Haggai 2:1-9
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
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Main Point: God’s Glory Makes Things Great, Not OUR WORK!
Main Point: God’s Glory Makes Things Great, Not OUR WORK!
Body
Body
Haggai 2 opens with the LORD, YAHWEH speaking to Haggai again.
1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and to the remnant of the people: 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem to you like nothing by comparison?
Once again Haggai gives us a specific date as we start Haggai 2. Haggai 1 ended with God speaking to Haggai on the 24th day of the 6th month. Now, about one month later GOD SPEAKS AGAIN!
This is an important insight into how God speaking to prophets worked- The prophets didn’t control when God spoke or when he did NOT speak. That was up to GOD!
God speaks to Haggai and gives him instructions.
First, Haggai is told to go to Zerubbabel, Joshua and to the REMNANT of Israel.
Remember, not all of the exiles have returned. This is just the first group of exiles.
The Israelites will be gathered together though because they are all working together to REBUILD THE TEMPLE!
God is going to speak to them regarding their work on the temple.
God starts off with a question- WHO IS LEFT AMONG YOU WHO SAW THIS HOUSE IN ITS FORMER GLORY? HOW DOES IT LOOK TO YOU NOW? DOESN’T IT SEEM TO YOU LIKE NOTHING BY COMPARISON?
Here’s the situation- the Israelites are faithfully trying to rebuild the temple, but they don’t have the same wealth that Solomon took. So why does God bring this up? We’ll talk about that in one minute, but first let me talk about the FIRST TEMPLE that God is referencing.
When Solomon built the temple it took 7 years and it was full of GOLD AND SILVER AND FINE PANELS!
But the second temple just isn’t anywhere near as nice.
The people have pooled together their resources and they are trying, but they didn’t have the same wealth, political influence, or manpower
Consider this- the splendor of the first temple was stripped over time as kings like Hezekiah gave the gold and the silver away to pay tribute to foreign kings.
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Assyria’s King Sennacherib attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 14 So King Hezekiah of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you demand from me, I will pay.” The king of Assyria demanded eleven tons of silver and one ton of gold from King Hezekiah of Judah. 15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king’s palace.
16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the Lord’s sanctuary and from the doorposts he had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the wakeup call that the Israelites needed. Rather than alerting the Israelite people to their need to REPENT AND TURN TO GOD, the Israelites essentially celebrated the fact that they were still alive!
From Hezekiah’s reign on, the temple continues to be stripped and the splendor of the temple seems to lessen. All the while the Israelites run further and further from God.
All of this leads to the destruction of the temple in 2 Kings 25:8-10
8 On the seventh day of the fifth month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. 9 He burned the Lord’s temple, the king’s palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down all the great houses. 10 The whole Chaldean army with the captain of the guards tore down the walls surrounding Jerusalem.
The temple is destroyed and the people are exiled.
Now the temple is being rebuilt. But it is nowhere near as splendorous as the first temple.
So why does God ask them if it seems like NOTHING IN COMPARISON?
It’s not to mock the Israelites; instead, God is reminding the Israelites of something.
See, Solomon’s temple over time had stopped being about worship and had become about how WEALTHY the Israelites were.
But God is reminding the Israelites of where the GLORY OF THE TEMPLE COMES FROM!
Fundamentally, God is calling out SIN! The temple isn’t glorious because of ANY HUMAN, it is ALL ABOUT GOD!
Haggai 1:8 makes mention of this- the glory of the temple will not come from the building, but rather from GOD!
This is something that we’ll see in more detail in verse 7.
Haggai 2:4-5
Haggai 2:4-5
4 Even so, be strong, Zerubbabel—this is the Lord’s declaration. Be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land—this is the Lord’s declaration. Work! For I am with you—the declaration of the Lord of Armies. 5 This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit is present among you; don’t be afraid.’ ”
Here we see why THE LORD OF ARMIES IS SPEAKING to Haggai about this.
God is reminding Zerubbabel and Joshua and the people of Israel to be strong!
Twice we read that being strong is “THE LORD’S DECLARATION.”
This is an interesting thing that goes on from verses 4-9. Five times we are going to see “THIS IS THE LORD’S DECLARATION.”
Remember, repetition should draw our attention and that is substantial repetition.
God declares to three groups to BE STRONG!
It’s like Joshua 1:9!
9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
God calls for obedience with the encouragement to BE STRONG!
The next declaration that God makes is to WORK!
And why? BECAUSE GOD IS WITH THEM!
GOD IS WITH THE ISRAELITES! As the Israelites OBEY GOD and BUILD THE TEMPLE, GOD IS WITH THEM!
I really can’t emphasize this importance enough our work is possible ONLY BECAUSE OF GOD BEING WITH US! This is really an APPLICATION POINT AND A LESSON THAT WE CAN AND MUST LEARN AND APPLY IN NOVEMBER OF 2024!- Psalm 127:1
1 Unless the Lord builds a house,
its builders labor over it in vain;
unless the Lord watches over a city,
the watchman stays alert in vain.
And we aren’t just RELIANT ON GOD FOR OUR WORK TO BE WORTHWHILE; WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT GOD IS WITH US IN OUR WORK!
20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Listen- we have been called to do work but we are not doing this work on our own! GOD IS WITH US IN OUR WORK! GOD IS THERE SUPPORTING US!
That is the third declaration that God makes. THEN, God makes a promise- God reminds the Israelites of the promise that HE MADE IN THE WILDERNESS- and that is the promise that GOD WILL NEVER ABANDON THE ISRAELITES!
See, the people think that God has abandoned them- we saw that in 2 Kings 24:20! But GOD HAS NOT ABANDONED THEM
Even in their sin, even as they built the panelled houses we saw in Haggai 1, GOD HAD NEVER ABANDONED THEM!
Even during Exile, God HAD NOT LEFT THEM!
Let me make this a little more personal- how often do we start to wonder in a hard time if God is with us.
When we feel the weight of being exiles in this world, when we grow anxious with the concerns of our world, when we feel hopeless during a hard season, HOW OFTEN TO WE WONDER WHERE GOD IS?
I’ll be honest- it’s pretty often, at least for me. It can be easy to lose sight of God in hard times.
But, that’s when we do EXACTLY WHAT GOD IS TELLING THE ISRAELITES TO DO! THAT’S WHEN WE CLING TO THE PROMISES OF GOD!
And this is one of my favorite promises of GOD!
This promise that GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE US! That’s what my heart needs during a difficult season. I need that reminder.
We’ll talk more about how to PRACTICALLY APPLY THE PROMISES OF GOD in a bit, but for now, make a note, highlight it- NOTICE that verses 4 and 5 ARE PROMISES FROM GOD!
Haggai 2:6-7
Haggai 2:6-7
6 For the Lord of Armies says this: “Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the Lord of Armies.
We go from the PRESENT PROMISES OF GOD in verses 4-5 to now seeing a FUTURE PROMISE!
In a little while- GOD WILL MOVE!
God says that He will SHAKE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH! He will shake the SEAS AND THE DRY LAND! HE WILL SHAKE THE NATIONS!
AND HOW CAN GOD DO THAT? BECAUSE GOD IS THE LORD OF ARMIES! GOD IS SOVEREIGN AND GOD IS POWERFUL!
And why? FOR HIS GLORY!
Notice what this is tied to- it’s in verse 7. “THE TREASURES OF ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME, AND I WILL FILL THIS HOUSE WITH GLORY!”
On the outside the temple doesn’t look impressive; but IT WILL BE IMPRESSIVE! The Israelites don’t need to worry about whether they are building an impressive building or not!
Remember, GLORY CAN NEVER COME BECAUSE OF THEIR EFFORTS!
Glory will only come AND CAN ONLY COME FROM GOD!
God is reminding the Israelites not to worry about the EARTHLY APPEARANCE OF THE TEMPLE AND TO INSTEAD FOCUS ON FAITHFULNESS TO GOD!
And I think we see the same thing in Matthew 28! Jesus doesn’t tell us HOW MANY disciples to make OR HOW that will always look; instead, we are given a challenge to BE FAITHFUL!
FAITHFULNESS IS WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO! BECAUSE GOD IS GOING TO WORK! It’s not a question, it’s a PROMISE FROM GOD!
Haggai 2:8-9
Haggai 2:8-9
8 “The silver and gold belong to me”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. 9 “The final glory of this house will be greater than the first,” says the Lord of Armies. “I will provide peace in this place”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
God ends this set of prophecies with two more declarations and a statement.
FIRST, all of the SILVER AND GOLD BELONG TO GOD!
The Israelites would look at this temple after it was filled with gold and silver and they might be tempted to think about how great of a job THEY HAVE DONE!
But God makes clear- this isn’t about THEIR splendor, it’s about GOD’S SPLENDOR!
And the temple is fundamentally not about the ISRAELITES, it is about GOD!
Everything inside of it belongs to God; it is built for God, consecrated for God, etc! It’s purpose is to GLORIFY GOD!
Can I challenge you-this is the same with the church!
Jesus establishes the church- literally, Jesus builds it; the church is put apart for GOD; it is all about GOD1
And when the CHURCH grows it isn’t so that we can take pride in it; it is SO THAT GOD IS GLORIFIED!
Just as the Israelites were tempted to become arrogant about the temple they were building, we can be tempted to arrogance about the CHURCH! But, it isn’t about us, just as it wasn’t about the Israelites. It is and ALWAYS HAS BEEN about GOD!
AND IT ALWAYS WILL BE ABOUT GOD!
So first, God declares that this is ALL ABOUT HIM!
The statement is found in verse 9- “THE FINAL GLORY OF THIS HOUSE WILL BE GREATER THAN THE FIRST.”
Let me just slow us down here.
Do you know what the fulfillment of this prophecy is? What the fulfillment of the second temple is?
It’s JESUS!
THIS IS A MESSIANIC PROPHECY!
GOD REMINDS, THE LORD OF ARMIES, REMINDS THE ISRAELITES OF THE HOPE THAT THEY HAVE AND WHAT THEY ARE WAITING FOR!
The final glory of the temple IS INDEED ITS fulfillment through Jesus!
And do you know what is called a temple AFTER Jesus’s life and death?
WE ARE!
WE ARE CALLED TEMPLES! 1 Corinthians 3:16
16 Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
God’s spirit is now in us! God doesn’t reside in a building; GOD RESIDES IN US!
The final glory of the second temple is the RESTORATION OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND OUR INDWELLING BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!
And look at GOD’S FINAL DECLARATION! This is GOD’S PROMISE OF WHAT IS TO COME!
9 “The final glory of this house will be greater than the first,” says the Lord of Armies. “I will provide peace in this place”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
THE LORD OF ARMIES WILL PROVIDE PEACE!
And why can God do that? BECAUSE GOD IS THE LORD OF ARMIES!
No man, no government, no earthly army can provide TRUE peace, but OUR LORD OF ARMIES CAN!
And there’s a double fulfillment to this promise of PEACE.
It doesn’t happen how the Israelites expect.
See, they expect to see PEACE with them RULING everyone else.
Instead, we see that GOD gives a temporary peace, or SHALOM while Jesus is on earth!
Israel isn’t caught in any wars while the MESSIAH is on earth! They have PEACE!
And here’s the second meaning- Shalom isn’t just about EARTHLY PEACE!
SHALOM, or peace, here is also referring to ETERNAL PEACE- PEACE BETWEEN MAN AND GOD!
And more than peace, this word SHALOM means “COMPLETENESS!”
GOD PROVIDES COMPLETENESS.
Please hear that! The message of Haggai fundamentally is pointing to OUR COMPLETE NEED FOR GOD AND HOW COMPLETENESS COMES ONLY FROM GOD!
And notice how God says this- THE LORD OF ARMIES DECLARES THIS!
THIS WILL HAPPEN! SHALOM, which is peace and completeness will ONLY COME THROUGH GOD, but it HAS ALREADY COME!
John 14:6 shows us this fulfillment!
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Application
Application
Long for God’s Glory
Long for God’s Glory
Haggai 2:1-9 gives us a really straightforward pair of applications. The first is for us to LONG FOR GOD’S GLORY!
God asks the Israelites these questions about the temple and it’s done with a specific purpose- God is showing what the temple truly needs- God’s GLORY!
And I would challenge us with that same thing.
We’ve talked about how Haggai is a book about restoration and renewal. Part of this is LONGING TO SEE GOD GLORIFIED!
Let me challenge us to LONG FOR GOD’S GLORY; to long to see GOD’S NAME LIFTED UP!
I want to give us three practical ways that we can LONG FOR GOD’S GLORY!
First- KNOW GOD’S GLORY!
If we are going to LONG for God’s GLORY, then we need to first KNOW GOD’S GLORY!
That starts with us KNOWING GOD!
(GOSPEL- explain how salvation leads us to giving ALL glory to God!)
Second-PRAY FOR GOD’S GLORY TO COME (Matthew 6!)
Remember what made the temple GLORIOUS! It wasn’t man! It was GOD!
And remember how God’s Glory came! It came shaking the nations!
Do you want to see God’s GLORY? I do! And the way that we see it is simple- we PRAY for OPEN EYES AND WE GET OUT OF THE WAY!
God doesn’t need us to show HIS glory!
God’s GLORY is all around us now just as it was all around the Israelites when they rebuilt the temple.
But God also was faithful to SHOW THEM HIS GLORY!
And I really believe this- GOD IS DOING AND IS GOING TO DO SO MANY INCREDIBLE THINGS!
I think we are already seeing this. I really believe God is about to POUR OUT HIS GLORY! So let’s PRAY FOR IT! LET’S PRAY FOR GOD TO MOVE! LET’S PRAY FOR GOD TO BE MADE GREAT!
AND THEN- let’s let God move. Let’s make MUCH OF GOD and little of ourselves!
Third- LIVE A LIFE THAT POINTS TO GOD’S GLORY! (Reach outwards)
DECLARE GOD’S GLORY TO THE PEOPLE AROUND US with actions and with words! (Praise God no matter who we are with!)
Be Strong and KNOW THE PROMISES
Be Strong and KNOW THE PROMISES
Our last point from today has to do with what GOD does throughout this passage.
Throughout this passage God gives instructions of something that needs to be done and THEN, God reminds the Israelites of HIS PROMISES!
I want to challenge us today that God’s instructions to BE STRONG and to KNOW HIS PROMISES still applies!
So let’s start by talking about BEING STRONG!
There are two aspects of being strong that I want to emphasize today.
FIRST- we need to BE STRONG by taking action!
The ISRAELITES needed to have STRENGTH in order to REBUILD THE TEMPLE!
Their actions required strength that wasn’t from them, but was FROM GOD!
SECOND, we need to BE STRONG by PERSEVERING WHEN THINGS TAKE TIME!
Building the temple was not a one day job. But it mattered.
PERSEVERANCE MATTERED! We need to be STRONG by persevering.
Can I tell you guys something?
GOD IS GOING TO MOVE IN CHAMPAIGN, IN SAVOY, IN TOLONO, ON CAMPUS! GOD ALREADY IS! I’m telling you, GOD IS ON THE MOVE TODAY!
But hear me- God doesn’t always move in the way that WE EXPECT!
We pray for God to move; we TRUST THAT GOD WILL MOVE, but we also in FULL FAITH cling to God’s promises to REMAIN STRONG WHEN WE NEED TO BE PATIENT! We CLING TO GOD’S PROMISES AND REMAIN STRONG WHEN WE ARE PERSISTENTLY LOVING, EVANGELIZING AND DISCIPLING THE PEOPLE AROUND US AND IT’S TAKING TIME! WE NEED TO BE PATIENT AS WE REACH OUR NEIGHBORS AND OUR FRIENDS AND OUR COWORKERS, OR CLASSMATES!
BEING PATIENT REQUIRES STRENGTH!
(Renewal of our personal relationship with GOD GIVES US STRENGTH! WALK CLOSELY TO GOD! CORNERSTONE- BE STRONG!)
And as God calls on the Israelites to BE STRONG, God reminds them of HIS PROMISES!
For instance- BUILD THIS TEMPLE and then God promises to FILL IT WITH HIS GLORY!
Or think about this one- BE STRONG- I’M WITH YOU!
This isn’t the only place we see promises that back up God’s instructions!
David receives a promise and is asked to do something- David is asked to be FAITHFUL and DAVID is told that his LINE WILL REIGN FOREVER!
And let me tell you the best thing! EVERY ONE OF THESE PROMISES OF GOD COME TRUE!
GOD IS TRUE IN EACH ONE OF THESE!
God’s promises will NEVER FAIL!
Like think about these- God DOES put his glory in the temple! GOD DOES GIVE SHALOM, or COMPLETENESS, just as HE promised!
God IS WITH THE ISRAELITES just as HE PROMISED!
And God’s promises don’t stop there!
Consider the most famous promise that GOD MAKES IN THE NT!
Matthew 28! GO AND DO! BUT REMEMBER, BEHOLD, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS!
And friends, as we are called to STRENGTH AND TO ACTION WE CAN REST SECURELY KNOWING THAT GOD IS GOING TO BACK UP THIS PROMSIE!
So practically, let me encourage you- MEMORIZE A PROMISE OF GOD THIS WEEK!
It can be one from this passage, or from Matthew 28; it could be from Matthew 6 about anxiety, or Matthew 11 about JESUS’S REST!
Maybe you don’t know any; don’t worry! I’d love to talk with you; or you can look some up online- there’s lots of great resources that help show the PROMISES OF GOD! But PRACTICALLY, TAKE ACTION! MEMORIZE A PROMISE THAT GOD MADE TO YOU THIS WEEK! If you’re looking for some of the promises of God
Let me pray for us!
