Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Haggai and Zechariah (next week) were contemporaries:

They both prophesied after the return of the Israelites from exile.

As we have seen in the other prophets, the Lord judged Israel and Judah …

… for their sinful rebellion and failure to repent

… by sending them into exile and scattering them among the nations.

Both Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the building of the temple now that the remnant has returned.

First wave of returned exiles 538 BC.

Temple completed in 516 BC.

(22 years later) This is a problem!

No worship, sacrifice, presence of the Lord in their midst.

Read v1 = 520 BC.

I don’t keep a calendar based on the reign of King Darius.

Four Sermons

I want to give you this book.

There’s no way we are going to cover all of this.

Haggai 1 - The Lord makes a dispute with the returned exiles

Chapter one is the issue at hand in the book of Haggai.

The people and their leaders have failed to attend to the rebuilding of the temple.

Haggai 2:1-9 - The Lord encourages Zerubbabel and Joshua …

… the governor and high priest.

Haggai 2:10-19 - The Lord explains that spiritual corruption defiles worship

Haggai 2:20-23 - The Lord chooses Zerubbabel and his Davidic line …

… affirming that the Lord will work his divine purposes through Zerubbabel.

Richard Taylor (NAC)

The overall purpose of the Book of Haggai is thus quite clear.

Its four messages seek to stir the people of Judah to turn from their self-centered ways and to undertake, with God’s help, the restoration of the Jerusalem temple so that the Lord may once again uniquely manifest himself in this sacred place.

If they will present themselves to him as a pure people, the Lord promises divine enablement for their task, unsurpassed glory for the new temple, and elevation of a Davidic heir to lead the people in triumph over their enemies.

This morning we are going to focus on this first sermon …

… in which the Lord makes a dispute with the returned exiles

… that they have neglected the building of the temple.

PRAY

They both prophesied after the return of the Israelites from exile.

6:00

SOWING TO ETERNAL JOY

The Dispute

Haggai 1:2 — The time has not yet come!

That’s interesting.

Is it because there is great opposition?

Perhaps there aren’t enough resources.

Maybe they don’t know how to build stuff.

Let’s see if we get insight into what is happening.

Read Haggai 1:3-4 — Is it a time for you yourselves?

Ah!

The people have enough resources to build nice houses for themselves.

So, it’s not a circumstantial problem.

Evidently, it’s problem of priority, or perhaps, a problem of the heart.

Haggai 1:9b — The Lord’s Diagnosis

I think this verse cuts to the heart with a clarity that is nearly unparalleled.

How often do we sort of silently agree together a people …

(you don’t just have an individual who decided to build his house instead of the temple …

… it was a community problem.)

… to scatter to our own households

… care for me and mine

… and neglect the worship of the Lord.

What we have here is a cultural problem.

Not a culture problem out there.

We are that culture:

An unspoken culture to be a certain way.

10:00

Consider Your Ways: Sown Much, Harvested Little

Consider your ways!

How has it been for you these days?

It’s a, “How’s that going for you?” moment.

The people have not been concerned for the ways of the Lord.

Particularly his design for worship.

The temple …

… is supposed to be at the center of the community.

From the moment the tabernacle was established …

It is not only the place where God manifests his presence among the people …

… it is also supposed to be the center of their lives

… so that the people orient the every aspect of their culture and households around the worship of the Lord.

So, worship would not be this thing that you do off to the side …

… and then live the rest of your lives off on your own.

No, the worship of the Lord would be at the center of their lives!

Worship, enjoyment of the presence of the Lord and the good gifts that come by his generous grace …

… is supposed to be the deepest satisfaction of the people of the Lord.

If there’s no presence …

… Moses says, if you don’t go before us, we don’t want to go.

It is in their trust and dependence upon the Lord …

… and their satisfaction in his provision

… that the people are to build their society

… the foundation of their households

… the justice of their government

… their joy of their lives.

DEFINITION: Worship is …

… living in the presence of the Holy God through the sufficient sacrifice of Christ with an attitude of reverence and awe that creates a living sacrifice of tribute and fellowship.

That’s in our partnership course.

Life in the presence of the Holy God.

Now, how can they expect live in the presence of the Holy God if they neglect to build the temple in which the Lord has promised make his presence known.

The bottom line is this:

The people have conspired together to pretend that they can establish their lives and find joy for their lives …

… by seeking first their own private household happiness

… while neglecting the worship of the Lord as the center of their corporate life as a community together.

Households gathered together around The House.

There is a house.

That house is the Christ.

You remember in Mark that Jesus went up out of the temple …

… in judgement upon the failure of worship there.

To put it bluntly:

They have sought the things of this world rather than the things of God.

Matthew 6:30b–33 (ESV)