Haggai

Elder Saw Lip Hean

14-01-2018

Around 520BC, the Jews had been in exile in Babylon. Babylon had already conquered Judah. Sometime later, Babylon was conquered by Cyrus.

In the year 538BC, Cyrus issued a decree allowing the Jews to go back to Jerusalem. That’s 70 years after they first went into exile. Jeremiah had prophesied. 70 years later, along came a man, Cyrus. He issued a decree to allow the Jews to go back.

Do you see the hand of God here?

God influenced Cyrus in such a way that he allowed the Jews to go back and build a temple for God. And take back all the gold that Nebuchadnezzar had taken.

That’s incredible, isn’t it?

So, 50,000 of them returned. Led by Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was appointed the governor of Jesus. Together with Joshua the high priest, they went back.

Once they reached Jerusalem, they cleared the rubble, reconstructed the foundations and rebuilt the altar. It took them about two years to do that. They completed the foundation and had a great celebration. They were so happy that they managed to clear the rubble, reconstruct the foundations and rebuild the altar and they offered sacrifices to God and were rejoicing.

Then, political opposition and economic challenges started to arise. The background to Haggai can be found in chapters one to seven of Ezra.

After they completed the foundations and rebuilt the altar, the Samaritans and the other population started to kacau them. First they wanted to help them to build. The people of God said, “No, this is our temple. It is our responsibility to build. Not that we do not appreciate your help but we cannot allow you to come in.”

Then these people got offended and started writing letters King Artaxerxes and complained. Politically, they started to become very oppressive towards them and the work of the temple ceased.

For 16 years, it stopped. What did the people do for 16 years? They started to build their own house. Until Darius became king.

When Darius became king, that’s when Haggai started to preach in the year 520BC. Haggai said, “Is it time for you to live in paneled houses while my temple lies in ruins?” The Spirit of God stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel and Joshua and the people. They came back and started and responded because they feared the LORD. The temple was completed in 516BC. (Ezra 5 and 6)

Essentially, Haggai gave four main messages in three days over a period of four months.

1) BUILD (Haggai 1:1-15): “Go. Get the trees from the mountain. Come down and rebuild the temple.”

2) BE STRONG (Haggai 2:1-9): “Be strong because I will be with you and I will provide for you” (because the people were getting discouraged)

3) BE HOLY (Haggai 2:10-19): “Be holy and I will bless you.”

4) BE FAITHFUL (Haggai 2:20-23): “Be assured of your future for I have chosen you.”

BUILD:

Haggai 1:1-15 New International Version (NIV)

A Call to Build the House of the Lord

1 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 Jozadak, the high priest:

² This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”

³ Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: ⁴ “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”

⁵ Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.⁶ You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

⁷ This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. ⁸ Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. ⁹ “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. ¹⁰ Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. ¹¹ I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”

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, ¹⁵ on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.

A lot of preachers tend to use this passage when they are trying to raise money for the church. We are not talking about brick and mortar today.

The temple of God/The house of God is not like the one you see here.

We are talking about you.

1 Corinthians 3:16 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

When we talk about the temple of God today, when we talk about the house of God today, take your minds away from this building or any church building.

What we are talking today is the temple of God of your body—your spiritual man. I am talking about your spirit man. That is the temple of God. We have neglected the spirit man. We have fed the physical man but the spirit man is starving.

2 Corinthians 6:16 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will live with them
    and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.”

1 Peter 2:5 New International Version (NIV)

⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

The other aspect of the temple of God is the spiritual house that we are building, in which you and I are the spiritual stones.

When we talk about the temple, I am referring to the spirit man that is in you and the spiritual house of Christ--the body of Christ.

Haggai saw that the people who started building:

1) They have forgotten their calling and the reason why they came back. They started very well. But after two years, with the opposition and the economic situation, their strength gave away and they became discouraged. Their own houses became bigger and more luxurious.

2) When people forget, they start to fear. They feared economic poverty. (What about food? What about my children’s education? What about my children’s children’s education? How am I going to protect my empire for the rest of eternity?) Fear causes us to lose sight of what is important.

3) And when fear grips our hearts, we become foolish. Instead of going back and living a balanced life and depending on the word of God, we start to believe in the things that the world tells us and we start to act foolish.

4) We end up being branded by God as being faithless. What is the consequence of faithlessness?

The Jews started well. As time went by, because of opposition, they started to concentrate away from the building of the LORD’s house.

Does that sound familiar?

When you’re first saved, when God first called you into the ministry, when God first appointed you a leader amongst the people of the church, what was your experience? How did God deal with you? How was the reality of God in your life?

You were so full of love for the people of God—the body of Christ—that you were prepared to lay down your life for them. But in your experience—all the hard knocks—you’d become disillusioned. You start looking around you. You start comparing. And you start becoming envious. (of other people’s house, car, wife, holidays overseas) And then you start to think, what about me? What about my wife and kids? And you start to shrink from serving and spend less time with God. The only time you spend with God is when you are preparing a message to preach to your home fellowship.

And when the stirring comes in your heart, telling you, “Hey, it’s time to get back to the altar. It’s time to rebuild your altar. It’s time to spend more time with God. It’s time to rebuild the body of Christ.” [and you go] “No-lah. It’s not yet time. God, give me a little bit more time.”

Is that what we are going through today? Does it sound familiar?

And the LORD has to tell us, “Look, is it time for you to live in paneled house while My house remains in ruins? Your spirit man is in a terrible condition. You may have the best physical house in the world but your spirit man is in a poor condition.”

The trouble with us is that we are so good at keeping the physical body in shape [but] the spirit man is being neglected. By all means, live in paneled houses. By all means, develop your physical body. But do not neglect the house of God.

Where is your spirit man today? Then the LORD says, “Think. Why are you like that? Give careful thoughts to My ways, not to your ways. Go up the mountains to spend time with God.”

You need to spend that quality time with God on a daily basis. His Logos word will become the food and the trees required to build up your temple.

The LORD says you are experiencing a drought because of you.

The people obeyed because they feared the LORD. Why? Because the LORD stirred up the spirit.

The Spirit of God moves very gently in your heart. At the correct time, He will stir you up. And when the Spirit stirs you up, stop quenching the spirit. Otherwise, you will be the poorer for it.

The people responded because they feared the LORD. Today, preachers tend to shy away from this area. Why? Because [it’s] not popular [and it’s] not nice to hear. It may go against the trend of thoughts in a lot of you [about] what it means to fear the LORD.

We come up with clichés like “Once saved, always saved. Even though I don’t serve as much, I still make it to heaven by the skin of my teeth.” Don’t be deceived. Don’t end up like the five foolish virgins. Don’t end up like the servant who was given the talent but went and buried the talent. Look into those parables and see what the final outcome is.

BE STRONG:

Haggai 2:1-9 New International Version (NIV)

2 ¹ on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: ² “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, ³ ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? ⁴ But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ⁵ ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’

⁶ “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. ⁷ I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. ⁸ ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ⁹ ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

“Aiyah, your church is so small. Your ministry is so small. Aiyah, your home fellowship is so cold.”

This is what happens here. The older people saw the temple and said, “Aiyah, so small. Have you seen the previous one?” As a result, the workers got discouraged.

The LORD spoke to Haggai and he went to them and said, “Child of God, be strong! Joshua, be strong!” Joshua was, by no means, a pushover. He had been fighting from Egypt until Canaan. He was a general of men. He could lead an army. And yet, the LORD told him [to] be strong.

Sometimes it is not the physical things that kill. It is the psychological effect of the words of people that kill your spiritual life. It reflects so much in a Christian church today.

We—the spirit man—are the temple of the living God. The bible says that out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. We are supposed to speak life into people. But in actual fact, sometimes we are like cesspools and longkangs coming out with all the drain water instead of living water. And we end up dampening spirits of others. We just don’t realise the words that come out of our mouth. We forget what James says about our tongue—little piece of thing that can cause fires bigger that the firemen can put out.

Let’s not forget that the people of God appreciate constructive criticisms.

As servants of God, we must be humble. We must understand if what a person says is constructive criticism or is it drain water. Very often it is living water. Let’s be honest. The problem is also with us. Sometimes we think that just because we are leaders, we are God’s gift to mankind. When we come into any ministry with that kind of attitude, habis. When criticisms come, we cannot take those criticisms. Before you say what you know, ask. “Is it because he is bitter?” “Is it because I am insecure that I feel this way?” Analyse carefully what is being said before you consign it to the realms of drain water because it might be living water.

Usually people don’t tell you anything because they don’t want to offend you. What do they get if they tell you? Later it might create misunderstanding or offence.

So when people tell you the truth which is constructive for your spirit life, listen very carefully.

But to those who are spewing out drain water, look at yourself. Why are you saying these things? Are these things helpful? Does it serve to build up the body of Christ? Or does it seek to destroy? Is it because you are insecure that you cannot stand others being given more honour than yourself?

This is what happened here. When the old men started to criticise, the young men became discouraged. As a result, the work nearly stopped. Until Haggai had to come and say “Be strong! Zerubbabel, Joshua and all you people, be strong!”

In life, you are going to have troubles. [It is] not only the discouragers are going to come, you are going to face even more discouragement from the outside.

That is why we need to build up the spirit man within us. We need to build up the body of Christ.

Jesus has already warned us, “You will have troubles. But relax. Take it easy. Don’t get frightened. Don’t fear. Because I have overcome the world.” Jesus rose from the dead so that He could lead us in triumphant march. That is what Jesus has done.

Don’t be fearful. Don’t forget what the LORD has called you to do. Don’t forget what He has taught you thus far. Don’t go and wallow in the mire of your misery. Now, go and build and be strong.

BE HOLY:

Haggai 2:10-14 New International Version (NIV)

Blessings for a Defiled People

¹⁰ On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai: ¹¹ “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: ¹² If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’”

The priests answered, “No.”

¹³ Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”

“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.”

¹⁴ Then Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.

This came about after about three and a half months. After they were nearly finished rebuilding the temple, there was still no rain and the people were wondering and they started to question. Then they went to Haggai.

And the LORD said, “When the holy touches the unholy, does the holy make the unholy holy? No! But when the unholy touches the holy, does the unholy make the holy unholy? Yes!”

When you build the temple, you don’t defile yourself and then come and build the temple because your service to the LORD becomes unacceptable. To put it bluntly, you cannot come to church and worship God and serve but you live like a pagan outside and you commit adultery and you cheat and lie and steal. And you tell God, “God, why are You not blessing me?” But this is what we are and this is what we do. When things don’t go the way we plan, we say, “God, where are You? Why still no rain?” (As if it’s a big mystery) We cannot see that it’s our own fault and we think it’s other people’s fault. “The church is not growing because it’s the elders’ fault.” But we don’t look at ourselves.

We serve God with a pure heart and with clean hands. The service that we render unto God will bear fruit.

Romans 12:1-2 New International Version (NIV)

A Living Sacrifice

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

You need to have a transformed mind and not clinging on to the principles of the old man.

The bible tells us that you are a new creation in Christ. You are born again. Unfortunately, sometimes we take the baggage of the old man into the service that we perform. Ego is a big part of the things that we do. It justifies us to get the praises of men. Most of us are very insecure. When people don’t appreciate us, we start manifesting the Elijah syndrome. He ran faster than Usain Bolt when Jezebel sent a messenger to tell him that he will be killed. He told God, “God, only I am left.” And God said, “I have seven thousand more.” (1 Kings 19)

We bring the old man into the arena of holy and this thing pollutes the holiness of the body.

We come sprinkled by the blood of Christ. (Hebrews 12:24)

That is the significance of the Holy communion.

1 John 1:9 New International Version (NIV)

⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

In coming clean, I humble myself to the Spirit and allows the Spirit to use.

When we come to God, we come applying the blood of Christ to ourselves and then we tell God, “God, not me but You.” Spirit of the living God stirring up the people. We are nothing. Without Christ, we can do nothing. We serve as a living sacrifice. No more the dead man desiring praises and accolades. But the new man who is a living sacrifice for God to use so that our service is not tainted. Do it with a pure heart and clean hands.

Don’t be caught up in all the hype.

And don’t sell your inheritance for a bowl of porridge. The lesson of Esau and Jacob. (Genesis 25:19-34)

BE FAITHFUL:

Haggai 2:20-23 New International Version (NIV)

Zerubbabel the Lord’s Signet Ring

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 is the signet ring? The signet ring is a symbol of God’s power.

Revelation 2:26-27 New International Version (NIV)

²⁶ To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— ²⁷ that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father.

Everything that you’ve been deprived of because of the sacrifice, everything you think you have missed in this life, God will give you one thousand years where He will appoint you the ruler of the earth. And you will have your time.

You will be close to the LORD and you will rule the earth. The millennium will come. That is the time when God equalises things. That which He begins, He will complete. He will not let you be deprived for eternity.

Build the spirit man. Build the body of Christ. And in so doing, we will be strong, we will be holy, and we will be assured.