HAGGAI- GOD SHAKES US TO MAKE US BETTER

Bible Text:

Subject: Shaken

Proposition: God Shakes Us To Make Us Better

INTRODUCTION

Biblical Orientation:

Have you ever experienced one of those moments that changed your life in an instant? Often, those events are orchestrated by God. He can use them to make major changes. Sometimes He shakes things up to get our attention

Haggai reveals a time when God is going to and did shake His people. He wanted them to do one major thing: get back to His work

Sermon Orientation:

Pay attention, God may be trying to shake your life up. In Haggai’s second message see if God is speaking to you. Answer His questions. Seek His promise

MAIN TEXT/EXPOSITION

I. THE SECOND MESSAGE V 1-2

A. The Date

1. Verse 1 identifies the date, the prophet, and the addressees

2. The date of this message was 21 Tishri (October 17), 520 b.c.

3. This was nearly a month after the people had resumed the rebuilding of the temple (1:15)

4. The progress was slow, no doubt because of the 60 years of rubble

a. Tishri had numerous holy days

i. The weekly Sabbaths, the Feast of Trumpets on the first day, the Day of Atonement on the 10th, and the Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles) from Tishri 15 to 21

ii. Tishri 22 was also a Sabbath rest ()

b. This second message by the Prophet Haggai was delivered on the day before the Feast of Booths final Sabbath[i]

B. The Recipients

1. Zerubbabel the leader

2. Joshua the high priest

3. The people

II. THE MESSAGE ITSELF V 3-9

A. God’s Questions v 3

1. Who saw the first temple?

a. We know there were some that had seen Solomon’s temple

i. They had seen its glory

ii. They had seen its riches

b. When construction began on this temple; it was very emotional for them

i. “But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy”

ii. Their hope was that the restoration would bring back all things

iii. Meaning God and His glory

c. Their reaction is what prompted the second question from God

i. When Cyrus sent the Jews back; it is believed the temple was supposed to be rebuilt like the original

ii. That is not what was happening

2. God now asks how do you compare the two?

a. God wants man’s assessment of the situation

i. Is this temple as good as the first one?

ii. Does plan “B” work for you?

iii. After all, they were not on God’s original plan

iv. God had heard their grumblings about the second temple

b. This is always what happens when we do life our way

i. We grumble about the results

ii. We blame God

iii. It does not make sense, but we do it anyway

3. There are five important spiritual blessings that were missing at this temple

a. The ark of the covenant- which contained the Law

b. The cherubim and the mercy seat- where God and man met

c. The holy fire

i. The fire for the burnt offering; it had long since burned out

ii. God had commanded that the Jews never let the fire go out: “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out”

iii. Therefore, they carried it from camp to camp

d. The shekinah glory–God’s presence

e. The ability to prophesy – Urim and Thummim, which was a work of the Holy Spirit

4. There are five spiritual blessings we all must have in our lives to prosper and have good worship with God

a. God’s Word

b. Prayer, time at God’s throne

c. Holy fire that keeps our life burning for Christ

i. We need to be afire for Jesus

ii. Preaching, reading the Word, praying, soulwinning, and church attendance fuels the flame

d. The presence of God through Jesus Christ

e. The Holy Spirit to guide us

B. God’s Encouragement v 4-5

1. Again, God addresses the leaders and the people

a. Everyone needed to hear God’s Words

b. We need God’s encouragement today

c. Everyone needed encouragement

i. The greatest encouragement is “For I am with you”

ii. We can get far away from God but His specialty is rebuilding lives

a.) God allows us to be restored

b.) God will bring us back to worship

c.) “They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place”

iii. When you are convicted by God’s Word; He is encouraging you to get back in the fight and to the work

2. Now God states: be strong and do the work

a. David said the same thing when he began collecting for the first temple

“Take heed now; for the LORD hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it”

b. God always exhorts us to get back to His work

3. This is covered in God’s covenants, “For I am with you”

a. God reminds them of His covenant when they came out of Egypt

b. “And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God”

4. Even with God’s exhortation we hear pessimism

a. It will never work

b. There is no need to try

c. Door-to-door will not work

i. The last time I heard that; it was from a man that we reached going door to door

ii. Do you know why “it” won’t work? Because we don’t do it!

5. Do you know why it will not work?

a. We do not obey what God has said to do

b. We have a bad attitude

c. We have no faith in God’s plan

d. If God says be strong and do it; He is with us, we cannot fail

C. God’s Promise To Help v 6-9

1. The first promise is that God will “shake” things up

a. This promise is one of the end time works of God

b. . “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”

c. God is fulfilling what He has written

2. God shook and will shake the world by the coming of His Son

a. In His first coming, Jesus shook the religious world

i. He did away with the Law and installed the new covenant

ii. He condemned the works of religion and gave man grace

iii. He fulfilled all the sacrifices by becoming the sacrifice

b. In His second coming, Jesus will shake the whole earth

i. He will literally shake the heavens

ii. He will shake (and destroy) the world order

iii. He will shake lives to be changed

c. He shakes our lives as “the desire of all nations”

i. His return is the “desire” of our hearts

ii. His next “shaking” means our desire is about to arrive

iii. When Jesus comes, He will establish the perfect government that has never existed

3. The second part of God’s promise is the return of His glory

a. This never happened with Zerubbabel’s or Herod’s temple

i. The shekinah glory of God never returned

ii. The Jews never saw the cloud or the fire of God

b. Therefore, this refers to Christ’s return as the “desire of all nations”

i. He will sit as the glorious God King of kings on the throne during the millennium

ii. Jerusalem will be bathed in the glory of God

iii. The temple mount will be God’s throne

4. What is coming is far greater than the latter

a. The latter saw a cloud and fire as God’s glory

b. What is coming is God’s glory revealed in Himself

PREACHING PORTION

Have You Ever Noticed That God Shakes Things Up Before He Returns His Glory to us?

1. We want God’s glory

a. We want His abiding presence

b. We want to see God lifted up

c. Those are good desires; ones that God wants to fulfill

2. Before that happens, God shakes things up

a. He will shake us out of spiritual lethargy

b. He will shake us out of old dead works

c. He will shake the fire of God into us

d. He will shake our prayer life

e. He will shake and awake dead hearts

3. God is always shaking part of our lives

a. What needs shaking in your life?

b. How much shaking will it take before God’s glory returns in your life and the life of our church?

CONCLUSION

God shakes our lives to make us better

[i] F. Duane Lindsey, “Haggai,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1541.