Sunday
Morning Bible Study
August
24, 2014
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Regular: 2900 words
Communion: 2500 words
Coming up on Thursday, September 4, 7-9pm -
The background
to Haggai is found in the book of Ezra.
After having been captive in Babylon for seventy years, the Jews are given
permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem.
After the
people began to build, opposition arose from their enemies, and for a period of 15 years,
the Temple construction was halted.
It was then that God raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, who began to encourage the
people to get back to work and make God’s House a priority.
We saw last
week that after Haggai’s first message, the construction began again.
The year is 520
BC.
2:1-9 Old Glory
:1 In the seventh month, on the
twenty-first of the month, the word of the Lord
came by Haggai the prophet, saying:
:1 In the seventh month
This next prophecy comes on the 21st
day of the seventh month.
It’s now October 17, 520 BC
It’s been less than a month since
the work was restarted on the Temple (Hag. 1:15).
It also happens to be the seventh day of the feast known both as the “Feast of Ingathering”, and
the “Feast of Tabernacles”. (Lev. 23:33-43)
(Leviticus 23:33–43 NKJV) —33 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34
“Speak to the children of Israel, saying:
‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of
Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord.
35 On the first day there shall be a
holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. 36
For seven days you shall offer an
offering made by fire to the Lord.
On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an
offering made by fire to the Lord.
It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on
it. 37 ‘These are
the feasts of the Lord which you
shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by
fire to the Lord, a burnt
offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on
its day—38 besides the Sabbaths
of the Lord, besides your gifts,
besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give
to the Lord.
39 ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh
month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the
feast of the Lord for
seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest,
and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40
And you shall take for yourselves on the
first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of
leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41
You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It
shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in
the seventh month. 42 You
shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell
in booths, 43 that your
generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I
brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
As the Feast of Ingathering, it was supposed to be a celebration of the end
of the summer harvest season.
The people
would be very aware of just how unfruitful their land had been over the last
year. (1:6)
(Haggai 1:6 NKJV) —6 “You
have sown much, and bring in little; You eat,
but do not have enough; You
drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe
yourselves, but no one is warm; And he
who earns wages, Earns
wages to put into a bag with holes.”
As the Feast of Tabernacles, they would all gather in Jerusalem,
remembering how God saved them from being slaves in Egypt, and how they camped
in the wilderness for forty years.
Everyone would
get a peek at the progress of Temple construction.
:2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel
the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to
Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to
the remnant of the people, saying:
:3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in
its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this
not in your eyes as nothing?
:3 is this not in your eyes
as nothing?
Fifteen years earlier, when they had begun the work and laid the foundation
of the Temple, there was a mixed reaction by the people to what had been built
so far.
(Ezra 3:12–13 NKJV) —12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses,
old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the
foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud
for joy, 13 so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from
the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud
shout, and the sound was heard afar off.
Zerubbabel’s Temple would not have some things that Solomon’s Temple had.
It didn’t have
the Ark of the Covenant.
The people
certainly didn’t have the kind of money to put all the gold into the Temple
like Solomon’s.
The Babylonian Talmud indicated
that there were five things in Solomon’s Temple that weren’t going to be found
in Zerubbabel’s Temple.
1) The Ark of the Covenant
2) The holy fire
3) The Shekinah glory
4) The spirit of prophecy (the Holy
Spirit)
5) The Urim
and Thummim
Now God warns the people of looking at the progress of the new Temple, and wondering why they were
even bothering to build it since it would never be as great as Solomon’s.
Lesson
The Good Old Days
The danger is that we can let
discouragement creep into our own lives if we dwell too “fondly” on the “good
old days”.
The difficult truth is that in some
ways, things were better in the past.
The morality of
our country fifty years was a little different than today.
But what we ignore is that God is
not done working.
When we get stuck in the “good old
days”, we get to thinking that God could never work as much today as He did
when we were younger.
That discouragement can cause us to
slow down the very work that God has for us today.
:4 Yet now be strong,
Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and
be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest;
and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts.
:5 ‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came
out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’
:5 when you came out of Egypt
At the Feast of Tabernacles they
were remembering what it was like coming out of Egypt.
God’s “covenant” with Israel was
His promise to be their God. (Ex. 6:7)
(Exodus 6:7 NKJV) —7 I will
take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then
you shall know that I am the Lord
your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
:6 “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I
will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land;
:7 and I will shake all nations, and they shall
come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’
says the Lord of hosts.
:7 I will shake all nations
God promises
that He is going to shake
things up on the earth, including the nations.
The Persian
Empire will be conquered by the Greek Empire, and the Greek Empire will be conquered by the Roman
Empire.
We’ll see more of this “shaking” at
the end of the chapter.
:7 the Desire of All Nations
I believe this is a direct reference to Jesus Christ, not only the Savior or Messiah of
Israel, but the
Savior of the world.
Jesus is the answer to man’s deepest desire, the desire to know God.
This shaking of the nations would
put the world in just the perfect place for the coming of the Messiah.
Under the coming Greek Empire, the
world had the unifying factor of a common language (Greek) that could be spoken
in most places of the world.
Under the Roman Empire, roads were
built to enable people to travel from one part of the known world to the next.
(Romans 5:6 NLT) When we were utterly
helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
I think there is a sense that “just
the right time” talks about a period of history that was just perfect for the
Messiah to come.
Because the world all spoke Greek,
New Testament was written in a language that everyone could understand.
Because the Roman roads connected
the world, the apostles were able to go throughout the known world.
I think that we might also be
entering another “right time” for Him to come the second time – an age where
more and more people are connected through the internet, TV, technology…
:8 ‘The silver is Mine,
and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord
of hosts.
:8 the gold is Mine
The gold and silver that were
involved in the construction of Solomon’s Temple would be valued today in the
hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars.
The people of
Haggai’s day were worried would never be able to match all the gold and silver
put into Solomon’s Temple.
God is
reassuring them that if He wants gold in the Temple, He can take care of it.
:9 ‘The glory of this latter
temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says
the Lord of hosts.”
:9 in this place I will give peace
(John 16:33 NKJV) These
things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world.”
:9 the glory … shall be greater
When Solomon’s Temple
was built and dedicated to the Lord, God’s glory filled the Temple.
I imagine the people of Haggai’s day would be wondering, “What if God’s
glory doesn’t come when we dedicate this Temple?”
And indeed,
there is no record of an event taking place like that of Solomon’s day.
The glory
didn’t come until one day when a young couple from Bethlehem brought their baby
boy to the Temple to be circumcised.
A godly old man named Simeon
had been promised by God that he would one day see the Savior.
(Luke 2:27–32 NKJV) —27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents
brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took Him up in
his arms and blessed God and said: 29 “Lord, now You are letting Your servant
depart in peace, According to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation 31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people
Israel.”
This little baby was only eight
days old, and yet Micah recorded …
(Micah 5:2 NKJV) “But you, Bethlehem
Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall
come forth to Me The One
to be Ruler in Israel, Whose
goings forth are from of old, From
everlasting.”
This was Jesus. Who existed from eternity past with the
Father in heaven, but chose to veil His glory, take on human flesh, and live
among us.
John the Baptist knew what Jesus’ purpose was early on. He said,
(John 1:29b NKJV) “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Paul wrote,
(Philippians 2:8 NKJV) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself
and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
The apostle John wrote,
(John 1:14 NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
It was this same eternal Jesus who would visit Jerusalem during the Jewish
feasts, and sit and teach in the Temple.
Video: Gospel
of John – Jesus teaching in Temple (starts around 1:11) – John 7:28-30
In Solomon’s
time, smoke filled
the Temple.
In Jesus’ day, the
Creator Himself was “in the House”.
Lesson
Greater Days Ahead
We face a challenge similar to the people of Haggai’s day.
Sometimes we
too get a little too “stuck” in the past, thinking of the “good old days”
Video: All in the Family –
theme song
Some
people get stuck in their high school days – nothing can match the glory of
being the hometown hero running for that touchdown.
Some people get
stuck thinking about some earlier time in their marriage when you first fell in
love and the romance was so hot.
Some
people get stuck thinking about when they first came to Christ, or first got
baptized in the Spirit.
Some
of us look at the “good old days” of the Jesus movement. Here’s a clip of an obscure 21 year old
hippie preacher from 1973.
Video: Greg
Laurie circa 1973
God did some cool things back in the 70s, but if you think that was all that
Greg Laurie was going to do, you’d be mistaken.
The
best was still ahead.
The problem of getting stuck in the past is that you stop moving forward
and you won’t get to the “greater glory” that’s ahead.
Paul wrote to the Philippians:
(Philippians 3:13–14 NKJV) —13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press
toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
I’m not here to
promise you that you are about to win the Lottery or your marriage problems are
all going to go away.
I am here to focus
you on the future and on the race you need to be running.
The greatest glory that is ahead of all of us is when we meet Jesus face to
face.
(2 Corinthians 4:16–18 NKJV) —16 Therefore
we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man
is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but
for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are
temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
The “glory”
is ahead of us, not behind us.
We need to look and move forward, not dwell on the past.
2:10-19
Contamination
:10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month,
in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord
came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
:10 the twenty-fourth day
This next prophecy comes two months
after the last one.
It is now December 18, 520 BC.
This was the time of year when the
people would look for the “early rain” to water the newly planted crop.
:11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Now, ask the
priests concerning the law, saying,
:12 “If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge
he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become
holy?” ’ ” Then the priests answered and said, “No.”
:12 will it become holy?
This is a question for the priests.
The priests
were given portions of meat
from some of the sacrifices as a payment for their work in performing the
sacrifices. Because this meat came from sacrifices,
it was considered “holy”.
But there was a requirement of just who could eat it. It could only be
eaten by priests or their families, and there was one further requirement:
(Leviticus 6:27a NKJV) Everyone who touches its flesh
must be holy.
Haggai now raises the question about a situation where a priest is carrying
holy meat in his robe, and he accidentally bumps up against something that is
not “holy”.
Is holiness contagious? Does the “holiness” of the meat get
transferred to the thing that was not holy?
The correct answer is “no”.
We could look at it like germs.
If I had the
Ebola virus and I shared a Coke with you at McDonald’s, would I “catch” your
health? Or would you catch my Ebola?
:13 And Haggai said, “If one
who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it
be unclean?” So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.”
:13 will it be unclean?
A person would
be considered “unclean” if they had touched a dead body. (Lev. 22:4-6)
(Leviticus 22:4–6 NKJV) —4 ‘Whatever
man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a leper or has a discharge,
shall not eat the holy offerings until he is clean. And whoever touches
anything made unclean by a corpse, or a man who has had an emission of
semen, 5 or whoever touches
any creeping thing by which he would be made unclean, or any person by whom he
would become unclean, whatever his uncleanness may be—6
the person who has touched any such thing
shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat the holy offerings
unless he washes his body with water.
Unlike
“holiness”, the state of being “unclean” or “impure” was considered
“contagious”.
:14 Then Haggai answered and
said, “ ‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,’ says the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their
hands; and what they offer there is unclean.
:14 what they offer there is
unclean
Even though the people were bringing sacrifices, even sacrifices for their
sins, there sacrifices were “unclean” because the people were not changing
their behavior.
They were like
the gangster who goes to church, sings the songs, says “Amen” to the pastor’s
sermons, and continues being a gangster.
Is God blessed by those songs and “amens”? Nope.
Illustration
One day a mobster named Freddie died. He was famous all around town as a
gangster. Freddie’s brother, Gino, went
to a local church and asked the pastor if he would perform Freddie’s
funeral. He said to the pastor, “Pastor,
I will donate a million dollars to the local orphanage if you perform my
brother’s funeral. I only have one
request, that during the funeral you tell everyone what a saint my brother was.” The pastor didn’t know what to do. He knew the church could sure use the money
for their building fund, but he also knew that the whole town knew what a crook
Freddie was. On the day of the funeral,
there was Gino sitting in the front row of pews, holding a large briefcase full
of money. The pastor struggled, but got
up and began to preach about the consequences of sin and the need to
repent. He went on to tell about what a
crook Freddie was, and that he was the perfect example of a wretched
sinner. Gino was beginning to get very
upset. The pastor went on, “We all know
what a horrible person Freddie was. He
was drunk all the time, he cheated on his wife, he stole from his friends, but
compared to his brother, Freddie was a saint!”
Lesson
Unclean
God wants His people learning to walk in purity.
When we refuse to make efforts towards “holiness”, our “uncleanness” will
start polluting everything around us.
(Galatians 5:9 NKJV) A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
A little sin unchecked in my life is like a virus that
spreads through my whole life, and can even “infect” others.
Does this mean that if you have been sinning this week that you are not
welcome in church?
Not at all.
Church is one
of the places where you can find cleansing.
I hope you will be challenged from time to time on your
sin when you come to church. I hope you
will feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit when you haven’t been dealing with
your sin.
But church is where you need to be honest with God, turn from your sin, and
find cleansing.
Hopefully we can help each other find cleansing and
encouragement.
(James 5:16 NKJV) Confess
your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may
be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
Don’t succumb to the embarrassment, thinking that you’ve sinned too many
times to be accepted at church.
You don’t have a clue how many
times we’ve blown it and found forgiveness before we were able to finally
successfully turn from our sin.
After church is over, come up and talk to one of the pastors and ask for
prayer.
:15 ‘And now, carefully
consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the
temple of the Lord—
:15 carefully consider from this
day forward
Haggai is going
to challenge the people to start taking careful records of the production of
their upcoming crops.
:16 since those days,
when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs,
there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out
fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty.
:16 …there were but twenty
Before the Temple construction had been restarted, grain production was down 50% and wine production was down
60%.
We saw in chapter one that the
people had been going through lean times because of their disobedience (Hag.
1:6)
(Haggai 1:6 NKJV) “You
have sown much, and bring in little; You eat,
but do not have enough; You
drink, but you are not filled with drink; You
clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he
who earns wages, Earns
wages to put into a bag with holes.”
:17 I struck you with blight
and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn
to Me,’ says the Lord.
:18 ‘Consider now from this day forward, from the
twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid—consider it:
:19 Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the
vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit.
But from this day I will bless you.’ ”
:19 from this day I will bless you
From the day the people obeyed
God’s call to rebuild the Temple, they will see their crops grow.
Lesson
Obedient Blessing
It is not a hard fast rule that
every time you do the right thing you will be blessed.
This doesn’t mean that when you
obey God you will win the lottery, marry the most beautiful woman, and get the
raise and bonus at work.
Sometimes we can do all the right
things and find ourselves persecuted.
Yet it is a general principle that
for the most part, blessing follows obedience.
2:20-23 Shaking
:20 And again the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the
twenty-fourth day of the month, saying,
:20 the twenty-fourth day of the
month
It is still December 18, 520 BC.
This word is going to be directed at Zerubbabel the governor.
If Zerubbabel was anything like most people I know in leadership positions,
he probably faced some times of wondering what he was doing being in charge. He
probably wondered how in the world he could accomplish the things he was asked
to do.
:21 “Speak to Zerubbabel,
governor of Judah, saying: ‘I will shake heaven and earth.
:22 I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I
will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow the chariots
And those who ride in them; The horses and their
riders shall come down, Every one by the sword of his
brother.
:22 I will overthrow the throne of
kingdoms
Here’s more of that “shaking”
mentioned in verse 7. Some suggest this
“shaking” could
even refer one in the future, to Armageddon.
We talked about the shaking back in verse 7 when God would be shaking
up the kingdoms of Persia and Greece.
This might be referring to a different “shaking”, one that takes place
at Armageddon.
Note: “throne” is singular.
There is one “throne” over the kingdoms of the earth, Satan’s throne.
There will be a day when that “throne” will be replaced by God’s
throne.
(Revelation 11:15 NKJV) Then the seventh
angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of
this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and
He shall reign forever and ever!”
:23 ‘In that day,’
says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will
take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’
says the Lord, ‘and will make you
like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts.
:23 make you like a signet ring
… chosen
signet ring – chowtham – seal, signet,
signet-ring
A signet ring
was a way of conveying ownership.
When a merchant wanted to make sure he could claim his property at the end
of a long ocean voyage, he would melt wax on the item and press his “signet ring”
into the wax, leaving his “mark” on the item.
Kings would “sign” official decrees
by marking them with wax and their signet ring.
Zerubbabel as the governor was being told that He would be the one to leave the mark of
the real Master, God.
It was a picture of ownership, God
owns these people.
It was a picture of security,
everyone else keep their hands off.
It was a picture of authenticity,
God is really a part of this.
The greatest
mark Zerubbabel was going to leave would come through his offspring.
He was the ancestor of a carpenter
from Nazareth named Joseph (Mat. 1:13).
(Matthew 1:13 NKJV) Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.
He was also the ancestor of the
carpenter’s young wife, Mary (Luke 3:27)
(Luke 3:27 NKJV) the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa,
the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,
the son of Neri,
When you study the genealogies of Joseph and Mary, you find that they both
descended from King David, but through different sons of David. Their lineages go different directions, then
intersect once again with a common ancestor – Zerubbabel.
Jesus was a
descendant of Zerubbabel.
He had the royal
authority of King David through His adopted father’s side (Joseph). He had the actual DNA of David through His
human mother’s side (Mary).
Lesson
Chosen to Impress
Zerubbabel was
“chosen” by God.
He would lead the effort to build and complete the Temple in Jerusalem.
His offspring, the Messiah will one day shake up all the kingdoms of the
world.
Being God’s “signet ring”, he would “impress”, or leave God’s “mark” on the
world.
You too have been chosen by God.
Some people get their heads all twisted up trying to think about how God
“chooses” us. All I know is that when I
choose to follow God, I find that He has already “chosen” me.
Do you want to know if you’ve been “chosen” by God? Then choose Him.
When a sports team “chooses” its players, they choose them to play on the
team, to compete with the team.
You
haven’t been chosen by the Angels, you have been “chosen” by God.
You have been “chosen” to play on His team.
Jesus said to His disciples,
(John 15:16 NKJV) You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed
you that you should go and bear
fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask
the Father in My name He may give you.
God has chosen you too beloved.
He has things for you to do.
Leave
God’s mark on the world around you.