The Source of Glory

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 8:10-11

***Turn to Haggai 2

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Recap

SERIES through HAGGAI titled “House of Ruin”

Haggai was an OT PROPHET who SPOKE to the people of ISRAEL and to their LEADERS to GET their PRIORITIES STRAIGHT.

JUDAH (ISRAEL) had RETURNED from BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY.....

AFTER some PERSECUTION had GIVEN UP on building the TEMPLE for 16 YEARS

HAGGAI CAME and REBUKED them for their complacency and MISPLACED PRIORITIES

The PEOPLE were LIVING in elaborate “PANELED” HOUSES, while God’s house, the TEMPLE laid in RUIN...

BUSY w/ OWN HOUSE...

CAUSE for SELF-EXAMINATION…I’M BUSY w/ WHAT?

LAST WEEK ENDING = BEGAN RECONSTRUCTION of TEMPLE.

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Read Text & Pray

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Intro:

(Q) EVER REMINISCE ...“the GOOD DAYS” GOOD OLD DAYS...

IF NOT…you’ve probably HEARD OTHERS REMINISCE

YOUTH MINISTRY…REMINISCING PRE-COVID.

A LOT of CHURCHES....SIMILAR STORY.

LOOKING FORWARD TO SOUTHERN FOOTBALL—THEY’RE NO LONGER UNBEATABLE

OFTEN, PAST SEEMS BETTER than PRESENT... & IT MAY HAVE BEEN.

We aren’t authorized through Scripture to look to the past with a sense of longing, missing what used to be. Instead we can look to the past to draw encouragement from God’s continual faithfulness…then we can look at the present and to the future with confidence, knowing that God is faithful and he is all-powerful to accomplish his purposes in the earth.

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Text:

Haggai 2:1–9 (ESV)

1 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet:

approx. 2 MONTHS LATER…LAST DAY - FEAST o BOOTHS/TABERNACLES…FEAST of INGATHERING....SAME DAY, as DEDICATION of SOLOMON’S TEMPLE

PEOPLE’S PROMPT RESPONSE & REPENTANCE (LAST WEEK), DREW GOD’S ATTENTION AGAIN.

Feast of Booths: (Great irony to the timing here)

1 WEEK LONG FEAST

ISRAELITES MADE TENTS (TABERNACLES/BOOTHS)....from TREE BRANCHES.

&& LIVE in TENTS for 1 WEEK.

PURPOSE:

RECOUNTING FAITHFULNESS of GOD, WHEN ISRAEL SOJOURNED IN WILDERNESS in TENTS…TO NEW GENERATION (Lev. 23:42-43)

2. TIME of THANKSGIVING, RECOUNTING BLESSINGS of GOD. (CELEBRATED DURING HARVEST SEASON)

GREAT IRONIES of TIMING:

PEOPLE LIVING “HOMELESSLY” TEMPORARILY…WHILE, GOD = HOMELESS (NO TEMPLE)

CELEBRATING PROVISION…DURING FAMINE/DROUGHT...

BROUGHT ABOUT by DISOBEDIENCE

IRONIES of TIMING…ADDED FURTHER CONVICTION/ SOUR TASTE to PEOPLE...

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2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say,

3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

GOD ADDRESSES ALL of THEM…LEADERS & PEOPLE…THOSE who SAW PREVIOUS TEMPLE, WHAT DO YOU THINK of THIS TEMPLE?

(V3) HOW do YOU SEE? - CONTINUAL ACTION…HOW ARE YOU LOOKING AT THIS TEMPLE?

GOD AFFIRMS IT LOOKS LIKE NOTHING TO THEM.

(Q) Do you ever get discouraged looking at something that has gone downhill? You might be tempted to say it’s junk/hopeless..

If Satan’s arsenal of weapons were restricted to a single one, it would be discouragement.

C. S. Lewis

PEOPLE had STRAIGHTENED PRIORITIES…BIGGEST THREAT now = DISCOURAGEMENT.

IMAGINE these POOR PEOPLE…looking at an UNFINISHED TEMPLE…that WHEN COMPLETED…WOULDN’T RIVAL SOLOMON’S

In EZRA…when FOUNDATION was LAID, the RESPONSE was SHOUTING & CRYING...

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4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts,

5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.

CONSIDER how the TONE has CHANGED from the LAST WEEK to this week!

LAST WEEK (CH. 1)= PROPHETIC REBUKE…NOW, ENCOURAGEMENT/MOTIVATION!

FOR ZERUBABBEL (GOVERNOR/POLITICAL LEADER)

FOR JOSHUA (HIGH PRIEST/RELIGIOUS LEADER)

FOR ALL the PEOPLE

BE STRONG & WORK!

STRENGTH from GOD = BEST SOLUTION to DISCOURAGEMENT…JOSHUA 1 - MOSES’ DEATH, BE STRONG JOSHUA...

DIFFICULTY should DRAW us TO GOD, SEEKING HIS STRENGTH...

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1ST GREAT PROMISE CONCERNING REBUILDING: PRESENCE

(V4) “I [GOD] AM WITH YOU.

LOOK @ COVENANT…REMEMBER…I’M WITH YOU....

GOD W/ PEOPLE…AFTER EGYPTIAN SLAVERY

GOD W/ PEOPLE... AFTER BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY...

(v5) SPIRIT REMAINS in their MIDST…was a CONTINUAL ACTION,

God WAS NOT planning to VISIT on OCCASION, he was PRESENT with them!

LAST, COMMANDED to FEAR NOT...

GOD’S PRESENCE WAS THE REASON NOT TO FEAR…THE GLORY of GOD WAS RETURNING to ISRAEL

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Then GOD OFFERS ANOTHER PROMISE:

6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.

The HEAVENS and EARTH and the SEA and the LAND altogether show how THOROUGHLY this will be done… will SHAKE everything to PROVIDE for the CONSTRUCTION of this TEMPLE

God is going to MOVE HEAVEN and EARTH to see that this is DONE!

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7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.

TREASURES of NATIONS coming in ....SUPPLYING BUILDING NEEDS FOR TEMPLE.

BEGAN W/ PERSIANS…SUPPLIED MOST/IF NOT ALL NEEDS.

EVEN RETURNING VESSELS that were TAKEN BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR

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(V7) GOD will FILL HOUSE W/ GLORY

Fill - piel , indicates something DONE OVER TIME…that he will CONTINUALLY FILL the TEMPLE with GLORY...

8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.

CONCERNED about PROVISION??......EVERYTHING in all the CREATED ORDER BELONGS to GOD

NOTHING HE ISN’T OWNER OF!!

HEBREW WORD ORDER EMPHASIZES GOD as SUBJECT/OWNER.

2ND GREAT PROMISE CONCERNING REBUILDING: PROVISION

MATERIAL NEEDS WOULD BE MET!

THE RESOURCES of the NATIONS were REALLY GOD’S....PEOPLE are MERE STEWARDS of GOD’S MONEY

HE CAN DO WHAT HE WANTS..

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9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’ ”

FOCUS = LATTER GLORY, NOT LATTER HOUSE.

LATER GLORY is GREATER…DESPITE NATURAL DEFICIENCIES

Big Idea:

The glory of a thing comes not from the thing itself, but from the presence of God who is behind it.

GLORY ISN’T ON SURFACE…HOW is GOD USING THIS?

THE BEAUTY of the TEMPLE…ISN’T IT’S GLORY

THE PRESENCE of GOD = IT’S GLORY.

SELAH & DRAWING…NOT GLORIOUS, BUT WHO IS BEHIND IT?

SIMILARLY, MY DRAWING…NOT GLORIOUS…REPRESENTS a LOVING DAD & MY TIME...

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TEMPLE DOESN’T LOOK GOOD…BUT DON’T LIMIT GOD…THIS is HIS WORK!

GOD is ON THE THRONE…SOVEREIGN. RULING & REIGNING...

HIS PROMISES were HIS PRESENCE & HIS PROVISION…HE HADN’T LEFT THEM!

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DON’T ASSUME FUTURE = WORST THAN PAST...

IF GOD IS IN IT…IT WILL ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSES!!

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EZRA’S RECORD, TEMPLE was FINISHED approx. 5 YEARS LATER...

GOD’S PRESENCE & PROVISION WERE SUFFICIENT. PEOPLE FINISHED THE WORK.

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PATTERN of GOD’S DELIVERANCE/WORKING throughout HISTORY..... THEOLOGIANS CALL “SALVATION HISTORY” or “REDEMPTIVE-HISTORICAL HISTORY”

COMMON THEME: GOD’S PRESENCE AMONG HIS PEOPLE

BEFORE FALL, in the GARDEN…GOD WALKED w/ ADAM & EVE, in the COOL of the DAY...

ENOCH WALKED W/ GOD

ABRAHAM & PATRIARCH’S WALKED W/ GOD

AFTER EGYPT…PILLAR of CLOUD by DAY…FIRE by NIGHT...

HIS GLORY FILLED TABERNACLE

HE PROMISED JOSHUA HE WOULD GO WITH THEM

GOD’S GLORY FILLED SOLOMON’S TEMPLE: PRIESTS COULDN’T MINISTER!

HAGGAI’S DAY: GOD WAS RETURNING to his PEOPLE…PROMISE of HIS PRESENCE...

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NT…JESUS CHRIST - LITERAL PRESENCE/ IMAGE of GOD...

IMMANUEL: GOD WITH US.

ETERNAL WORD MADE FLESH (JOHN 1:14

John 1:14 (ESV)

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

DWELT = TAKE UP RESIDENCE/DWELL…BUT LITERALLY TABERNACLED/TENTED AMONG US!!

CONSIDER how AMAZING GOD/HIS WORD ARE.

PEOPLE DWELT in TENTS…DURING SOJOURNING in WILDERNESS

FEAST OF BOOTHS

HAGGAI’S DAY

CHRIST, ETERNAL WORD, ONE W/ FATHER, GOD ALMIGHTY, CAME IN FLESH AND TABERNACLED AMONG US…HE DWELT int

Consider this, Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God became flesh. He was not created, he was one with the Father from eternity past.

In himself, he is surely God. Yet, he sacrificed the glories of heaven for 33 1/2 years to dwell among his own creation, the creation that he made…and this dwelling is described using a Greek verb that is very rare in the NT that literally says, in Christ’s incarnation, throughout his earthly existence, he was a tent-dweller, for he had abandoned his home...

THIS SAME JESUS…WALKED in THIS SAME TEMPLE…(REMODELED UNDER HEROD, BUT STILL SAME)

THE LATTER GLORY THAT WAS THE GREATEST GLORY, WAS GOD ALMIGHTY in FLESH in the PERSON of HIS SON…IN THE TEMPLE.

HE TAUGHT.

HE PRAYED.

SPENT SO MUCH TIME THERE

FLIPPED TABLES…SEEKING for the HOUSE to be ONE of PRAYER…NOT PROFITS...

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FOR CHRISTIANS...PRESENCE of GOD = GREAT COMFORT & HOPE

GOSPEL:

FOR THOSE who DON’T KNOW GOD...

CONSIDER HOW AMAZING it IS…GOD ALMIGHTY LEFT HEAVEN to RESIDE as a MAN, A TENT-DWELLER, WITH NO HOME. FOR YOU & ME.

EVEN MORE..HE WENT to the CROSS for US, WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS!

CALL to HIM IN FAITH TODAY, BE SAVED FROM YOUR SINS...

(Q) What does the presence of God mean for you today?

IN CHRIST = COMFORT

OUTSIDE of CHRIST - STAND CONDEMNED, BEFORE a HOLY GOD

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CLOSING:

NT: GREATEST PRIVILEGE…OUR BODIES = TEMPLE for the HOLY SPIRIT...WE are THE TEMPLE.

CHRIST DIED- THE VEIL was TORN…TEMPLE NO LONGER NECESSARY, AS GOD HAS COME TO LITERALLY DWELL AMONG US...

TEMPLE = DESTROYED in 70 A.D…BUT WE DON’T NEED A PHYSICAL PLACE TO MEET W/ GOD...

HOW we WORSHIP = MORE IMPORTANT than WHERE WE WORSHIP...

WE are TEMPLE...

BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S WORK!

Takeaways:

The most important question we can ask concerning our work/ministry/aspirations in life is, “Is this a thing from God?”

LAST WEEK- PEOPLE REBUKED…WRONG PRIORITIES

The promises of both God’s presence and his provision were the result of it being his purpose & priority.

IN OUR LIVES…WE CAN TRUST HIS PRESENCE & PROVISION WHEN WE’RE WORKING HIS PURPOSES!!

AS A CHURCH…IF WE’RE A PART of GOD’S PLAN & PURPOSE for THIS REGION....WE CAN TRUST, HIS PRESENCE & PROVISION WILL BE WITH US. HE WILL STRENGTHEN US to ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL....

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DON’T LOOK to PAST to BE DISCOURAGED…BUT ENCOURAGED.

HE’S THE SAME FAITHFUL GOD...

ZERUBABBEL’S TEMPLE DIDN’T COMPARE…OH WELL! GOD ALMIGHTY STILL DWELT THERE!

WHAT MADE THE TEMPLE GLORIOUS WAS NOT ITS ADORNMENTS & BEAUTY, BUT WHO INHABITED IT.

THE SOURCE of GLORY was NOT EXTERNAL BEAUTY, BUT INTERNAL PRESENCE

LATTER GLORY = BETTER...

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3. LOOKING @ SALVATION HISTORY...GOD is FAITHFUL… & HE CAME DOWN TO DWELL WITH US! HOW AMAZING IS THIS!!

CHRIST TENTED AMONG MANKIND

TORE THE VEIL

NOW WE ARE THE TEMPLE & HIS PRESENCE IS WITHIN US.

CLOSE IN PRAYER

Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (B. The Encouragement (2:4–9))

As long as we are doing the work God has given us to do in accordance with his will, we are valued participants in God’s great program of making his salvation known to the lost, no matter how small our part may seem to be in comparison to others