Haggai 2:10-19
Notes
Transcript
Provision sneaks up on you
Provision sneaks up on you
We talked about obedience to the Lord
recognizing that our worldly shortfalls usually have a spiritual source
We also talked about reprioritizing your life in a biblical manner
Primarily, placing the Lord and worship above everything
Many of us know what we have to do
But many of us can’t find the courage to do it
Because we forget His merciful provision in the past
And His provision comes subtly
The Lord has another message
The Lord has another message
On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet,
The Lord has been consistently encouraging the people in the beginning
Remember this is a 4-5 year project
Zechariah’s ministry begins about this time
He focuses on the specific spiritual work that follows Haggai’s reprioritization
He uses a ceremonial example to make a point
He uses a ceremonial example to make a point
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’ ” The priests answered and said, “No.” Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.”
Probably referencing the peace offerring
Maybe even the offerings performed in response to Haggai
Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
The peace offering was to be eaten by the offerer
This explains why the meat was in contact with common people and food
Holiness in not transferred but defilement is
A dead body can defile things even upon tertiary contact
The presence of Holiness does not make everything Holy
This was the mistake of Israelite thinking
Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean.
The temple is the meat and the land is the garment
The people are unclean
The land and temple do not make the people Holy
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
And their spiritual condition was the reason for their physical deficiency
They contaminated everything
the harvest
the offerings
The Lord needs them to connect the dots between their previous disobedience and their current situation
Remember this as you move forward
Remember this as you move forward
Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord.
What was the result of disobedience and ignoring the Lord?
Their harvest was halved
What was grown faced plague and blight
Despite suffering, the they could not decipher the reason
Now they have an example to remember and use
Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider: Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”
And now, even after being obedient, things don’t look good
Mid-December
Nothing in reserve
No late crops coming in
And the people have to now trust God
Continue working on the temple
Trust God’s faithfulness
“But from this day on I will bless you.”
The Lord placed them in a position where there is no choice but to trust
The Lord placed them in a position where there is no choice but to trust
A little bit of Holiness does not outweigh defilement
Instead, we have to orient our entire lives around worship of our Lord
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
He does not deserve your leftovers or good intentions
He deserves your full obedience