SEEK HIM FIRST

 

MAY 10, 2015

FIRST THOUGHTS 

Key Doctrine: According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth. 

Memory Verse: Haggai 1:7 - Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways! 

·        Haggai is the first prophetic book after the exile

·        Haggai’s name means “festive”.

·        He possibly returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel.

·        His literary style is both simple and direct.

·        He delivers four or five sermons (depending on the commentary you read) in a period of just under four months (Sept to Dec) in 520 BC.

·        When Haggai looked around at the Jewish community of Jerusalem in 520 B.C., he saw a people who were spiritually disengaged.

·        They were ignoring a very important matter of faith.

·        The foundation of a new temple of the Lord had been laid more than a decade earlier.

·        But the work had stopped.

·        Opposition groups forced a temporary delay, but that issue had been resolved.

·        What hindered the work in Haggai’s day was not external opposition but rather the people’s refusal to make the Lord’s house a priority.

·        God called Haggai, along with his fellow prophet Zechariah, to stir the covenant people to action.

·        The temple played an important role in their faith. It’s completion needed to be their priority. 

UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT 

539 BC………..Babylon fell to the Medo-Persian armies of Cyrus the Great.

538 BC………..Exiles return

535 BC………..Work begins on the temple

534 BC………..Work on the temple is ordered stopped

520 BC………..Haggai and Zechariah

520 BC………..Work resumed on the temple

516/515 BC…...Temple completed and dedicated

470’s BC……...Esther

450’s BC……...Ezra journeys to Jerusalem and begins reforms

445/444 BC…...Nehemiah starts and completes the walls around Jerusalem

432 BC………..Nehemiah restores the law

430 BC………..Malachi

334-331……….The Medo-Persian empire was defeated by Alexander the Great 

Zerubbabel and Joshua 538 BC to 520 BC + 

·        More than forty thousand people had returned from exile in Babylon following the decree of King Cyrus in 538 B.C..

·        They Soon settled in their towns, then they began the work to restore the temple, first rebuilding the altar and then laying the main foundation, which led to a joyful celebration mixed with tears.

·        Then, opposition from surrounding groups resulted in a stoppage of the work.

·        God’s people evidently had grown weary of the struggle.

·        Remember, Nehemiah, Esther, and Ezra  are related.

·        God then called the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the people to adjust their priorities and complete the temple.

·        Opposition again arose, but the favorable intervention of the Persian king, Darius I, got the rebuilding effort restarted.

·        Work on the temple continued with full royal support, and the temple was completed in 516/515 B.C.. 

EXPLORE THE TEXT 

HAGGAI 1:1-11; 2:5-9 

REALITY DEFINED 

CHAPTER 1 VERSES 1-2:

1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,

1:2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'This people says, "The time has not come, even the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt."'"  

·        The people had become so obsessed with their own lives that they had little time for the things of God.

·        In the following verses Haggai relates how the people selfishly prefer to spend their money on lavish homes than the house of God.

·        The problems addressed by the prophets in the postexilic community and those faced by their counterparts before the exile were quite different.

·        Zephaniah, for example, preached against rampant idolatry, oppression of the poor, evil leaders, injustice, and apostate prophets and priests.

·        Haggai did not mention any of these matters, for the fire of the exile had purged the nation of such flagrant sins.

·        Rather, he focused on the people's lack of spiritual commitment, specifically their neglect of the task of rebuilding the temple. 

CHAPTER 1 VERSES 3-4:

1:3 Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying,

1:4 "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?"  

The first of Haggai’s messages. 

“In Haggai's day, how in the world were the people able to build their lovely paneled homes? Surely they encountered difficulties, but they were not willing to face the same difficulties to build the Lord's house. Their lame excuse was, "It's just not the Lord's will right now for us to do that."

Oh, I get so weary of hearing people give that excuse for not doing something for God! What do they know about the Lord's will? Just because something is difficult and hard and is going to cost you something, does that mean it is not the Lord's will? May I say to you, that is not the way to interpret the Lord's will. Sometimes the Lord's will is very rugged. If we could just listen to the stories of some of God's choice saints of the past, they would tell us that God's will was not always a smooth path.”

J. Vernon McGee 

“The term ‘paneled’ can mean ‘covered,’ ‘roofed,’ or ‘paneled,’ but the point in any case is that it represents the finishing touches. Their homes were not ‘in process’ but were fully appointed, while the temple remained a ruin. The term does not imply luxury or great expense, though paneling can be of that nature.”

IVP Bible Background 

CHAPTER 1 VERSES 5-6:

1:5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways!

1:6 "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes."  

·        Literally, this means to set your heart on your ways and look real hard at what you are doing,  where you are going, and the results in your life.

·        Next comes a list of inadequacies of their labor.

·        All of their hard work does not seem to accomplish much!

·        The principles that Haggai sets forth extend to God's work and spiritual things generally.

·        How important are the things of God to us? What are our priorities? 

CHAPTER 1 VERSES 7-8:

1:7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways!

1:8 "Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified," says the LORD.  

·        God reiterates that the people carefully consider their ways.

·        Verse 8 is a straight and direct command to the people.

·        This does not contain any extraneous words or messages; this appears to communicate immediate obedience is commanded; much like when I was a child and my mother called me in to clean up for supper, I could tell by her tone of voice that I had best not delay in obeying.

·        It is possible that when work began on the temple before, that wood may have been brought down for that purpose, but because the work had stopped they used the wood for their own houses instead. 

CHAPTER 1 VERSE 9:

1:9 "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.  

·        This refers back to verse 6; now God admits that He was the cause of their vain work and gives them the reason why.

·        It does seem to support what J. Vernon McGee said in the earlier quote, that just because something gets difficult, doesn’t mean that it is not His will.

·        From the beginning, God made their work of providing for themselves more difficult; but God waited 14-15 years before He rose up a prophet to confront them; giving them time to repent and build the temple.

·        They quickly got to a place where they did not want to do something that was going to cost them.

·        This is the point that touches our giving to the church for God’s work; but more is involved than just our giving.

·        It is our heart: sometimes we only think we know what God’s will is for us; we rationalize based on what we want, instead of what God wants, and when the circumstances line up just right, we jump to the conclusion that that’s what God wants too and we quit looking.

·        Because this can be more agreeable to us, we don’t even revisit the issue again, being content to remain there as long as possible; but God loves us too much to leave us there.

·        God may let us waste valuable time, but He will eventually show what we are to do that we haven’t been doing! 

·        Compare Haggai 1:7-9 with 2 Corinthians 9:5-8 

2 Corinthians 9:5-8

5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised bountiful gift, so that the same would be ready as a bountiful gift and not affected by covetousness.

6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;  

DISCIPLINE DEFINED 

CHAPTER 1 VERSES 10-11:

1:10 "Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce.

1:11 "I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands."  

·        Perhaps God is revealing in principle what He does for any of us when we are not living in obedience, even if we are unaware of being disobedient.

·        We should examine ourselves, pray for God to show us if we are amiss when similar circumstances come our way.

·        It is also possible that God is just testing us, to see if we will continue to trust Him.

·        This calls for discernment! 

GLORY TO COME 

CHAPTER 2 VERSE 5:

2:5 'As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!'  

·        To go along with His admonishment to be strong comes God’s often repeated promise that He is with them and therefore do not be afraid. 

CHAPTER 2 VERSES 6-7:

2:6 "For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land.

2:7 'I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of hosts.  

·        The future temple is the focus of this verse.

·        All of nature will be shaken (not God’s kingdom) and the nation’s will bring their gold and silver into God’s house.

·        This seems to be clearly the reference from verse 8. 

CHAPTER 2 VERSE 8:

2:8 'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD of hosts.  

·        Everything belongs to God and so by this declaration, He implies that He can take care His own. 

CHAPTER 2 VERSE 9:

2:9 'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts, 'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the LORD of hosts."  

·        The final temple will surpass anything seen so far, especially since Jesus will occupy it. 

“The glory then was not to be anything, which came from man, but directly from God.”

Albert Barnes 

RESOURCES: 

Excerpts From: Max Anders & Stephen R. Miller. “Holman Old Testament Commenatry - Nahum-Malachi.” Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2010-02-17. iBooks.

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