Through the Bible - Haggai

Father God, it is a privilege to sit now at your feet and to study your Word. Lord, how amazing it is that the God of all creation, the one who spoke into existence the heavens and the earth, both seen and unseen, has revealed Himself in the pages of your Word. We thank you, Lord, that you have given us your Word. We thank you that you have given us minds to logically and rightly divide your Word of truth.

I pray that we would do that, not just here on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, but every single morning when we rise, that we would take time to be in your Word. Jesus, you prayed in John chapter 17, "Father, sanctify them by your truth. Your Word is truth." Lord, you cleanse us and sanctify us by your Word, just as we see in Ephesians 5. I pray that you would continue that cleansing work in my life and in the lives of my brothers and sisters tonight as we study through this small but powerful book of Haggai. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

The book of Haggai has only two chapters, making it the second smallest in the Old Testament, the first being the book of Obadiah. You will remember that Obadiah contains a powerful message about the flesh and God's dealings with our carnal sin nature, highlighting how He has brought judgment upon our sin nature. This judgment is never to be revived.

Of all the prophetic passages, both major and minor prophets, nearly every single one speaks about God's judgment, but also about the way He brings about restoration and how He brings a remnant from the ashes. He brings beauty from ashes and the oil of joy for the garment of heaviness. We see all these themes in the Scriptures. Yet, the book of Obadiah specifically addressed God's judgment upon the flesh, emphasizing that it was never to be revived or restored.

As we come to the book of Haggai, we find another small but powerful book where God wants to speak to His people. It is important to note this before we even get into the verses of this book.

It's important to note that this is after the children of Israel have been exiled for 70 years in Babylon. You remember when we were going through the history of the Old Testament, particularly the historical books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, and First and Second Chronicles. We saw that there was a time when the children of Israel went into Babylon. They were exiled because the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, came and took them away. They were there for 70 years because of their sin; God judged them. They had not followed God's law for over 400 years, and so they were to spend 70 years in exile in Babylon.

Then, the nation of Babylon, the city of Babylon, was destroyed by the Medo-Persian Empire. You can read about that in the book of Daniel and also in the book of Ezekiel. After that, a king came on the scene, a man who was prophesied a couple of hundred years before he was even born by the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah chapters 40 and 45, God prophesied by name that this king would rise up. His name was Cyrus, and Cyrus would be the one to give the children of Israel an opportunity to return to the Promised Land, to go back and build the city of Jerusalem, just as God said He would allow His people to do.

Now, it's interesting because when they were led away into captivity, we can estimate that about 200,000 people went into captivity, but only 50,000 returned. Many of the people stayed in Babylon; they were content to dwell outside of the Promised Land. This situation is somewhat reminiscent of the two and a half tribes we saw in the book of Joshua, who were also content to dwell outside of the Promised Land. So, there was a large group of people who stayed in Babylon, but this 50,000 returned to the city of Jerusalem to rebuild it. You can read about that story in Ezra and Nehemiah, especially, and see how the Lord was working in and through this group.

Ezra speaks about this very same time that we will be looking at over the next two weeks in Haggai and Zechariah. These two men, the prophet Haggai and the prophet Zechariah, lived and ministered together. We can see that if you turn in your Bibles to Ezra chapter five. In Ezra chapter five, the very first verse tells us that these men were working together in the ministry that God had called them to, speaking to the children of Israel. Look at this: Ezra 5:1 says, "Then the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Edo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them."

And so, here we see these two specific individuals ministering at a very specific time. We get the exact time of it when we read Haggai chapter one, verse one. Keep your finger over on Ezra for a second. Haggai chapter one, verse one provides us with the exact temporal marker. We could place a pen on the timeline of history and know exactly when this prophecy took place. It actually begins in September of 520 BC.

At that point in time, the king of the Medo-Persian Empire was Darius. This was the same Darius mentioned back in the book of Daniel. The Bible is historical, and we must understand that these events really took place. God wants to speak to us through what has happened in history and His dealings in history.

Remember, we have used the term "the day of the Lord" constantly as we have been going through the prophecies of the Old Testament. There is a great and terrible day of the Lord that we discussed a lot about last week, which is yet to come. This is the prophecy we see in Isaiah chapter 24. Anytime you see the phrase "the day of the Lord" in the Old Testament, it refers to a time when God reaches into human history and intervenes in some way. God wants to speak to us through those interventions.

Paul tells us in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 10 that all of these things that happened in the Old Testament occurred as examples for us and were written for our instruction. We can learn from what God was doing 2,500 years ago through His people and in His nation. Therefore, we want to take careful note of what was going on.

The children of Israel have returned from Babylon, not as a huge group, but just about 50,000, led primarily by a man named Zerubbabel, the governor of the region. He is from the line of David, which is important because when you get to the New Testament in Matthew chapter 1 and in Luke chapter 3, you see that Zerubbabel's name comes up again. He is in the line of the Messiah.

It is very interesting, too, because the genealogy of Jesus in the book of Matthew and the genealogy of Jesus in the book of Luke are different. One comes through Mary, and the other comes through Joseph. However, both of them have a common ancestor, first in King David and second in Zerubbabel. They both share the same common ancestor.

Zerubbabel is an important character in the book of Haggai and in the book of Zechariah, as we will see next week. God has a specific word that He wants to speak to this man because, as you will see in the context of what was going on, he had become somewhat discouraged. Have you ever been in that place before? A little bit discouraged in the work of the Lord or in the work that God is doing in your life or in and through you? Well, Zerubbabel was in that situation.

Haggai and Zechariah ministered together. We see Haggai mentioned in Ezra chapter 5, verse 1, and Ezra chapter 6, verse 14. His name appears both times alongside Zechariah. God was using these two men to speak to His people who were living back in the promised land after 70 years of exile in Babylon. These were the committed Jews. When the word went forth to all the people that they were free to leave bondage and slavery in Babylon and return home, only 50,000 raised their hands and said they wanted to go back. But these were the committed ones.

When they returned to the land, did they find everything easy? Absolutely not. It was a difficult work. They began their efforts about 20 years prior to where we are in Haggai. This is 18 years after the children of Israel first returned to Jerusalem, and in that time, they had accomplished very little. They went back to rebuild the temple, and all they had done was lay the foundation.

When they laid the foundation of the temple, you may remember from the book of Ezra that there was a group of older men standing there watching. They started to cry because they saw the new temple's foundation being laid. They lamented that it was just not the same; it was not as beautiful as the temple that Solomon had built for the Lord. Meanwhile, a group of younger men praised the Lord and shouted with joy because they were back in the land and rebuilding the temple.

There was another group standing there with tears in their eyes, saying, "It's just not the same. It's not like it was in the old days." We hear that sentiment all the time in the church today. We are at a point in time, especially in the evangelical church in America, where we keep talking about the Jesus movement. We reminisce about what the Lord did back in the late 60s and early 70s. God was moving in such a powerful way during those wonder years, so to speak. It’s almost like looking back to the first temple and saying, "Oh, the glory of the Lord was 20 years ago." Here, these men were saying, "Oh, the glory of the Lord was 60 years ago."

And so they had returned to the land, and they immediately got discouraged by what lay in front of them, by the task that was ahead. A lot of times, we find ourselves in that very same place. In fact, I've been struggling with that over the last few weeks, going through and feeling discouraged by what I see happening around me. This is what happened to the children of Israel, this 50,000 men who went back to rebuild. Their leader, their governor, Zerubbabel, and the high priest, whose name was Joshua, were especially discouraged. This is not the same Joshua that the Book of Joshua is written about; this is another one from years later. The nation had a high priest and a leader, but these two men had become particularly disheartened.

As a result, the work had stopped. Isn't that often what happens in our lives as well? When we get discouraged, we stop doing the work that God has called us to. I meet people time and time again who have committed themselves to serving in children's ministry, men's ministry, or any other ministry. They are often met with some sort of discouragement within the first three to six months. Things at home may be difficult, or things at work may be falling apart. Their immediate reaction is often, "I have to stop serving in Sunday school. I can't do it anymore. There's too much going on."

Listen, that's exactly what the enemy wants to do. He wants to discourage you from the work that God has set before you. He is always seeking to do that. We saw this in the Book of Nehemiah. Remember, Nehemiah came with the king's authority to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and immediately enemies came against him, trying to stop and discourage the work. But thank the Lord, Nehemiah pressed through. He trusted that God had called him.

Now, this was prior to Nehemiah's arrival, during the time when Ezra was there and Zerubbabel was seeking to build the temple. The people were discouraged, and God needed to speak to them. Why did God send His people into Babylon in the first place? What was their major sin and hang-up when they went to Babylon? It wasn't just the Sabbath. What was it that they were constantly tripped up by?

Worshiping idols. They were an idolatrous people when they went to Babylon. When they left Babylon, as you will see, something changed. It's as if God dealt with their idolatry in Babylon. Babylon was the center of pagan idolatry. It's almost as if God said, "All right, you want idols? I'll give you idols until they come flowing out of your nose." So, He sent them to Babylon, and they grew tired of idolatry. Now, they have returned from Babylon.

Now back to the city of Jerusalem. Let's look at what it was because both Haggai and Malachi are going to touch on this. In Haggai chapter 1, we read that this was during the sixth month, on the first day of the second year of King Darius. The word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet, came unto Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

Notice who God first speaks to. He doesn't speak specifically to the people; He first speaks to the priest and the governor, to the leaders of the people. This is something we see throughout the Scriptures. The priests and governors, the leaders, are supposed to be seeking the Lord and waiting to hear from Him, so that God would speak to them and they would lead the nation. Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying, "This people says the time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built."

Now, there are three different time markers that the Jewish people at this point in time had applied the 70 years in Babylon to. Remember, God had spoken to His people that they were going to go into captivity for 70 years. Nebuchadnezzar came and overthrew the city of Jerusalem, but he didn't destroy the temple for about another 18 years. They didn't really know when the 70 years started. Did it start when they were first taken to Babylon, or did it start when the temple was destroyed? There was a conflict in the nation, with people going back and forth about when the 70 years truly began.

Now, here we are, 70 years later from when they were first carried away into Babylon, not 70 years since the temple was destroyed. The people are saying, "Well, it's not time to build the temple yet because the time has not come." They were waiting for the 70 years from the temple being destroyed to rebuild it, it would appear. They came to the promised land, and God allowed them to miraculously come home. However, they got discouraged in the work, and then they just put the work on the shelf, saying, "Well, I guess it's not time yet. God's not blessing it yet, so we're just going to stop."

God says to His people, "This people," which should get their attention. He's not saying "My people"; He's saying "this people" who are living here in Jerusalem say that the time has not come. God is implying that the time had come.

The proof that the time had come was that they were in the Promised Land. He had brought them into the Promised Land and given them their territory back. God says to His people, "Listen, you're wrong." The people were saying the time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet, saying, "Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in waste?"

Get the picture of what took place here. The children of Israel, 50,000 of them, returned from Babylon. They were all excited to rebuild the house of the Lord, to rebuild the temple. King Cyrus had given them the decree to go and do that. But when they came into the land, they started and laid the foundation. The older men said, "Oh, it's just not the same," and they all got discouraged in the work. As a result, they stopped. Eighteen years passed, and they hadn't worked on the house of the Lord. However, they sure had been building their own houses.

In fact, when we read here, "Is it time for you to dwell in your paneled houses?" the word seems to imply that they had more than one house. Maybe they had a house in the city and a house in the country. For the last eighteen years, the house of the Lord had lain in ruin while they were building their own dwelling places. They were making their houses nice, adding on a new kitchen, and perhaps a second level. Everything was getting real nice. They were hiring big contractors to come in and give them granite countertops, whatever it may be. But they weren't focused on the work of the Lord; they were focused instead upon themselves.

An interesting thing happened. They went into Babylon as idolaters and came out primarily as people who were materialistic, focused on things. As you follow the nation of Israel from that time, after they came out of the city of Babylon until today, they have been a merchant people focused on materialism. That's their idol. They may not have golden little statues that they bow down to or wooden images any longer. All that stuff was pretty much dealt with while they were in Babylon. But they became merchants, they became rich, and they became materialistic while they were in Babylon.

They returned to the city of Jerusalem, got discouraged in God's work, and now focused upon themselves. God says, "My house is laying in waste." He asks them a question: "You say it's not time to build the house of the Lord, but let me ask you a question. Is it time for you to dwell in your paneled houses while My house lies in waste? Now, therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways."

Consider your ways. Take a moment and consider what's going on. You have sown much, but you bring in little. You eat, but you do not have enough. You drink, but are not filled with drink. You clothe yourself, and there is none that is warm. He that earns wages earns wages to put it into a bag with holes.

See, they had inflation in that time as well. Here were these people who were working so hard to get ahead, but they never had enough. They were a materialistic people focused on their paneled houses, their livelihood, and their lifestyle. They wanted to plant more, but they couldn't bring in any more. Every time they drank, they were not satisfied. Every time they went to get clothing, they were never warm enough. It just seemed as if everything they tried to do was falling flat.

This was exactly what God had told His people would happen back in the book of Deuteronomy, specifically in Deuteronomy chapter 28. He warned them that this would be the judgment that would come upon them. It is interesting because this is exactly what God had spoken to the children of Israel before they went into Babylon through the prophet Micah in Micah chapter 6, verse 15. He told them there that they would plant, but they would never have enough. They would build houses, but they would not live in them. This was an indication that God's blessing was not upon them, but rather God's cursing. The curses of Deuteronomy 28 were upon them.

Now, the people might have looked at this and said, "Well, we're in the promised land. Everything must be good. God brought us back here. We must be a holy people once again." But they weren't. They were focused upon themselves. They had sown much, but they brought in little. They ate, but they did not have enough. They drank, but they were not filled. They were clothed, but they were never warm enough. Everything seemed to be falling by the wayside. All of their efforts were producing very little.

God is going to reveal to them that their physical problems have a spiritual foundation. We need to recognize that the physical things we experience in this life always have some sort of spiritual background to them. God is seeking to put His finger on this and speak to the people. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, verse 7: God says your priorities are wrong. You need to correct your priorities. You are focused on building your paneled houses, and not just one house, but another out in the countryside.

You're focused on building your crops and your things, bringing in food and wine for yourself, but you've left my house in shambles. God says, "I want you to right your wrong priorities. You need to consider your ways. Go up to the mountains, gather wood, bring it down, and build the house." The foundation was laid, but the house was not built.

Notice the promise that God gives to His people: "If you build this house, I will take pleasure in it." It doesn't need to be better than the first one or more beautiful than the first one; it just needs to be built. If you build it, God says, "I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified." It doesn't matter if it's bigger than Solomon's temple or has more gold and silver than Solomon's temple. If you just build it, God says, "I will be glorified." It had nothing to do with the grandeur of the house; it just had to do with the fact that they were committed to the work of the Lord. So God says, "Build it, and I will be glorified. Build it, and I will take pleasure."

You looked for much, and lo, it came to little. When you brought it home, I blew on it. Notice that. God says, "You have been so focused on yourselves. You go and plant your crops and try to bring in more crops, but every time you bring it in, I blow on it. I make it less than what you thought you were going to have." The Lord was the one who caused this drought. It was the Lord who was causing this famine upon the people, and He gives them the answer to why.

If God told you that today, if He said, "I'm the one who's blowing on your finances and making it so that you don't have enough," you'd probably say, "But why, Lord?" Well, notice God says why: "Why, say it, the Lord of hosts? Because my house is in waste, and you run every man unto his own house."

Now, God is not saying the problem is that you have built yourselves paneled houses. He didn't have a problem with the people having their own nice houses, but the problem was that they were focused on their houses while His house was laid in waste. He says to them, "The whole reason that I have blown upon your goods is because my house lies in waste while you are focused on your own goods. Your priorities are wrong. Therefore, the heaven over you has stayed from dew, and the earth has stayed from fruit. I called for a drought," God says.

And notice, it wasn't just a drought of water. God says, "I called for a drought upon the land, upon the mountains, upon the corn, upon the new vine, upon the oil."

Upon the ground, which brings forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of your hands, God says, "I have brought a drought upon you." Upon hearing this, remember that God was speaking first and foremost to the leader, the governor, Zerubbabel, and the high priest, Joshua. When Zerubbabel, the son of Shetiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozdech, the high priest, heard this, 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. The people did fear before the Lord.

Praise God! It's as if God's word was immediately received, and the people got to work. Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, spoke the Lord's message unto the people, saying, "I, the Lord, am with you," saith the Lord. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shetiel, the governor of Judah. He also stirred up the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozdech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. They came and did the work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.

Notice that the first verse started in the sixth month on the first day, and chapter one ends with the sixth month on the twenty-fourth day. In just a few weeks, the people heard the word of the Lord and got to work. They remedied their problem and righted their wrong priorities, but it didn't last long.

Look at chapter two, verse one. In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet. Now God speaks a second time to the people because they have become discouraged in the work. It has only taken a month. The month before, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, they got to work. On the seventh month, the twenty-first day, they stopped.

So God comes and speaks, saying, "Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shetiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozdech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people." Notice that he doesn't call them his remnant in that passage; he refers to them as the residue of the people. He asks, "Who is left among you that saw the house in her first glory? And how do you see it now?"

You see, just like in Ezra chapter three, verse twelve, when they laid the foundation of the house of the Lord eighteen years prior to this point, the old men cried.

They saw this and said it was just not beautiful like it once was. Again, those same discouragers showed up as they always do. The discouragers said, "Boy, it just doesn't look like it once did." The people became discouraged. Haggai spoke to them and asked, "Who is left among you that saw the house in her first glory? How do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes, in comparison, as of nothing?" He acknowledged that they saw it as nothing. They looked at it and thought, "Oh man, this is just not going to work."

The former temple was overlaid with gold and silver in abundance. There was so much gold and silver in the city of Jerusalem during the time of King Solomon when he built the temple that silver was like stones. People said, "Oh, who needs silver? It's nothing." Now, here were these men who had seen that former glory, and they said, "Oh, this is nothing. This just won't work," which led to the people becoming discouraged.

The Lord spoke a second time, offering a word of encouragement to the people in verse 4 of chapter 2. "Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel," says the Lord, "and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and be strong, all you people of the land," says the Lord God, "and do what? Work. For I am with you," says the Lord of hosts. "According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came up out of Egypt, so my spirit remains among you. Do not fear."

"For thus says the Lord of hosts, yet once it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and notice this: the desire of all nations shall come." Who is the desire of all nations? Jesus. God says, "I am going to shake the world." How did God shake the world? By bringing His only begotten Son.

Consider that wherever the name of Jesus goes, the world shakes. Notice how the coming of the Son of God shook culture as we know it today. The entirety of Western civilization is founded upon the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the year of our Lord. The Lord says, "I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake the nations." This shaking still continues, and it is going to get a lot crazier in the near future when He comes a second time.

I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come. I wrote "Jesus" next to verse 7. You should in your Bibles as well, just as a reminder. This is talking about the Lord. He says, "I will fill this house with glory." God is speaking about this very temple that they were building, and He says, "I will fill this house."

Does that house remain today? Think about it. The temple that these men were building—does it remain today? No, it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. But before it was destroyed, God filled that house with His glory. How? Well, through the coming of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. He is the invisible revealed. In Him, we beheld the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, as stated in John chapter 1. When Jesus entered into that temple, it was filled with the glory of the Lord like no temple before it.

So here He says, "I will fill this house with glory," saith the Lord. "The silver is mine. The gold is mine," saith the Lord of hosts. He says, "Listen, I don't care about silver and gold. It doesn't matter. I could give you all the silver and gold that you could ever want or need. The silver is mine. The gold is mine. But I'm going to fill this house with the glory of the Lord."

The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former. We do know that ultimately King Herod the Great came and restored this temple, making it even more beautiful than Solomon's temple, but that's not what God is talking about. Remember, when Jesus looked at that temple and His disciples came in Matthew chapter 24 and said, "Behold, look at this temple," He replied, "Oh, that temple, not one stone is going to be left upon another." He didn't care about that. It had nothing to do with the building; it was going to be torn down.

But the glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former, saith the Lord of hosts. And in this place will I give what? Peace. The Prince of Peace came 2,000 years ago and came to that temple. "I will give peace," saith the Lord of hosts.

We read, "In the 24th day of the ninth month," now a couple of months have passed. We were in the seventh month and the 21st day. Now two months have passed. In the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet. Once again, the people started working, and they worked for another two months, but now the word of the Lord has to come again.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts: "Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, if one bears holy flesh in the skirt of his garment and with his skirt he does touch bread or pottage or wine or oil and meat, shall it be holy?" Notice what Haggai comes...

Haggai asks the priests a question. This was the job of the priests and the rabbis: to answer the questions of the people as they related to the law. They were to explain what the law of God was all about. We see that in Ezra chapter 8, or was it Nehemiah 8? I think it's Nehemiah 8. There, they stood before the people, read the law, and then the Levites, the priests, came and gave the sense of the law. They explained what it meant. That's exactly what we do here at Calvary Chapel— the same exact thing. We read the Word of God, and now we explain what it means, line upon line, precept upon precept. What is God speaking to us from His Word?

God speaks through these priests. Haggai goes and asks them a question. He says, "If you are carrying holy flesh, meat that's been consecrated unto the Lord, in the skirt of your garment, and the skirt of your garment touches something, will it make that thing clean?" The priests rightly answered and said, "No." We understand this; it makes sense to us. If you've got a sick child and you bring a well child into the room, will the well child make the sick child better? No, but the opposite will happen, won't it? The sick child makes the well child sick.

Haggai then asked them a question. "If I'm carrying something that is holy and that holy thing touches something that is unclean, will it make the unclean clean?" The priests rightly answered, "No." Haggai continued, "If one that is unclean by a dead body touches any of these things, shall those things be made unclean?" The priests answered, "It shall be unclean." He then asked them the question in reverse: "If I'm unclean and I touch something that is clean, will that clean thing be made unclean?" They said, "Absolutely."

Haggai then responded, "So is this people, and so is this nation before Me, says the Lord, and so is every work of their hands, and that which they offer there is unclean." The people, remember, when Haggai first spoke to them, were not going through good times financially or in their nation. They were having difficult times. They were planting crops, and nothing was coming from it. They were harvesting grain, but they didn't have enough food. They were going to the winepress, and they didn't have enough wine. Nothing was going right for them. It was as if they were working so hard and putting their money into a bag that had holes, and they just lost it. Nobody was warm with their clothing. Remember that whole thing at the beginning of Haggai? Well, Haggai comes to them and says the whole reason is that they haven't been building.

The house of the Lord was being built, and the people thought, "All right, we'll start building the house of the Lord, and then we'll be blessed." However, three months later, they found themselves not blessed and feeling upset. Once again, they were discouraged. They said, "You told us if we did this, everything would get better," but it hadn't. So they decided to quit.

Have you ever been in that spot before? I think a lot of people have. I've ministered to many individuals who have expressed, "You told me if I did this, my marriage would get better." They put in the effort, but when their marriage didn't improve, they gave up. People do this all the time, and we are tempted to follow the same path as the children of Israel. They were not reaping anything from their harvests or getting anything from their vineyards. Haggai encouraged them to build the temple of the Lord, promising that things would improve. When they did that and things still didn't get better, Haggai reminded them that they were thinking incorrectly.

He explained that if they took something clean and touched something unclean, it wouldn't make it clean. They had been living in rebellion and disobedience to the Lord for a long time, and it would take time for things to change. They had spent 20 years doing their own thing and neglecting the things of God. They shouldn't expect everything to be better overnight. They had spent a lifetime sowing to the flesh and were now reaping the consequences. Suddenly, they decided to start pulling the weeds and planting good seeds of the Word of God, but things hadn't immediately improved.

Yes, that's how it works; it takes time. These people were uncertain if they were ready to invest that time. Haggai came to encourage the discouraged once again. He pointed out that the offerings they had made in the past were unclean because they themselves had been unclean. It is interesting to note that if we are walking in sin, the Scriptures make it clear that even our worship is despicable and unclean to the Lord.

If you come in here on a Saturday night or a Sunday morning after a bad week, having walked in the flesh and satisfied the desires of your flesh, simply coming in to worship the Lord does not mean everything will immediately get better. It's like trying to take something unclean and touch something clean, like the worship of the Lord, in hopes of making yourself clean. No, you end up dirtying the worship. This is exactly what God spoke to the children of Israel about in the book of Isaiah.

In Isaiah chapter 1, starting in verse 10, we see how powerful God's word is to the children of Israel. Notice what God says here.

Maybe one of the most powerful ways to start a book is with Isaiah 1:10. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Remember, God is speaking to Jerusalem. He says, "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah." He calls His own people Sodom and Gomorrah.

Then He asks them, "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me?" says the Lord. "I am full of burnt offerings, of rams, and the fat of fed beasts. I delight not in the blood of bullocks, and of lambs, and of goats. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this at your hand to tread My courts? Bring no more your vain oblations. Incense is an abomination unto Me. The new moons, the Sabbath, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with it. It is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts, My soul hates them. They are a trouble unto Me. I am weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide My eyes from you. Yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Why? Because your hands are full of blood."

Notice what God says there. The children of Israel during the time of Isaiah, 2,700 years ago, had the temple, the priesthood, and the law of God. Every single Sabbath, they would go and worship the Lord. Every feast day, they would bring their offerings and sacrifices. Every morning, there was a sacrifice. At noonday, there was a sacrifice. Just before the sun went down, there was a sacrifice. Every single day throughout the year, 360 days a year, they had a different calendar than we did.

Here were all these things rising to the Lord: sacrifices and incense. And God says, "Although I commanded you to do this, I don't want it because you keep doing it from wicked, unclean hearts." That means every offering you offer is like you're offering a dog to Me. Away with it. I don't want it. Your worship has become wickedness.

Those kinds of things don't change just in one night or one day. A couple of hundred years later, during the time of Haggai, the children of Israel figured, "Well, we're doing what the Lord told us to do. It should automatically change." But it was going to take some time.

So God speaks to them to encourage the discouraged once again in Haggai 2:15. He says, "And now I pray you consider from this day and upward from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord."

There were but ten, and one came to the press vat to draw in fifty vessels. Out of the press vat, there were only twenty. I smote you with blasting, mildew, hail, and the labors of your hands, yet you did not turn to me, says the Lord.

God says here, "Listen, I want you to consider: there was a time when you would gather in twenty bushels of wheat, and it would only yield you ten measures. There was a time when you would go and get all these grapes, press them in the press vat, and prepare fifty vessels to take up the wine, but you would only get twenty. There was a time when there was a drought upon you because I smote you. I was the one who brought this upon you," says the Lord.

But verse eighteen states, "Consider now from this day upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from that day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. Consider it. Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, as yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not brought forth. From this day, I will bless you."

Why? Because they obeyed. They had laid the foundation of the Lord and were beginning to build the temple. They did not experience the blessing of obedience the next day, but now God says, "I’m going to bless you because you have set your heart to finish the work that I’ve called you to. You’ve put your hand to the plow."

Again, the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the four and twentieth day of the month, on the same day, saying, "Speak to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and say, 'I will shake the heavens and the earth. I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms and destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen. I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride them, and the horses and their riders shall come down, everyone by the sword of his brother. In that day,' saith the Lord of hosts, 'will I take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel,' saith the Lord, 'and I will make you as a signet, for I have chosen you,' says the Lord of hosts."

So God speaks to the governor of Judah once again and says, "Because you’ve heeded my word and led these people in the right way, I will make you like a signet ring. I have chosen you." Chosen you for what? Well, once again, I remind you to read Matthew chapter 1, verse 12, and Luke chapter 3, verse 27, and you’ll find that Zerubbabel’s name is in the genealogy of the Lord, the coming of the Messiah. Why? Because he obeyed the voice of the Lord.

He did what the Lord had called him to do. There, as Andrew Murray had written in a book years ago, there are blessings in obedience. As we follow the Lord, He will bless us. It may not happen immediately, the next day, but as we sow to the Spirit, we shall reap everlasting life.

Listen, if you sow to the flesh, you will reap corruption and destruction. Many of you have experienced that in your former conduct, in your past life, before you started to walk with the Lord. However, as you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life. You may say, "Well, it's not happening immediately." That's okay. Paul tells us in Galatians chapter 6, verse 10, that we should not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time, in due season, at the right time, you will reap. It may take time, but the basic application of the book of Haggai, as we read through these two chapters, is that God is speaking to a people who had wrong priorities.

He says, "You need to correct your wrong priorities. You've been focused so much on building your wealth, building your house, building your life." God says, "If you really want to see your life prosper and be successful, then build my kingdom and my house. You build my kingdom and my house, and you will be successful."

It's the same word that God had spoken to Joshua before they came into the Promised Land. He said to him, "Meditate on my word day and night, and you shall make your way successful and prosperous." This is the very same thing that Jesus speaks to us in the New Testament, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, Jesus says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

What things? Well, the same things that the children of Israel during the time of Haggai were searching for. He says, "Do not say, 'What are we going to wear? What are we going to eat? Where are we going to sleep?' After all, these things the Gentiles seek. But you have a heavenly Father who knows the things that you have need of." So, don't worry about those things. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added. All of these things shall be taken care of. Sow to the Spirit, and you shall reap everlasting life. Galatians chapter 6 tells us very clearly that if you sow to the flesh, you will reap destruction. But do not grow weary in well-doing, because in due season, at the right time, you will reap.

You will reap if you faint not. These people were discouraged; they were about to faint. Why? They looked at the past and said, "Boy, the past was so much better. The former glory was greater than this." God says, "No, I will do a new work greater than you can even imagine."

They looked around and said, "Well, it's just not working the way that you say, Haggai. It isn't immediately coming to pass the way that you promised." God says, "Keep walking in obedience. Sow to the Spirit; you shall reap everlasting life." In all of our discouragements, our Lord is there to encourage us once again with the Word. Amen. He wants to encourage us tonight.

Listen, there is a lot of shambles in the lives of each of you. You look at your lives and see how maybe you've messed it up. Just as Nehemiah, when he came into the city of Jerusalem, he went around and all he could see was the trash. He was climbing over one wall and down underneath another hole, thinking, "Boy, this place is just destroyed." God says, "That's okay. Just do the one thing that's right in front of you."

Remember, every single one of the people in that city built the wall that was right in front of their house. In 52 days, the wall was built. So, we just focus on that one thing that God has set in front of you tonight. What is it? Do that one thing out of obedience unto the Lord, and I guarantee, I promise you, the Word of God promises you that you will reap the kingdom in eternal life. Amen.

Let's stand and pray. God, I thank you for the testimony, the Word of the prophet Haggai. Lord, his name means festival, and if we follow you in obedience, we will experience the joy of the spring feasts, the fall feasts, and the joy of the harvest.

Lord, as we set ourselves to the work that is before us, yes, maybe we've been discouraged by things that have been going on around us or by great big obstacles in front of us. But, Lord, you are the one that tears down those things. I pray tonight, Lord, that you would stir our hearts to seek you, to obey what you have shown us to do—the task that's right in front of us.

Lord, pour out a blessing upon this group that's here tonight. Pour a blessing upon those who have been committed to rightly dividing your Word. Just as Haggai said in Haggai chapter 2, "From this day will I bless you." Lord, I pray that we would see...

And experience that blessing in our lives individually as we draw near to You, knowing that You have promised to draw near to us. We praise You and thank You for Your Word. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. God bless You.