Haggai Study Week 4 - Haggai 2:1-9

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In chapter 1 of Haggai we saw God’s call to His people to consider the ways they had been prioritizing their own comfort and pushing God’s purpose for them to the margins of their life.  Through His prophet He calls them once again to prioritize His presence among them, and they are to do this by rebuilding the temple.  We mentioned before that the people had actually started this project 16 years earlier when they had first returned to Jerusalem, but soon stopped due to some opposition.

UNMET EXPECTATIONS

Haggai chapter 2 references these circumstances and we did some digging in the book of Ezra in our homework this week to help us understand that in addition to enemy opposition frustrating the building efforts, discouragement coming from unmet expectations also frustrated their efforts.   

As they first began to rebuild the altar and lay the foundation they were looking back and remembering Solomon’s temple and comparing it to their present reality, and it just couldn’t measure up!  The footprint, the design, the finery…it could never compare to what they had in the past. 

We didn’t have time to sift through Ezekiel chapter 40 in our homework this week but had we spent some time there we would read about a vision of the new temple the prophet Ezekiel was given.  What is emphasized throughout the vision is the sheer magnitude of it.  Some of the measurements seem almost bigger than one can fathom.  And for those who knew that ancient prophecy and now stood watching the temple foundation being laid…they felt more discouraged than motivated.

The Lord sees this same discouragement in the people 16 years later and calls it out.  

2: 3 “Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory?  How do you see it now?  Is it not as nothing in your eyes?” 

Rebuilding the temple was hard work.  If their efforts were not yielding the results they expected, why bother continuing to slave away?  The Lord knew they would need His encouragement to do this work.

Haggai’s second message contained both commands and promises for all the people.  The commands outlined what the people should do, and the promises highlighted what God would do.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SHOULD DO

The first of these commands in vs. 4 was “Be strong!”  This was so important God repeated it 3 times.  First to Zerubbabel, then to Joshua and finally to all the people.  I understand this technique a bit, because I am a music teacher to 5 and 6 year olds.  And so twice a week I spend the day in a small room with 19 kids all playing instruments at the same time.  (By the way, if you are currently picturing a commercial for Advil you’ve got a good idea of what I do for a living.)  But my favourite instrument to use is something called Boomwhackers.  These are plastic tubes of various lengths, and when you whack them they boom in their designated pitch.  So picture me handing out these long plastic tubes to 6 year old boys. You know in their mind they have just become Luke Skywalker and the force is definitely with them.

So before I hand them out I say in my best teacher voice, “Class, do not hit anyone with these!”  You’d think a word to the wise would be sufficient, but I have a few very special students that require their own personal invitation to the rules.  So I get down eye level with these lovies and I say, “Billy, do not hit anyone with this, “Stewart, do not hit anyone with this…” “Gregory do not hit anyone with this…”* 

I imagine you can probably guess what happens next…but my point gets back to Haggai: this is an important command!!  And it was for everyone.

But there’s more to this: it’s not just “Be strong” but “Be strong and work.”

BE STRONG AND WORK

In Haggai’s first message God called the people’s hearts to obey.  He said, “consider your ways,” “value me the most,” “make me the priority of your heart!”  Now, he calls the people’s bodies to action.  And the call to obey God with all their heart will require all their strength.

It will take physical strength to rebuild the temple.  It’s manual labour and if they are out for their comfort you know they are going to lose heart quickly.  So God says Be strong and work!  Stop looking back at what WAS.  Move forward and do what I’ve called you to do today. It’s a call to action.

We’ve experienced this - it takes physical strength to obey!  To battle against the flesh is never easy!  It will be tough to lay down your life, your comfort, your desires.  You will feel tired as you care for the vulnerable, live in countercultural ways, and pour out your life for the body of Christ.  There will be times when we will have to simply put our head down and do the hard work God has asked us to do.  Haggai has hope for us even in that…it’s coming, so wait for it.

FEAR NOT

Finally, God says “Fear Not!”  The people had every reason to believe that resuming this work would once again draw enemy opposition.  Government opposition.  Strong opposition.  And I think it’s safe to assume they were afraid.

Fear of man and what others might do, say or think about us has always been and always will be one of the primary barriers to our obedience.  What might people think about us if they see us living in this countercultural way?  What kind of opposition might we run into building God’s kingdom in our lives?  What if it costs me something I’m unwilling to pay?  When it comes to our obedience, perhaps the question we ought to begin by asking is, “Who am I going to fear?”  The choice is yours to make and there are only two options: God or man.

I AM WITH YOU

There’s good news to this issue of fear, (and the hard work of obedience!) because in the middle of these 3 commands that might seem overwhelming to the people, and certainly may feel overwhelming to you, God tells the people something that ought to lift their chins and make them inhale with a deep breath of confidence.  It’s the piece of information that proves possibility.  It is the truth that drives out fear…

vs. 4 For I am with you, declares the Lord of Hosts.  According to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt.  My Spirit remains in your midst.  I’m with you.  Fear not.

The Lord of Hosts is with them, as He had promised to be at Mt. Sinai.   They have been so busy looking behind them at their fear and discouragement, that they are blind to who is actually WITH THEM.  The Lord of Hosts, their faithful covenant keeping God has not left them.

Make no mistake the strong and hard work of obedience, the ability to fear not is a battle.  A battle fought inside you; on the turf of your thoughts, will and feelings.  And the key to victory is that the mighty and victorious Lord of Hosts is with you.  The only way you can die to your flesh and live by the Spirit, the only way you can put God at the centre of your life, is by the powerful presence of His Spirit in you. 

Do you see how beautiful this is?  The Almighty God, commander of Heaven’s armies, maker of Heaven and earth, so far above all created things in His awesomeness (scholars avoid run-on sentences simply by calling this “transcendence”), this great God because of His great love is also in a very special way very near to His creation (and this they call “immanence.”)  Do you know it?  Do you need the reminder?  He is in your midst and He alone is mighty to save.  From your fear, from your lethargy, from your discouragement and your disobedience.  He is mighty to save you from you.  

After God gives these commands to the people along with the promise of his nearness, God then explains what HE WILL do.  He turns their eyes from looking behind and beside to looking forward in hope.

I WILL SHAKE

vs. 6 Yet once more in a little while I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land…and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. vs.9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former…And in this place I will give peace.

This week we looked back in the book of Exodus to give us some context in order to understand what this means.   We read how Israel was brought into a special relationship with God - a covenant.   

And the covenant had terms: You know them as the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  As outlined in the law, if the people followed the terms of the covenant, their sin could be made clean, and in effect Israel would create this “clean temple space” in their midst and God could dwell with them and His presence would bring blessing and fruitfulness to them.  

And at the giving of the law, as God came on Mount Sinai, the whole mountain trembled greatly with the full weight of the manifest glory and presence of God.  Isn’t that amazing?  God was on the mountain!  With His people!

Then Hebrews 12 gave us some clarity - I hope -  when the writer of Hebrews quotes Haggai and explains it a bit:  “at that time his voice shook the earth but now he has promised, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens…”

Hebrews tells us this prophecy was a promise that God was going to do something new for his people.  The Old Covenant revolved around so many physical things; the blood, the goats, the sacrifices and rituals.  One day God would shake things up; he’d remove the old covenant and its physical structures and the new covenant that remained would instead be built on spiritual things.  The outward cleansing that came by the blood of bulls and goats would be replaced by an inward cleansing that comes by spiritual truths: belief and faith and grace.

I WILL FILL

God also tells the people through Haggai that He will FILL the temple with greater glory.  This is a good thing because these released captives likely had little gold and silver with which to adorn the new temple.  They don’t need to be concerned about this though because the Lord of Hosts Himself will fill it.  Some translations render verse 7 “the treasures of all nations” as “the desired of all nations.”  This could refer to the fact that the Persians themselves would finance this project, or it could also be a messianic promise pointing to The Anointed One filling the temple.  Either way, the important thing to understand from this, is that the temple’s beauty will come not only from its external adornment but from what fills the inside of it.  Surely our original audience upon hearing this made immediate connections to the times of their forefathers when the Glory of the Lord dwelled in the temple.  Perhaps even back to Exodus 40:35 when God’s Presence filled the first tabernacle in the wilderness so completely that Moses could not even enter.  This was a promise of the return of God’s presence, and somehow in an even greater way.

I WILL GIVE PEACE

If there’s one thing Israel never had even while Solomon’s glorious temple stood it was lasting peace with God.  The minute they restored their relationship by making the sacrifice, they likely sinned again and broke relationship.  Day after day…paying for sin after sin, sacrifice after sacrifice.  Goat after goat after goat.  The old covenant and its laws for holiness could only provide outward purification.  It could not bring any lasting inner change. 

But God was going to provide something better through this temple.  He was going to provide peace with God once and for all.  True reconciliation between God and man.  The people were looking back and desiring the old temple with its ineffective system, but God was saying look forward and desire better glory!  This was a call to hope for Something far greater that was to come.  

APPLICATION FOR US

I think it’s good for us to pause here and consider the ways our circumstances are similar to the people in Haggai.  We are constantly comparing our present reality with something or someone else aren’t we?  If it’s not past circumstances that are setting the bar for us then it is the circumstances of others.  We have platforms devoted entirely to comparison; we open our phones and in a couple clicks we can see that everyone else has a warmer vacation, newer kitchen, healthier food, more satisfying job, better dressed kids and bottom line: better life than we do.  

I think we’re prone to comparing ourselves to others because we are prone to setting expectations of how life should look.  We all have strong opinions on what constitutes human flourishing.  And it’s very likely those expectations are not being met.  If you didn’t know before, you know the minute you open that social media.   Some of us are looking longingly and some of us are posting continually with just the right filter…but it is all in the name of comparison.  And you and I both know how quickly it leads to deep discouragement.

It’s this discouragement over our present circumstances arising from unmet expectations that is actually preventing us from building His kingdom, or putting God at the centre of our lives rather than the margins.  We are so focused on how our life is not turning out the way we think it ought, that we miss God’s plan for us, His plan for all of humanity really…the experience of life in intimate relationship with Him.  

As we busy ourselves with comparing our life to the lives of others, or some other construct of human flourishing, we stop setting our eyes on all we have in Christ: our future hope.   We forget that while our salvation through Jesus offers us a great hope for the future, it also affords us hope for today.  Author Paul Tripp says that many of us are “living with the anxiety that comes from thinking we have no greater resources than we can provide for ourselves.**”  The assurance of God with us is a very present help in trouble, and an inheritance laden with the riches of heaven itself!  Genuine trust in His goodness, His sovereignty and His unfailing love for us should alter the way we view our present circumstances.  Our In other words, what we claim to believe for the future must affect what we believe about today, difficulties, anxieties and troubles included.  It must shape our vision of human flourishing.

CONSIDER YOUR WAYS

What circumstance what difficulty what pain is consuming your focus?  And what vision of human flourishing are you longing for?  Is your heart tuned to the spiritual things of the kingdom of God?  Or are you consumed by the longing for things of this physical earth, the quest to build your own kingdom?

In what situation is obedience difficult and you are losing your strength or resolve? I think the obedience apologetic often gets a bad rap nowadays.  We don’t like to talk about obedience because we want to say that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus.  It’s not by works, The Apostle Paul has taught us this!  However, if we’re honest, that leaves us unsure on how obedience fits into the whole equation.  

This is especially true for those who grew up in a church culture that seemed to focus on all the lists of what a Christian should and shouldn’t do.  Perhaps you didn’t have a real grasp on the gospel truth about sin; that you cannot sway God’s favour for or against you by your actions, and that in effect “all your works are as filthy rags”(Isa. 64:6).  What can happen to you when your eyes are opened to salvation by grace alone through faith alone,  is that the pendulum swings from works(obedience) to grace(laziness).  You begin to think “It doesn’t matter what I do, because….Jesus!”  We don’t know how to properly hold the tension so we drop obedience in order to hold on to grace.

It’s really important then, for us to think about how obedience fits into the gospel.  It wasn’t simply a message for Old Testament believers, but for New Testament believers as well.  Jesus himself in John 14 says “If you love me, keep my commands.”  John fleshes this out a little later in his letter to Christians he says, “and this is love, that we walk in obedience to his commands.”(2 John 6)  Simply put, we obey because of genuine love for Jesus.

Obedience is never a fearful payment for sin, nor the bridge to relationship with God.  Jesus Himself is that bridge and our obedience to Him is then a consequence of our salvation; a loving response out of grateful awe to the one who paid our massive debt.

So then friends, let us be people who are not stuck looking back to the way things “were.”  In faith, let’s look forward in hope to all that we are and have in Christ above the trappings of identity and possessions that this world tries to offer.  And let’s speak truth to our anxieties when they tempt us to rely on our own resources.  

May we be strong women whose spirits are stirred further towards genuine belief and passionate obedience from a grateful heart of all we’ve been given through the worth and work of Jesus.

* I did change some names here to protect the (not so) innocent.

**  New Morning Mercies, Paul David Tripp.