Studies in Haggai
Study 6
Ch 2v 1-9
Introduction
One of the greatest joys that a minister of the gospel can experience is to see his ministry bearing fruit in the lives of his people. To see for example men and women brought through the preaching of the Word to the point where they become acutely aware of their sinful condemned state before Almighty God and realising the awful eternal consequences of their spiritual condition and knowing that they cannot appease God and bring about reconciliation by anything they do, they turn to Jesus Christ and by faith embrace him and trust him as their saviour. Or to see those who have been saved but who have not been living as disciplined and as obedient a Christian life as they should, to see them responding to the preaching of the Word which challenges their sin, by humbly recognising and admitting their failings and addressing those areas in their lives where change is needed and bringing them into line with what God desires of them. This is what every true minister of the gospel longs for, prays for and rejoices in when it happens.
Haggai experienced such a response to the message he brought to the people to whom he ministered. He must have been a very happy man on the 24th day of the September in the year 520BC. because that was the day when he saw concrete evidence of the change of heart that had taken place in the people as they recommenced the work on the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. He witnessed a renewed commitment by the Lord’s people to the Lord’s work. Apathy was replaced by zeal. Self-centredness had given place to God-centredness. Spiritual things took priority over material things as the Lord revived his people.
Of course where you have a people who are committed to serving the Lord, a people who are enthusiastically engaging in the work of the Lord, where the Lord’s work is going forward, there you will also find Satan at work trying to do what he can to hinder the work or to bring it to a complete standstill. We have seen how he did that with great success in the early days of the return of this people to Jerusalem. How he moved the Samaritans to oppose the work of the rebuilding of the temple and convinced the people in Jerusalem to cease from that work and give more attention to the building of their own houses than to the building of the house of God.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon – “Satan is always doing his utmost to stay the work of God. He hindered these Jews from building the temple; and today he endeavours to hinder the people of God from spreading the gospel. A Spiritual temple is to be builded for the Most High, and if by any means the evil one can delay its uprising he will stick at nothing: if he can take us off from working with faith and courage for the glory of God he will be sure to do it. He is very cunning, and knows how to change his argument and yet keep his design. Little cares he how he works, so long as he can hurt the cause of God.”
Brethren, one of Satan’s primary goals is to hurt the cause of God in whatever way he can. And the evil one has many weapons in his arsenal that he will use, as appropriate, with a view to achieving his aim. Sometimes he uses opposition, as he did in this case. Sometimes he stirs up division within the ranks of the people of God knowing that a divided people will not work as effectively as a united people. At other times he use the tactics of compromise at other times the tactics of diversion at other times the tactics of temptation. Of all the weapons Satan has at his disposal one of his most effective, and one which he has used time and time again to hinder the work of God is that of discouragement. He knows that if he can get the people of God to become disheartened, to become discouraged, to despair over their efforts he is well on the way to achieving his evil designs.
Well this was exactly the weapon that Satan decided he would use in an effort to put a damper on the renewed spiritual fervour that had come upon the people of God in Jerusalem.
Haggai Chapter 2v1-9, the section of this book to which we turn our thoughts this evening, is God’s message of encouragement to a discouraged people.
As we turn to this section this evening notice with me first of all
1) The Reason For Their Discouragement:
We find the reason for the people’s discouragement in v3 where we read “who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory. How does it look to you now. Does it not seem to you like nothing?”
What had happened was that as the people started to build the walls of the temple and the structure began to take shape, it soon became clear, certainly to the more elderly members of the community who had been among the captives taken from Jerusalem and who had survived the exile and returned home, that the temple they were now building was but a pale shadow of the glory of the former temple. The temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586BC was a magnificent structure. It was the temple that Solomon had built, the description of which is given to us in 1 Kings 6v14f and 7?13ff.. I wont take time to read all those verses but if you read them when you go home you will get some idea of the beauty and magnificence of that building. The walls panelled with cedar wood which was overlaid with pure gold. Some of the doors were made of olive wood and were decorated with hand carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers and then overlaid in gold. Others were made of pine and similarly carved and covered. All the stones of the temple were dressed and polished. There were brass pillars, silver furnishings, gold lamp-stands and so on. It was one of the most beautiful buildings of the ancient world, far more beautiful than the Taj Mahal for example. And although the people were working enthusiastically in rebuilding the temple it soon became obvious that what they were erecting was a far cry from what the temple had once been. I suppose it was a bit like putting up a garden shed in place of the Taj Mahal. And before long the old-timers began to voice their dismay as they drew comparisons with what the past. It was nothing like the good old days. Was there really any point in continuing? Would this second rate building not simply be a constant reminder of what they had lost 66 years earlier?
In all probability the words of 2:3 “Does it not seem to you like nothing” were God’s repeating of either the very words or at the very least the sentiments of some within the community – ‘This building is nothing like the old one.’ “We remember the good old days. Its not like it used to be.’ It was a very negative, very discouraging attitude which whilst it originated among and was voiced initially by only a small group of the people, the older generation, it nevertheless seems to have soon spread and affected the people as a whole dampening their enthusiasm for the work. These discouragers were living so much in the past that they were adversely affecting the work of God in the present.
There are many things that can discourage us in the work of the Lord and one such source of discouragement is the very same thing that threatened to put a real damper on the work in Haggai’s day, namely, looking back to and comparing what we are seeking to do in our day with what we see as the good old days, the glory days of the Church in the past. In the light of what was achieved then our work seems so paltry. We look back to the days of the early Church for example and we see how through the preaching of the gospel thousands were saved. We think for example of Peter standing up on the day of Pentecost and bringing the message of salvation to the people in Jerusalem and how over three thousand people were saved on one day. We think of the powerful impact the early Church had upon society in that ancient world and how in town after town as a result of the missionary work of the Church new congregations of believers were established. We remember how it was said of the Church at that time that it “Turned the world upside down.” We think of those beautiful cameo pictures of the N.T. church that Luke gives us in the book of Acts and how we read that they had a real love for one another and were keen to meet regularly for prayer and for instruction and how they enjoyed a wonderful measure of unity and fellowship. And then we think of the Church in our day and how it seems to be such a pale shadow of what it was in those former days. We realise that we are not having any real impact upon our own local communities nor upon our national life And we think to ourselves, ‘the effect of the Church’s witness today seems to us as nothing compared to then.’ We don’t see people being converted in their thousands. Indeed we see relatively few people coming to know and love the Lord. Instead of loving unity within the Church we see acrimonious division. Instead of Christians being hungry for teaching and for fellowship and for prayer and gathering together enthusiastically and expectantly when they know they can enjoy these things we see ever so man empty seats in our church buildings as members choose to stay away and engage in some other pursuit.
Or we look back to the days of the Protestant Reformation and the mighty working power of the gospel in those days when the whole ethos of religion in Europe was changed and the gospel broke forth with a mighty power into the darkness of the religious superstitions of that era. And we say to ourselves “Where is that power today?” By comparison our day is a day of small things and we can become discouraged.
Or we think back to the time of the Great Awakening under men like Whitfield and Wesley. We think about the glorious revival that took place in our own Province in 1859 when the gospel was a powerful force in our society and it was common-place to see men and women weeping on account of their sins and thousands being saved, whole communities being transformed, Churches packed, hundreds attending the local prayer meeting and so on. And yet how different things are in our day. Even when we do engage faithfully in the Lord’s work we don’t see these things happening today, and we can become so discouraged.
We can become discouraged by looking back to and comparing the results of our own work and witness to what we see as the glory days of the past.
God’s people can also become discouraged when they move to another Church and draw comparisons between the church they are now attending and the one they have left. ‘Its not as good as the Church we used to belong to.’ ‘They don’t do things the same’ And discouragement can set in with the result that one can be tempted to become less involved in and less committed to engaging in the Lord’s work in ones new situation. I remember in the early days after our move from the Congregational Reformed Church into the reformed Presbyterian Church and thinking to myself how different things were in certain areas and on occasion longing for certain aspects of the Church life that I had left behind. Such an attitude of looking back to the past could, had I not been careful, have led to spiritual paralysis, alive spiritually yes, but not actively involved in the Lord’s work in my new situation.
Ray Steedman in his book Haggai - ‘Some Word To Discouraged Carpenters’ commenting on this section of Haggai “Do not stop the work because it does not compare with something that was there in the past. This is one of the problems of God’s people. We are always looking back to the past. We say “Oh for the days of D.L.Moody. Oh for the days of the Church where we came from. Oh what we did then.” And we are wistful and long to have it just that way. But the great lesson God wants to impress upon us is that God always does a new and different work. The thing that is coming in the future is always better for our present situation than the past.”
Memories of the past can be helpful and inspiring, but they can’ if we let them, become a hindrance to our fulfilling our present responsibilities as God’s people.
Of course we can also become discouraged by comparing our own situation to that of other churches which seem to be flourishing but which we believe to be somewhat off beam in some of their beliefs and practices. Their buildings are packed with people each week. They seem to be able to afford to build and maintain very modern well-equipped buildings. They have lots of young people going along to their different meetings and so on. And yet we have a relatively small building in comparison to theirs and plenty of seats that are empty each week, and we cant afford to build and maintain such a suite of modern facilities. And we can become discouraged.
And of course another source of discouragement can come from within the congregation itself when the response of some members to a new proposed project of outreach in the locality is to do what some of the senior citizens in Jerusalem seem to have done back in Haggai’s day, namely, to pour cold water on it by saying- ‘Oh something like that was tried years ago and it didn’t work.’ Or ‘What’s the point in doing that, it’s a waste of time and money.’
Brethren Satan knows that discouragement is a mighty weapon in his arsenal against the people of God and the work of God. Beware of being a discourager in the congregation. Don’t get a name for yourself as being someone who always throws cold water on new initiatives in the work of the Kingdom as someone who dampens the enthusiasm of others. And beware too lest you allow any particular source of discouragement have such an effect upon you that it effectively paralyses you when it comes to working for the Lord.
Well having looked at the reason for their discouragement lets look secondly at
2) The Timing of The Discouragement:
We see that when we compare v1 of chapter 2 with the closing two verses of chapter 1. There we read (1:14ff) ”So the Lord stirred up the …..” Notice the date that they recommenced the rebuilding of the temple – the 24th day of the sixth month. (24th Sept). Then note the day when Haggai came with this second message to the people, which in effect was a message of encouragement, a message fitted to address the discouragement that had set in. When did he come with this message? It was on the 21st day of the seventh month (21st October). In other words in less than four weeks after the work had recommenced the people were so discouraged that there was a real danger of them giving up the project and God had to minister to them with a view to counteracting that danger.
Satan didn’t waste his time in seeking to dampen the renewed enthusiasm among God’s people. It seems that as soon as he saw that the people were giving themselves again to God’s work, he then got on the ball so to speak, and became pro-active in his efforts to stop them. It seems his tactics were ‘hit them early-on before the work gets well established.’ He didn’t want this renewed spiritual fervour to go for any length of time unchallenged. The fire of spiritual commitment would have to be dampened before it got out of control and he could do nothing about it, so he lost no time in seeking to put it out.
The same thing was to happen about 80 years later when Nehemiah came to organise the rebuilding of the walls of the city itself. No sooner had he imparted his vision to the people and inspired them to take up the work, than he met with Satanic opposition in the form of Sanballat and Tobiah and Gershom and when that form of opposition failed, in the form of disagreement and division within his own ranks. Satan was quick to act in seeking to destroy the work that Nehemiah was endeavouring to undertake.
And brethren you can be sure that when you as an individual or when we as a church begin to apply ourselves with renewed zeal, with renewed commitment to the work of the Lord, whether that commitment is to the applying ourselves to the development of our own spiritual lives which we for some time had been neglecting, or whether it is in engaging in some form of organised outreach into the local community or some form of Christian service within our local church or in the wider church of Jesus Christ, you can be sure that it wont be long until you experience some form of opposition from Satan by which he will try to discourage you, try to put you off, try to dampen your spirit and get you to give up what you only recently had begun so enthusiastically. If he can discourage you early on it will not be too hard for him to take you that one short step from discouragement to inactivity. Whereas if he were to leave you until your renewed commitment and renewed activity has become a disciplined regular habitual practice then he knows only too well it is much harder in such circumstances to break that pattern. Maybe you had let your daily quiet time slip to such an extent that you haven’t been observing it for some time and you have decided to put that right and to get back into the way of setting aside quality time each day to have fellowship with God; Or maybe you have got out of the way of attending or have never attended the evening service or the prayer meeting and God has so spoken to you and so stirred your heart that you have decided to attend these meetings regularly; or maybe you haven’t been tithing and you know that you should be and you have decided that from now on you will give at least a tithe of your income to the Lord; or maybe as a family you have got out of the habit of having family worship and moved by the Spirit you have decided to start having family worship again; or whatever. Well you can be sure that once you start Satan will be in there immediately, doing what he can to discourage you from continuing what you have begun.
Well having considered the Reason for Their Discouragement and the Timing of their Discouragement lets look thirdly and finally at
3) The Solution to Their Discouragement:
The solution to their discouragement is to be found in the message that the Prophet Haggai brought to them from the Lord. In the midst of their discouraged state the Lord sent a message that would be a source of encouragement to them. What was that message?
Well it was a message in which
(i) God Assured Them of His Continuing Presence:
Look at v4 “But now be strong O Zerubabel…FOR I AM WITH YOU declares the Lord Almighty. The people were to remember that God was with them and in saying this God was assuring them that he would watch over them and bless them in their labours for him. They were not in this project alone. They had God on their side. And what a God he was. The name that God uses here would have inspired confidence in his people for reminds them that he is the Lord Sabaoth – that is the Lord of Hosts, the one who is sovereign over all the powers and forces that exist on earth and in heaven. The one who does as he will among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say to Him what doest thou. He wants them to realise and understand that no-one or nothing can frustrate nor defeat his purposes. This is the God who will be with them.
The presence of God was of course a source of great comfort and encouragement to God’s people throughout their History and it was the ground of their faith as they went forward in obedience to his commands. Moses as he faced the journey through the desert to the land of promise knew the importance of the presence of God among his people when in Exodus 33/14 he said to God “If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”
The presence of God was a source of strength and encouragement to Joshua when he took over the responsibility of leadership of God’s people after Moses death. God had said to him “The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
When Solomon was being told about the building of the temple by his father David, David encouraged him by saying “The Lord God, my God is with YOU. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.”
And here Haggai comes to the people and he says listen up folks. God wants you to know that He is with you in this work. “I am with you declares the Lord Almighty.”
The Lord Jesus Christ before ascending to the right hand of the Father gave this promise to His Church – “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” You are familiar with the context of those words, they come at the end of the great commission in which Jesus commands the Church to go out with the gospel and to take it to every person. And our comfort and encouragement as we do so is that Jesus, the Jesus to whom all power and authority in heaven and on earth has been given, that he will be with us.
Paul says “If God be for us who can be against us.”
But then secondly by way of encouraging them we see that
(ii) God Reminded Them of His Covenant Promise:
Look at v5. “This is what I covenanted….”
The God’s abiding presence with his people was part and parcel of the covenant promise that he had given to them. He would be with them because he was working out his purpose of redemption for the world through them. They were an integral component in the whole plan of redemption. It was from this people that the Messiah would emerge. Thus what they were doing now was inseparably connected with the outworking of God’s plan and purpose in the future. And having given such a promise God would not break it. He was faithful to his Word.
And following on from that we see them being encouraged as
(iii) God Revealed To Them Something of his Coming Purposes:
We see that in vs 6-9 READ:
These verses are notoriously difficult verses to understand and interpret. But in essence what God is saying is this, that he is going to bring about major changes on the international political scene as it existed in those days and those changes would all be with a view to the fulfilment of his plan of redemption that would see the redeemer coming into the world (that’s what many commentators understand by the desire of all nations will come) and the people’s of the earth embracing him and coming and laying before him their gifts and treasures which would be used for the building up and glorification of the true temple of the Lord. The people in Haggai’s day were building a temple which insofar as its outward glory was concerned was as nothing compared to the glory and splendour of Solomon’s Temple. But God is telling them the temple they are building was going to be even more glorious than the former temple (The glory of this present house will be more glorious than the glory of the former house) for to this temple the Lord Jesus Christ himself would come, the very Son of God would walk in the courts of this temple; the one of whom this temple and the former temple with their sacrifices and altars and order of priesthood and so on were but a type and shadow, he would not only come to this temple but he in his redemptive work would fulfil all that the temple stood for and symbolised. And true peace, the peace that was symbolised and foreshadowed in the temple ritual of sacrifice, would be finally secured through the sacrifice of Christ.
And of course we know that God did shake the nations. The Persian Empire was replaced with the Greek empire during which time the language of Greek became a universal language. Thus providing a vehicle for the effective communication of the gospel to the people’s of the world. The Persians were then overthrown by the Romans whose road building meant that the gospel could be taken much more quickly to the ends of the empire, and whose political stability and the Pax Romana created an environment in which the early Church could flourish. Thus when the fullness of the times was come God sent forth his Son. You see the people in Haggai’s day were engaged in a work that had an important part to play in the future redemptive purposes of God. Although it seemed insignificant to them, God was saying it is part and parcel of my purposes of grace.
Brethren God’s purposes of redemption are not yet completed. The Lord Jesus Christ will one day come again. Once again, according to the book of Hebrews the heavens and the earth will be shaken and the kingdoms of this world will be destroyed forever when the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ is established in all its fullness and glory. Our task is to do the Lord’s work in our day, even when it seems as if it is insignificant. Even when it seems as if we are being ineffective. When we are discouraged we are to remember that God’s presence is with us, that his promises to us will never fail that his purposes will be accomplished and that our work for Him is not only part of His purposes but is actually helping to bring those purposes nearer completion.
But God not only encouraged the builders by Assuring them of his Continuing presence’ By reminding them of His covenant promises, by Revealing to them His Coming Purposes, we also see that
(iv) God Exhorted Them To Courageous Perseverance:
Look at v 4 “Be strong O Zerubabel…AND WORK.. (V5) Do not fear..” The word translated be strong carries the idea of adopting an attitude of inner tenacity, an unwillingness to give up. A resolve to keep on at something. That something of course was the work of the Lord in rebuilding the temple despite the discouragement they were facing. And history bears testimony to their faithful and courageous perseverance for they did go on to complete the work.
God calls us to persevere in his work. Not to give up when the going gets tough. Not to allow discouragement or any other form of difficulty or opposition put us off doing the work of the Lord.
May God help us to be like these people and to overcome all the obstacles Satan would set before us as we persevere in applying ourselves to doing the work of the Lord in this place and in this community.
Amen.
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