Panelled Houses or Worshipping God

Introduction

October 26- at Halloween we put on costumes (and it’s fun). But we also do this in life (out of fear). The Israelites were living fake lives! They looked so pulled together in their houses but really they were a mess! The Israelites think that THEY ARE ALL THAT. They aren’t! It’s a new form of idolatry and their idol is themselves!

(When we look at the OT, we are going to see THEMES and we are going to see a major theme- OUR NED FOR A SAVIOR! Each book has specific themes- these are Haggai’s)

THEMES IN HAGGAI:

God has to come first at all times!

God’s PRESENCE makes ANY PLACE great!

THE PROMISE OF THE MESSIAH!

Main Point: We need to put our focus on God rather than on our own “Paneled Houses”

Body

As we dive into Haggai, let me direct our attention to Haggai 1:1 which gives us the context of the book.

Haggai 1:1 CSB

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

Haggai is unique in the minor prophets in that there are VERY specific dates given for when these events happen. By specific I mean TO THE DAY!

Haggai takes place in the 2nd year of Darius’s reign, which is 520 B.C. This is about 15 years after the first group of Exiles returns to Israel.

The book opens in the sixth month of the year, which would take place around August or September.

Darius is on the throne of the Persian empire. Darius is an evil man- he was only the king because he murdered the rightful king and then covered it up through an intense plot with false identities and more!

Despite his wickedness, God used Darius!

So the scene is set- the Israelites are returning from exile and as they come back they have moved into these nice houses while neglecting God.

So looking at this verse, we see that GOD- anytime you see LORD all capitalized it is literally YAHWEH meaning I AM which is the name God tells Moses in Exodus 3:14- YAHWEH speaks through Haggai to Zerubbabel and Joshua.

Haggai is a prophet- he is God’s MESSENGER! He is to say what God tells him to say, to do what God tells him to do, and to go wherever God tells him to go!

Now- Haggai’s prophecies might sound a little different to us. See, Haggai spends less time talking about the future and more time FORTHTELLING, or calling out sin and unrighteousness.

In doing this, he specifically speaks to Zerubbabel and Joshua a lot.

So who are these two?

Zerubbabel is the son of Shealtiel and is the governor of Judah, which was the name of the province that the Persians had established in Israel.

Zerubbabel and Shealtiel are from the tribe of Judah.

Shealtiel’s father is a man named Jeconiah.

Jeconiah was the second to last king of Judah before Babylon conquered them and took them into exile.

This means that Zerubbabel is a direct descendant of King David!

Make a note of that- on your bulletin, in your bible, make a note of that! This direct line is going to matter in Haggai 2!

Joshua is the son of Jehozadak and is the high priest. He is from the tribe of Levi, and his grandfather was the final high priest before the exile of Israel.

Let me make an observation about these guys- throughout Haggai we are going to see the renewal and restoration of Isreal.

And we are going to see how previous generations poor decisions do not have to define us!

The same is true for Zerubbabel and Joshua. Just because their grandfather’s worshipped idols didn’t meant that they had to.

We are EACH responsible for going to God and walking in FAITH WITH HIM!

The faith of your parents or grandparents, or your spouse, CANNOT SAVE YOU!

ONLY A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CAN SAVE YOU!

Haggai 1:2-3

Haggai 1:2–4 CSB

2 “The Lord of Armies says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” 3 The word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”

Haggai is given a message by YAHWEH in verse 2.

Notice what Haggai calls God- GOD IS THE LORD OF ARMIES! This title is purposeful- the LORD OF ARMIES reminds us that God is powerful, that God is SOVEREIGN and that GOD HAS THIS UNDER CONTROL!

Listen- the Israelites felt that maybe God wasn’t in control after they were exiled. But, GOD WAS STILL VERY MUCH IN CONTROL, JUST AS GOD IS STILL VERY MUCH IN CONTROL! (If you are here and you are struggling with that- here’s your reminder- God is IN CONTROL!)

God is called the LORD OF ARMIES 4 times between verse 2 and verse 9.

So God speaks and God REBUKES the Israelites.

Don’t miss that- the Israelites are saying that it isn’t time for the temple to be rebuilt- which is really showing a heart attitude- that it isn’t time to WORSHIP GOD!

Instead, they are building these fine PANELED houses for themselves.

These paneled houses had imported Cedar all over the inside. And in the Old Testament it was a sign of great wealth.

1 Kings 6 and 7 both talk about paneled houses- in chapter 6, Solomon’s palace is talked about as a paneled house and in chapter 7, paneling is put in the TEMPLE!

But now, every Israelite wants to have a paneled house.

See, the Israelites care more about their comfort than they care about worshipping God!

Josephus, the Jewish Historian, tells us that they faced some pushback from the Samaritans who did not worship God at this time, and the Israelites IMMEDIATELY STOPPED BUILDING THE TEMPLE AND INSTEAD FOCUSED ON THEIR HOUSES!

See, at the end of the day, the Israelites had made a decision- following God was less important than their image.

Fundamentally, what GOD IS CALLING OUT IS AN IDENTITY ISSUE!

FUNDAMENTALLY, GOD IS SAYING, “YOU DON’T HAVE YOUR FOUNDATION IN ME AND YOU NEED TO!”

This identity issue isn’t just an Israelite issue. This is an issue for us today!

This applies to us as individuals AND to our society!

APPLICATIONS:

We can be really quick to try and surround ourselves with different layers of things to PROTECT ourselves from truly being known!

We put on our own “costumes” or we “build our paneled houses” but we need to instead GO TO GOD!

Our identity DOES NOT AND NEVER will come from ourselves and what we do! OUR IDENTITY CAN ONLY EVER COME FROM GOD!

Haggai 1:5-6

Haggai 1:5–6 CSB

5 Now, the Lord of Armies says this: “Think carefully about your ways: 6 You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough to be satisfied. You drink but never have enough to be happy. You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm. The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it.”

The LORD OF ARMIES continues to speak through Haggai and delivers a warning.

Israel needs to THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT THEIR WAYS, or literally to SEARCH THEIR SOULS!

The Israelites are complaining to God about famine in the land, about not having enough food and drink, about not having plentiful clothes; or to sum it up- NOT FEELING PROVIDED FOR!

But notice something- the Israelites complain on one hand that they aren’t provided for, all while BUILDING NICE HOUSES TO PRAISE THEMSELVES!

They are seeking to gain praise for themselves rather than praise for God! the Israelites fundamentally are focused on themselves, not God.

And God has essentially said, “Ok, see where this gets you.”

And where has it gotten them to? A place of famine, a place where their “wealth” is rotting and where they are walking in sin just like they did before the exile!

Remember-the returnees would have grown up as the kids during the exile! They were directly effected by the events of the exile and by the sin of their forefathers! They would have been told about WHY they were in exile, but even knowing that, they continue to pursue sin.

Let’s see what God has for them.

Haggai 1:7-8

Haggai 1:7–8 CSB

7 The Lord of Armies says this: “Think carefully about your ways. 8 Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house; and I will be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord.

The LORD OF ARMIES continues AGAIN instructing them to THINK CAREFULLY, or to SEARCH THEIR SOULS!

God then gives an instruction- the Israelites are to build the temple. They are to bring down lumber, the cedar lumber that they proudly display at home and they are to REBUILD THE TEMPLE!

The Israelites are essentially called TO SPIRITUAL REVIVAL!

We talked in our Titus series about this idea of renewal and restoration. Restoration we said was about the function of God’s people and renewal was about our relationship to God.

God is calling the Israelites to renewal that will be demonstrated as they RESTORE THE TEMPL!

And God gives a promise- when this is done, GOD WILL BE PLEASED!

Notice something else- the temple is being built to BRING GLORY TO GOD!

That’s the motivation for the temple- the Israelites aren’t building a temple to have food; they are going to rebuild the temple to bring glory to God!

In Haggai 1:9-11 God is going to remind the Israelites about the consequence of their actions. Just as verse 7 mirrors verse 5, Verses 10-11 mirrors verse 6.

Haggai 1:9-11

Haggai 1:9–11 CSB

9 “You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined it. Why?” This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. “Because my house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house. 10 So on your account, the skies have withheld the dew and the land its crops. 11 I have summoned a drought on the fields and the hills, on the grain, new wine, fresh oil, and whatever the ground yields, on people and animals, and on all that your hands produce.”

So once again- why did God not bless the harvest? Why are the Israelites struggling? BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT WORSHIPPING GOD!

The Israelites are once again in sin! They have come back from exile and have NOT LEARNED THEIR LESSON!

Instead, they are continuing to neglect God so that they can live a more comfortable life.

They seek to have their OWN HOMES be in perfect shape without restoring the TEMPLE!

And let’s be clear- what it shows is not just a physical priority, it is a SPIRITUAL ONE!

Rather than worshipping God and fixing their eyes on God, they have fixed their eyes on THEMSELVES!

They have chosen their PHYSICAL and SPIRITUAL COMFORT OF “Fitting in” over WORSHIPPING THEIR CREATOR!

And let me be clear- this is deeply applicable to us. I’m not here to try to match up disasters to disobedience because that isn’t what God has put on my heart, but I am going to speak bluntly to us.

We as individuals and corporately as the CHURCH IN AMERICA so often get concerned about FITTING IN or BEING SEEN IN A CERTAIN WAY!

We worry that maybe we won’t do the right thing, or sing the right songs, or maybe we won’t be cool enough!

But as we worry about that, slowly but surely the GOSPEL slips into the background!

We stop FOCUSING about WORSHIPPING GOD AND MAKING DISCIPLES AND WE WORRY INSTEAD about OURSELVES AND OUR POPULARITY!

Let me just challenge us with what we are seeing in Haggai- I can tell you how the church in America is restored- it’s through RENEWING OUR FOCUS ON GOD!

It isn’t about “building a temple” physically, but it is about SPIRITUALLY “building a new temple.”

Rather than worrying about tradition, or our influence, or our power, the GLOBAL CHURCH, the KINGDOM OF GOD, will grow when we restore our focus onto worshipping God!

I want to speak from the heart. I’m Gen-Z. I’m a young adult. I have a lot of friends who are younger millenials. Time and time again in conversation do you know what comes up about churches my friends visit?

They are looking for a place where they can be GENUINE AND WHERE THEY CAN WORSHIP GOD!

Statistics show that millenials and Gen-Z are more likely to go to a church if the GOSPEL IS PREACHED AND IF GOD’S WORD IS OPENED EACH WEEK!

So that’s what we need to do! We need to focus ourselves on “BUILDING A NEW TEMPLE” even when it’s uncomfortable rather than on our “Paneled houses” of comfort and tradition.

Haggai 1:12-13

Let’s see how Israel reacts to these rebukes.

Haggai 1:12–13 CSB

12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the entire remnant of the people obeyed the Lord their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. So the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, delivered the Lord’s message to the people: “I am with you—this is the Lord’s declaration.”

Notice this- the Israelites respond by FEARING THE LORD AND OBEYING GOD!

Zerubbabel and Joshua in particular are singled out as LEADERS WHO LEAD THE ISRAELITES TO OBEY!

See, restoration and renewal require EVERYONE to listen to God and it requires GODLY LEADERS WHO ARE WILLING TO OBEY GOD RATHER THAN THEIR OWN PERSONAL PREFERENCES.

In addition to the leaders obeying, we see that the Israelites FEAR THE LORD!

What does this mean? It means that they UNDERSTAND WHO GOD IS AND THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THEY NEED TO WORSHIP GOD AS GOD DESERVES! (Do you fear God?)

In this moment the people see what they’ve done!

And do you notice what they do? They TAKE ACTION TO ADDRESS THEIR SINS!

Rather than sitting back and trying to JUSTIFY their choices, the Israelites TAKE ACTION TO OBEY GOD!

And look at God’s message to the Israelites. “I AM WITH YOU!”

God is WITH THE ISRAELITES!

God challenges them to obey, they do and GOD IS WITH THEM! THEY ARE NOT REBUILDING THIS TEMPLE BY THEMSELVES!

Haggai 1:14-15

- Haggai 1 wraps up saying:

Haggai 1:14–15 CSB

14 The Lord roused the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the spirit of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. They began work on the house of the Lord of Armies, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.

GOD ROUSES THE SPIRITS OF ZERUBBABEL and Joshua AND ALL THE PEOPLE!!

God ENCOURAGES THESE FAITHFUL MEN!

God gives them the capacity that they need to have to lead HIS people forward!

And so work begins!

We see that work begins about 3 weeks after Haggai first speaks. Understand- it takes time to get these building materials, so the fact that they are ready to start in just 3 weeks is very impressive!

The people- specifically Zerubbabel and Joshua- are ready to work and they show God their sincerity by ACTUALLY WORKING!

Application

Our Paneled Houses (Identity and Priority)

Sometimes when we look at an Old Testament passage we have to see what’s going on and then apply it a little differently.

I want to start off by talking to us about PANELED houses. Now, I’m not here to judge if you have paneling in your house or not. I’m not even talking about your ACTUAL house!

Instead, I’m talking about idols.

Is there something in your life that you run to before God? Something that you almost WORSHIP, or that you GIVE YOUR ATTENTION AND ENERGY TO ahead of God?

If we’re honest, for each one of us there are idols that we fight.

And here’s the hardest part about idols. Typically, they aren’t inherently bad things.

Here’s what I mean- was it a bad thing for the Israelites to have a nice place to live? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

That wasn’t sinful! But what was sinful was the way that they prioritized their houses AHEAD of God!

See, something good like FAMILY can become an idol! God has given us our families, God has DESIGNED family, but we can quickly turn these GOOD THINGS into an idol when we put them before God!

I want to get really personal with us for a second. This is a question I’ve thought a lot about this week- what is that IDOL in your life?

What is it that we slip into the habit of putting ahead of God? Because at the end of the day, we need to AVOID THAT!

Let me just pour out my heart to you this morning- we have to LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND SEE OUR PANELED HOUSES!

What do we let get between US AND GOD? Because really, that’s what these paneled houses were. The paneled houses of the Israelites had become an idol that DREW THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AWAY FROM GOD!

The truth is that we all have those things that we long for, those things that we focus on; those things that we want to see happen so badly- and those are our PANELED HOUSES!

What are those?

Once you’ve identified them, I want to give you a challenge- GIVE THEM TO GOD!

Go to GOD RIGHT NOW AND CONFESS THEM! LAY THEM DOWN AT GOD’S FEET RIGHT NOW!

Rebuild the House (The Kingdom of God is our FIRST FOCUS)

The second application for us comes from the idea of REBUILDING THE HOUSE!

Just as we ask the question- “what is it in our lives that is a paneled house” we need to ask that question as a church- both locally and globally!

What is it here that we hold onto like the paneled houses of the Israelites?

Is it an event? Is it a way that something is done? Is it a way that service is organized? What are things that we have grown so ATTACHED TO that they have become a paneled house of sorts?

Let me give one example of it here in America- we have become FOCUSED with finding churches that make us comfortable rather than letting the HOLY SPIRIT CONFRONT OUR SIN!

That isn’t to say that EVERY person is like that, but overall, that is fair to say. And Haggai wasn’t saying that EVERY ISRAELITE neglected God. But overall, that was the case.

So let me just ask point blank- do some real soul-searching like what God challenged the Israelites with- is there something when it comes to following God and our church that has become a paneled house?

And now, let me give you a practical action about it.

Here’s the practical action- we need to refocus.

I want to challenge us with 3 things that absolutely must be visible in our churches- first, we exist to glorify God. Make no mistake; that is our FIRST PRIORITY!

Secondly, we exist to equip the saints for the ministry that God has given us- literally, it is our job as a CHURCH to equip one another through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word and through fellowship to go and BRING THE GOSPEL TO THE WORLD AROUND US!

Thirdly, we exist to GO TOGETHER AND MAKE DISCIPLES!

We NEED to keep those three things as our PRIORITY!

This is the type of language that Paul uses in Ephesians 4, 2 Corinthians 5 and that Jesus uses in Matthew 9!

I want to challenge myself as a person, myself as the pastor of Cornerstone and each of us to make sure that we BUILD GOD’S KINGDOM first and that at Cornerstone and ACROSS AMERICA, we “rebuild the house” together, focusing on:

Glorifying God

Equipping Believers for Ministry

GOING AND MAKING DISCIPLES!

Join me in this as we seek to reach Savoy together! (it requires all of us!)

Lead in Renewal (Take a step of faith! Lead like Zerubbabel and Joshua)

With our last point of application, I want to challenge us to respond with action.

Zerubbabel and Joshua didn’t just hear Haggai and say, “Great! I hear you!” They took action.

Let me give us two actions that we can take today.

First- GOSPEL! (GET SAVED!) (Israel needed a permanent savior, not just a new temple! And consider this- in the NT we are called the TEMPLE! 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 CSB

19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.

None of this stuff about “rebuilding the temple” matters if we don’t first know God!

Second- WALK WITH GOD! BE CLOSE TO GOD! WALK IN FAITH! (Remember who you are in God’s eyes- remember where your identity comes from- it isn’t from your house, or your wealth, or from you! 2 Corinthians 5:17

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

TAKE ACTION TO WALK WITH GOD! Know God and REMEMBER YOUR IDENTITY IN GOD!

Let me pray for us!