Haggai 1:3-6 (3)

********Start Timer********

-Please turn back to the O.T. book of Haggai

It may be easier to start at Matthew...

…and turn backwards 3 books.

-Prior to tonight, we’ve been looking (almost exclusively)...

…at introductory material related to this little book.

We haven’t covered much ground at all in the actual text...

Just a couple of verses.

This evening, we’re going to begin to work through the book itself.

-And Let me remind you that though this book:

Is Small...

Was written during an obscure and inglorious period of Israel’s history....

…It is still:

Very Large and very rich in its theology...

Very Clear in its many spiritual applications!

I believe it will be time well spent for us as a church.

So, let’s read our text, beginning back at verse 1.

Haggai 1:1–11 (ESV)

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest:

2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.”

3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,

4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

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Pray

5 minutes

Introduction:

Verse 1 begins with an unusually precise historical description:

It says that these events began to take place:

Haggai 1:1 (ESV)

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month...

Many suggest that this description is so precise...

…that we can pinpoint the actual date as being:

August 29th, 520 B.C. (Before Christ)

(I’m not sure that the precise date matters...

…but the fact that it takes place in:

late summer...

and on the first day of the month...

…is going to inform our understanding of what’s happening)

But before we talk about the day itself...

…let’s be reminded of the days that brought us here.

Remember:

Almost 1,000 years earlier, God had delivered the Sons of Israel from bondage...

…and had entered into covenant with them at Mount Sinai.

From that mountain he had given them the stipulations for that covenant.

And He had promised:

Blessing for obedience

Punishment for disobedience.

We looked at the whole chapter of Leviticus 26 before...

It’s primary tenets can be summarized in just a couple of verses:

Leviticus 26:3–4 (ESV)

3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,

4 then I will give you...

But...

Leviticus 26:14–17 (ESV)

14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments,

15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant,

16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with ...

17 I will set my face against you...

But He also gave this contingency:

Leviticus 26:40–42 (ESV)

40 “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me...

41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,

42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

And we saw these promises ringing true throughout Israel’s history...

…for the next 1,000 years.

Timeline:

Circa 1,000 B.C. King David Reigns over a unified kingdom.

930 - 931 B.C. The Kingdom divides because of Solomon’s idolatry

722 B.C. The Northern Kingdom (Israel/Samaria) is exiled by the Assyrians

605 B.C. The Southern Kingdom (Judah) is defeated and becomes a vassal nation to the Babylonians

Many carried away into exile (Daniel, etc.)

589 - 588 B.C. Judah rebels

587/586 B.C. Jerusalem and the Temple are destroyed.

And the Lord told them:

Jeremiah 25:11–12 (ESV)

11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation...

But He also said:

Isaiah 44:26–28 (ESV)

26...of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins’;

28...says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’ ”

Then almost 200 years later, this happened:

Ezra 1:1–2 (ESV)

1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

This took place between 538 - 536 B.C.

If our date of August 29th, 520 B.C. is correct...

…Then our text takes place 16-18 years after...

...the royal edict to rebuild had been given.

(8 minutes, 13 total)

It takes place:

Haggai 1:1 (ESV)

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month...

The Reformation Study Bible informs us of the significance of those details:

This oracle occurred probably on August 29, 520 B.C., when stability was returning to the empire after a time of unrest following Darius’s accession.

Darius was the second successor to Cyrus

The sixth month was the time for harvesting the fruit trees, after harvesting the other crops, so it was a natural time to assess the success of the agricultural year.

The first day of the month, the “new moon,” was a festival day, when crowds would likely have gathered at the site of the temple. — R.S.B.

So, this was the setting in which:

Haggai 1:1 (ESV)

1 ...the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet...

Remember the initial audience:

Haggai 1:1 (ESV)

1...to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest:

To Zerubbabel (the civil authority):

A descendant of king David

Potential heir to the throne

To Joshua (the high priest — religious authority):

A rightful Levitical priest

Remember, that the presence of these two men indicates, that:

God has preserved a remnant in Israel

Hope yet remains!

(3 minutes, 16 total)

So, addressing the:

Civil authority...

Ecclesiastical authority...

…God says this:

Haggai 1:2 (ESV)

2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts...”

Notice something here.

Notice the Lord’s self-description.

He refers to himself as:

“The LORD of hosts”

That’s military language.

The word “hosts” indicates a military unit

Why is that important?

Because the people are scared.

The work had begun almost 20 years ago...

…but they had encountered:

Fierce opposition...

From the Samaritans...

From other neighbors.

And under the assault of those enemy forces...

...the work of rebuilding had come to a screeching halt!

-So when their Covenant Lord begins His indictment...

He does so with the not-so-subtle reminder...

…that He is the One who commands the very Armies of Heaven!

He says this:

Haggai 1:2 (ESV)

2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say...

Notice, He doesn’t say “My People”

An initial indicator of His displeasure toward them

He says:

Haggai 1:2 (ESV)

2...These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.”

Whose house?

The Temple:

Where God’s special presence dwelt among His Old Covenant People (THEM).

The Temple was the central aspect of their:

National Identity

Worship System

Relationship with God.

It was where/how God was shown to be:

“In their midst!”

And it had been destroyed (By God)...

…because of their iniquity.

But, now they’re being commanded...

By God AND Men...

…to rebuild it, and reinstate its function!

So, why are they saying...

“It’s not the right time?”

Well, there are many opinions about that.

One Commentary surmises:

It is easy to guess their reasons.

In the short term, the sixth month was harvest time, and everyone would have been busy in the fields.

More broadly, these were difficult economic times for all. During this period, Darius was pushing through economic “reforms” (i.e., increased taxation), which would have added to their financial troubles.

In such a context, there was a general lack of funds for an ambitious project like rebuilding the temple. Just keeping food on the table for one’s family would have been hard enough.

In addition to these specific factors, there seems also to have been a general discouragement about the future, born of long experience of difficult times. - Reformed Expository Commentary

I believe that this assessment is FAR too generous...

…but I thought it would help us to better understand the context.

The Evangelical Commentary on the Bible makes these suggestions:

Contributing to this attitude are the following:

(1) the fierce and persistent opposition of the Samaritans and other neighbors (Ezra 4);

(2) the negative and disparaging reaction of the older priests at the laying of the foundations (Ezra 3:12–13);

Ezra 3:12–13 (ESV)

12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy,

13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping...

(3) a spirit of discouragement, making the people wonder if the end product will be worth all the difficulties and dangers;

(4) a lack of vital trust in God; and

(5) growing indifference and lukewarmness. - ECB

The JFB Commentary paints an even more sinister picture:

Ingenious in excuses, they pretended that the interruption in the work caused by their enemies proved it was not yet the proper time;

whereas their real motive was selfish dislike of the trouble, expense, and danger from enemies.

“God,” say they, “hath interposed many difficulties to punish our rash haste” [CALVIN]. — JFB Commentary

-Sadly, I think these older commentators are closer to the mark.

-It seems like, yet again:

Isaiah 29:13 (ESV)

13 ...this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

(8 minutes, 24 total)

Look at the next two verse (3 & 4):

Haggai 1:3 (ESV)

3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,

Appears to be now addressing the people at the festival directly.

Haggai 1:4 (ESV)

4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

I hope the problem here is obvious!

Here we are, 16 years later, and:

God’s House (The Temple)

The place of His presence

The thing necessary for their worship

The central (physical) aspect of their religion...

…still lies in disrepair.

BUT...

Their OWN Houses:

The center of their temporal and physical lives

The symbol of their natural prosperity...

…Are not only:

Built

Functional

But also:

Pretty luxurious!

The Reformation Study Bible again explains:

They are living in comparative luxury while God’s house lies in ruins.

More specifically, since the word “paneled” elsewhere is usually used with reference to the temple, they apparently have precisely the resources to build their own houses that they claim are lacking to build God’s house. — The Reformation Study Bible

Compare (Contrast) this with the heart of David:

2 Samuel 7:1–2 (ESV)

1 Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,

2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.”

Remember Psalm 132?

Psalm 132:1–5 (ESV)

1 Remember, O Lord, in David’s favor, all the hardships he endured,

2 how he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,

3 “I will not enter my house or get into my bed,

4 I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,

5 until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

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See the stark contrast between:

A “man after God’s own heart”...

A people for whom “the fear of the Lord is just a commandment of men?”

The prioritization is completely reversed!

They want to get the mundane affairs of life in order first...

…and then they’ll focus on their spiritual life.

They want to get:

Their temporal lives in order...

…so they can better focus on the eternal.

They want to get to a place of:

Physical and temporal comfort

Financial safety and security...

…Before they devote the rest of their lives to the service of God!

Does that sound familiar?

There are two major problems with this:

1.) It’s rank idolatry!

2.) It’s self-destructive!

It never, EVER works out that way.

And verses 5-6 bear that out remarkably.

Look at verse 5:

Haggai 1:5 (ESV)

5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

This is a call/command to:

self-reflection

objective evaluation.

The NET paraphrases it as:

Haggai 1:5 (NET)

5 ...‘Think carefully about what you are doing.

He says, “just think about it:”

Haggai 1:6 (ESV)

6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

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In other words:

“Are you prospering in your pursuit of prosperity?”

Did they ever?

Do we ever?

“Have these last 16 years of:

Fear...

Disobedience...

Pragmatism...

“…produced the desired outcome?”

Does it ever? (in the end?)

“Has your pursuit of lesser things given you the security which you sought?”

Does it ever? (Fully and Finally?)

So, What’s the:

point for them?

application for us?

It’s this:

Psalm 37:4 (ESV)

4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

This is the proper prioritization of your affections!

Luke 12:29–34 (ESV)

29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.

30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

This is a ubiquitous principle in God’s Word:

1 Timothy 4:7–8 (ESV)

7 ...train yourself for godliness;

8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

The duty of God’s people...

…always has been, and always will be, to:

Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

33...seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness...

And the heart of God’s people...

…always has been, and always will be:

Matthew 6:10 (ESV)

10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Haggai 1:5 (ESV)

5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

Pray

(10 minutes, 34 total)