The People’s Obedience (Hag 1:12-15)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Haggai 1:12-15.

Over the past two weeks we’ve been working through the beginning of Haggai together. In doing so, we spent a significant amount of time dealing with what the actual issue in Haggai is—what is God through Haggai calling the people of Israel out for? It’s really because of their idolatrous attitudes toward God and His temple.

Once making that realization, we pieced things together through a biblical theological study of the temple itself in which we came to the conclusion that the universal church is currently the temple of God through which He dwells and local churches are small, physical expressions of that temple.

And it didn’t take long for us as modern-day Christians to see the connection between what Israel was doing in 540BC during the life of Haggai and what we so often do today—we neglect the body of Christ, the modern temple, the local church by not regularly showing up, by not participating, by not prioritizing the local church over other gatherings, by taking for granted the means through which Jesus has chosen for us to be discipled; and really, by doing so, we neglect Him.

This morning, we only have a few verses to work through; however, the idea presented in this morning’s passage is vital for the Christian faith—because it deals with genuine repentance; and it’s genuine repentance that builds the foundation for our application this morning.

Let’s read Haggai 1:12-15 together:

Haggai 1:12–15 ESV

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.” 14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

As we study this passage together, we’re going to keep it in one part that focuses on repentance itself. We’ll take this passage, place it in its historical context and I’m going to remind you of the various times throughout Scripture in which God graciously warns people for the purpose of justly calling them to repentance.

Then, of course, we’ll tie this into the overall idea that Haggai has, that despite their previous sins of neglecting God and His temple, they’re repentant and their repentance is revealed in their obedience.

Our application then, ties things back into the context of what all has happened and the temple motif itself—my goal is for you to see that while we may have been guilty of neglecting God and His people in the past, there is opportunity for repentance—there is opportunity to return to our first love.

Prayer for Illumination

The Text (12-15)

Repentance starts by hearing the truth, accepting the conviction, and responding in reverent fear of the Lord (12)—our text actually starts with the idea of repentance; however, remember that this is built on the indictment that God through Haggai confronted the Jewish people with.

Don’t forget, that they didn’t just wake up one day, realize their sins and move to repentance on their own.

There was a confrontation here in which someone confronted someone else—in this case, God through Haggai confronted these people.

And what it looked like is actually rather simple

They heard the truth from Haggai, which was nothing more than God speaking.

They were convicted by their idolatry.

And they responded to the conviction in the fear of the Lord.

We see that idea spelled out in v. 12, “Zerubbabel, . . . Joshua, . . . [and] all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.”

Notice that the text mentions three different people or people groups—it mentions the governor for the area, Zerubbabel; Joshua, who was the high priest, and all the remnant of the people.

What it tells us is that the effort to repent started with a handful of people, not the whole of Israel and it tells us that the leadership of Israel (both governmental and spiritual) also repented.

I think it would help to think of it in our own context—even if we just consider it from the local church perspective: those in leadership of a local church often set the posture for the rest of the church:

So, if those in leadership don’t take seriously the local church, neither will anyone else. If those in leadership don’t care for the flock, then neither will anyone else. If those in leadership don’t sacrifice for the local church, why would anyone else?

Likewise, knowing that God’s people is always a remnant and not everyone reminds us that the vast majority of the time in a local church—it’s usually minority of people that genuinely believe and are serving and participating in the local church.

Because it’s really just the minority that thinks of spiritual things as being vitally important to their lives.

Regardless, these people hear God’s Word through Haggai, they were convicted for their sin, and then they responded.

There’s a lot that can be learned from the ideas given just in that sentence.

That it’s God’s Word—His truth that ultimately convicts.

That they did experience conviction—when they recognized that they were wrong.

And rather than burying the conviction, they responded.

Are all things that we need to consider—the reality is that many of us hear truth regularly and many of us experience conviction for our sins, but rather than responding in repentance, we make excuses to double down in our sin.

There is absolutely no good in burying conviction for our sins.

It only ever leads us to justify our own sinful behavior.

The remnant hear the truth and respond in repentance.

The reality is that everyone experiences conviction at least a little in their life—you might question how I can make that statement, but I base it on Romans 1 (and several other passages that deal with natural theology).

Romans 1:18–23 “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

Or, in other words, creation alone is significant enough for mankind to recognize that God exists—and yet, though they know God exists, they refuse to honor Him or give thanks to Him—rather, they worship the creation instead of the Creator.

Knowing that a god exists carries with it the implication that you ought to seek that God—not just recognize that He’s there. How do we know? Because Paul continues that passage by stating that since mankind rejected Him—He gave them up to continue in their sins, to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done, Romans 1:32 “32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

Everybody experiences conviction at least a little in their lives, but it’s only the remnant that responds in genuine repentance—everyone sees the reality of God’s existence, but only God’s people respond in obedience.

So, the leadership and the remnant hear the truth, they’re convicted, and they repent in a posture of fear towards the Lord.

Let’s talk about that posture of fear—we often mention that this type of fear—the fear in the Bible in these contexts isn’t the idea of an irrational fear (as in, you’re afraid of God like you’re afraid of the supposed boogeyman under your bed).

Rather, this fear is based on the knowledge of who God is—so, for an unbeliever, it’s the fear that a righteous God will judge an unrighteous person; for a believer, it’s a fear based on God being God and it reveals itself more as an awe over who He is rather than a fear for judgment.

In the case of those who repent in Haggai, I believe it’s a mixture of both—they have a fear of continued punishment for their sins, which drives them to repentance; but they also have a fear that reveals itself in a sense of awe.

This is what drives them to genuine repentance—conviction of sin and fear of the Lord. Of course, there are other details worth noting in the other verses as well.

For instance, you notice God’s Presence in Repentance (13)—i.e., God is with them while they repent and God makes His presence known because of their repentance. Think of those ideas with me:

God is with them while the repent—often when we experience conviction for sin (or when we haven’t yet experienced that conviction for sin), we lose sight of the fact that God is always with His people, in fact, He dwells within HIs people.

But the reality is that it is the Spirit that draws people to repentance in the first place—thus, for us to repent, God is already with us.

There’s a level of hope there that occurs simply because its a reminder that God is still working within us—in other words, the fact that we experience conviction for our sins is evidence that God is still working within us.

It is interesting, however, that through Haggai, God makes His presence known to them—that statement, “I am with you” builds on the hope that being convicted for sins can bring.

God makes His presence known because of their repentance.

Though admittedly, God doesn’t rely on mankind’s repentance to make His presence known.

In fact, there are plenty of events in Scripture that does the opposite—that God’s presence is partly what causes someone to repent.

Think of Job.

Think of Paul on the road to Damascus.

The reality of God’s presence drives His people to repentance.

The fact that God is there—that He is with them, convicting them, is ultimately what drives them to turn from their wickedness.

God’s presence convicting them through His Word convinces them of their sin and need to repent.

The final two verses of our text then shows us how the Spirit stirs up renewal in the people (14-15).

Starting with the governor and the high priest; and then spreading to the remnant of the people, the Spirit of God—stirred them all up.

It’s intriguing to me that the Bible is so clear on what’s actually stirring them up in this moment—it isn’t emotional manipulation, it isn’t eloquent words, it isn’t music in the background—it’s quite literally the Spirit working within them.

What stirs them up is the Holy Spirit working within them to push them to rebuild the temple.

Again, we see it starting with the leadership and then extending to the remnant of the people.

Which again, highlights the importance of leadership actually obeying God—what He has said, how He convicts, and leads His people.

It also reminds us that the leadership isn’t the only group that needs to hear God’s Words, repent when convicted, and obey when commanded.

Transition: Now, with all that said, we could potentially read Haggai 1 and assume that this call for repentance was something that only really happened on occasion, but the reality is that the whole Bible is one extended call for God’s people to hear God’s Word, repent, and obey Him. And so, I think it could help us to see different parts of Scripture that make the same call.

Other Instances in which God Warns

Other Passages to consider

Consider Nineveh—was sent two prophets (Jonah and Nahum)

The first instance—Jonah was an instance in which the prophet really didn’t want to go to Nineveh to preach repentance to them due to the wickedness of the Ninevites; and yet, when they hear the call to repent for judgment was at hand, they do and God saves them.

The second instance—about 100 years after Jonah, Nahum was sent to Nineveh because they had fallen back into their wickedness; and the call was the same, repent or judgment would come. They don’t, and they’re destroyed for their wickedness.

Consider Paul—also known as Saul was trained by Gamaliel to be a Pharisee, in fact, Paul calls himself a Pharisee of the Pharisees.

He was so zealous for the Pharisaic tradition that he murdered those who followed the Way.

Paul’s warning came from Jesus Himself on the road to Damascus in which Jesus providentially knocks him on the ground to confront Him and to warn Him.

Paul’s interaction with Jesus causes Him to repent and Jesus saves Him.

Now, you might hear all that and think—ok, great, these are all instances though, dealing with salvation itself—and they’re not necessarily about instances in which God’s people need to repent of their sins, to obey, to follow better. Let me remind you of a few instances that call Christians to keep repenting and obeying:

James 4:8–10 “8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

John 14:15 “15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Romans 6:11–14 “11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

Consider eschatological warnings—all of the warnings given to the churches in Revelation 2-3 are written to believers who have fallen into some sort of sin:

Ephesus—theologically orthodox and obedient, but don’t actually love God the way that they ought to—called to repent and get back to work.

Pergamum—compromised with false teaching (Nicolaitans)—called to repent.

Thyatira—known for love, service, faith, and endurance, but criticized for tolerating sin—called to repent.

Sardis—known for having a reputation for spiritual maturity, but not actually being awake and mature—called to repent and obey.

Laodicea—criticized for lukewarm Christianity, pride, and spiritual blindness—called to repent in order to maintain fellowship with Jesus.

Philadelphia and Smyrna aren’t criticized for anything, but it’s because they’re in the midst of persecution—so they’re called to endure and be faithful.

These are all churches in the book of Revelation—they’re believers—and they’re all being called to repentance and obedience.

The reality is that God warns to stir repentance and obedience.

And Scripture is repeatedly clear on this truth over and over again.

God’s Word speaks.

The Spirit convicts and stirs up.

Will you repent and obey or not?

Transition: In the case of the Jewish people, the remnant heard and obeyed. And it provides for us a great illustration of what it means to actually repent. I’ll explain that more as we talk about application.

Application

God has warned His people concerning numerous issues—it’s clear that in the grand narrative of Scripture there are multiple warnings to both those that don’t believe and those that do. In fact, I’d argue that there are primarily two categories of warnings that are seen throughout Scripture in various forms with some forms overlapping the two categories:

God’s overarching warning against sin—even from the beginning, God warns against sin over and over again.

In particular, I’m thinking of God’s warning to Cain in Genesis 4:7 “7 If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.””

That warning against sin is reiterated over and over to the Israelites particularly in the prophets, which all have a similar framework—an indictment for their sin, a warning of impending judgment, and a call to repent.

That warning to repent is reiterated in the New Testament—by John the Baptist and by Jesus Himself, to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

If you’re an unbeliever, you can’t read through Scripture without being confronted by your sin and called to repent from your sin.

If you’re a believer, you can’t read through Scripture without being confronted by your sin and called to repent.

The only right response to the confrontation that you experience, the conviction that you have for your sin—is repentance itself.

To acknowledge your sin, to turn from it, and to trust in Jesus for your salvation.

God’s warning to obey and persevere—throughout Scripture, we see constant calls from God to His people to both obey Him and to persevere in faith.

In fact, when the Law is first given to the Jewish people, they’re told in Deuteronomy 10:12–13 “12 “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?”

This same call to obedience and perseverance echoes throughout the Old Testament and carries straight into the New.

In addition, Jesus Himself tells us that if we love Him, we’ll keep His commands.

In other words, love for God is shown in faithful obedience—not only in the moment, but in persevering faithfulness all the way to the end.

God’s Warning in Haggai (12-15) — now tie all this with what all is going on in Haggai.

First, the Israelites were too hyper-fixated on their own lives that they didn’t care for the life of the gathered body in the temple. Likewise, we’re often too hyper-fixated on our own lives:

This is seen in our non-committal attitude towards sometimes family, other people, but in this context, particularly the local church—the gathered body of believers.

This is seen in a lack of regular attendance, unwillingness to participate beyond just attending, and nonchalant attitude concerning those who are within the body of Christ—i.e., we couldn’t care less about His people when they’re not directly in front of us (and truthfully, they might not matter to us even when they’re right in front of us).

It’s seen in how little time is spent just getting to know each other, interacting with one another, and caring for one another.

When we elevate our own lives above the life of God’s people, we will always treat the local church as if it really isn’t a priority to us and we’ll be just like the Israelites prior to their repentance.

When in reality, our lives are really to be oriented around the life of the gathered people of God in the local church that we’ve covenanted with.

Second, the Israelites were too hyper-fixated on the temporal rather than the eternal. Likewise, we’re often too hyper-fixated on the temporal rather than the eternal

This is seen, really, in the decisions that we make—whether we choose to prioritize things of this world more than eternal things—just in general.

Or, even including issue of sin. We tend to struggle with temptations more when our focus is only temporal instead of eternal.

It’s also seen in whether we choose to prioritize other people or not. I regularly think of C.S. Lewis’ address titled The Weight of Glory. There’s a section in the address where he argues that we never meet a mere mortal person, but everyone we meet is immortal in the true sense of the word.

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (New York, NY: HarperOne, 2001), 45-46.)

C.S. Lewis reminds us that there is no such thing as an “ordinary” person. Everyone you meet will spend eternity either in the glory of God’s presence or in the horror of His wrath. Nations and cultures rise and fall, but your neighbor, your coworker, your spouse, your child—each one will exist forever. That means every word, every action, every act of love or neglect has eternal significance.

When you understand this idea, it changes the way that you view other people and it changes how you interact with other people—or, at least it should.

Being fixated on things that won’t last—your house, your car, your job, or whatever else it might be rather than things that do last—God, Himself, and people, is a neglect of what God has called each and every one of us to do—to love Him and to love one another.

In reality, our lives ought to so focused on eternity that we orient everything else around eternal things—namely God, but also people.

Friends, we need to repent of our neglect of His people and our neglect of Him—not only in general, but specifically concerning the issues that Haggai brings up.

What true repentance looks like in this case:

Reordered Worship

They feared the Lord (v. 12) and in repentance they recognized God’s holiness and gave Him the honor due His name.

True repentance restores right worship of God, not ourselves.

Reordered Obedience

They “obeyed the voice of the Lord” (v. 12)—true, genuine repentance produces tangible obedience, not just feelings.

Repentance means not only confessing sin but actively obeying what God commands.

Reordered Priorities

They “came and worked on the house of the Lord” (v. 14)—repentance is proven in action, particularly in prioritizing God’s dwelling (the temple then, the church now).

Repentance shows itself when we reorient life around the church as God’s temple, rather than around self-centered pursuits.

Really, what true repentance concerning Haggai looks like for us today is a reorienting of our priorities.

To refocus our lives on Him, His temple, His church.

To love Him, His temple, and His church

Anything less places us back in the same position that the Israelites were in at the beginning of Haggai.

But there is hope. When we repent, God is with us.

And He reminds us that He is with us as we continue to repent.

Friends, Haggai shows us what true repentance looks like. God’s people heard His warning, they feared Him, and they obeyed. They reordered their worship, their obedience, and their priorities. And when they did, God gave them the sweetest promise: “I am with you, declares the Lord.”

That same promise is ours in Christ. He has warned us against sin, He has called us to obey and persevere, and He has assured us of His presence. So the question is: will we live for what crumbles, or will we live for what lasts? Will we keep elevating ourselves, or will we repent, reorder our lives around Him, and give ourselves to what is eternal—God, His people, His church?

The good news is this: when we repent, we do not find rejection but welcome. We do not find absence but His presence. In Christ, God has already declared: “I am with you.”

Repentance reorders our worship, our obedience, and our priorities — and God’s promise still stands: “I am with you.”

Pastoral Prayer