Surviving Hard Times

Last 3 Prophets

Winter series.

This will get us from Christmas to Easter.

Last words, last lessons carry significance. Every lesson is important, but the last one adds an element.

“I know you know this. But, it’s really important you get it.”

So, the last 3 prophets of the OT; Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

How did Israel get into the situation they were in so when their Messiah showed up the killed Him?

400 years of nothing. Then, when they get something, they tried to shut Him down.

Lessons for us to avoid a lot of trouble. It’s always easier to learn from other people’s mistakes. So, let’s do that.

I started last week in Haggai, and now Israel faces a daunting task.

Daunting Tasks

There are times in our life when we face things that we don’t know if we are going to get thru them, much less survive.

Something big breaks and you don’t have what need to fix it. And, you need it.

Sometimes things break b/c we did something dumb. Or, somebody else did something dumb. Sometimes, it just happens.

Maybe your marriage breaks. Can you fix it? You never planned a divorce. Can you survive one?

First, the daunting task of putting back together a broken relationship. Then, maybe, it breaks permanently and you’re back dating again.

Something in your body breaks.

None of us think we’re as old as we are. We’re going to live forever, then, something happens that open the possibility that you might not.

There’s pain, the unknown, your body and mind feel different, and there’s the money issue.

Can it be fixed? Will you survive? Will you survive if it’s happening to someone you care about?

Your job breaks. Your career. Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe things just didn’t work out. Feeling like a failure. What mistakes did I make? What could I have done differently?

I get this. You may recall I went a year w/out a job before I got this one. I had ppl close to me questioning me, whether I should consider a career change.

I want to do what’s right. What’s right by my family. And, more importantly, what’s right by God. What does God want me to do? Should I make a change?

Walking into it w/ all the unknowns was a daunting task. Waiting was hard. How do I fix this? Will we survive?

And, there was the money issue. Stress. Affects health, marriage, friendships, sleep.

Then, once we got here, our house in LR didn’t sell for a year. We had 2 houses.

Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt. We survived.

Then, a couple of years ago, Sara’s body broke. Thyroid cancer. That first phone call from the doctor when she says the biopsy came back positive for cancer.

Sara had her process. It’s her body, her life. I had mine. It’s my wife. Married 33 years at the time.

On the front end, it looks impossible. In the middle of it, it’s hard. Looking back? We made it. God did something big for us.

Surviving hard times. This is an important process to figure out b/c we all go thru hard times and they will happen more than once or twice.

Different reasons. Different causes. Different amounts of time. All crazy hard. Especially, on the front end looking at what you do know and afraid of what you don’t.

How do we survive hard time? How do we make it thru situations that can’t be fixed easily or rapidly or cheaply?

This is where Israel was.

Haggai had to confront them in ch.1 and now they faced a serious predicament in ch.2.

Let me review .

For 16 years they had been willfully disobedient. Remember, they had just returned for being exiled out of the land as God disciplined them severely for willful disobedience.

They return, get started rebuilding the temple, then quit after 2 years, having built a new altar and laid the foundation.

God alone was responsible for the protection and prosperity but they tho’t now they could do it on their own.

When we don’t appreciate what God has done and is doing, then we are taking Him for granted.

They rebuilt their own houses and businesses but not the temple.

The bldg was not the issue. Their relationship w/ God was the issue. But they needed a bldg to facilitate their worship which facilitated their relationship w/ God.

Therefore, the bldg, the temple was important and should have been a higher priority. If God was a higher priority, then what He wanted them to do would have been a higher priority.

They thought they could be prosperous w/out God. But it wasn’t working.

Climate wasn’t performing so their crops weren’t producing.

God called them out thru Haggai.

They respond. They own it, repent for it, want to make changes.

But, this was a huge task, rebuilding the temple.

The old one was spectacular. But, it was financed by Solomon, the wealthiest man in history.

This time, they’re poor. Poverty poor.

And to leave their farms and flocks to rebuild the temple? They questioned if they could afford to. They will lose some of what little income they had.

They want to do what’s right. But, they don’t see how they can. One issue that got them in trouble was they weren’t giving enough. Now, sacrificing income, can they afford to give what God has called them to give?

But, if they don’t, the discipline could get worse.

1 element of the dilemma. You get this. Your income is down and you wonder if you can afford to give what you believe God want’s you to give.

Remember, though, He’s the One who ultimately provides the income.

Discouragement, fear, frustration had paralyzed them from doing what they needed to do. It was a huge task. Expensive. Dangerous w/ threats from their neighbors.

But, this is the point today.

When you face a huge task, that seems impossible, don’t focus on the size of the task. Focus on the size of your God.

As big as the task is, God is bigger.

Don’t focus on your frustrations. Focus on your celebrations of what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do.

Nobody, not even yourself, is doing for you what God is doing. Nobody has done what God has done nor will they do what God will do for you.

So, whatever He asks of you, you need to do it for Him. B/C, whatever He asks of you is nothing compared to what He is doing for you.

This is how Israel got started in ch.2. They had to face their fears and frustrations and get them in perspective.

Fears & Frustrations

Haggai 2:1–3 NIV

on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?

It’s now Tishri 21. Or, October 17, 520 BC.

They’d been working on their restart of the temple for 26 days.

It’s also the 7th day, of the 8 day Feast of Tabernacles.

A feast celebrating God redeeming them and delivering them out of Egypt. Then, protecting them and providing for them during their wandering in the wilderness on the way to the PL.

This is like camping in your back yard. Everyone in the neighborhood set up a tent and moved out of their house for the week. Living in temporary quarters like wandering.

Kids love this. Even the adults had fun. It was a week-long party.

They are celebrating, and commemorating God’s provision and protection as He had in a big way in the past. Exodus.

File that away.

It was also exactly 440 years since Solomon completed and dedicated his temple, the 1st one. It was spectacular.

There were some who were alive when the Babylonians destroyed this temple 66 years earlier and they remember it.

They can also tell, already, the one they are building now will pale in comparison to the splendor and decoration. It was painfully evident this one was not near as nice.

But, Israel is poor now.

They wept at what it looked like (Ezra 3). They were caught up in the appearance and deemed it inconsequential, of little value, worthless compared to the last.

Ah, the good old days. Churches fight this all the time. The memory of what things used to be like. The music. The sermons. The way we used to dress.

We do that today. We assess and evaluate based on what we see. We make evaluations based on the house we live in, the car we drive, the shoes we wear, and, our hair.

Think about some of the things that were so frustrating for them.

26 days they’d been back at it and about all they had accomplished is clearing the rubble from the last temple.

This is the busiest month for feasts. They’re getting back to the calendar. But, everyone was done on a bare foundation amongst the rubble reminding them of the exile and their recent reluctance to get to work.

It was harvest time and the harvest was light. Again, reminding them the reason the plants weren’t producing was b/c they weren’t obeying. Can they afford to tithe?

The anniversary of the most beautiful temple ever. And, this one is plain.

The inner conflict between their external circumstances and their internal expectations. Common frustration, expectations.

And, the Persian king growing in influence and power in the region. They are supposed t/b God’s chosen ppl but their influence is minimal.

Yet, even in their poverty, and current standing in the world, God had stirred in the heart of the Pagan king to make the resources of the kingdom available to Israel to rebuild their temple.

See, that’s it. In the midst of their celebration of what God had done in the Exodus, would they focus on their frustrations? Or, their celebration?

Not only could they celebrate what God had done, the could celebrate what God was doing presently, at that time, to provide the resources for the rebuild that they couldn’t otherwise afford.

What would they focus on? What should they focus on so they could get past the paralysis and get to work on what God wanted them to do?

Focus on Celebrations

Haggai 2:4–5 NIV

But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’

Haggai addresses the leaders here. The ppl will follow. If the leaders get it, the ppl will, too.

He referenced the Exodus again. Remember what God did for you in the past. It’s very similar here.

Resettling the PL. Rebuilding what God led them to last time.

The same commands God gave Moses as they came out of Egypt and Moses gave Joshua as they entered the PL.

There are 3 commands in these verses. The ppl can choose whether or not to obey.

Remember, God would never command the impossible. He regularly commands the difficult. But, then, provides the resources we don’t have to be able to obey.

The 1st command: Be strong.

Not physically strong. They do need to pick up some heavy rocks. But, be mentally strong, emotionally strong, and spiritually strong.

One thing drill sergeants will tell recruits is your mind will scream for you to quit under duress, stress, and exertion. But, your body can keep going.

You have resources still available but your mind will try to trick you to give up.

Be emotionally strong. When fear and anxiety begin to overwhelm you, overwhelm them w/ confidence and belief.

Be spiritually strong. This is most important and enables us to be strong in these other areas.

Our enemy wants us to believe we are alone. And, in those areas where God may be w/ us, the enemy wants us to believe God can’t do what He’s calling us to do.

This command, be strong, is linked to God’s presence. God says we can be strong b/c “I am w/ you.”

More than a safety net, but a resource of strength.

You know, the common phrase, “God will never give you something you can’t handle” is a lie. He regularly does.

That way we learn to depend on Him, not on our own strength. When He is w/ us, and we reach the outer limit of our own strength, we tap into His.

It’s always there b/c He is always here.

Stay at the task even if it takes a long time, is expensive, and in the face of opposition from friends and neighbors.

This leads to the 2nd command: Work. Get busy.

Focusing on their frustrations paralyzed them. They had messed up and paid a price. The project was beyond them. Why start something when you have serious questions about whether or not you’ll be able to finish?

But, God says, get busy. Get to work. Don’t worry about the finish. Worry about the next thing you need to do today. Tomorrow will take care of tomorrow.

The 3rd command, the only negative: Do not be afraid.

This is linked to what God did in the past.

Typically, we are afraid of what might happen in the future. The way to combat fear is by remembering what God did in the past.

Just like during the Exodus, it appeared they were in a hopeless situation, several times. The HS was leading them, protecting them, providing for them all the way.

The Sea parted for Israel then collapsed on the Egyptian army.

Manna fell from heaven and water flowed from a rock.

Things are never exactly as they appear. That’s b/c the God we can’t see is always at work behind the scenes.

God was at work in ways they couldn’t see.

We may see no way out but God provides a way where there is no way.

Whatever you’re facing right now and cannot see how to thru, God is w/ you and in you and will provide a way.

When God leads you to victory over your situation it’s never close. Israel routed Egypt. They walked out w/ Egypt’s entire wealth. The their army was utterly destroyed.

Don’t be afraid. No, you can’t see any way out right now. You can’t see your way thru. But, that’s b/c God hasn’t opened that door, yet.

In fact, don’t let what you can’t see scare you. Let what you can’t see inspire you. God will do something big. The bigger the dilemma, the bigger solution.

I don’t want to encourage you to look for trouble, but, if you want to be part of God doing something great then you need t/b facing a pretty steep hill.

If you want to experience a healing you need to get sick.

God gives these commands to who he calls, “all you ppl of the land.”

When Babylon exiled Israel they killed all the leaders. They left the homeless and less accomplished alive. Many kids were born in captivity. But, we talking about a group of ppl less likely to accomplish big things on their own.

They hadn’t before. But, God makes a habit of choosing the least likely to accomplish the most grand plans.

If everything is based on what we can see, then we’re in the deep weeds.

But, things are not always as they appear.

And, one thing that depressed Israel, frustrated them, and de-motivated them was not just the appearance of the temple. There was no glory. God hadn’t come and filled it w/ His glory, yet.

But, He would. And when He does, He does it in a big way.

And, even though they couldn’t see Him, they could sense Him. B/C, wherever God is, there is peace even when facing huge tasks.

Wars & Revelations

Haggai 2:6–9 NIV

“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. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

He’s done it before, He’ll do it again. Look back at the Exodus and look ahead to the heavenly kingdom.

When things like this are predicted often times there are partial fulfillments along the way before the final complete fulfillment.

Here, Haggai is looking ahead to the heavenly kingdom even though it will be partially fulfilled with this 2nd temple.

The shaking has significance.

Shaking like this is always associated w/ God’s appearance in either in a war or new revelation.

Remember when Jesus died there was an earthquake. New revelation. Death had been beaten, the age of grace had begun.

And the soldiers recognized in that moment that Jesus really is God.

When God appears, the world shakes. When the world shakes, ppl shake in fear.

Nations will display their submission by bringing their valuables and give them to God.

They don’t impress God. It’s all His anyway.

As glorious as the material things will be, His glory will way outshine them. They will be nothing in comparison.

Israel saw the Persians wealth and were intimidated and impressed. They were poor. God didn’t need any of it to do what He was about to do.

And, the future glory will be greater than the former glory in the 1st temple. What makes the temple glorious is not how it’s decorated or dressed but by who indwells it.

That’s true for us, too. What makes us glorious has nothing to do w/ appearances. What on the outside does not matter. It’s who’s on the inside that does.

His presence not our appearance makes us valuable.

Houses, cars, shoes and hair don’t matter so much.

When the earth shakes the ppl will recognize God is responsible and turn to Him to be saved.

Coming out of Christmas, heading to Easter. The earth is going to shake when God shows up.

At some point in the future it’s going to happen again. And, when it does it will be more glorious than any other time in the past.

So often we are paralyzed when what we see seems impossible. But, things are never as they appear.

If we stay locked up it means our faith is in the wrong place. It’s not that we don’t have much faith. It doesn’t take much faith if it’s in the right place, in the right person.

Nobody has ever done for you what God has done for you. Nobody is doing for you what God is doing. Nobody will do for you what God will do.

Whatever He asks of you is nothing compared to what He has done for your.

You can do whatever He’s called you to do no matter how impossible it looks right now.

Applications

Be strong

Get to work

Don’t be afraid

When you face a huge task, that seems impossible, don’t focus on the size of the task. Focus on the size of your God.

As big as the task is, God is bigger.

Don’t focus on your frustrations. Focus on your celebrations of what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do.

Nobody, not even yourself, is doing for you what God is doing. Nobody has done what God has done nor will they do what God will do for you.

So, whatever He asks of you, you need to do it for Him. B/C, whatever He asks of you is nothing compared to what He is doing for you.