Time to Rebuild

Today we begin our series in Haggai… Haggai is between Zephaniah and Zechariah… But the easiest thing to do is find Matthew and then turn three books to the left. It’s only 2 chapters, or 38 verses so it’s easy to miss. If you’re using a pew bible it is on 791. After Obadiah, this is the 2nd smallest book in the Old Testament. But even though it is so short we’re going to spend a few weeks looking at this book.

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So before we can really get into the entirety of Haggai there is a bit of context we need, and then we also need a roll call for the names mentioned at the beginning.

The Context

For first, we have a bit of a necessary history lesson… I know history can feel boring sometimes but it’s important I promise…

So first this is a post exilic book. But let me define that - after Israel is lead into the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and they take over the land - they eventually call for a king… yet the vast majority of the kings are terrible and do evil in the sight of the Lord, as the books of 1st and 2nd Kings show us. A little under 1000 years before the birth of Christ, Solomon’s temple is constructed. In 587-586BC, Babylon attacks and destroys Jerusalem and the temple and the people are exiled from the land (which they were promised in Deuteronomy 28-30 - before they entered into the land - but if you want to understand the exile and the prophets - start with Deut. 28 - which is short is a promise of blessings for obedience and for a curse for disobedience, and a promise that they will be removed from the land.

Ex: Deut. 28:36… If Israel does not obey the voice of the Lord…

Deuteronomy 28:36 ESV

“The Lord will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone.

And because they are unfaithful God is indeed faithful to that promise and removes them from the land. But the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah promises them that the Babylonian exile is not the end… but rather prophesies that after 70 years they will return to the land…

Jeremiah 29:10 ESV

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

After that 70 years, Persia conquers Babylon and King Cyrus permits the exiles to return to their land and rebuild the temple. (2 Chron. 36:22-23).

The people are brought back to rebuild the temple, rebuild their houses, and eventually rebuild the wall. In Ezra 1-3 they begin rebuilding the temple, but opposition comes and the building stops.

For 20 years, the people cease building the temple of the Lord because of opposition from the Samaritans. The events and the oracles contained within the book of Haggai fall between Ezra 4-5.

So if you want the best understanding of what is going on in Haggai go home and read Ezra 1-6.

Homework: Read 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36, Ezra.

So that was all about 4 minutes of historical context - and I hope I didn’t lose you in all of that. I know it can be a little hard to follow at times. And again if you have questions or get completely lost I’ll be glad to answer any questions after service - but I would encourage you to join us on Wednesday night and bring those questions then.

Following that bit of history let’s look at who is all here since the first verse introduces 4 important people to us…

The Cast

The book opens by telling us that this is the second year of Darius the King. This tells us that it’s the year 520BC. This is also the sixth month of the first day of the month. The dates in the book of Haggai are unique among the prophets. But they are also extremely important. It shows us how long this book takes place. This helps us to date this book and understand where it sits in history. However, there’s more to this inclusion that simply giving us the date. We should ask the question who is Darius? And where is he king of?

He’s not king of Israel, he’s not the Davidic king, or a descendent of David. He’s the king of Persia. He is the successor to King Cyrus. This is most likely NOT the same Darius as in Daniel. This is however, the same Darius as in Ezra.

For us as the reader we should immediately recall 2 Sam 7. and be ask… What about that promise made to David? If David is to have an offspring whose throne will never end - why is Israel ruled by a foreign king? Has God forgotten his promise to his people? If not, how is he going to fulfill it?

On this side of the advent, death and resurrection of Jesus - we have answers to these questions - and in short the answer is Jesus - but when reading the prophets it helps to remember the context.

Jeremiah 22 gives some context on that - but we’ll get there in a few weeks. (I know i’ve mentioned a lot of passages of Scripture this morning - most, if not all of them, are listed on a sheet on the bulletin board in the back if you miss any). It’s a list of sermon texts for the next few months… subject to change… but in the far column of that are many of the passages that I have referenced.

There’s a few other important names here in these first few verses for our understanding of this book.

Haggai is the prophet. We do not read very much about him, but he likely wrote the book, and delivered the words of God to the people. He is the mouthpiece of God in this book. Zerubabbel is the governor of Judah. As the text tells us he’s the son of Shealtiel… Shealtiel is the son of Jehoiachin, aka Jeconiah aka Coniah who is important because he is Judah’s last king prior to exile. And these three names are all found in Jesus genealogy in Matthew 2. Which means that Zerubabbel would be the rightful heir to the Davidic throne - except there currently is no throne. Yet Zerubabbel never becomes king. And this again brings back that question about the Davidic King… Remember that for when we get to chapter 2.

Finally, there is Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Jehozadak is a priest who went into exile under Nebuchadnezzar and is mentioned in 1 Chron. 6:15…

1 Chronicles 6:15 ESV

and Jehozadak went into exile when the Lord sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

And the final person who we see active in this book is The Lord, Haggai’s preferred name for God in this book is to address him as The Lord of Hosts. Haggai uses this title 14 times in the 38 verse book. That’s a little more than once every 3 verses. YHWH Sabaoth. The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary gives a great definition for this name…

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Names of God

Yahweh-Sabaoth “The LORD of hosts” (1 Sam. 1:3; Jer. 11:20; cp. 1 Sam. 17:45). This can also be rendered “the LORD Almighty.” It represents God’s power over the nations and was closely tied to Shiloh, to the ark of the covenant, and to prophesy. The title designates God as King and Ruler of Israel, its armies, its temple, and of the entire universe.

The Lord of Hosts, the ruler of the entire universe is speaking to them. They should listen. He is the not the kind of God that should be ignored. Thus the inclusion of this name serves as first and repeated sting of the indictment that is about to be pronounced upon them.

So far we’ve dealt with a lot of history and context - and I hope you can see why that’s all important.

But if not, in summary - this first verse teaches us that there is a Persian King ruling over the people of Judah - the descendant of David is merely a governor, who never becomes king. But

The Charge

Now in verses 2-6 we get to the core issue of the book of Haggai. As I mentioned the people have been back in Jerusalem, having returned from exile under Cyrus’ order for 20 years. And the Lord speaks to Haggai:

Haggai 1:2 ESV

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

So the claim that the people have made is that it isn’t time to rebuild the temple… but they have been back for 20 years… so when is the time?

But that’s not the end of the dilemma here. The Lord makes a response to that claim

Haggai 1:3–4 ESV

Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

The Lord speaks to the governor and the high priest first. They are living in paneled houses, and yet the temple lies in ruins. These panelled houses were expensive. They weren’t just living in tents or shelters - these paneled homes were nice. Comparisons have been made to how Solomon decorated the temple in 1 Kings 6 and 7 with this cedar paneling. The luxury of yesteryear’s temple decorated their homes, while that temple lay in ruins.

In short, this is exactly like when you ask your kids, or when your mom asked you, to do something and their responses is “Well you see I was going to but then… I got distracted by something more fun…”

But the temple is not merely about a building. It’s about worship, and about God. This starts with the leadership. Imagine if Jim and I are instructing you that you ought to be regularly reading your Bibles (and your should) but we are not doing it ourselves because we’re too busy. the correction here starts with the leadership and then it expands.

The temple is the place where God dwelt. Now God doesn’t need a temple - they were not escaping from his presence - but the temple was a visible depiction of God’s presence among his people. They were instructed to return to Jerusalem so that they might rebuild the temple and they have failed to do that. Opposition led to delays, delays led to excuses, excuses led to disobedience.

Their lives were comfy, but their worship was a disaster. Their houses were nice - the interior design was set but the house of the Lord is still lying in ruins.

So when they say that it is not yet the time to rebuild the temple they are saying is “I have better things to do.”

This would be like if our church was falling apart, if our roof had holes in it, the carpet torn to shreds, the pews falling apart and each of us decided it wasn’t time to fix the roof but we all went off an invested in real estate.

But yet there is something lingering in the background here… this is the first day of the month. This means that it is a new moon feast, this is a day of public worship. A day of worship that would have occurred at the temple. Numbers 28:11-15. They were commanded on this day to offer sacrifice, yet without the temple they cannot properly observe this day. Trumpets would blast to signify the beginning of the month - but there’s no temple there.

Then in verse 5 it appears that the message expands, as Haggai repeats his favored title for the Lord he then continues to give this charge against the people. They are told to look around to consider their ways, and to observe their harvest… they have sown much but harvested little, they eat but they are never satisfied, they drink but never to their fill, the dress but they still cold, they earn money but it is never enough.

And to step forward to our modern context for a second - does that not sound familiar? If you’re a Christian that likely describes your life before Christ. If you’re not, then it’s likely your life now. No matter how much you hustle, and break you back to fill your pockets, or how many double shifts you work - you find yourself feeling empty or dissatisfied.

I saw a headline this week that said one group surveyed 2000 millennials… my generation so 30s-40s …and found that they believe that the ideal income for them to be happy is $525,000… Which is in the top 3% of income earners in the US. (FWIW, every other surveyed generation averaged out to something around $120k.)

Thus even though we aren’t rebuilding a temple it’s easy to see how verses 5-6 really are not all that different than today. When we ignore the Lord and the things of God we are not satisfied. Sin always leaves us looking for another hit.

And yet even though we are not building a physical temple - the apostle Paul tells Christians that our own bodies are physical temples with the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Application:

When we look at this book - we should operate with the basic principle that God is faithful to his promises. God has not forgotten the promise he made to David concerning the eternal throne. Even though Judah was under Persian rule, and even though Zerubabbel is the rightful king - that never takes the crown - the book of Haggai shows us that Zerubabbel is not forgotten.

But there is also a charge to the people to put the things of God first.

This book isn’t ultimately about a building. The issue is not merely about the building being in ruins - but about the temple as the former dwelling place of God, and about the temple as the place of worship and that being neglected.

For us today, this isn’t about the church building. This isn’t me complaining about my church office being painted avocado green… That’s fine.

But rather do you think your personal lives are “in order” while your spiritual lives are being neglected?

Are you up to date on your Netflix shows but behind in your Bible reading plan?

Is your home in perfect array while you neglect family worship?

Is the only dust in your home on the cover of your Bible?

It’s really easy to make excuses like “I’ll spend more time with other Christians when my life gets less busy,” or “I’ll read my Bible when I get my schedule in order first.” or “I’ll attend church regularly when… *enter excuse*” And all of those are the same spirit as “It’s not a good time to rebuild the temple.”

The people in this text had their lives in order - or so they thought - but they had ignored God, they had placed him in the background. But as we will see as we continue on in the text - the reason that they were never satisfied was because they ignored God. And for us today, we’re all constantly looking for something to satisfy us - and as long as we’re looking for things we’ll find ourselves wanting. We cannot talk about our spiritual lives being in order -if we do not first address the issue of sin. Areas where we have pursued our own desires rather than seeking what honors God. Seeking your own comfort and happiness, rather than seeking to worship and glorify the only holy God. Building a paneled house rather than building a temple.

For those who do not know Jesus as savior - then you will never have this in order, you will never be satisfied. Turn from your sin and believe in Jesus Christ. The significance of the temple is that it is the dwelling place of God. Jesus Christ is God who dwelt among us. When the disciples are marveling at the temple in Jn 2 - Jesus says “destroy this temple and three days I will raise it up.” Those who hear scoff because they think he is referring to the temple. But Jesus is referring to his own body - and he is the dwelling place of God, as he is Immanuel, God dwelling among man. Jesus He is on the cross going to lay his life down and then on the 3rd day pick it back up.

And then for all those who he saves through faith in him he removes their heart of stone and gives them a heart of flesh - he gives them a new heart - and puts his Holy Spirit inside of them. Making them into a temple. Jesus puts his spirit in his disciples but he still expects obedience. He still expects discipline. He still expects repentance. He still expects holiness.

After I pray, we’re going to come to Lord’s Supper, and it’s extremely appropriate that we stop and evaluate our lives before we even get out of our seats. Have you placed your own comfort before the things of the Lord?