei (Ashah) looked at each other, scratched their heads and said, “Not sure.” Suddenly I hear some singing, “Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s off to work we go, we dig up diamonds by the score, a thousand rubies sometimes more, we don’t know what we dig them for, we dig, dig dig.” I looked up and saw seven rather short in stature Hebrew letters, all with hard hats, shovels and pick axes, marching out of Haggai 2:4. They were letters Aleph, Nun Yod, Aleph, Taw, Kap and Mem (ani itikem – I am with you).
I looked to Ashah and ask: “Where are they going and why do they question the reason for digging up diamond and rubies? Ashah replied by saying: “They are headed for your Daleth to go beyond your Looking Glass, why don’t we follow them and see” “If you don’t mind,” I responded, “I think I will sit this one out, this dream is getting too out of hand as it is.” “Suite yourself” said Ashah, “But if some cosmetically challenged woman comes around offering you an apple, don’t eat it.” “On second thought, I’m right behind you,” I told Ashah.
We marched behind the Looking Glass and entered a mining shaft. There in the mine shaft all the little seven Hebrew letters (ani itikem – I am with you) joined with Ayin, Shin, Hei (work) and started work mining huge diamonds and rubies. They encouraged me to join them but I said I had no use for such things because if I even tried to sell one of those diamonds or rubies I would be questioned as to where I found such gems of such size and when I tell them, they will put me in a place where they put people who say they follow little Hebrew letters through a mirror into some parallel universe.
So, I just sat back and watched these little vertically challenged Hebrew letters work all day in the mine shaft until they had a substantial pile of diamonds and rubies dug up. After finishing for the day they all sat around admiring their work. I asked them what they were going to do with all their diamonds and rubies and they looked at me blankly. The Ayin (spiritual insight) spoke for the whole group and said they really have no need for diamonds and rubies in their world. In shock I said: “You mean to tell me you worked all day digging for diamonds and rubies but they have no value to you?” I turn to Ashah (work) and scolded him saying: “What kind of Ashah (work) are you anyways? You could have spent this time building houses, bridges, planting crops, or any number of things to better yourselves, instead you waste all your time digging up worthless diamonds and rubies.” Ashah (work) simply shrugged his shoulders and said: “We just spell the word work, we do not specify what king of work. We are under contract to Ani Ithikem (I am with you).” Then Ayin from Ashah (work) said: “I, as the Ayin (spiritual insight and discernment) insure that no work that is undertaken is not taken without my first giving the task deep discernment. The next letter to Ashah (work), the Shin explained that he provides the fiery passion to the work. Finally the last letter in Ashah (work) the Hei (God’s breathe and presence) insures that the work of God does not move forward without his presence.
“Ok,” I say: “Ashah merely means work that commences only after deep spiritual insight (Ayin), and performed with a fiery passion (shin) and under the power of the presence of God. But what is the nature of this Ashah (work)?
I turn toward Ani (Aleph and Nun which means I) and they just shrugged their shoulders and said: “Don’t look at us.” Aleph in ani (I) said, “I just represent God.” Nun just looked at me as said, “I just represent faith.” We simply approach the task with faith in God. Talk to Ithikem (with you) here, they are the ones who know why we spend all day digging for worthless jewels. I look at the Kap and Mem of Ithikem (with you) and they respond: “Don’t ask us (Kap and Mem) we’re just the pronoun. Check out our neighbors Aleph and Taw (ith – with). I look at Aleph and Taw (with) and ask: “Why are you making everyone work for something that has no earthly value?” With that Alep Taw (with) instructed us all to step outside and when we did Alep and Taw joined hands and sudden they spread from left to right as far as the eye could see and just quickly returned. The Alep said I am the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and Taw is the last letter. Together we represent eternity. In Haggai 2:4 when you have the combination of the words Ashah Ani Ithikem (work for I am with you) in Hebrew what we are saying is that when God is with you, you are working for eternal values not earthly temporary values. The building of the temple in Haggai was a work of eternal value. Those diamonds and gems that we just dug up may have no present value but they do have eternal value.
As I made my way back to the Looking Glass I thought of the people of Israel. Their first task upon return from exile was not to build their earthly homes but to build the house of God because God was with them. Their first order of business was to build a house of eternal value.
I thought of all the works that I have been doing, all the time asking God to be with me, and yet I saw no earthly result. My friends in from the Hebrew Alphabet were reminding me that when I truly ask God to be with me, I may very well see no earthly result. For if God is with me my focus would be on eternal values not earthly values. I may see an earthly result or I may not, that is not important. What is important is that whatever I do with God at my side, it will have eternal value.
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