Sermon Tone Analysis

Last Sunday we started looking at Ezra chapters 4-6, which is page 336 in the Pew Bibles, but if you would, also put a mark in Haggai 1, which is page 667 in the pew Bibles.

In fact, go ahead and turn there now.

One of the keys things we looked at last week was the fact that “Our enemy, the devil, knows our every weakness and that is where he attacks first and most frequently.”

In fact I gave you room in the sermon notes to list some of the weaknesses you have that the enemy is most apt to use in his attacks.

Chances are that if you have thought through those weaknesses this past week, you have been able to pinpoint some of the enemies attacks.

My prayer is that you will use that realization, that knowledge, to prepare for those attacks, to recognize them when they come so you can seek the Lords victory over the attacks of the enemy.

We talked about how frequently the enemies uses:

Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing

We also talked about:

The Dangers of the Enemies Subtle Attacks .

Also, you may remember from last week, verses 7-23 are a culmination of attacks that took place over the next 60-70 years and are likely placed here by Ezra to alert us that when the subtle attacks of the enemy don’t work, he intensifies his attacks.

In chapter 4, he moved from the subtle attack to verbal discouragement and then to bribing of government officials.

Which is a good lesson for us to consider, because he does the same with us.

If he can’t get us to stop with the almost hidden subtle attacks, he doesn’t stop there, he intensifies his attacks, changes his tactics.

But in moving to verse 24, which historically would have taken place directly after verse 4, we see the work on the Temple stopped for the next 15 years, the enemies attack worked.

In looking at the stoppage of the rebuilding effort, we were reminded that God has not called us to be inconspicuous, we are to be like a City on A Hill.

In Matthew 5:14 we read: Next Slide

Matthew 5:14

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God Sends A Wake-up Call.

Thankfully, the story doesn’t end with the 15 years the work on the Temple stopped, because after 15 years of ignoring the directives of God, we read in Ezra 5:1-2:

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Ezra 5:1-2

So what changed their mind, what woke them up from their spiritual complacency?

God sent the 2 prophets to give the people a wakeup call.

Now for those of you that are younger, let me tell you what a wake up call is.

Back before the days of cell phone alarms, when you stayed at a motel, rather than mess with the alarm clock in the room, you called the front desk and set a wake up call.

Which meant that whatever time you set the wake up call, the front desk would call the in room phone at that time.

I must admit, this was always an unpleasant experience!

Who wants to be woken up by a telephone ringing, especially back then when you couldn’t set your favorite ring tone.

Well for the Nation of Judah, this was also an unpleasant experience, especially the wake-up call from Haggai.

Let’s just say he would have never been a desired ringtone!

As unpleasant as this wake-up call was, the Nation of Judah

could also be encouraged by it, you see, God’s sending His prophets to warn His people, was a sign that although He was displeased with them, His favor was still upon them.

Not since the days of Jeremiah, some 70-80 years earlier, had the voice of God via a prophet, been heard in Judah.

Haggai’s message may have been unpleasant, but it also meant there was hope.

Now, let’s look at that wake-up call.

Would you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word?

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May the Lord as His blessing to the reading of His Word, please be seated.

Well the wakeup call from the prophets worked and the people once again began work on the Temple.

By the way, I want to make sure we don’t miss something very key here.

When we read that the Lord said “I am with you”, we need to understand that this had been the case every moment since they had returned.

God did not abandon them when the attacks started.

Had they continued to rebuild the Temple, as God had commanded them, He would have continued to give them victory.

They quit without giving God a chance to prove Himself.

But let’s spend a few minutes to look at some keys in Haggai 1.

The first key to look at is the Name God chooses to use.

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Jehovah Sabaoth- The LORD of Hosts.

Vs. 2

The Name the LORD of hosts, includes with it that He is the LORD of a whole host of fighting angels.

The best Biblical account I know of to give you a better understanding of the significance of this name, is what takes place in 2 Kings 18 & 19.

At this point in the history of the Nation of Judah, Hezekiah was the king in Judah.

Hezekiah was a godly and upright king.

Well in chapter 18, we find Hezekiah in Jerusalem.

The Assyrian King Sennacherib had brought a huge army of 184,000 and gone throughout Judah conquering the walled cities on the way to Jerusalem.

Once he arrived in Jerusalem, which was tightly locked up at the time, his spokesmen began to taunt Hezekiah’s men.

The taunts included words that belittled and blasphemed the God of Israel.

Perhaps another time I will tell the whole story, because it is absolutely breathtaking the way God moved.

But in the end, Hezekiah, filled with fear, goes before the Lord in prayer, pleading for God to save them.

God answered his prayer, and that night He sent, not a host of angels, but one single solitary angel, and when that one single solitary angel was finished on that one single solitary night, the entire army of 184,000 was dead.

So, when God calls Himself the LORD of hosts in verse 2, He is delivering a message to those that had ceased the rebuilding of the temple for 15 years.

They may have stopped because they feared the inhabitants of the land, but God was letting them know that they had no reason to fear, He was the LORD of hosts.

This Name was a reminder that whatever their need, all the resources of heaven and earth are at His command.

That is key for us as well, because if you’ve put your faith and trust in Jesus, He is to you, the LORD of hosts.

Thus for the believer, there can never be any cause to fear or hesitate when backed by God’s promise.

The next key we see in these verses is: Next Slides

They Turned Their Backs on the Directives of God.

Vs. 2

After God Names Himself in verse 2, we read; “These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.”

They had determined that because they were facing difficult circumstances, God’s directives must have changed.

God then sends 2 prophets to assure them that the only thing that had changed, was their trust in Him and obedience of Him.

Don’t we frequently do the same thing?

I guess I can’t speak for you, but my tendency, far too frequently, is to turn a deaf ear to the directives of God when I am faced with the difficulties of life.

Instead of trusting in Him and obediently doing all He has called me to do, I search the horizon for an easier route, until He sends a different version of a giant fish, like in the days of Jonah, to put me back on the sometimes painful path of obedience.

Yes, there are times that obedience can be painful, but in light of eternity, those times of temporary painful obedience, lead to rewards that last for all of eternity.

Next we see the evidence of their disobedience, followed by the consequences of their disobedience.

First: Next Slides

The Evidence of their disobedience.

Vs. 4

On top of their collective ignoring of the command of God to rebuild the Temple, in verse 4 we read: “Is it time for you to dwell in paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”

The normal building material In Judah was stone, the paneling Haggai is referring to had to be imported and was a sign of a luxurious lifestyle.

Fear of the inhabitants of the land led them to complacent lifestyles, and while the threat ended in their complacency, so dod God’s blessing on them.

We see this in verse 6 where Haggai lays out: Next Slides

The Consequences of their disobedience.

Vs. 6, 9, 10 & 11

Haggai lays out 5 consequences: Next Slides

Poor crops.

Vs. 6, 9, 10 & 11

Constant hunger.

Vs. 6, 10 & 11

Unquenchable thirst.

Vs. 6, 10 & 11

Inadequate clothing.

Vs. 6

Out of control inflation.

Vs. 6 & 9

Haggai moves from the consequences of their disobedience to a: Next Slides

Challenge to build on the right foundation.