Sermon Cloud

REVIEW of Ezra 1-4, and then read:

Ezra 4:24 Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Ezra 5:1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 5:2 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

Work stopped for up to 16 years – but raises up two prophets to motivate the people to action!  WOW

These two guys are known as “minor prophets,” meaning their written prophecies are comparatively small to the Major Prophets.  Jeremiah is a MAJOR Prophet!  52 chapters long, a ministry that lasts about 40 years. – That’s major!  Sad thing about Jeremiah is, he never has a convert, the people roundly reject his message, and he’s thrown in jail by the government.

Haggai on the other hand, is a book of 2 chapters, his ministry consists of four short oracles spoken in as many months – and as a result, widespread revival breaks out!  Now, does that sound fair?  Poor Jeremiah! Who’s the major prophet now?  And why does God make things work out like that?

It’s not like Haggai pulls any punches!  In fact, he is very confrontive, controversial, and combative with his language.  It’s the kind of message that that is aimed for challenge and conviction.  It’s the kind of prophecy where the “kindly natured” of us would say, “You could have said it with a little more empathy and tactfulness!”

But Haggai is not a “life coach.” He is God’s divinely appointed mouthpiece.  And in chapter 1 of his book He speaks plainly to four matters: #1 - God’s truth is more important than misplaced hopes, # 2 – God has a Jealous zeal to protect His rightful place as the # 1 priority and passion of His people, # 3 - He speaks to the leadership of God’s people about their ordained responsibility to fulfill their calling, and  # 4 - Haggai speaks about the power and presence of God’s Spirit.

Haggai 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest:

à Haggai marks all his prophetic announcements to a date on the calendar – August, 520 BC

à Again, we can see the classic 3 offices of Israel: Prophet, Priest, and King.  The Kings of Israel were called to obey the words of the prophets, and they were to be instructed in the law by the priests.  When this tri-partite division of government worked properly – spiritual and physical blessings upon the land would result.  When the king rejected spiritual counsel; when the prophets only spoke in a way to garner favor from the king, when the priests neglected their role to serve the people – troubles ensued.  IT is not coincidental that our American government has 3 branches of government, precisely because our founders were greatly impacted with a Biblical, indeed, a Presbyterian form of government – we too know that when one branch of our government exceeds their scope of power and authority, society suffers for it.

² "Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD."

à  How embarrassing!  My all time favorite excuse for not doing anything!  It’s just not the right time!  It’s why I don’t call people, it’s why we sometimes skip family devotions, it’s why I’m so busy with life – because I’m out of time!

à  Now, the exiles had some legitimate excuse for not attending to the temple because the neighbors in Samaria had some legal challenges against them, and so they were sort of waiting for the court to rule.  So their fear of getting in trouble redirected their attention to other things, namely their own concerns, their own occupations, and their own homes.

à This is either THE human default position, to think about all our concerns first, or it is a scheme of the enemy to always keep us from moving God’s agenda before ours.  I think they probably work in concert naturally. 

à Haggai has the right to say to the returning exiles:  Is this the reason you have come back to Israel?  To take care of your personal agenda?  Or are you back in Israel to establish a lighthouse to the world?  Isn’t it the fact that the TRUE God dwells in your midst, and your devotion and worship of Him is what transforms your culture?!  AND that is supposed to impact the entire world??

à The remnant is participating in the stealthiest sin of all – the sin of omission!  It’s not that they are overtly committing acts of injustice or evil upon their neighbors.  It is that they are not doing what ought to be done.  They are leaving undone what SHOULD be done.  It is directly in line with the first 2 commandments of the 10 Commandments; replacing the proper and first place of God in our life with the idolatry of my needs, my plans, my ideas, before God’s glory.

à I know the routine! Everyday, we have so many assignments to complete!  Work projects, raising children, paying bills, doing chores, advancing to the next level on our computer games; important duties of life!  But when the Lord said, “Be fruitful and multiply;” it was not intended to be at the expense of maintaining a relationship with God!  In fact, Haggai is going to point out, we will NEVER be fruitful nor multiply unless God IS THE first priority of life!  And priorities are revealed simply by what we cherish with our time and attention.  And what we DO NOT attend to…

³ Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, ⁴ "Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

à Great question!  “Excuse me?  You seem to be living in homes that are finished and yet the very house that represents MY glory still looks like a Nebuchadnezzarian battlefield?  Are you fine with that?  What does that say about your worship?  Is it really of me?”

à  “Lord, It’s just not the right time to work on that!”  “Our neighbors are not comfortable with our plans.”  “What if the court rules against us?” “It’s really not worth all the effort because we’ll never make this place as nice as it should be!”  THOSE are all statements not only about priorities, but about God’s reputation!  The remnant is being persuaded by the faulty conviction that God’s kingdom is either:  Beyond their ability to build it, OR, it could never be as great as it used to be – and it seems to me that the Lord is moving Haggai to tell the people, “The people I redeem will value me above every concern of life.  MY Spirit will ensure that my people will be gratified in the work -- or I will reject this generation and raise up a new one who will value Me as the TRUE Lord of life.  I’ve done it before, and I will do it again!”

à And what comes next is the perfect, post-modern, grunge rock, ‘your corporate life is a waste of energy,’ poem for America, circa 2009

⁵ Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. ⁶ You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

à Look at your life, remnant!  I brought you back to fulfill the promises of my covenant people, and you went straight for the rat race again!  And what is it getting you?  The answer is always the same:  NEVER ENOUGH!  How gracious of God to warn the remnant that this is always the sum of life when God is not in the equation!  It is never enough to satisfy, it is never enough to fill, it is never enough to share, it is never enough because it neglects the only One who makes life fruitful!

à This gives us some context when the prophet Malachi, whom we will also visit, says to the remnant, “Test me in this!  Make me the priority and see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

à And now, let’s just admire our economic landscape today?  Haggai must be preached today because inflation, rising interest rates, empty coffers, are going to continue to challenge our culture!  And we have the right to say; God predicted THIS!  And if His redeemed people do not recall that they exist to build his temple, and for us as New Testament Christians, that means communing with spirit indwelt believers who are graciously sharing their lives and testimony with others!   ----- IF YOU ARE NOT A part of that kingdom, if you are not a part of that communion, THEN I have a sure prophetic word for you!  You WILL NEVER have enough, you will NEVER be satisfied with life – I predict!

à Now, I’m I SATISFIED?  No, but I do have enough!  I have everything I need, and I have been blessed beyond measure – thank you, Jesus!  And I won’t be satisfied until I awake with his likeness.  But until then, I know that the MOST satisfying place to be is in Communion with the Lord and His saints as we long for His kingdom and his will on earth as it is in heaven.

⁷ "Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. ⁸ Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. ⁹ You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why, declares the LORD of hosts? Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. ¹¹ And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors."

à  This has always been the Covenant deal with Israel – They serve God with heart, soul, mind, and strength; and He blesses them.  How would those blessings be rendered?  Ample agriculture, growing population, economic security, protection from famine, pestilence, disease, and foreign invasion, and no fear of attacking animals – like chiggers.  BUT; if they did not cherish their covenant relationship with God – all the trials of life would come upon them so that they would remember who they were supposed to be, and what a life of blessing really looks like.

à We’ve talked about this concept numerous times.  Today, we are in a different economy – God does not send animals to attack; (maybe an occasional mega shark or giant octopus!) but those who walk away from God KNOW what spiritual famine and spiritual attack is!  God graciously uses these measures to discipline us so that we might repent from our sins and seek His fatherly pleasure.

à Here God is being faithful to his covenant by disciplining His people so they will come back to Him in faithfulness

¹² Then Zerubbabel the son of She-altiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.

à They finally fear the Lord, and not the neighbors!  They fear the Lord and not what the government might say about their worship of God.

 ¹³ Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD's message, "I am with you, declares the LORD."

à The greatest words God could ever speak to His covenant people!  The promise of fidelity and perseverance.  It bolsters every fainting heart under the burdens of life!

à Matthew 28:20 … And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

à And here we have a similar reality that we share with the OT saints.  How would God be “With Them?”  Through a prophet?  Eh, perhaps, but they come and go.  So do kings and priests!  But the TRUE prophet, priest and King has come in Christ, and with the very words of God, says he ‘will be with us always,’ how?  The same way he was with His OT saints, by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit!

à This is the Spirit inspired joy that we know on Pentecost Sunday.  This OT feast that was to take place 50 days after Passover and really was a curious observance for the Jews because it is not associated with any Jewish symbols or significant event of Israel’s history.  It is the day that the Jews claim that Moses came down Mt. Sinai with the law.  That’s all well and good, but did that warrant a mandatory pilgrimage to Jerusalem?  And as we’ve said before; God intended for this feast to take place so another prophetic voice in the Apostle Peter could proclaim with the full force of the Spirit’s conviction that Jesus Christ had come to expand the courts of God’s temple to include every nation, tribe and tongue and to bring everyone that the Lord our God would call under the rule and redemption of Jesus Christ!  And it would be significantly demonstrated that Christ was indeed with his people by demonstration of the Holy Spirit! His conviction, His gifting, His leading of God’s people to worship Him in spirit and truth!

à So we see a Pentecostal moment in Haggai 1:14

¹⁴ And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, ¹⁵ on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

So here we see God’s Spirit motivating and persevering with His remnant – and preserving them to be faithful.  This remnant is contrasted with those who lost their way, ignored God’s voice, and mixed their faith with worldly values in the days of Jeremiah, and others.

Today, we can look back upon Haggai’s remnant and say, “Thank God they maintained their faithfulness because a future remnants will remember them as an example and as inspiration.  They did not live only for themselves, but for the legacy we now inherit and must pass on to our children, and to the saints of the future seeking to direct their way. 

When the saints of the future recall the remnant of Orange County, 2009; Will they see a church that looked scorched by her enemies; in fear of her neighbors; or awaiting a court decision; but still living in vast personal estates? Or will they look and find that even though they didn’t build something earthly glorious; it was still filled with the Spirit of God?  After all, have we been asked to build something huge, or something holy?  Have we been asked to build something popular, or something pure?  Have we been asked to build something enticing?  Or something established on proper priorities?

Closing thought:  We build for what we worship, and if we worship the praise of men, we will build something that garners the praise of men.  If we worship the conversion of souls?  Then we will build something that converts souls!  If we worship the intellect?  Then we will build something that educates and instructs. 

Honest, probing question:  What, or who do we truly worship here?  A tradition?  A period of history?  A particular theologian? What is it?  Well it must be beauty because you are the most gorgeous congregation I have ever seen… I think this is a serious question really?  Sure everyone says we worship God; but our God has defining characteristics – and what we build must reflect those characteristics. 

From Haggai 1, we learn that God is a God of truth.

We learn that God is Jealous about his place and reputation

We learn that God calls for a particular kind of leadership.

And lastly, God is Spirit – He moves people by spiritual means to build his spiritual kingdom – may we learn to live out these priorities as a faithful remnant of God’s church.