Haggai 2

Verse 1-9: 

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God had called his people to put him first.  He had challenged them about the fact that they were enjoying their own panelled houses while the Lords' house stood in ruins. Within a mater of three weeks, the people had responded and started to tackle the challenge.  The first tasks would be pretty disheartening labouring jobs – clearing rubble, salvaging materials that could be re-used, checking what parts of the structure were safe and maybe demolishing any that were going to fall down anyway.  Arranging teams of volunteers.  And all without cranes, diggers, laptops or even hard hats!

So after a month, there would not be much visible progress. Add to that, the fact that the seventh month would be filled with “frustrating hold-ups” due to three festivals taking place.

• On the first of the month, the “Feast of Trumpets, a day when God's people were called to remember God; this was a  day of rest.  No work would be done.  (Lev 23. 24; Num 29. 1)
• On the tenth of the month, the Day of Atonement, when the people made food offerings to the Lord, fasted, and – did no work!  (Lev 23. 26-31)
• on the fifteenth of the month, the Feast of tabernacles (shelters) began. Every household made a shelter and camped out in it for  a week. The first and last days were sacred assemblies – no work!  And each day there were sacrifices to the Lord (Lev 23. 33-36)

Does God look bothered by all that?  Not at all! 

But some of the people were bothered.  They had held these festivals – but the temple, were the sacrifices should have taken place – wasn't in a fit state.  It brought it all home, just how bad things were.  You know, God had already said “I am with you!”  But I am guessing that some of them didn't feel his presence.  “We are exhausted. We have had to stop and do these festivals.  And now that we have been in and had a proper look at the situation – we realise how bad it really is.  And not only that, when Solomon built the temple, Israel was  a wealthy and powerful nation.  Solomon had the money to pay foreign craftsmen, and to cover the whole interior of his temple with gold.  We are broke.  We won't be able to do that.   We can bust our guts on this project, but it isn't going to look anything like as splendid as is did seventy years ago when I were a lad!”   

So God speaks into that sense of despair:  “How many of you remember this house in its former glory?  Admit it, God says – it seems like nothing, doesn’t' it? (v. 3) 

God says “be strong”.  (cf Dt 31. 6f, Josh 1. 6)And he says “I am with you” (cf Mark 6. 50)  Not just Joshua and Zerubbabel but all the ordinary people!   God calls us all to work with him (not for him!) He is with us and his Spirit is present.

God says “just wait a wee while.  See what I am going to do!”   He will shake the nations, bring the desire of nations is; he owns all the – gold! Like an earthquake, God will act to shake things up.  That is what happened: eventually the people from neighbouring lands who were campaigning against rebuilding the temple, were told to pay their tax money, direct to Judah for rebuilding the temple.  (You can read about it in  Ezra 6. 8-12!)   The glory of the new will be greater than the glory of the old.  Wahey!  But that is an echatological (end-time) promise.  This new temple would eventually have Jesus in it!  How good is that! 

Verses 10-19

Image: Edal Anton Lefterov Creative Commons SA3

 

Two months later, in the December, and the  work on the temple had slowly continued.  Possibly people had got discouraged again. The autumn is rainy in the south eastern Mediterranean,  Not the best weather for clearing rubble out of a collapsed building.  And after the rain, the crops had been planted for next year.  So the work had been fitted around other planting for  next year's harvest – if there was a harvest!  They had seen a few bad years and there was nothing in their barns! 

Haggai takes the people back to his first prophecy in chapter 1, skilfully using question-and-answer teaching.  He doesn't need to find out the answers to his questions: they are obvious, but he still asks the Priests for  their opinion on the law.
Consecration isn’t transferable but impurity is. God's people had been called by him and declared holy – but they had disobeyed, put themselves first and so had all become “defiled”.  The ruined Temple stood in the middle of the city like a  dead body, a stark and visible reminder of the sin that had caused Judah to be taken in to exile. Now if even their temple, the place where they would offer sacrifices to get right with God, was defiled, how could they possibly get right with God.  Not much grounds for hope.  What Haggai is doing is reminding the people of where they had been before they started to work on the temple. “Consider how things were before.”   
But there is hope because there is grace! God responds promptly and generously to our repentance, when we have nothing else to offer Him. “‘From this day on I will bless you.’” (v. 10)  There can be a harvest – because there is grace!

Verses 20-23And finally.... A second reference to an eschatological shaking the heavens and the earth.  This time Zerubbabel will become a signet ring who stamps God's will on the world. God promises a restoration of what was lost when  Zerubbabel's Jechoiachin or Coniah, rejected by God because of his sin, was told, ‘even if you were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off.”  Judgement had happened.   Zerubbabel never was king – he was only a governor –  he is held in high esteem in Jewish history and in a  sense represents the King who as to come of David's line – Jesus!     

Haggai chapter 1, as Pam showed us last week, calls us to consider how we have fared, and make God our first priority.  Chapter 2 reaches out to us with encouragement and hope.  God is bringing a bigger future than Haggai could have imagined:  shaking the heavens and the earth, a more splendid temple, a day of grace, a promised King!   Haggai sees hope because he sees by faith a future where God's kingdom comes.   But it must have taken huge faith to say – when the nation was broke – God will shake the earth and the desire of nations will come in.  It must have taken huge faith to say “From this day on I will bless you.”

It's not a matter of sweet little words of hope and happy blessings for struggling little people.  Messiah is coming! The Kingdom is coming!   We are living in these end-times. Can we take these promises – “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house.  In this place I will grant peace, from this day on I will bless you” – for ourselves today?  There are plenty of promises of judgement as well as blessing.  What grounds do we have for believing that the blessings, rather than the judgement, are "God's word for us today?"

Firstly, Haggai's promises were not just about his own time: they were about the coming of Messiah who would

bring the Kingdom of God and the grace of God.

Secondly, he comes to us with challenge and invitation. He still calls us to make him our first priority.  It is as we answer that call, that we can look to him for blessing - foretastes of the Kingdom - in our lives.

God is not interested in propping up our "empire of dirt".  God is not interested in propping up a Church that is busy with our own house – he's not interested in shoring up a building that is there so we can feel comfortably at home when we worship; he's not interested in keeping structures going so we can stay in our comfort zone – or even so we can say to other people – come over into my comfort-zone and meet Jesus!  He's not interested in keeping a church open where we can be buried – one at a time. Keeping the Church open might even prove to be another way of  simply being busy with our own houses.  God is interested in building a temple made without hands, a living body.  And as we commit to that, to building what God is building, then and only then does God say, “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house.  In this place I will grant peace, from this day on I will bless you.”

© Gilmour Lilly August  2015

Haggai 1: Putting God First

Talk by Pam on 2 August 2015 
 

Intro: Gil asked me to prepare the message for today. He has had Haggai on his heart for some time, so that left me to bring us Haggai chp1. “Haggai...Help!!” I knew Haggai was hard hitting and would challenge and change me.  

I cried out to God for help...and this is the result....

Haggai...who was he? Why is his message, just 2 pages in our Bibles so important?

At the time of speaking this word from God it is believed Haggai was a v old man who had seen the Temple some 67 years previously before it was destroyed by the Babylonians. So the most important job God gave him to do was when he was already v old, just before he died.  

Everyone knew him as a prophet. A man passionate about God. Passionate about Who God is, the Almighty, passionate about honour and respect and worship due to God. He must be First in everyone's individual lives and in the life of the nation as the chosen people of God.  

The Temple for Haggai was more than just a building . It represented all God stood for, all that he required and all he could do for his people. (JBTaylor)

Some 18 years previously the first party of Exiles returned from captivity in Babylon. They were called the remnant, the few who were left after the Babylonians had killed many and devastated Jerusalem. Imagine the joy, the hope, the high expectations as they returned to their homeland. We read in Ezra, Cyrus of Persia had ordered the Temple to be rebuilt. With great rejoycing the people began the work. They had Zerubbabel, a decendant of David as their governor, and Joshua son of the original high priest at the fall of Jerusalem, now high priest himself. Everything back to normal, they would be great again! 

Then they met difficulties. Fierce opposition to the Temple rebuilding. Not enough men had returned to do the job. Sound familiar? Imagine it : fields gone to wrack and ruin during exile needed a lot of work to plant crops. Everything was destroyed. They needed to build homes for themselves. They had to live!! So work on the Temple “stood still” (Ezra) Stopped completely. People forgot about it. Imagine poor old Haggai jumping up and down in frustration. How could people forget God and neglect his Temple. But they did.

Apathy set in. The people busied themselves with their own affairs. We have not got time, energy or money to think about the Temple just now. We have got to look after ourselves and our families. After all those years in Exile we have a right to do what we want. Have a decent house ( panelled could mean luxurious or simply a roof).

Me mine now!! Sound familiar? Used to describe the 2 year old. Now applies to all of us. We have deified self... we are our new god. My needs, my fufilment, my rights. A totally selfish spirit pervades our society. 

Despite all their hard work to better themselves what happened ? v. 6. They never had enough.

God tells them through Haggai “ Give careful though to your ways” x2.  Recognise the reality of your life now.  You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little.. 

WHY? 

Not because we have few to do the work, much opposition, bad weather. 

One simple answer: your piorities are all wrong....God says “my house is in ruins while each of you is busy with his own house...” 

I have withheld my blessings from you because you have not put me first. V10 speaks of dire consequences for not putting God first

What happened next? Did the people say “ nice message proph” and continue doing exactly what they had been doing before? Rather like the ducks in the duck church. Have you heard that one? Well the ducks all went to hear a fantastic duck preacher in their duck church. He said “ducks you can fly? Yes you have wings. Stand up, stretch them out! So they stood up, stretch out their wings. Yes, we have wings . We can fly!!. “ Amen” said the preacher Amen echoed the ducks What a great sermon! Then they all turned and waddled home.

No. we read from the govenor and the High priest to all the people who had returned from exile “ they obeyed the voice of their God ….

They recognised God was speaking through Haggai. Yes, they had not put God first. They saw they had been busy with their own affairs and neglected what God wanted them to do. We read "They feared God". They honoured God and worshipped him with awe and respect. They showed their repentance by obedience and action. They didn't take months to ponder and decide what to do. It took just 3 weeks to get materials together and begin building the Temple. They must have worked hard for they completed the building within 4 years.

How was that possible? Because as soon as they obeyed and began, God said “I am with you” He sent His Holy Spirit to help, to fan into flame the spirit of God they each had within them. v. 13, 14

Ok that was then. This is now. What does the message of Haggai mean for us today in RBC?

Give careful thought to your ways...you expected much, but see it turned out to be little...

This spoke to me

Gil and I started our ministry in RBC just over 6 years ago. I expected much. had high expectations that the church would grow in numbers rapidly. I had even worked out how. God's timing isn't mine!!!

You must have had expectations of the new minister as well.

We expect much...but it turns out to be little..

Why is it that we have all these empty pews, 

Only 3 baptisms in the last 6 years. 

Struggling to keep the institution going.

There may be lots of other reasons, but God says quite clearly through Haggai you have got your priotities wrong.  My house remains a ruin while each of you are busy with his own house..

We say, "But Lord, your house isn't a ruin. Its one of our priorites. We repair it.. look at the new roof and ceiling.. we decorate it and clean it."

But as for Haggai, the Temple was much more than a building. So RBC is much more than this building where we worship. In fact, real church is not a building at all. It is the body of Christ.

So, why is the Body of Christ a ruin?

Haggai: Simply we have got our priorities all wrong. God must be first. Not our personal lives, not even our church activities or even our families...

Jesus said Seek first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness...

What is God requiring of us? Seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.

Seeking God, his will for such a time as this. 

Putting God first..How does this work out in actual life?

Spending time with God, reading his word, praying daily, on our own and with others.

Getting to know God: (1John 2v 3-6)

Walking the walk... allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us so we become more like Jesus.

We honour God by living as he wants us to be as a church. I believe we are beginning to do this. Lets be encouraged to continue and grow deeper in love and unity.

We are called to love one another, and to bear fruit: (John 15: 9 – 16.)

We are called to live in unity (John 17: 21, 22, 23)

Real love and respect for each other. Real unity of heart and mind. Does not mean that we all are going to like the same things, we need our individuality. But we are called to honour and respect each other. we are called to to find out what God wants us to do as individuals and as a church for such a time as this.

I'm seeking God for what that means for me.

When I came to Rosyth I had expectations to get to know our neighbours and show them the love of Jesus. 6 years on I'm still at the stage of passing time of day over the fence. When I was beating myself up about this in the house group, Roy reminded me that our neighbours had come round to join in the BBQ we'd had when we had had a summer! Getting to know people takes time. I want everything done yesterday!!!But unless we intentionally do something about it, it will never happen.

God will reveal himself to each individually and to us as a church as we seek him together united in heart and mind as the early church.   God is calling us out to share his love with those who don’t know him

When I was preparing this I saw a jewel. A large flashing crystal, so beautiful It was held in on material in a hand. Suddenly the jewel was wrapped up and put away. God said “I am that jewel . You treasure me. You take me out and look at me every so often then you cover me up, so noone else can see me and put me away. STOP IT! The jewel is not just for you. Take me out and share me with others.”

1 Peter 3:15 We are called upon to always give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have. BUT do this with gentleness and respect. I'm sure it begins with asking the Lord to help us love the people in our streets, to allow Him to bring them to us then trust him to show us what to say, or do .

God is the creator, he makes all things new. We have to make the effort to seek him, to allow him to show us how to build his kingdom today and use the tools we have at our disposal.

We need to cry out to LORD for help.. he will give us openings.. etc   As a church We need to cry out to God together.

When we put God first, we obey.

What happens when we obey? Lets look what happened in HAGGAI

God says I am with you.

He is there with us. We take his presence into every situation. He is there with us every moment of the day.

And he sends his HOLY SPIRIT. As we obey and go out of our comfort zones he empowers us by his Holy Spirit and we find ourselves doing what we thought would have been impossible for us.

So lets be a church that obeys God.

Which means: A church who puts God first, who allows the holy spirit to make us more like Jesus, A church who loves and respects each other and walks forward in unity.

© Pam Lilly August  2015