Haggai Message
In my reading this week I was led to the prophet Haggai.
Haggai is the first in a series of three prophets who ministered in Judah after the exiles had been allowed to return from captivity in Babylon.
His sermons are dated
“In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month (1:1),
“On the twenty-first day of the seventh month,” (2:1),
and On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius (2:10).
When scholars calculate the dates they translate to September 21, October 17, and December 18 of 520 b.c.
Haggai is the second shortest book in the OT (Obadiah is shorter) and is quoted by the NT once (Heb. 12:26).
Why would God include it in the canon of the Bible?
What is so important about this 4-month period of time in 520 b.c.?
Don’t all the prophets of this time say the same thing?
We would expect him to say “Turn away from idolatry, injustice, and violence”. But he doesn’t. Instead Haggai simply urges the people of Judah to put God first and to demonstrate their commitment by finishing construction of the temple.
Now that’s different. And it has different results. Where the words of earlier prophets were largely ignored by Israel and led to captivity, Haggai’s words were heard, and the whole community rallied to action. The result was a new, though much smaller temple, on the site where Solomon’s temple once stood.
I thought since we’re in the midst of our renovation project, it might be encouraging to see what we can learn from a Biblical example of a building project.
Turn to Haggai 1:
In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month,
September 21st
the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah,
Israel did not have a king following the exile. Its last king was Jehoiachin, Zerubbabel’s grandfather.
and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
Jehozadak was the high priest when they were exiled.
2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come for the Lord’s house to be built.’”
What people? Notice it says “these people” and not “my people”. We’re talking about the exiles who had returned from Babylonia.
To put this in context for us, imagine the people who left the gulf coast following Hurricane Katrina, having returned home. It would be natural for us to expect them to concentrate all their efforts on rebuilding their own homes first, before building churches. Right?
But for Israel it’s been 18 years since they came home.
Ø In 538 b.c. Cyrus the Persian (Ezra 1:1–4), decreed Israel could return from Babylon to her homeland. About 50,000 Jews returned.
Ø 2 Years later in 536 b.c., they began to rebuild the temple (Ezra 3:1–4:5) but there was conflict from their neighbors and rebuilding the wall became more important. Once they felt secure they grew indifferent about the temple and abandoned their work (Ezra 4:1–24).
Ø Haggai prophecies come sixteen years later
3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
Paneled houses – nice houses, not shot gun houses or double-wide trailers.
Here’s the root of God’s contention with Israel-- they wanted wealth for themselves, not a temple.
5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.
In other words, God is asking them to look at their lives. Sure they live in nice houses. They look prosperous, but are they really?
6 You have planted much, but have harvested little.
You eat, but never have enough.
You drink, but never have your fill.
You put on clothes, but are not warm.
You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.
Who are they fooling? Themselves
It makes me wonder about all those people we sent letters to asking for contributions to rebuild this house. How they were more than appeals for money – they were opportunities to sow into the Kingdom of God. How many of them are in the same situation the children of Israel were in?
God has a plan to turn things around.
8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord.
Why go up to the mountains? Didn’t Darius send lumber with Ezra to rebuild the temple? Did the people use it to panel their houses? Never-the less, God still had a plan to rebuild his temple. In the 70 years they had been gone the forests had grown back so there was ample wood.
If they would rebuild the house of the Lord, and worship Him, they would be blessed and prosper.
9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.
There is a penalty to pay for disobedience. Their harvest was smaller than they expected. And what they did bring home seemed to vanish all at once.
10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.
11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil [primary crops of the land] and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.”
12 Then Zerubbabel [He’s the governor] son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.
13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord.
14 So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.
It actually took them 23 days before they began construction. There are 2 reasons for this. 1. It was harvest season for figs, grapes, and pomegranates. Since the other harvests had been so meager they needed every thing they could get. 2. They were praying and seeking God’s direction for what he wanted the temple to look like. Sound familiar?
2 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month,
October 17 and according to Leviticus 23, the last day of the feast of Tabernacles, when Israel remembers God’s provision for them during their 40 years of dessert wandering. In modern times it is the feast of the Harvest like our Thanksgiving.
the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:
2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory?
How many of you remember what Solomon’s temple looked like before Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it?
How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?
Of course it doesn’t look the same. They didn’t have the same resources Solomon did. So the people were discouraged. Besides that, their first assignment was to clean up 60 years worth of debris. Then factor in that they began the project in the month that of important Jewish holidays: the Feast of Trumpets on the first day, the Day of Atonement on the 10th, and the Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles) from 15 to 22.
We can empathize with them. We all know what happens in the middle of a huge project. The enemy wants nothing more than sabotage our plans. But when they are God’s plans, he plants more than discouragement. He wants us to question and quit.
Look at what God told Israel:
4 But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work.
Get busy, don’t give up now. You are doing what I told you to do.
For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
These are the same words God said to Joshua as he led the people into the promised land.
6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.
I believe this is saying that they are completing this project not only for themselves but for those who will come to worship. Again, sound familiar?
8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
Again there is reassurance here. You may mot have Solomon’s wealth but you have Him. Everything in this world belongs to God.
9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty.
The Bible does not tell us that the glory of God filled Zerubbabel’s temple the way the Shekinah glory filled the tent of meeting or Solomon’s temple. However if you read about Ezekiel’s vision of heaven, he says in 43:5 that God’s glory fills the heavenly temple. While this can be a reference to the end times, I believe our pastor would be quick to point out - in the same way, as the temples of the Holy Spirit, we are filled with the glory of God here on earth.
9b ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Finish the work, finish the work, finish the work. The reward is great.
Side note, it took them 4 years to complete the temple.