Haggai: The Best is Yet To Come
Haggai: 1:1-15
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
10-01-2023
Finish What You Started
Do you have trouble finishing things? Most of us do.
In 2013, Jon Acuff, one of my favorite authors, published a book called, “Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do What Matters.” He said that people came up to him and thanked him for the book but admitted that they had no problem with starting, it was finishing that was the hard part.
I have the gift of ADHD. I’m great at starting projects. Visit my house and I’ll prove it to you. But finishing? That’s a whole different animal.
In 2018, Jon wrote a follow-up book called: “Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done” which went number one on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list.
Why? Because starting is easy, finishing is hard.
According to studies, 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail.
Jon writes,
“Every January, people start with hope and hype, believing that this will be the new year that does indeed deliver a new you. But though 100% start, only 8% finish. Statistically, you’ve got the same shot at getting into Juilliard to become a ballerina as you do at finishing your goals. Their acceptance rate is about 8%, tiny dancer.”
This morning, we are going to learn that struggling to finish what we start isn’t a new phenomenon. And sometimes God sends someone to remind us to finish what we started.
Postcards
We are beginning a new sermon series I’m calling “Postcards.” We will study the Bible's one- and two-chapter books over the next few months.
Haggai
2 John
3 John
Obadiah
Philemon
Jude
These are books that most people don’t know very well and sometimes skip over. These six books only contain 7 chapters and 136 verses. That’s just a little less than the book of Philippians we just finished studying. You can read all six in less than 15 minutes, which I would encourage you to do.
We are going to start with Haggai. Haggai is the tenth book in the books of the minor prophets. Minor doesn’t mean “less than” but they are called minor because of their length.
Turn with me to Haggai chapter 1.
Prayer.
Background
In order to understand the book of Haggai, I need to set the context of the book.
In 607 BC, the Babylonians attacked the southern kingdom of Judah. This had been prophesied by Jeremiah and happened as a result of the people’s disobedience to God’s rule and His ways. The people would go into exile for seventy years.
The Babylonians started deporting thousands of the best of brightest of the Israelites, like Daniel and his three friends.
In 586 BC, The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and tore down the Temple.
In 539 BC, The Medes-Persians defeated Babylon. King Cyrus, gave the order allowing Jewish people to return to their homeland. Only about 50,000 returned home.
They returned home to a city that had been destroyed. They set to work immediately.
In 536 BC, a new altar was built and construction on the new Temple started but then stopped. For the next 16 years, the foundation of the Temple lay untouched.
Enter Haggai in 520 BC. We don’t know much about Haggai. It is believed that he was in his 70s and his name means “feast.”
Haggai is unique among the prophetic books because it is entirely in prose. Most of the other books are poetry.
Haggai consists of 4 sermons, delivered over a four-month period. Let’s look at the first message.
The Lord’s Challenge
“In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest:
Darius had replaced Cyrus as the King of the Medes-Persian empire.
This message came to Haggai on August 29, 520 BC.
He addressed it first to the leaders. Zerubbabel was the governor and was from the line of David. Joshua, not that Joshua, was the high priest, the religious leader, and was from the line of Aaron.
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”
Haggai uses the name for God that highlights His power and might - the Lord of Hosts.
Notice, “these people.” Not my people, but these people.
For the last 16 years, the people have been making excuses as to why the Temple hasn’t been finished.
It’s a really bad time to work on such a project. It’s harvest time so we are really busy. And the economy is really tough right now and there aren’t a lot of extra funds to finance such a huge endeavor.
Excuses. Before we are too hard on them we need to just admit that we do the same thing. We make excuses as to why we don’t obey God.
- I know that You want me to share Christ with that neighbor but it’s a busy time at work and that “Housewives of Beverly Hills” marathon isn’t going to watch itself.
I know you want me to be generous with my time, talents, and treasures at church but my daughter is on a travel softball team and we just don’t have Sundays available.
I know you want me to be pure in my thoughts but my wife isn’t sexually available enough so a little porn won’t hurt anyone.
I know you say to be gentle and loving to everyone, but did you say what they said on Facebook about me?
I think you get the point. We are excellent at coming up with excuses for why we don’t simply obey what God says.
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?”
Wow! They are going to need some aloe because they just got burned! God doesn’t pull any punches.
The people had stopped work on the Temple but work on the rest of the city had continued. They repaired the streets and rebuilt the shops.
They had focused on their families and rebuilt their own houses, which were paneled.
This paneling was meant for the Temple and people took it and used it for their own houses!
They had plenty of time to build ornate, decorated houses for themselves.
Their priorities were all out of whack.
Again, I can identify. Can you?
We are called to seek first the Kingdom but a lot of time I’m more worried about building my own little kingdom.
Pastor Michael Prodigalidad writes:
“In our materialistic age, how easy is it for God’s people to lose sight of gospel priorities and focus on personal agendas? Haggai challenges us by asking, are we seeking first the kingdom of God, or our own pleasures and comfort? Haggai warns us that if we seek our own kingdom first, God will withhold material blessings (1:7–11), but if we prioritize his kingdom, all else will be given to us (Mt. 6:33).”
Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.
God calls them to give careful thought to their ways. This means to “set your heart to understanding.”
You have planted much, but 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.” (Haggai 1:1-6)
They felt like they were on a hamster wheel. No matter how hard they worked, it was like putting sand into a bucket with a hole in the bottom of it.
Why was this? Because of their disobedience. Under the covenant given to Moses, God made things very simple. If you obey me, then I will bless you. If you disobey me, then I will discipline you until you come to your senses and obey. Partial obedience is disobedience. (See Deut 28)
So what’s the answer?
The Lord’s Command
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.
Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord.
The answer is simple. Finish what you started! Go up…brig down…build my house.
There would be no need to find stones because the rubble was still there. But they needed wood so God said, “Get started!”
Why? What’s the big deal about the Temple?
When the people were wandering in the desert, God instructed Moses to set up a tent called the Tabernacle. That’s where God would manifest His presence among them and that is where they would worship.
David wanted to build God a permanent structure but God said it would be his son Solomon that would build the Temple. The altar, the holy place, and the Holy of Holiness was the place for centuries where the people would offer sacrifices and pray to God.
When the Temple was destroyed and the people were exiled to Babylon, it sent shockwaves through the community.
When they returned, there was no altar, no Temple so they were unable to properly worship God. And that worship would bring joy to God and show the surrounding nations how great their God was.
This wasn’t going through a religious checklist. It was about a relationship with the Living God. John Piper wrote:
“The ultimate goal of God in all of history is to uphold and display His glory for the enjoyment of the redeemed from every tribe, tongue and people, and nation. His goal is the gladness of His people because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Delight is a higher tribute than duty.”
“You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty.
“Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.
Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” (Haggai 1:7-11)
Isaiah wrote:
“All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall because the breath of the Lord blows on them.” (Isaiah 40:7)
There is a play on words here in Hebrew. The words ruin and drought are almost the same. God is saying, “Because my house is in ruins while you are running after your own houses, I called for a drought on the land.”
Israel gets most of its rain in a very small window of time and it is vital for the crops to flourish. Even the dew, that the farmers depended on, dried up.
Again, this wasn’t punishment as much as it was discipline. It was a wake-up call to the people who seemed to care more about their own homes than the worship of God at the Temple.
They knew the promise of Duet 11:
“So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.” (Deut 11:13-17)
Let me remind you that not every drought, hurricane, tornado, or natural disaster is the result of God’s discipline.
But when we disobey God, He will frustrate our plans to get our attention and call us back to Him.
The People Respond and the Lord Blesses
“Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, 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.
Something happens in the book of Haggai that doesn’t happen in almost every other prophetic book - the people actually obey!
A ruthless businessman from Boston once told Mark Twain that no one ever got in his way once he determined to do something. He said, “Before I die, I’m going to the Holy Land and climb Mt. Sinai. When I’m up there, I’m going to read the Ten Commandments out loud at the top of my voice.
Mark Twain was unimpressed and said, “I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t you stay in Boston and actually keep them!”
James wrote:
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:22-25)
They responded to Haggai’s message as the very voice of God.
Let me remind you of the reasons why we gather together on Sunday mornings to hear from this book.
If you go to our website under “what we believe” you read this about the Bible:
“We believe that the Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, was written by men divinely inspired and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction. That it has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter. That it reveals the principles of God and is the final authority for all Christian faith and life.”
Paul wrote to Timothy:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Did you notice it says ALL? Do you know what the Greek word for all is? It’s all! ?
All Scripture is “God-breathed” or inspired and is useful for teaching us what is right, rebuking and correcting us when we are wrong and equipping us for the good works that God has prepared for us. (See Ephesians 2:10)
We believe the Bible is authoritative for our lives.
If we believe that Scripture is inspired - the very words of God, inerrant - without error, infallible - lasting forever, perfect - the complete revelation of God, and sufficient to lead us to salvation and to spiritual maturity then we must consider it the absolute norm for faith and practice of a Christian’s life.
John Wesley wrote:
“I want to know one thing - how to get to heaven. God Himself has condescended to teach us the way. He has written it down in a book. O give me that book of God! I have it - here is knowledge for me. Let me be a man of one book!”
We believe the Bible is a living book.
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
We believe that God has chosen to deliver His Word through preachers:
Paul wrote to the church at Rome:
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:14-15)
We also believe that every time it is preached God translates it to each individual heart to accomplish what He needs to in their lives:
“…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
The Bible isn’t just a book of information but it is about God’s transformation of you to make you more like Jesus.
The people obeyed the voice of the Lord.
Can I encourage you to be a Berean:
“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
When I preach, take notes and when you get home, ask God what He wanted to say to you through the message. And, like the Bereans, examine the message to make sure what I say is true.
Also, can I encourage you to have a holy anticipation when you gather together on Sunday mornings? The Word is powerful like dynamite and changes hearts.
When I at at the conference in Kansas City, I sat with my journal open and asked God to speak through his Word. The last session absolutely wrecked me, in a good way. I told the pastor that I didn’t even know that I needed that but I did.
Notice also that the people feared the Lord. This is not the cowering kind of terror that a dog has during fireworks. This is a sense of awe and reverence in light of God’s power and might.
David wrote in Psalm 2:
“Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling.”(Psalm 2:11)
God responded to the people’s obedience with a beautiful reminder:
Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord.
Over 50 times in the Bible we are told by God, “I am with you.”
God told Moses:
“And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12)
When Gideon was hiding in a wine press, an angel of the Lord appeared and said, “The Lord is with you.” (Judges 6:12)
God told Jeremiah:
Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. (Jer 1:8)
And Jesus, while giving His disciples their marching orders before He ascended, gave them, and us, this promise:
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt 28:20)
By the way, Jesus is called Emmanuel which means, “God with us!”
This culture is the most socially connected in the history of the world, yet Americans consistently say that they are lonely.
Jared Wilson’s newest book is called, “Friendship with the Friend of Sinners: The Remarkable Possibility of Closeness with Christ.”
He writes:
“In my deepest, most despondent loneliness, I found a deeper friendship with Jesus. I learned that the power of the Gospel is available even to sinful Christians who should know better. I’m still a terrible friend to Jesus. But He is still the truest friend to me.”
Because God is with us, He understands our struggles.
If you have grieved this year, He understands that. He doesn’t just sympathize with you. He empathizes.
If you have felt sad, betrayed by friends, angry, frustrated, tired, lied about, or falsely accused, He has experienced that as well.
If you have struggled to financially survive this year, Jesus gets it. He was homeless and many nights had no place to lay His head.
If you have ever been lied about or had rumors spread about you that were not true, He has been there and done that.
If you have ever felt abandoned? He cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
If you have ever felt the sting of unanswered prayer, he understands. In the garden, He pleaded with God for another way to save the world. There was no other way. Jesus would say, “Not my will but Yours be done.”
If you have been tempted this year, you’re in good company, because Jesus was tempted in every way we are:
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.(Hebrews 4:15)
God’s promise of His presence was just the encouragement that the people needed.
So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, 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.”
The people made the decision to obey and God stirred up the spirit of the leaders and the people. This word means to “shake awake.”
The Lord energized their wills and they began to work.
It is like the moving sidewalks at the airport. Yes, I am moving my feet but the belt is moving under me. This helps me to faster than I could on my own.
Paul told the Colossians:
“To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” (Col 1:29)
After 23 days of preparation and planning, the people restarted work on the Temple.
Walk a Mile in Someone’s Shoes
Before we transition to communion, let me make one more point.
Why did the people stop the work on the Temple?
Was it because they were lazy and self-absorbed? Maybe.
But there is always more to the story.
When they began to rebuild, Ezra tells us that they experienced intense opposition:
“Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus King of Persia and down to the reign of Darius King of Persia.” ( Ezra 4:4-5).
We are even told that the surrounding people tried to sue them and threatened them.
The people became weary and discouraged.
“Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.” (.v24)
We should be slow to judge people if we don’t know all the facts.
In the hit TV show The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon always knocks three times on Penny’s door, or any door for that matter. It would be easy to assume that it was just part of his quirkiness but in a moment of honesty, Sheldon tells Penny the reason.
When he was young, he had walked in on his father committing adultery on his mother. So, now he always knocks three times to make sure that it’s safe to enter.
Pastor Gary Hanbrick tells the story of being a young Christian and making fun of an older woman in their congregation who he thought dressed like a clown. She had way too much make-up on far too much jewelry.
One day, she sat in front of him and when it came time for the meet and greet, she turned around and extended her hand. She had a sort sleeve dress on and he noticed numbers on her arm.
He learned she had been in a concentration camp and she swore if she survived she would never dress in rags again.
When I was in seminary, I had to do co-therapy with other students. Josh and I were friends and worked together well. But Josh had a habit of just not showing up for our clients.
After one such no-show, I called and left him a very terse voicemail, not hiding my frustration.
The next day, Dean called me and in a very quiet voice apologized for not being at the session the day before. His next words knocked me off my feet:
“
I’m sorry I wasn’t there. Linda lost the baby yesterday morning.”
I swallowed hard and asked him if he had listened to his voicemail. I said, “Please don’t. Just erase it.”
It’s easy to judge the Israelites for not finishing the Temple while they worked on their own houses. They needed encouragement and sent Haggai to give it.
Let’s be slow to judge today if we haven’t walked in that person’s shoes. And let’s encourage others because everyone we meet is fighting a battle we know nothing about.
Communion
We no longer worship at the Temple. In fact, Scripture says our bodies are the temple of God.
Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth:
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (I Cor 3:16)
We are the body of Christ in the world. And Jesus promised to be with us to the end of the age. He will never leave us or forsake us. He is Immanuel - God with us.
He lived a perfect life that we couldn’t live, and died a death in our place, for our sins. He was buried and three days later rose from the grave.
You eat, but never have enough. Jesus is the Bread of Life. You drink, but never have your fill. Jesus is the living Water. You put on clothes, but are not warm. Jesus exchanges His righteousness for our sinfulness.
