Haggai - It is Time to follow the LORD
Haggai 1v1 - 2v9
Have you ever felt that church life was an uphill struggle? Have you ever wondered why it is that we can do so much, but see so little return for it? Why do some of God’s promises seem to fall flat in our everyday life? These are not just troubling questions to some of us, they were troubling questions to the people of Israel too - and Haggai gives them… and us… the answers.
This is the second smallest book in the Old Testament. But this tiny book has a giant message.
In order to understand the message, it is helpful to see where this book fits into Bible history. You could call it the last phase of the Old Testament; after the exiles had returned from Babylon, to rebuild their city and temple in Jerusalem. The historical background can be read in the first five chapters of Ezra, and it is definitely worth a read.
Sixteen long years had passed since the exiles had returned to Jerusalem. The Persian king Cyrus had given them permission to return home and rebuild the temple (Ezra 1v1-4, 2 Chron 36v22-23). Against great opposition they had started and built the foundations (Ezra 4). However, eventually the opposition became so much that they postponed the building of the temple. It was still important, of course! Who could doubt it! But perhaps not right now, things are a little too… hot.
Into this situation Haggai and Zechariah appeared (Ezra 5), and within a 3 month period Haggai preached a series of blistering sermons which are recorded in this book. They are carefully dated, which makes it easy to distinguish the separate elements of this book.
We’re going to look at the first two sermons…
It is time to follow the LORD! 1v1-15
The country was in a dire situation. There was a severe drought (v11), and so the harvest had failed (v5). The LORD tells them to carefully weigh up their situation. They are back from exile, back in the promised land, everything should be great... But the return they are getting on all their work is pitiful.
It is a bit like swimming against a strong current. I’m about as feeble a swimmer as you are ever likely to see, and I remember one fancy swimming pool where I seemed to be doing a great job, whizzing along. Then someone explained that the pool had a current in it. I turned around and spent five minutes going absolutely nowhere! Like a swimmer in a strong current they seem to be putting in a lot of effort and not getting anywhere.
The returns on the work never matches up to the effort put into it. Look at v6. Sown much, harvested little, eating but not having enough. When they earn money it disappears so fast that they might as well put it in a bag with holes in it. They must weigh up this situation - matching their expectations with the reality that surrounds them. Something is going wrong - what is it?
Well, the people of Israel had been given clear instructions way back at Mount Sinai, during the Exodus. In the promised land they were going to, there were to be blessings when they were being obedient to God, and cursing when they were rebellious (spelled out in Deut 28v15pp) In particular drought and famine are identified as being a judgement of God on the people.
So their experience was a direct result of their failure in their obedience to God. He explains clearly (v9) that the reason for their problems is simple and direct. The house of the LORD, the temple lies in ruins. What makes it worse, they have spared no effort on their own panelled houses, making themselves nice and comfortable!
From v2 we know that People knew that it was right to rebuild the temple, but the timing didn’t seem right at the moment. The politicians were concerned about the politics “we simply can’t antagonise our neighbours”. The economists questioned the sense of it during the recession “we can’t afford it right now”. The spiritual ones said “we must wait for God to move first” and the pragmatists said “I don’t have carpentry or masonry skills myself”. Everyone agreed that the temple was important… just not yet.
So while the temple of God lay in ruins (for very good reasons…) they got on with feathering their own nests.
But Haggai cries out - “we must support not just in principle, but in reality - right now!”
What do we see in this today? Now it is not a mandate for anyone to justify church building expenses! That was the construction of a one-off temple.
Instead, what we find when we turn to the New Testament is that Jesus teaches that there is a new temple, his body… which is the Church. Eph 4v12 talks of the church being built up, as does 1 Pet 2v5. God’s temple today grows as more and more people become believers.
Yet there are so many lame excuses for delaying God’s building work.
Why is evangelism so rare? Why are people crying out for help in mission? Well, the idea is fine, but the timing is wrong… politically (not PC, seen as too arrogant)… economically (too costly)… spiritually (“I’m waiting for God to move”) or pragmatically (I’m no good at it).
And in the meantime is there a danger that we get on with feathering our own nests, sorting out our homes, our jobs, our education - while the house of the Lord falls into ruins?
We must support not just in principle, but in reality. The time is right - right now!
What does being serious about building Gods house look like? Well, in Rumania, at the time of the revolution in 1989 there was a church of a dozen or so members in Oradea; yet now they are the largest Baptist church in Europe - and have a building seating thousands. If you ask them why they have grown, they say it is because of prayer. Every morning they have a prayer meeting at the church - at 5.30am, which 400 people attend to pray for the spread of the gospel. We can see they really believe it is worth praying, because they do it.
We all have opportunities to get involved in God’s building programme in our church. We all have different skills, different abilities, different talents, different by God’s design. And we all have parts we can play.
What did Israel do with this message? v12-14
The foolish, rebellious people of Israel heard God’s voice and turned their hands to the building of His temple (v12-15), hearing God’s promise that he will be with them (v13)
What about us?Jesus promised this too, when he gave the great commission to his disciples (and us too) Matt 28v20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Sometimes we start a work and get discouraged though. It seems less than we hoped for. Let’s look at Haggai’s second sermon.
It is time to rely on the LORD 2v1-9
It is the 21st day of the 7th month - only a couple of months later. How was the temple looking? This time of the year would have been the feast of tabernacles, when Israelites from all around would come up to Jerusalem. What did they see, what did they think?
It looks so feeble compared with the previous glory of Solomon’s temple. Although it was possible to rebuild the walls, what about the gold and silver, what about the ark of the covenant? None of that could be replaced.
And what about the prophecies? Ezekiel had promised that after the exile the rebuilt temple would be grand, marvellous, incredible… not like this. What had happened to God’s promises?
The LORD God tells them to look back, look forwards, and then get on with the work. He is completely realistic about the situation, but the basis for doing the work is not their current state of affairs, it is on the basis of what the eternal God has done and will do
Vs 5 look back. Haggai reminds them of their desert experience, the climax of which was the arrival at Sinai, the earthquake and God’s presence. This time they didn’t have fire or smoke, voice or earthquake, but Gods promise to be with them still stands.
Vs 6-7 look forward. God promises them that in a little while he will once more shake the heavens and the earth. There is a future event to come (in “a little while”) when God’s presence will be powerfully here - just like at Sinai, when the first covenant was made. And what will happen on that day? God will fill the house with glory, and all nations will be shaken. The glory of the new temple will far exceed the glory of everything that came before it!
The work set before us now, we can do because of what Jesus has already done in our lives; and his promise to be with us still stands. Look back at when you first gave your life to Jesus - has he changed since then?
And let’s look forward. Heb 12v26-27 quotes Haggai, and explains that the prophet is looking forward to heaven, speaking of heaven. I’ve heard some people say “you can be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good”. It’s snappy, but it’s wrong. C.S. Lewis pointed out that the people who have consistently had the greatest impact on this earth have been those Christians whose focus was on heaven - from the apostles onwards.
It is so important for us to realise that we are not going to enjoy all the promises of God right here and now. Many of the things that God has promised - no more tears, eternal joy, perfect health - are for heaven, not for today. Tragedy strikes Christian and non-Christian alike, whether in Queensland, Pakistan, Egypt or the UK.
This is why we sometimes seem to see little return on our work:
Our riches can make us lose sight of heaven. This is why we sometimes seem to see God’s promises fall flat in our daily life. We get too satisfied with where we are. Haggai teaches us to not be satisfied. What we have is a pale reflection of what will be! If we were runners, we should not keep our eyes on our feet under us, but on the finish line ahead of us, and press on towards our goal.
Conclusion
Nationally The Lord’s house lies in ruins - let’s get out of our comfort zones and get with Jesus’ building program - the time is right, right now!
Let’s rely on the Lord. Not getting discouraged by setbacks - everything won’t work out here, many of God’s promises will see fulfilment only in heaven – but pressing on, relying on Jesus and doing the right thing.
Look back at what Jesus has done, look forward to the promise of heaven, and get stuck in right now.
Alex White