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INTRODUCTION TO HAGGAI
[Fill a large glass jar with fist-sized rocks] Is this jar full? [Dump in a jar of small rocks] Is the jar full now? [Dump in a jar of sand] Is the jar full now? [Dump in a jar of water] What’s the point? The big rocks represent God’s priorities for our lives. If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you may never get them in at all.
Today we are starting a new four-part series on the book of Haggai. The book of Haggai challenges us to put first things first.
[Read Haggai 1]
Let’s begin with an introduction to the book.
• Author: HAGGAI
(1) Haggai was a prophet of God.
“The word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai” (1:1). A prophet was both a foreteller and a forthteller.
(2) Haggai ministered during the post-exilic era.
“Post-exilic” refers to the time after the Babylonian captivity when the Jews were allowed to return to their homeland. There are three postexilic books of prophecy: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi and three postexilic books of history: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.
Ezra mentions Haggai twice:
“Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them” (Ezra 5:1-2).
“So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia” (Ezra 6:14).
(3) Haggai may have been in his seventies during his ministry.
“Who of you is left how saw this house in its former glory?” (2:3). Solomon’s temple had been destroyed 66 years earlier. Haggai may have been one of the older exiles who had seen the former temple.
• Date: 520 B.C.
Haggai’s messages are precisely dated. They were given during a four-month period in 520 B.C., “the second year of King Darius” (1:1).
1:1-11 6th month, 1st day: August 29, 520 B.C.
1:12-15 6th month, 24th day: September 21, 520
2:1-9 7th month, 21st day: October 17, 520
2:10-23 9th month, 24th day: December 18, 520
On August 29, 520 B.C., God spoke for the first time in the post-exilic era.
• Recipients: The EXILED JEWS who had returned to their homeland to rebuild the temple
In 538 B.C., Cyrus king of Persia (the conqueror of Babylon), issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:2-4; 6:3-5). The temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians. Led by Zerubbabel, about 50,000 Jews journeyed home and began work on the temple. About two years later, they completed the foundation (Ezra 3:8-11).
• Occasion: OPPOSITION and APATHY had brought the work to a standstill (Ezra 3:1-24)
• Purpose: To motivate the people to COMPLETE the rebuilding the temple
CONSIDER YOUR WAYS
1. Refuse to offer EXCUSES (1:1-2).
This is what the LORD Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built’” (v. 2).
God’s revealed His unhappiness with the people by referring to them as “these people,” not “my people.” Their excuse for not finishing the temple was that the time wasn’t right. “The time has not yet come.”
Have you ever used this excuse? “The time has not yet come.” “The time has not yet come to paint the house.” “The time has not yet come to clean the oven.” I’ve been saying this about staining my deck. (Hopefully I’ll get it done this week!)
The Jews had been saying, “The time has not yet come,” for sixteen years! Notice that they didn’t deny that the work should be done or that they should be the ones to do it.
Why didn’t the think the time was right? Maybe they were afraid of opposition from their enemies. Maybe they didn’t think they were financially able to take on the project. Maybe they were just discouraged.
What do we call this kind of behavior? Procrastination. Are you guilty of spiritual procrastination? You know God wants you to (fill in the blank), but you say, “The time has not yet come.” Too often the “right time” never comes.
The unwilling heart always finds excuses.
We usually see our excuses as “reasons.”
2. Set right PRIORITIES (1:3-6).
Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” (vv. 3-4).
The people were not willing to rebuild God’s house, but they had been busy working on their own houses (v. 9)
All too often we place other goals, interests, and joys ahead of the place we should reserve for God. This is a modern form of idolatry. “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
“Give careful thought to your ways” (v. 5). “Consider your ways” (KJV). This command is given five times in the book of Haggai (vv. 5, 7; 2:15, 18 (twice)). “It is a plea on the part of God for the people to take note of what they are doing, compare it with what they should be doing, and amend their ways accordingly” (The KJV Parallel Bible Commentary, p. 1785).
“You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it” (v. 6). The people were being disciplined (not rejected) by God because of their disobedience.
So many people are like the Jews of Haggai’s day who put themselves first but can never “get ahead.”
So many people are like Solomon who searched for fulfillment in money, pleasure, and fame, but in the end confessed, “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). As The Rolling Stones said, “I can’t get no satisfaction!”
So many people are like the rich farmer who was ready to “Take like easy; eat, drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19)—retire and live the “good life.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (Luke 12:20).
So many people have devoted themselves to climbing the ladder of “success,” only to find out too late that the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.
Living life God’s way is what satisfies our souls. That’s what must come first.
3. Get involved in God’s WORK (1:7-12).
This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD (vv. 7-8).
Many times we know what we should do, but we don’t do it. “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22 NKJV).
The people “obeyed the voice of the LORD their God” and “feared the presence of the LORD” (v. 12). They did God’s will in spite of adverse circumstances. It was an act of faith.
God didn’t simply want a building completed. He wanted to “take pleasure in it and be honored” (v. 8).
4. Receive God’s ENABLEMENT (1:13-15).
Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD (v. 13).
Haggai’s second message is recorded in verses 13-15. It came 23 days after the first message (Sept. 21, 520 B.C.).
God is called “the LORD Almighty” five times in this chapter (vv. 2, 5, 7, 9, 14). The KJV says “the LORD of Hosts.” “Hosts” refers to the armies of angels. It is this God who is “with” us.
• “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ And God said, ‘I will be with you’” (Exodus 3:11-12).
• “‘But Lord,’ Gideon asked, ‘how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.’ The LORD answered, ‘I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together’” (Judges 6:15-16).
• “‘Ah, Sovereign LORD,’ I said, ‘I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.’ But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a child.” You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the LORD (Jeremiah 1:6-8).
• “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
WHAT DOES GOD WANT YOU TO DO?
We must put first things FIRST.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
Let’s not give God scraps of our time and energy.
If you make God’s will your priority, you may not get everything you’d like to have, but you will be satisfied. And, more importantly, God will be honored.
RESOURCES USED
Mark J. Boda, Haggai, Zechariah (NIVAC)
Steven J. Cole, “Putting First Things First” (sermon)
Walter C. Kaiser, Micah-Malachi (PC)
Thomas Edward McComiskey (editor), The Minor Prophets
Pieter A. Verhoef, The Books of Haggai and Malachi (NICOT)
