You can listen to the full sermon here:-
http://www.nec.org.au/listen-to-a-sermon-series/haggai/
Message
Today we are going to star on a series of three sermons on the book of Haggai.
Put up your hand if you are confident that you can find the book of Haggai without help from your index?
That doesn’t surprise me. And I don’t really want you to feel bad too bad about it. Because the reality is that the book of Haggai is quite easy to overlook.
Now – before we go on any further let’s find it.
Haggai.
(make sure everyone has it).
You can see why it is so easy to overlook can’t you.
For one thing it only has 2 chapters ... 38 verses in all. That is 0.002% of the whole of the Old Testament. That would be like taking a tablespoon of water out of a bucket filled with water. So you can see why it is easy to overlook.
But not only that. The book of Haggai only talks about a very small slice of history. We know this because some very specific dates are mentioned.
• The first date is the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month (Hag.1:1).
• The last date is the twenty fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius (Hag.2:10).
The calendar they used at that time was a bit different to ours. However it is quite easy to correlate the dates – and we get the following.
the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month = 29th August 520BC
the twenty fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius = 18th December 520BC
That is 112 days. 16 weeks. You can see why it is easy to overlook.
Now let’s have a read of the first chapter.
Read Haggai 1:1-15
So if we were to summarise what this chapter is about we would say – it is focussing on rebuilding God’s temple. Specifically it is the second temple build by the Israelite nation.
It was nowhere near as glorious as Solomon’s temple, or the temple which was there in the days of Jesus.
Indeed, when Jesus came there was no more need for the temple – because there was no more need to make sacrifices.
The temple in Jerusalem was destroy in 70AD by the Romans and has not been rebuilt.
So here is the situation.
Haggai is a short book ... covering a very small slice of history ... focussing on a building that is no longer relevant for us.
So what is the point ... really.
The point is this:-
Haggai is written to people who need to be energised.
And that is a relevant issue isn’t it.
We live in a world that drains us.
Work demands so much ... sometimes at the expense of family.
We try and get by ... only to find that we keep struggling.
There are so many competing demands ... and we can’t keep up.
We get to the end of the day deflated and exhausted.
That is often our experience. But that isn’t how God wants it to be.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
(Isaiah 40:29-31)
God wants us to be energised. And Haggai is telling is how it is possible. In this specific case The Lord is helping us to be energised when our priorities are wrong.
On one side the people are saying, The time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built. (vs.2)
On the other side the LORD is saying, Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while this house remains a ruin? (vs.4)
Obviously there are two competing interests. Let me give you a quick history as to how this situation came about.
The group of people Haggai is speaking to have only recently come from living in Babylon. Life in Babylon was pretty good. They were allowed to establish businesses, with some becoming quite wealthy. They were treated kindly by the Babylonians … much more like neighbours then strangers from another land.
So when it was time to go back to Israel from Exile some were very hesitant. In fact many chose not to return. What they came back to was devastation.
The walls of Jerusalem were in ruins.
The temple was non-existent.
The homes and buildings which were left standing had been neglected for over 50 years.
The farming land had not been cared for and was infested with weeds.
Enthusiasm would have been dampened by the depressing reality.
But that didn’t stop those who returned. This is what we read in Ezra 3.
In the second month of the second year after (the exiles) arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of their brothers began the working on the house of the LORD. When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD.
Just over a year after they got back from exile they started building God’s house. But their work was opposed by various people and eventually they were ordered by the king to stop. That was 16 years ago.
For 16 years they had been standing on the temple site offering the many sacrifices.
For 16 years they did that in the open air … amidst the rubble of the temple.
For 16 years not a stitch of work had been done.
And for 16 years they would go back to their own homes. Homes with walls and doors and roofs … and more … with panelling. The LORD’S house remains in ruins while the people have had the energy to build and decorate their own homes with much more than the bare necessities.
Everyone was saying it. The time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built. (vs.2)
It was convenient.
It was easy.
It was the wrong priority.
And God make it clear that He is not really happy.
Everyone was saying it ... except God.
In this book God rearranges the priorities.
This is what the LORD Almighty says.
The world may tell us how they think we should act ... how we should organise our priorities. But ultimately it is the Lord Almighty who decides what actually happens. Sure, there was a man in Persia who was claiming to be the law … but now the Lord Almighty is speaking. And He is asking a very important question:-
Is your priority for Me … or is your priority for yourself.
It was this question that was being asked of the people on the day of Haggai. It is a question that continues to be asked of each one of us now. Is your priority for Me … or is your priority for yourself.
When adversity comes who gets priority … us or God?
When sacrifices need to be made who gets priority … us or God?
When we need to balance our time who gets priority … us or God?
When the world is trying to distract us who gets priority … us or God?
When it comes to the crunch who gets priority … us or God?
When our priorities mean we are more concerned with our own little world as opposed to being concerned with God, then there is something wrong
Is your priority for Me … or is your priority for yourself. The rebuilding of the temple is not the primary issue. The primary issue is one of relationship.
Through the temple God is brought close ... without he temple God is kept at a distance.
Through the temple God determines the agenda ... without the temple God doesn’t get a say.
Through the temple God is with us ... without the temple God is at arm’s length.
God is questioning the priorities because, by choosing the wrong priorities, the people were missing out on having a full relationship with their Heavenly Father.
God wants a relationship with us ... a close relationship. That was the case in the days of Haggai. It is even more the case today. We know this is true because of Jesus.
Jesus is the Immanuel … He is God with us. Jesus comes to show that God didn’t want to keep us at a distance. God has a plan, a masterful plan that involves our eternal destiny. Through Jesus, especially through His death and resurrection, we are given a visual picture of the lengths God has gone to in order to remove the distance between Him and ourselves. God wants His home to be our home … Jesus is the One who is showing us the way.
Jesus is the Immanuel … He is God with us. Jesus also comes to show that God doesn’t want to keep us at arms’ length. When you keep someone at arms’ length it’s because you don’t want to identify with them or have a relationship with them. That’s not the way of God.
He created us for a relationship.
When we rebelled He made a promise to restore the relationship.
Jesus affirms that promise by taking the punishment of God for us. The Father punishing the Son … so our relationship can remain intact.
The issue here isn’t the temple. It’s our attitude to God. It’s about having the right priorities. But I know … and you know just as well … that we become distracted.
Material possessions ... distract.
Selfish ambitions ... distract.
Ungodly motivations ... distract.
Unbiblical behaviour ... distracts.
It’s not easy walking the road of faith. But how much blessing are we missing out on as a result of these distractions. Missing out because our priorities or off target.
Haggai makes the same point in our text.
“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.”
“Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house”.
(Haggai 1:6,9)
For 16 years the temple has been in ruins. And for 16 years God has been reducing the harvests, and sending drought and so forth … because He is punishing them? No. Because their priorities are wrong and He wants to draw them back to Himself.
But they just didn’t see it.
The LORD Almighty was trying to draw near to them.
But they kept drawing away.
Until ... until they had the ah-ha moment.
For 16 years they had focused on themselves, somehow thinking that life would change.
For 16 years they had been doing the same time – always expecting a different outcome.
Do you know what the definition of insanity is:-
Repeating the same action and expecting a different result.
The ah-ha moment is when you try a different way.
What was the ah-ha moment in our text?
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.
(Haggai 1:12)
Now they try something different. Yes it is wrong that the temple was in ruins while they lived in panelled homes. It was a wrong priority.
For us the issue will be different ... but the response might be the same. There will be times when we need to wake up to our senses and realise that our way is just not working.
And then what happens?
Remember what I said earlier. Haggai wrote this book because The Lord wants to help us to be energised when our priorities are wrong.
Not to feel like trash.
Not to stay stuck in our guilt.
Not to be ashamed that we didn’t listen earlier.
Not to feel useless and hopeless.
Not to remain distant thinking we are unworthy.
But to be energised.
“I am with you,” declares the LORD. So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.
(Haggai 1:13-15).
I am with you.
Isn’t that all we really need? God walking beside us. God giving us strength. God protecting us. Energised by God in every aspect of life.
The task may still be great.
The responsibilities will still be there.
The drains in life will still take place.
But when the might Creator says, “I am with you because you have the right priorities” – when that happens what is going to stop you?
So maybe you need your ah-ha moment today.
Do you feel that God is walking as close with you as He would like?
yes – praise
no – confess
What consumes your time and takes up your priorities?
all the areas of life
think about everything.
Are there areas of your life where you need to confess the wrong priorities?
spend time.
What is one area you want to change this week?
Make the commitment to do so.
But when the might Creator says, “I am with you because you have the right priorities” – there is nothing in this world that can stop you being energetic for God.
Prayer
