Haggai
Major Messages From the Minor Prophets • Sermon • Submitted
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· 23 viewsAn overview of the book of Haggai and his encouragement to the people to rebuild the temple as a type for us as we build the temple in our lives
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Well welcome back once again to our series Major Messages From the Minor Prophets
Last week we looked at the prophet Obadiah and his stark warning about allowing Pride of the Heart to take us over and rule us
You may recall that his message was to the Edomites after they stood by and allowed King Nebuchadnezzar to attack and destroy Israel, tearing down the temple and hauling all of its treasures, as well as many of the people, back to Babylon
Fast forward 70 years and King Cyrus of Persia has conquered the Babylonian empire and he has issued a decree that the Jews are allowed to return to their homeland and rebuild
Now many of the Jews decided to stay put right where they were, after all they had established themselves over the past 70 years but a brave group of people made the choice to return and begin the extensive rebuild process
With great hope of the returned presence of God they began to rebuild the temple
It wasn’t long before the Samaritans took exception to the work for they believed that the temple and priesthood were illegitimate and that they were the true people of God and so they sent word back to Persia and had the work halted
Now move ahead another 14 years and we have the setting for today’s minor prophet, Haggai
Unlike the other books we’ve looked at, Haggai is not a message of condemnation and judgement but actually is a message of encouragement
Actually Haggai is 4 messages in one, but instead of doing an exegesis of those 4 sermons, this morning I simply want to use the overall theme of the book to bring a message of encouragement to us here this morning, coincidentally in 4 points
To do that we have to understand what the temple represented to the Jewish people
The temple was where God resided, where His presence camped and His power poured out
The word of the Lord came to Solomon: “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”
So Solomon built the temple and completed it.
1 Kings 6:11-
The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.
1 Kings 8:
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.
Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”
This was no religious structure, this wasn’t a building or a church, this was God’s dwelling place
Now here we are today and the power and presence of God are not restricted to a geographical location but instead WE have become the temple, God has taken up residence in those who have received Him
Listen to what Paul wrote in Ephesians,
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-
It’s important moving forward that we understand this because as much as Haggai was an encouragement to the Israelites to overcome the obstacles they are facing in the rebuilding of the temple, this morning I want to encourage you to overcome these same obstacles in when it comes to building the temple of God in You
The first of these 4 obstacles is the one that I have already mentioned, opposition
Paul warned Timothy, and all of us for that fact,
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
2 Timothy
If you are trying to live a Godly life you should expect some opposition, and the reason is that the world in which we live does not like God, or His Son
Jesus said,
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.
John 15:18-
The exiles who had returned allowed some opposition to sideline them, to keep them from building the temple, to keep them away from God’s presence but we don’t have to, just a few verses later Jesus continues,
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus has overcome the world so don’t allow the things of the world to rob you of all that Christ has for you
The second obstacle that you need to overcome to experience more of the presence of God in your life is procrastination
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’ ”
Haggai 1:2
Too many people put off for another day what God wants to do in them and for them today because what God wants to do in you and for you requires effort on your behalf
It was hard work for people to rebuild the temple
Let’s go back to 1st Kings again,
Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, as well as thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple.
1 Kings 5:15-
I have stood at the western wall and looked at those “large blocks”
There is one in the corner that, based on dimensions is estimated at 500 tons
AND THAT’S JUST ONE BLOCK!
The work of rebuilding was difficult, and time consuming and so they were happy to put it off until another day
What about us are we procrastinating and putting off the work that needs to be done in us because it is too difficult or too painful or just because we don’t want to do it?
In doing so we are putting off the building of God’s temple and as a result are missing out on His presence in our lives
Are holding onto a grudge, or perhaps some anger, or perhaps a habit you haven’t relinquished,
Maybe just maybe there is something that God has brought to your attention but you have put it off for another time
DON’T!!!!
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Ephesians
The third obstacle that I would encourage you to remove is the obstacle of distraction
It’s not as if the Israelites were just sitting back enjoying life while putting off the building of the temple
There were plenty of other things that needed doing
Remember that Nebuchadnezzer had laid waste to EVERYTHING, their homes, their barns, their fields, their wells
Not to mention that in 85ish years the fields were overgrown, the vineyards were full of weeds etc. etc.
They had lots to do and so they got distracted and forgot about the temple, forgot about God’s presence amongst them, forgot about their need of Him
“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
Haggai 1:
Not only had they rebuilt there houses but as long as they had the time they went off to foreign lands and brought back fancy woods to panel them
They were distracted from their purpose
But they aren’t the only ones, remember the story of Mary and Martha when Jesus stopped by their place for dinner?
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
And when Jesus told the Parable of the Sower He warned,
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mark 4:
In 1st Corinthians Paul laid out some teachings about marriage etc. and then he qualifies the purpose of this teaching
1 Corinthians 7:
I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.
“In undivided devotion” or as the original NIV says, “undivided attention” that’s a fancy way of saying not to get distracted from our purpose to build the temple in us
The author of Hebrews said, “Let us FIX our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith.”
Let us focus our attention and not turn from our purpose
Now there’s nothing wrong with living, in fact Jesus wants us to have the fullest life possible but not at the expense of God’s presence in us
We need to be more like Mary and not get distracted by the things of life like Martha
The 4th obstacle I want to encourage you to get over is this, indifference
Dictionary.com defines indifference as “A lack of interest or concern”
The people had settled in their minds that things were okay the way that they were and so there was no interest in doing anything about it
Twice in the first chapter of Haggai God says to His people, “Give careful thought to your ways.”
Two of the most dangerous words in a Christians vocabulary are “Good enough”
I feel God’s tug to go on a missions trip but things are good enough the way they are
I know that God wants to work on this or that in me but…ah, things are good enough the way that they are
Can I just give you an objective opinion from a neutral third party? THEY’RE NOT!
You’re not enough like Jesus yet. You don’t have enough of the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life yet. You don’t have enough of God’s presence in you yet. The temple is not finished yet.
Paul said this to the Philippians,
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:
Notice he doesn’t say that God will carry on the work until you say it’s good enough
He will carry it on to completion which doesn’t happen until the day of Jesus Christ
The Message Bible translates it this way
(The Message)
There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
God loves you way too much to leave you the way that you are, you are His workmanship and He is continuously working on you, a little here and a little there
That is unless you have told Him that you think it’s enough
Haggai encouraged the people to overcome their obstacles and get back to work on the temple and the result was that they listened which resulted in God’s presence and blessing once again being restored in their midst
You are the temple of God, but the temple is not yet complete
Don’t let these obstacles prevent you from continuing to build the temple:
The obstacle of opposition
The obstacle of procrastination
The obstacle of distraction
The obstacle of indifference
Let’s pray