Haggai

Overview of the book

The book of Haggai belongs to that part of the Old Testament generally called the twelve books of the Minor Prophets. They are made up as follows: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

They are called Minor Prophets, not because they are less important in inspiration and reliability than the Major Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, but mainly because they are shorter in length. Haggai is, in fact, the second shortest book in the Old Testament next to Obadiah, and comprises just two chapters. But although short in length it contains a powerful message which speaks to us today.

The events recorded are set within the context of the return of God’s people from exile in Babylon, where they remained for seventy years as foretold by Jeremiah (Jer. 29:10). On their arrival back in Jerusalem, the exiles were met with a sorry sight. Their glorious city was in ruins, its walls heaps of rubble, and its beautiful temple a pile of blackened stones. But under their leaders, Zerubbabel and Joshua, the people—with enthusiasm and purpose—began the work of rebuilding the temple, but had succeeded only in laying the foundation when the work was stopped by command of the Persian king, Artaxerxes I (see Ezra 4:24).

We looked at some of this a few weeks ago, I remember standing in a field full of sheep talking about Ezra and this same Haggi, when I spoke then I was talking about the authority that they had to rebuild the temple because of the letter that they held from the king. The fact they were working on the Kings behalf and therefore had his authority, his protection and his resources. That as followers of Jesus, we have his authority, his protection and his resources.

The events in the book of Haggai are the same events as in the book of Ezra.

The fact that these events form the basis of two books of the bible should give us a clue that the were important to God’s people.

The fact that the next book in the minor prophets, Zechariah talks about the same set of events should point makes this story printed in bold, underlined and highlighted with a yellow fluorescent Pen

All about the one.

The book of Haggai This time is a time of waiting - a time of weeds growing but God is doing something in the background.

Relate to now.

The book of Haggai is about the the building of the temple. But it starts with the people not building the temple but looking after their own houses.

Haggai 1:1–5 NLT

1 On August 29 of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 2 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’ ” 3 Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? 5 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!

Haggai was the one the was sent to change those people around him. - Stop them procrastinating -

Relate to ...

Luke 9:59–60 NIV

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

The more you read the Bible, the clearer it becomes that in the history of his kingdom God chooses special people for special tasks. Or, to put it another way, God always has the right Person in the right place at the right time. that at certain strategic points in the history of the Old Testament God raised up Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Esther, Deboarah ; and in the New Testament, John the Baptist, Peter, Stephen, Paul, Mary, Priscilla and others; and in the time since people like Augustine, Wycliffe, Tyndale, Luther, Wesley, Billy Graham, Katheryn Kuhlman, and you.

Focus on the you.

God positioned Haggai as significant - strategic individual not because of who he was but because of what God had in store for him

Opening Up Haggai Chapter 1: The Word of the Lord (1:1)

Haggai’s task when called of God was to rekindle that vision in the minds and hearts of the people and their leaders. That was an enormous challenge.

God has placed you where you are for something.

Me - little old me?

A man visiting a small town approaches a wise old man sitting on a bench and asks “were any great men or women born in this town” The wise old man looked up and replied, “no, only babies”

All of these great men and women that I listed started as babies, they started as incompetent, incomplete, insignificant individuals and God placed them in a position where he had destined them to be and used them.

Hebrews 11:1–12:3 NIV

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” p For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” r 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.

23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. i

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; y they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

The New International Version. (2011). (Heb 11:1–40). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

What drives this faith this placing of an individual as pivot point for those around them

Word

Haggai received his commission from God and not from Man.

‘In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest’ (Hag. 1:1).

Obedience

Haggai was obedient.

Haggai 1:12–14 NIV

12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, 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 Jozadak, 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,

He gave the message and he encouraged the people to do the same.

Through his messages Haggai tried to persuade his audience to glorify God by rebuilding the temple.

He argues that one should not: (1) focus on one’s own needs (1:4), - not insulare

(2) be discouraged because the temple was not as glorious as Solomon’s (2:3), - don’t compare our selves

(3) be unclean and unholy (2:10–14), nor ( - integrity

4) feel useless and powerless (2:20–23). - it is in God’s hands

Blessing

Obedience and blessing go hand in hand.

Promise

Haggai 2:20–23 NIV

20 The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: 21 “Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother. 23 “ ‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

what do you need to shake you nation?

Political skill? great articulation of words. No - to be positioned by God...

to be have faith

to be obedient. - be faithful.

As we do this God reveals his purpose. for us to step into the next faith and obedience and blessing.