Okay, so here we go. So this title, The Prophecy, bears the name of its author, right? Haggai is the second shortest, there's your blank, book in the Old Testament, and Obadiah is shorter. And it's quoted by the New Testament once in Hebrews 12.26. Take a look at that later. All right, author and date. So little is known about Haggai apart from the short prophecy. He is mentioned briefly in Ezra 5.1 and 6.14 on both occasions in conjunction with the prophet Zechariah. The lists of refugees in Ezra mention nothing of Haggai. There is no indication of his parentage or his tribal ancestry, nor does history provide any record of his occupation. He is the only person in the Old Testament with this name. Although similar names occur in Genesis, Numbers, Samuel, and 1 Chronicles, Haggai 2.3 seems to suggest that he had seen the glory, listen up to this, of Solomon's temple before it was destroyed, making him at least 80 years of age when writing this prophecy. Now, does anybody have Haggai 2.3? You could read it loud for us real quick. Does anybody have that? No? What's that? Okay, you got it? Okay, go ahead. You saw the temple in its former glory. And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to be bright? Perfect. So if you think about it, right, he say, hey, who's seen it in its former glory, right? This is like nothing in comparison to it. So it probably was, Haggai probably was one of the guys that saw it, and he's probably about 80 years old, right? Gone for 70 years, he must have been of somewhat age when he saw it originally, right? So, all right. In 538 BC, Cyrus, here's your blank, of Persia issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to their land and to rebuild the temple. The first return was led by Zerubbabel, right? In 536 BC, work on the temple began. Ezra 4.6 gives the background to the book of Haggai and describes how the Samaritans hindered the building of the temple, even writing a letter to the Persian king to get an official order to stop. You guys remember that, right? And then the opposition added to the growing discouragement. of the Jewish remnant, right? These guys were discouraged, okay? So here they have legal matters, they just were gone for 70 years, they get back, right? They start building, then everybody's trying to get them to stop, all right? Their initial optimism was returning to their homeland had been dampened by the desolation of the land, right? Think of 70 years, what would your guys' yard look like in 70 years, right? Desolation of land, crop failure, hard work, hostility, and other hardships. They had given up their relative comfort of the Babylonian culture to pioneer in a land that seemed unproductive and full of enemies. And I imagine full of weeds and mosquitoes, right? Yeah. Finding it easier to stop building than to fight, their neighbors, the work on the temple ceased in 534 BC. The pessimism of the people led to spiritual lethargy. and they became preoccupied with their personal building projects. You know, I would say, if you think about it today, folks, right? Israel's been back in the land 76 years, right? So I would think that they're pretty much in the same spot as they were when they just got back in the land after 70 years, right? Listen, they got back the Temple Mount in the Six Day War in 19... 67, good. So remember they got back to the Temple Mount and then they actually gave it right back. So they gave it back to the Arabs hoping that they would see them as peaceful partners in the land. Has that happened? No, it's only gotten worse, hasn't it? So now they have the issue with the Temple Mount being run by, right, the Jordanians and the WAF. And it is interesting to see what's happening up there, folks, right? So, you know what they say, it's Israel's the minute hand, or the hour hand, Jerusalem's the minute hand, and the Temple Mount is the second hand, right, in God's time clock. So, just interesting to see what's going on there. Keep your eyes on Israel, folks. All right, they use political opposition and a theory that the temple was not to be rebuilt until sometime later, perhaps after Jerusalem was rebuilt, as excuses for neglecting the house of the Lord, right? They just say, let's move on, right? There's too many issues. So it was in this context that God called his prophets Haggai and Zechariah to the task of urging the people to complete the temple, right? Sounds reasonable. There's no ambiguity or controversy about the date of the prophecy, right? The occasion of each of Haggai's four prophecies is clearly specified, 1-1, 2-1, 2-10, and 2-20 occurring within a four month span, right? That's pretty quick compared to some of these prophets, right? Span of time in the second year, 520 BC of the Persian King Darius, His stappies, whatever. Haggai most likely had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon with Zerubbabel 18 years earlier in 538 BC. All right, now let's look at the background and setting. So in 538 BC, as a result of the proclamation of Cyrus the Persian and Ezra, right, one through four, Ezra was allowed to return from the Babylon to her homeland under the civil leadership of Zerubbabel and the spiritual guidance of Joshua. There's your... Here's your blank, the high priest. So Joshua's a high priest, Zerubbabel is the civil leadership, right, or the governor. And about 50,000 Jews returned. About 50,000 Jews returned then. In 536 B.C. they began to rebuild the temple. But opposition from neighbors and indifference by the Jews caused the work to be abandoned. 16 years later, Haggai and Zechariah were commissioned by the Lord to stir up the people, not only to rebuild the temple, but also to reorder their spiritual priorities. So priorities is your blank there, but think, 16 years, right? So as a result, the temple was completed four years later in the sixth year of Darius, okay? All right, key words in Haggai. Let's look at signet ring, or the Hebrew is chotham. 223 is derived from a verbal root meaning to affix a seal, to seal up or to fasten by sealing. The signet in the Old Testament times was an engraved stone set in a gold or silver finger ring. You guys have seen these before, I'm sure, or some type of picture of it, or a bracelet, or an armband, right? You guys remember Song of Solomon, 8-6. Then when pressed upon wax or soft clay, the ring left an impression of the personal insignia of its bearer. The signet ring was like an identification card or badge in the ancient world. It symbolizes status or position of the binding nature of the authority attached to the items sealed by the ring. Haggai's comparison of Zerubbabel to a signet ring has messianic implications. Since Zerubbabel would overturn the curse of Jeremiah, the king of Jehoiakim's dynasty and restore royal authority to the line of King David. All right, continuum of key names, Haggai. The etymology and meaning of Haggai is probably derived from the Hebrew word hag, meaning festival. It may also be an abbreviated form of Haggai, festival of Yahweh, thus Haggai's name means festival, festal or festive, probably because he was born on a feast day, right? Good way to remember his birthday. He was a prophet of Judah after he returned from the Babylonian exile and he urged the people to rebuild the temple. And Zerubbabel, next, Hebrew name means begotten. Begotten, there's your blank. In Babylon, he led the Jews out of Babylonian exile, stood as the official representative of the Davidic Dynasty and was called a signet ring. Next name is Joshua. Hebrew name means Yahweh is salvation. He was a high priest of Judah and their co-leader was Zerubbabel. So here you have Zerubbabel and Joshua leading the way. and then the people of Judah, the Judean captives who moved back to the land of Israel, they were encouraged by Haggai to complete the rebuilding of the temple, 1.2, 12, and 2.2, 1.12, sorry. Okay, let's look at the historical and theological themes. With the Babylonian exile now history, and the newly returned group of Jews back in the land, The work of rebuilding the temple can begin. But 16 years after the process has begun, the people have yet to finish a project, for their personal affairs had interfered with God's business, right? And they'd get back to the land 16 years later as they started, then they never finished. Haggai preaches a series of four fiery sermons designed to stir up the nation to finish rebuilding the temple. which had been lying in ruins since its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. So Haggai calls the builders to, and listen up, these are really good folks, renew their courage to the Lord, right? So that's what he's calling them to do. Renew holiness in their lives. and then renew their faith in God who controls the future. I mean, isn't that good for us too? Isn't that great? All of these are good lessons for all of us, even today. Renew your courage in the Lord, renew your holiness in their lives and renew their faith in God who controls the future. And amen to that. He does control the future. And I'm very thankful for that. All right. So Haggai motivated them by noting that the drought and crop failures were caused by misplaced spiritual priorities. So they had their priorities mixed up. Have we ever done that before in our lives? Yep, right? Especially when maybe a young man is going, working really hard and thinking, hey, if I just get to that next level, or if I just get to that next race, right, or that next promotion, right, and all your priorities are on all earthly stuff, earthly stuff, earthly stuff, right? And then we think, after all, you know, 10, 15 years, 20 years go by, and it's like, wait a minute. I forgot the most important thing, that's the spiritual, my spirituals, right? None of that earthly stuff satisfies. All right, but to Haggai the rebuilding of the temple was not an end in itself. The temple represented God's dwelling place, his manifest presence with his chosen people. The destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar followed the departure of God's dwelling glory, Ezekiel 8 to 11, to the prophet. The rebuilding of the temple invited the return of God's presence in their midst. Who would not want that? Using the historical situation as a springboard, Haggai revealed in the supreme glory of the ultimate messianic temple yet to come, You're gonna see that in a second. Encouraging them with their promise of even greater peace, even greater prosperity, and divine rulership. We're waiting for that, folks. And national blessings during the millennium. Okay, here's my most fun part of this whole lesson. The temples of the Bible. Folks, these are interesting, right? Seriously, the temples are valuable. This is, honestly, this is just worth it for coming tonight, right? Okay, so here we go. So the temple, Hebrew, Baeth, and Greek, Herion, was a sacred or holy place built primarily for the national worship of God, right? So the tabernacle, there's your first blank, was a mobile temple, about 1444 BC, detailed plans received by Moses from the Lord, construction by divinely appointed artisans, desecrated by Nahab and Abihu. You guys remember all that? All through Exodus and Leviticus. Reread it, I just read it maybe a month ago. Lots of stuff in there, lots of good stuff. All right, so that was his tabernacle. Next is Solomon's Temple, right? That's kind of one that we're all familiar with. 966 to 586, I'll do the math for you. And that was just under 400 years. Sorry, I wrote it in my little handwriting. Okay, so detailed plan received from David from the Lord, 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles. Constructed by Solomon, right? And then destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. All right, next temple is Zerubbabel's. Gotta like saying that name. Temple, and that was 516 to 169, almost 350 years. Envisioned by Zerubbabel, constructed by Zerubbabel. You guys are gonna get tired of me saying that. And elders of the Jews, desecrated by Antiochus of Epiphanes. Okay, we'll go to the next temple, Herod's Temple. This is the one that we also remember, right? 19 BC to 80, 70, just 89 years that temple stood. It's Zerubbabel's temple restored, and this is where a lot of people get mistaken about the temples, it's Zerubbabel's temple restored by Herod the Great, right? He built it, spent a lot of money, we'll talk about it here in a second, but he built onto it, and also destroyed by the Romans, right, in AD 70, right? And then in the present temple, This is almost 2,000 years, folks. The body of the believer is the Lord's only temple until the Messiah returns. Right, so you have the temple for those of us that know the Lord inside of us, right? All right, the next one is the Temple of Revelation. How long's that one gonna stand? This is easy. Seven years, that's right, seven years. Tribulation period, to be constructed during the tribulation by the Antichrist. Matthew 24, 15, to be desecrated by the Antichrist. So folks, listen, they are For some of us that went to Israel last time, I see Tad back there, you went, I know, and then I know others went too. Listen, we went to the Temple Institute. If you ever get a chance to look it up, they just put out a new video about how close they're ready to go for the temple. They're just ready for the go, and they're ready to go, okay? This temple, they have everything rebuilt. all the clothing, all the musical instruments, all the gold instruments, right? And they have everything that's ready to go, just ready for it to start. I even heard that they, I mean, I know they have the plans, but I even heard that they have the whole building ready to go. So. That's the crux of the matter, isn't it, Sharon? So what they're waiting for, folks, is a go-ahead by the government, right? If they try to do it now, they're talking World War III. So it's gonna need the Antichrist, I believe, to come in there and to make peace. So he's gonna have to give them the go-ahead to do it. So it'll be built fast, it'll be the quickest temple, seven years, and we won't be here, so. Amen to that, right? Okay, so constructed during the tribulation by the Antichrist. Come talk to me more about it if you wanna talk about it. I have a lot more information about that. But if anything, look up, I kid you not, the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. They have a brand new video. It just came out maybe three weeks ago, and it's very, very, very interesting, especially for all of us that are waiting for the Lord to return. Right, amen? Okay, next temple, Ezekiel's temple. The millennium, what's a millennium mean? 1,000 years. Envisioned by the prophet Ezekiel to be built by the Messiah during his millennial reign. 1,000 years, right? We're looking forward to that too. And then here it is, the final one. The eternal temple of his presence. The eternal kingdom, the greatest temple of all, a spiritual one. Here it is, Revelation 21, 22. The Lord God, the Almighty, and Lamb are its temple. And all I can say is amen and amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, right? All right, here it is. Key doctrines in Haggai. God's presence, there's your blank, in the temple. Haggai, Chronicles, Ezekiel, First Corinthians, Revelation. Next is obedience by the people who have feared God. Obedience is your blank. Bunch of different verses there. And then God's character in Haggai. God is glorious. Does anybody have their Bible open to Haggai 2.9? Anybody with a loud voice read Haggai 2.9 real quick? Okay, nice and loud. Amen. God is glorious. God is glorious. All right, contribution to the Bible. Haggai was one of the few prophets whose message brought immediate and tangible results, right? These guys obeyed right away. Exactly what we should do. Only 23 days after his first oracle, the people began to work on the temple for the first time in 14 years. That's pretty quick. Founding the second temple marked a major turning point in God's dealing with his covenant people. 219 says, yet from this day on, I will bless you. That's encouraging. This was because of the centrality of the sanctuary to the whole religious life of the Mosaic law. It was not only the focus of the whole system of offerings and sacrifices, priests and worship, it was also the symbol of Israel's spiritual identity. That's your blank. And a visible reminder of the person, power, and presence of God. Now that the Davidic throne was gone, it was especially important that the temple be rebuilt, here it is, to bind the remnant together as a continuing covenant people of God, right? We need something to bind them together, right? Just kind of like the church binds believers together in local areas, right? The temple for Israel was binding them together. So, and kind of, you guys kind of know what's going on on how, I'd say, spiritually weak Israel is right now, right? They're strong militarily, but spiritually, they're pretty weak for the majority of them. So, there's also no temple there. All right, Haggai lacks the vivid imagery and poetry of other prophets like Isaiah and Nahum. Nevertheless, his austere messages were successful. His words ring with the divine authority, thus says the Lord, and similar expressions appear 26 times in Haggai's 38 verses. 26 times. Okay, so let's look at Christ and Haggai. The book of Haggai reveals Zerubbabel's significant place in the messianic line of David, right? This guy has a place. His position illustrated by a signet ring, 223, continued the royal line of David through which Christ would come. Zerubbabel's name is found in both the ancestries of Mary, Luke 3.27, and Joseph, and Matthew 1.12, demonstrating, here it is folks, his importance in grafting both branches of Christ's lineage together. Pretty crazy, right? The promise of chapters two, verse nine, points ahead to the crucial role of the second temple is to have in God's redemptive plan. We just read this, but I'm gonna read it right now. Haggai 2.9 says, 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. Herod the Great later spent, here it is, a fortune on the project of enlarging and enriching the temple, and it was filled with the glory of God incarnate every time Christ came to Jerusalem and entered the temple. You guys ever think about that? Think of God's glory, right? In human form, in flesh, entering that temple. just like in times past, right, with his spiritual glory entered it. Okay, let's look at answers to tough questions now. Question number one, what exactly did Haggai mean when he used the phrase, the desire of all nations? Right, good question. A number of translations of the original phrase have been offered, but only two interpretations seem possible, pointing to the silver is mine and the gold is mine, 2.8, as well as the references such as Isaiah 65, 60 verse five, and Zechariah 14, 14. Some argue that Haggai had the city of Jerusalem in mind, to which the wealth of the nations will be brought during the millennium. This is the way the ESV and NASB has translated this verse. And listen up, listen to the way these guys have translated this. Hey, you got 2-7, and the ESV says, and I will shake all nations so that the treasures of the nations shall come in, and I will fill the house with glory, says the Lord of Hosts, okay? And then Haggai 2.7 in the NASB says, I will shake the nations and they will come with the wealth of all the nations. And I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of armies. Okay, so pretty much the same thing. This is a perfectly acceptable translation. And the other Bible passages tell us that indeed the wealth of the nations will be brought in to Jerusalem during the millennium, right? We would expect that in the eternal state. However, the preferable interpretation sees this as a reference to the Messiah himself. And if we think about it, that makes a lot of sense. The deliverer for whom all nations ultimately long. This is how the King James and the New King James have translated this verse. So here it is in New King James. He says, and I will shake all the nations, and they shall come to the desire of all the nations, and I will fill this temple with glory, says the Lord of hosts. You see this subtly? Not only is this interpretation supported by the ancient rabbis and early church, but the mention of glory in the latter part of the verse also suggests a personal reference to the Messiah. who certainly is the desire of God's children from every group of earth, right? Every group of people on earth. And all I can say to that is amen. Okay, so we even find this phrase in Charles Wesley's beloved Christmas carol, Hark the Herald Angels Sing. How many of you guys like that one? Come on, we sing it every year, right? Okay, it's good, right? Listen to the four stanza begins, I'm not gonna sing it. My brother would like to sing it though. Come desire of nations, come fix in us thy humble home. Oh really, excellent, okay, excellent, yeah, thank you. That's excellent. Okay, let's look at the outline of the book now. Okay, so Roman numeral one, Rebuke for Disobedience, chapter one, one through 11. Roman numeral two, Remnant Responds and Rebuilds, one, 12 through 15. This book is short, folks. Roman numeral three, Return of God's Glory, two, one through nine. Roman numeral four, religious questions, 210 through 19. And then Roman numeral five, the reign of the Lord, 223. So honestly, folks, this book, you guys should know this one like on the back of your hand, right? I mean, this one is a pretty easy one, but it's great. There's just a ton of stuff in here, really good stuff. Okay, so let's look at the meat. of the book of Haggai. Haggai's book of prophecy is located towards the end of the Minor Prophets, right? Just before Zechariah and Malachi. And you guys know why we did this. We swapped them, right? Kerry wanted to do Zechariah and he wanted to do Malachi. So, that's fine. It's still a privilege to be up here, so. It is a short book, only two chapters in length, just barely longer than the Bible's shortest book of Obadiah, but the message loomed large for the Jewish community where it was delivered. To understand this prophetic book, not to mention its author and his faith, we need to understand its historical setting. While many of our minor prophets wrote in the time of leading up to the fall of Judah, to the Babylonians, this book moves us to a new time period and addresses a time after the Jews exile and subsequent return. In 586 BC, Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonian siege, fulfilling a large library of prophetic material from men like Jeremiah and Habakkuk. God's temple had been demolished. The city decimated and the people exiled to Babylon for 70 years. God allowed them to remain in captivity during this time as a lesson to the nation, but he still remained faithful to his covenant promise. Excuse me, promises, right? Folks, if God doesn't remain faithful to the Jews, Why would we think that he would remain faithful to us, right? He has to be faithful to his promises to the Jews. So that's why there's still a plan for the Jewish people, right? Okay, after the Babylonian Empire was overtaken by the Persians, the new Persian king decreed that the Jews could return to their homeland and rebuild their temple. By 538 BC, a remnant of Jews returned. The Old Testament book of Ezra records both their journey and their actions. They returned to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the governor and descendant of the former king of Judah. and Joshua the high priest, and began the rebuilding process. Reconstruction included not only their own homes, but also the temple of God. Things went well initially. The Jews quickly completed the foundation of the temple. You guys remember this? In Ezra 3, eight through 13? Right there on it. But then stern opposition came, right, here's their legal problems from the people groups who lived in the area. They begin intimidating the Jews and frustrating their work. The temple rebuilding project was forcibly halted, and God's house, Yahweh's temple, was left unfinished. The temple's foundation sat untouched on Jerusalem's Temple Mount for years, a memorial to incomplete projects. And I'm sure some of us guys can relate to that. Right, ladies? Right, guys? Okay, it was a house in disrepair, a reminder of unfulfilled dreams. It is in this context that the prophet Haggai received a message from God to deliver to the people. We know very little about Haggai as a man. However, a careful reading of the text brings out a few potential clues to his background. Some infer that he was an older man who had seen the first temple before it was destroyed. And if this is the case, he would have had to have been at least 80 years old at the time of the book. This book, excuse me. He may have also been from a priestly family based upon his knowledge of ceremonial law. However, he also mentioned some items connected to the government and agriculture so we could just as easily speculate that he could have been a politician or a farmer. Haggai is the second smallest book in the Old Testament, but the prophet's message was urgent, clear, and uncompromising. It also came with ultimate authority, right? The name of the Lord of hosts is used as a title for God well over 200 times in the Old Testament. And Haggai uses a phrase, thus says the Lord of hosts, the word of the Lord came in similar terms over 20 times in 38 verses. You guys think he wanted to get a point across? I do, constantly emphasizing the divine authority of the human writer's words. Haggai is a clear reminder to us that the authority of the Bible comes not from the caliber of its human authors, but from the character of its divine author. Amen? Donald Gray Barnhouse is right to say the shortest road to an understanding of the Bible is the acceptance of the fact that God is speaking in every line. Most of what we know about Haggai is based on his effect on others. Both his book and prophecy and the historical book of Ezra testify to his role as a prophet. in the post-exilic community. Ezra describes him along with young Zechariah as a prophet who spurred the post-exilic Jewish community to action. He spurred them on, right? The two prophets were not just speaking passive messages, they were engaged and involved with the people. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them, says Ezra 5, 1 and 2. That was Haggai. To be with someone during a time of difficulty shows compassion and solidarity. You guys believe that? I think so. We need to remember that. Providing support shows empathy and concern for the people's needs. While Haggai's writing style is somewhat blunt, In brief, right, two chapters, rather than flowery and poetic, his reputation shows that direct speech need not mean that he was cold and callous. Instead, we can think of him as an educated man of God who happens to relate better to the blue-collar construction workers of his day rather than to the ivory tower elitists. That's kind of flowery, right? He seems to be the perfect personality for the situation, able to directly point out a person's guilt and then matter of factly lead them to a godly response. That's what a good teacher, right, a good mentor, a good discipler should be able to do. 18 years later, after the Jews returned from Babylon, Haggai is now in a position to deliver God's message to the remnant who had come home from Jerusalem. With laser focus, Haggai is given four messages to deliver over four months. God called him to share the message with the people via the leadership pair of Zerubbabel and Joshua. In our other books of prophecy, we have seen that God did not choose to utilize well-known sources as his messengers. He at times chose relatively unknown people and unknowns like Amos or Obadiah to deliver messages of significance. In those cases, the obscurity of the individual lent credence to the message. And why is that? I'm so glad that you asked. Because the focus was on the prophetic word, right, and not on the one delivering it. And that's what we should keep in mind, too. It's the prophetic word, folks, right? It's the preacher's, the teacher's job to present this, to teach it, and not mess it up, right? That's what has the power. All right, at other times, though, God shows individuals such as Jonah, who had strong connection to him, and an established reputation as a prophet. In these cases, the fame of the messenger added weight to the message. Since Haggai was already known as a prophet to the Jews, the words he spoke are immediately identified as coming from God. The Lord's message, messenger, excuse me, as Haggai is called in verse 13, can relay the truth and expect a swift response even from a guilty population, right? They should do something. If they know he's a messenger of God, I would think so. It was the end of August, 520 BC, right? Put yourself back here, end of August, right? 2024, 520 BC. Right, a few years ago, 2,500 years ago-ish, just before the start of the fig, grape, and pomegranate harvests. While this should have been a time of excited anticipation, it was looking more like a time of dread. The crops were suffering because of severe drought. In Haggai 110, 11, we hear the description from God of what the conditions were like, get this. He says, therefore, look at this folks, underline this, because of you, right, there it is right there, the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. I called for a drought on the land and on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine and on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle and all the labor of your hands. This poor crop goes along with the general poverty that seems to have seized the people. They are underfed, unquenched, and unable to pay for adequate clothes or services. This seems to be in a stark contrast to the blessings that exiles had on their return journey to Jerusalem, right? Just 18 years earlier. At the point of the Persian, king had commanded that the Jews be given supplies, animals, gold, silver, to provide for the temple sacrifice. Now it seems that they could hardly scrape together enough to sustain, let alone prosper them. The people could have been wondering why, and now Haggai gets to give them an answer. In God's economy, punishments are preceded by warnings. Warnings. You guys think that we're being warned today? I do. I think the whole planet's being warned. I really do. These warnings may be directed, stated, or they may be assumed as general knowledge. The Jews of Haggai's time had a warning of the latter type. Rather than a fresh message from God telling them what might happen if they had placed God as a second tier priority, God expected them to glean the warning from a trusted source, his law. One commentator said the following, Haggai expects the people to notice that their experience parallels the kinds of curses outlined in the Torah when the covenant relationship between Yahweh and his people were strained. Passages like Deuteronomy 28 through 30 certainly seem to match what is happening at Haggai in chapter one. Take a look there later, folks. It's fitting, then, that Haggai's message is given to the leaders of the Jewish community, the governor's rebel and the high priest, Joshua. Right? These men would have been familiar with the Mosaic law along with its blessings and cursings. Right? That's also known as reaping and sowing. If anyone should have been able to make the connection between spiritual failings of the Jews and the physical failings of the economy, it was this pair. So on a new moon festival day, Haggai delivered his first message. The people had stopped working on the rebuilding of the temple and they were concentrating on self-serving agendas that included developing their own properties or building new ones, nothing wrong with that. However, suddenly as one Irish scholar put it, Haggai broke into their lives. Like a dispatcher writer from the headquarters of the Supreme Commander, Haggai points out that the people had given up on the rebuilding project and were saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, this people says, the time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord rebuilt. They're saying, hey, not quite ready, right? Time hasn't come, time's not right. Haggai answers with a rhetorical rebuke. Is it time for yourselves, is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate? Right? That's a good solid rebuke. Hey, you guys are just worried about your houses when you should be worried about God's house. The governor could live in a paneled house yet God's house was in shambles. How far Israel had fallen compared to the priorities of King David, right? Remember that, 2 Samuel 7, one and two? Who had recognized the irony of constructing his own home rather than focusing on God's. He wanted to finish the Lord's house first before he worked on his own house. Because of this backward thinking, God withheld blessings from his people as they placed their desires above him. And that's pretty much the key point there. He used economic circumstances to challenge his people to focus on spiritual realities instead of physical realities. And folks, we should do the same thing, right? We need to focus spiritually the things that are gonna last. Listen to, again, verse seven and eight in chapter one. Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Go up to the mountains, bring wood, and rebuild the temple that I may be pleased with it and be glorified, says the Lord. Pretty simple. The command is reminiscent of the first temple's construction when Solomon brought cedars from Lebanon. Folks, and what was Israel doing to Lebanon last night? Bombing them. What are they gonna do tonight? Probably bomb them, right? And they should, right? That's a different story. We'll talk about that other time. We don't have enough time. The Jews' materials would be less opulent from nearby forests due to their current poverty, but at least the process could begin. The people may have agreed that rebuilding the temple was a worthy endeavor. project, but the nation's finances were in a mess. After years in exile, money was tight, and they had decided that work on the temple would have to be put on hold at least for the time being. At first glance, this might sound perfectly reasonable, but it was far from it because while work on the temple had ground to a halt, the people had spent their time and money and energy on their own homes, and many of them were now living in the relative comfort, and for some, even luxury of paneled houses. I'm not quite sure what that looks like, folks, but I'm just gonna have to leave it to the text that a paneled house is sometimes somewhat luxurious, right? Yeah, luxurious, thank you. God's message was aimed at pricking their consciences. Haggai 1, 5 through 6, listen to this. Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You have sown much, but harvest little. You eat, but there's not enough to be satisfied. You drink, but there's not enough to become drunk. You put on clothing, but no one is warm enough. And he who earns, earns wages to be put into a purse with holes. You guys kind of can relate to the purse with holes things I imagine, right? Okay, I think we all can at some point in our lives. The people were misusing resources. that should have gone towards rebuilding the temple and God urged them to open their eyes and see where their priorities had gotten them. Folks, this sounds like a good start to a good sermon. I'll have to tell Pastor Kerry about. If they did, they would have to admit that their self-centered policy had backfired. Using a different metaphor, one modern scholar noted, their money disappeared like flour through a sieve. Yeah, is that right? Siv, thank you. That's right. I don't use them, so I don't know. Where's my wife? There she is. I don't do I, honey? No? She's shaking her head no. Okay, as you would expect, the Bible has a great deal to say about the stewardship of the Christian's resources. A believer's giving to God's work should be in keeping with his income. and should be done not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a? Cheerful giver, amen to that. Folks, make sure that when you're writing out that check or dropping that money in the box, and I tell my kids this all the time, so I'll tell you, thank God. Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to make this wealth, for allowing me to be able to work, right? For having a job, thank Him every single week, right? We need to give Him all the glory for that. All right, the people to whom Haggai was writing were not cheerful givers, but cheerful keepers, okay? I don't know how you could be a cheerful keeper, but hey, some spiritual gymnastics in your head, whatever. They have gotten their priorities mixed up and they were more intent on spending money on their own comfort and pleasure than on supporting God's work. But the effect of Haggai's message was dramatic. While the people's negative responses to many of the other prophets' messages have conditioned us to expect more failure on the part of the people, these Jews responded positively. I mean, that's good news, right? They actually responded positively. Listen to Haggai 112. Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehoakaz, Jehoaz, whatever, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord, their God, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people showered, showed, excuse me, My eyes are getting blurry. Reverence for the Lord. We are even told the exact day in which they reported for work. On the 24th day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king, that's verse 115, using our modern calendar, this would have been on September 21st, 520 BC. September 21st, 520 BC. Old Testament writer Ezra confirms that God blessed their obedience. Listen to what Ezra 6.14 says. And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. This made Haggai and Zechariah two of the very few prophets who saw obvious and outstanding results from their ministries. It's pretty amazing. Haggai's message was given on August 29th, 520 BC, just a few days from now. By September 21st of that same year, 23 days later, they had resumed construction of the temple. Folks, that's like lightning speed, right? For Bible times. The people in the very short time, listen to this, had assembled plans, agreed to an order of building, and attained workers and acquired materials. They did not have any delays with any permits or anything else. And wouldn't that be nice, folks, right? Forget Snohomish County and anybody else that's got their hand out for money, right? No permits necessary, 23 days. Okay, though guilty, they did not wallow in despair, right? They didn't say, oh, woe is me. Instead, they took action. And this is exactly what we should do when we are corrected by the word of God, folks. Right, maybe not 23 days, maybe 23 seconds. Remember, delayed obedience is actually? Disobedience, that's right. Excellent. We teach our kids and our grandkids that. and their obedience did not go unnoticed, for God encouraged the people with a simple but profound words, I am with you. Wouldn't that be encouraging? If you heard that from the Lord, right? I am with you. Haggai 113. A small cloud arose when some of the older people who had seen the glory of the original temple built by King Solomon doubted whether the replacement could match it. A little less than one month after the start of the project, on October 17th, God's encouragement seems distant. Morale is down because clearly the temple is not on par with its predecessor. Can you imagine the disappointment? The temple built by Solomon, the one destroyed by the Babylonians, was built from the finest materials on earth. It was a gleaming structure, an architectural wonder. However, this new structure was a modest reconstruction. The current resources were scarce, and the construction was merely functional and not beautiful. This New Testament was a shadow of its former self, like the Mona Lisa recreated with macaroni art. or the Eiffel Tower made from Tinker Toys, or one of my drawings. This poor imitation of former glory would have been on full display at the time, for the date of the message would place it on the final and climatic day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Temple construction would have taken a backseat to celebration of this festival. The slow progress may have been discouraging as would have been the celebration in the incomplete and second class facility. On top of all that, the Feast of Tabernacles was the feast celebrating the harvest, which this year was depressingly small due to the people's guilt. While they were working to remedy the situation, their guilt Here's your blank, of sin must have been at the forefront of the Jews' minds. In reply, God urged them to keep working on the project. But now take courage, rebel, declares the Lord. Take courage also, Joshua, son of Jehoiachin, and high priest, and all you people of the land. Take courage, declares the Lord, and work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts. As for this promise which I made to you when you came out of Egypt, my spirit is abiding in your midst, and do not fear. Those are pretty encouraging words, don't you think? God provided encouragement and motivation to the people during the time of despair. He reminded them that this temple, while less impressive structure than its predecessor, was approved by God himself. It was still approved by God himself. The following verses clearly show that the glory of the building comes from God's involvement and not from the skills or the resources of the builders. Right, folks? It's not the building that makes the church. It's the people, the spirits in the building that make the church. While depression may have had them focused on their failings and guilt, God readjusts their focus. Listen up. He says, take courage and work for I am with you. Chapter two, verse four, my spirit is abiding in your midst. Chapter two, verse five, I am going to shake the heavens of the earth. Verse six, I will fill this house with glory. Verse seven, the silver is mine, the gold is mine. Verse eight, and I will give you peace. Verse nine, God's perspective on the temple is that its outward appearance is less important than the working of his own spirit and the reality of his presence. Amen to that? God has plans to make his temple more glorious. In fact, history tells us that later resources poured in from the nations to improve and upgrade the temple, some under the Persians and most notably under the Romans, so that the second temple was eventually viewed as even overshadowing the first temple made by Solomon. This new and upgraded temple would also see a new and upgraded presence as Jesus himself would set foot there several centuries after its construction. Think about that, folks. These promises are given to comfort the people, encouraging them not to be mired in the guilt of sin, but to press on and to continue and to obey. Same things that we need to do daily, right? The righteous man falls seven times, and yet? It's back up, right. As work continues, Haggai comes to the final two messages God gives to him to speak. Given on the 18th day of December, the same year, 520 B.C., these two words from God follow the same basic patterns as Haggai's first two messages, one negative and one positive. However, the overall impact of these messages is to provide hope. Hope is your blank for the community. Haggai starts with a reminder of the people's former guilt for failing to put him first, beginning in 210. Using the object lesson from the law, Haggai reminds the people that defilement is contagious. Defilement is contagious. Right, a little leaven leavens a whole lump. An unclean thing can cause other things to become unclean, right? You guys put a bad apple in with a whole bunch of other good apples? No, what's the problem, what happens? They all go bad, don't they, right? The nation had suffered during its harvest because the attitude of selfishness had spread like uncleanness. Haggai asked them to look back. They were afflicted with crop failures, and poor harvests because of their actions and attitudes. As one commentator noted, the faint aroma of sanctity coming from their altar and sacrifices was too feeble to pervade the secular atmosphere of their life. God repeated the theme of chapter one. He was the one who caused an agricultural and economic disaster, but it was a direct result of the people's choices. Right? People's choices. Now, however, because of their repentant obedience, things would be different. From this day on, I will bless you, God said. Chapter two, verse 19. In addition to that message of encouragement, Haggai shared a special, excuse me, a special message of encouragement with Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah. As in 2.6 here in 2.21, God said He is about to shake the heavens and earth and do something significant. While foreign armies and kingdoms would fall into disarray and disaster, Zerubbabel would be honored. Haggai 2.23 says this, he says, on that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Sheolto. My servant, declares the Lord, I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts. This statement had less to do with the governor himself and more to do with his descendants. Previously, God had likened one of Judah's faithless kings to a signet ring thrown away, Jeremiah 22, 24. Now Zerubbabel's faithfulness led God to recover and restore that signet ring, leaving his promises to David intact. The phrase, my servants, evoked thoughts of David and the Messiah and pointed towards a future fulfillment of this promise by Jesus, a descendant of Zerubbabel. The people's positive response to the preaching of Haggai shows us that the best response, excuse me, the best response is when you are guilty of sin or simple yet effective, repent and obey. Right? Repent and obey. The prophecy and the promise went far beyond anything that Zerubbabel could have imagined as they placed him in Messiah's family tree. This is confirmed in the New Testament genealogy of Jesus, which includes Sheolto, the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel, the father of Abihod, Matthew 1, 12 through 13. This takes us a little further in understanding the meaning of their message, but there's so much more to come as Zerubbabel was not only a human ancestor of Jesus, but also an Old Testament type or picture of the Savior. We see this by noticing two words used of him at the beginning of our verse and the further statement at the end. In the first place, God called him my servant. 223, a phrase frequently used by Jesus by the prophet Isaiah, especially in chapters 40 through 55. Secondly, God told Zerubbabel, I have chosen you. 223, and Isaiah recorded God as referring to the coming Messiah as my chosen one in whom my soul delights. Isaiah 42.1. Let's now look at the other important statement that God made to Zerubbabel. Again, 223, he says, I will make you like a signet ring. three great truths spring out of this text. First, the signet ring speaks of security. A signet was a stone sent into a ring and engraved with the owner's personal symbol. It was used to endorse official documents by being pressed into soft wax or clay, so guaranteeing that the documents were authentic. In an Old Testament incident, the Persian king Xerxes declared for a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's signet ring may not be revoked. The picture is one of certainty and security. and was used by God to assure Zerubbabel that whatever storms broke over the land, neither he nor the nations would ever be forsaken. There is a parallel picture elsewhere in the Old Testament. When at some point during the exile, there were those who began to despair and cry out, the Lord has forsaken me and the Lord has forgotten me. God replied, can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? The answer is obviously a no. Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hand. There was a custom in those days of tying an emblem on the hand or wearing a ring on the finger as a token of a person represented would never be forgotten, forsaken. The picture in Isaiah is even more vivid with the names of God's people being engraved on his hands, the ultimate guarantee of security. And folks, that's promised to us as well. Isn't that cool? Right? Augustus Montague Toplady, quite a name. Thank you mom for not naming me that. You could have name carried that though. Expressed in beautifully in his hymn, A Debtor to Mercy Alone. Here it is, he said, my name from the palm of his hands, eternity will not erase. Inscribed on his heart it remains in marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to the end shall endure as sure as the earnest is given, more happy but not more secure than glorified spirits in heaven. Pretty cool. The last two lines of Top Lady's hymn should make every Christian sing with unfettered joy. The glorified spirits in heaven are obviously happier than even the most contented Christian on earth. And folks, listen, nobody wants to have a death wish, but none of us as believers should ever fear dying, right? That is graduation day for the believer, right? We should be excited for those. Obviously, we're gonna miss them, but here's the deal, they're in a much better place than we are. And I promise you, they would not ever wanna come back here, would they, right? Keep that in mind, beloved, when you lose somebody, right? All right, they have no aches, no pains, no sorrows or sins, no doubts or disappointments, no fears or failings, no trials or tribulations. And all I could say is amen to that. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Maranatha. All right, yet the feeblest Christian, the one racked with doubt over some issue or another, the one wrestling with some chronic temptation, the one whose faith is being severely tested, the one whose assurance of salvation is not as strong as it should be, the one who feels useless or ineffective in God's service, is no less secure than the glorified spirits in heaven. Folks, if your names are written in the book of life, you have a secured place in God's heaven, right? There's nothing that should shake you out of that. God calls believers his treasured possession in Malachi 3.17, leading one Puritan pastor to comment, earthly jewels, get this folks, earthly jewels sometimes get separated from their owner, right? Christ jewels never. Earthly jewels are sometimes lost. Christ jewels never. Earthly jewels are sometimes stolen, Christ jewels never. Amen, amen, and amen. Secondly, the signet ring speaks of beauty. As God sweeps his eye over the unspeakable glories of heaven, the vast array of galactic space, the intricate beauty of planet Earth, and the marvelous intricacies of submicroscopic creation, he finds nothing more precious, there's your blank, in his sight than a redeemed sinner. What God told his people in the Old Testament times, he tells every believer individual today. Every individual believer today. Isaiah 43, four, you are precious in my sight, you are honored, and I love you. How precious are believers to God, folks? The answer is that he gave everything to pay for their redemption. Folks, let us never grow callous or think too lightly of Christ's redemptive work on the cross, right? Remind yourselves daily of what he has done for you and thank him for that. First Peter 1, 18 and 19 says, you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Thirdly, it speaks of authority. The seal on the king's signet ring represented the king so that any documents sealed with the ring had legal authority and power. Zerubbabel was a descendant of David and a member of the nation's royal family. But being God's signet ring gave him much greater status and authority as he had directed the people in the temple rebuilding program. Serving God in obedience to Christ's command to proclaim the gospel to the whole creation, Mark 16, 15, is a great privilege. But Christians need to face the fact that the message that we preach, listen up, is not one that the world wants to hear, is it? Folks, it's not popular. It's not something that they wanna hear. They said, I've heard that before, right? Don't tell me about that again. Yet it's the most important thing that they'll ever hear in their life. God warned the prophet Jeremiah that his message would be treated as a reproach. And Paul told his readers that the gospel was foolishness to those who are perishing, right? I'm positive all you guys have seen that happen. Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. The primary challenge Christian churches face today is not numerical, but spiritual. And I'll agree with that. We are not surrounded by billions of people who are spiritually neutral and open to persuasion of the gospel, that the gospel is true. Instead, the truth of the matter is that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, 1 John 5, 19, and is diametrically opposed to biblical truth. Folks, that's why it doesn't make sense to people. That's why they don't like you when you come around with messages of joy and messages of Christ, right? That's when you're rejected by them. And yet, It is the Christian's God-given responsibility to share the gospel with other people, seriously, passionately, and urgently, whether they listen or not. Ezekiel 2.5. As one combinator put it, the gospel is not a secret to be hoarded, but a story to be heralded. This should never be done with a sense of superiority, but neither should Christian witness, excuse me, be hesitant or defeatist. Instead, we should be confident. that because the gospel originates with God, it has divine authority. Paul's statement, we are the ambassadors for Christ, points to an electrifying truth. In salvation, Christ took the place of sinners. In evangelism, the redeemed sinner takes the place of Christ. In John Newton's deeply challenging words, Christ went away into heaven with our nature to represent us there and has left us on earth with his nature to represent him here. The dignity of serving God is second only to the dignity of belonging to his family. But if a Christian's message is to have real authority, with Christ central to the message, there is a price to be paid, and that is the price to dying to self. Or as one British preacher put it, what is needed is not only the message of the crucifixion, but the crucifixion of the messenger. We must die to our appetite for men's approval. Think about that one, folks. And to our nervous concern about their criticism. I'm gonna read that one more time, because it's so important. We must die to our appetite for men's approval and to our nervous concern about their criticism. Everyone who shares the gospel with others should bear in mind that their message is not something the church has put together. It is nothing less than the gospel of God, Romans 1.1. And those who hear it are called to respond, not to the messenger, but to the divine author of the message. Okay. We are almost done. Here's a list of prophecies. The following is a list of prophecies found in the book of Haggai. Possible fulfillment time periods include the Old Testament, the first coming of Christ, the last days, our age, the tribulation, the second coming of Christ, and the millennial kingdom, and the eternal state. Total verses, 38. Prophetic verses, eight. Percentage, 21%. Did somebody get that? Okay. Prophetic count, historically fulfilled, zero. Partially fulfilled, zero. Awaiting fulfillment, three. Okay, here's some prophecies. Haggai 2, six or seven. New King James, for thus says the Lord of hosts, once more, it is a little while, I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and the dry land, 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. God will bring judgment, that's your blank, upon the nations by shaking the earth until a remnant returns in faith to the Messiah and fills his temple with praise. Still awaiting future fulfillment during the tribulation in millennial kingdom, folks. Okay, here's the next one, Haggai 2.9, says 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. Prophecy, Jesus' future physical presence, excuse me, in that second temple made it greater than Solomon's temple. And when the Messiah brings peace to the world, his new temple, the millennial kingdom, will be greater than any previous earthly version. Partial fulfillment in the gospels, awaiting future fulfillment. New Testament, millennial kingdom. All right, and the last one, I believe, yes. Haggai 2.20 through 23. I will shake the heaven and the earth. 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, and the horses and their riders shall come Down everyone by the sword of his brother. In that day, says the Lord of Hosts, I will take you, Zerubbabel, and will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, says the Lord of Hosts. Prophecy, Zerubbabel, a type pointing to Christ, will bring judgment upon the Gentile kingdoms and destroy them. Status awaiting future fulfillment, Battle of Armageddon, Tribulation, Second Coming. Okay, folks, listen, there are questions, but here's the deal. I'm gonna give you back the 10 minutes that your pastor took from you last week. So there you go, right? So let me pray and we'll be done. So Father, thank you again for this evening. Lord, thank you so much for this book. Thank you for Haggai, just for these two chapters. And yet, Lord, they're so profound. And I just pray, Lord, that each one of us would truly have a much, much better, deeper understanding of this book and all the other books that we've studied so far, Lord. Lord, help us to be men and women, boys and girls that know your word. Father, love your word and that we're able to spread it faithfully throughout the land. Lord, come back and find us faithful. Lord, we love you and we pray this in your name, amen. Have a good night, everybody.