David's Sermons

In early 2000 I did a series of talks on the book of Haggai. This is an Old Testament book which I hadn't really paid attention to before, but I enjoyed studying it, and got a great deal out of looking at its message.

Haggai Part 1 - Put God First

Haggai 1

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is 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 ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, 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 did fear before the LORD.
Then spake Haggai the LORD's messenger in the LORD's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

This is the start of a series on the book of Haggai, which we'll look at in four parts. The titles for the four parts will be:

Background

Let's start by looking at the background to the book of Haggai. Haggai was born during the time of the Jews captivity in Babylon. The Jews' great desire was to be back in their homeland, to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple and return to God's prescribed means of worshipping.

In the year 536, King Cyrus allowed some of the Jews to go back to Jerusalem to start building the temple. They had opposition, though, and this led them to stop their work for 16 years. This is where we are at the start of the book of Haggai. See Ezra for more on the rebuilding of the temple.

Put God First

The word of the Lord came to Haggai. The Lord looked down at Jerusalem and saw that His house was unfinished. The Jews were living in their own completed houses, while no work was going on to complete the Lord's house.

The Lord's message to the Jews, on two occasions, was "Consider your ways". Perhaps if we examine our lives we will see places where we have our priorities wrong, where we have started something and not finished it. Perhaps we are trying to sort out our own affairs before we do God's work. It could be time to return to the task which has long lain unfinished. If we do, we have God's assurance as we start: "I am with you".

Haggai Part 2 - Be Strong

Haggai 2 v 1-9

In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,
Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,
Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:
According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
For thus saith 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;
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

In the second part of our look at Haggai, we come to chapter 2, and God's message to His people: be strong.

Review

The Jews had returned to Jerusalem under the command of King Cyrus of Persia, and had started to rebuild the temple. They had been stopped by their adversaries, and had been idle for 16 years. Haggai had given them the word of the Lord, that they should place God's house first, then their own houses, that their shortage in crops was due to their falling away. The people had responded and the work of rebuilding the temple started anew. As soon as they started again, God had a message for them - "I am with you".

Part 2 - Be Strong

Have you ever had to rebuild something? To start again on something you have built up and has been torn down. I know a couple who own a fruit farm in Africa. They built a new warehouse to store their fruit in, which was going to be a great addition to their work. Not long after they had finished it, their was an accident on the road, and a bus ploughed into their new warehouse, destroying it. After all their work, they were left back at the start, with the thought of building the whole lot again. Rebuilding can be demoralising work, especially if you remember how good the old building was, and your repair work doesn't seem to be nearly as good.

The Jews were looking back. Perhaps some of them were old enough to have seen the temple in all its glory before it was destroyed. As they looked back they were getting demoralised, as it seemed their work was inferior to what was there before.

There is a time to remember, and there is a time to look forward. God's message to His people at this time is to look forward. He says this new temple will be greater in glory than the old one, not because of the wonderful architecture or the richness of the building materials, but because the "desire of all nations", the Christ himself, will set foot in this temple. Along with this encouragement, He tells them to "Be strong... and work". We are often exhorted to be strong in the Bible ("be strong and of a good courage", "Be strong in the Lord"), but if we are weak, how can we be strong?

In verse 4, the Lord again reassures His people: "I am with you". He urges them to be strong, He assures them that this new temple will be more glorious than the old one, He tells them to go and work, but it's important that they realise that He is with them, that He is working alongside them. That's important for us as well. If we're doing a work for the Lord, He is with us.

Haggai Part 3 - Be Clean

Haggai 2 v 10-19

In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
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:
Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.
I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.
Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider it.
Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.

In the third part of our look at Haggai, we continue in chapter 2, and now God tells His people: be clean.

Review

Some of the people were discouraged because the temple wasn't as beautiful as they remembered. Haggai encouraged them to be strong and remember the Lord was with them.

Part 3 - Be Clean

The workers in silicon chip factories have a clean room. Everything in there must be spotless in case they contaminate the silicon. When they enter they must put on clean outfits, cover their shoes and hair. The smallest speck of dust can ruin a batch of the chips they make.

The priest had a similar routine before he went into the temple. He had to ceremonially wash himself, put on clean clothing, so that he approached the temple clean. Haggai asked the people about cleanliness. Shall a holy thing coming into contact with an unclean thing make it holy? They answered "No". What happens when an unclean person touches something that is clean? "It is made unclean". When clean and dirty are mixed together the clean is always made dirty, the dirty is never made clean. The people with their unclean lives thought that visiting the temple would make them clean, but it was the other way round: they were defiling the temple. They needed to make themselves clean before coming to the temple.

Spiritual cleanliness is important in our lives as well. We may go to church once a week, but that doesn't make the rest of our lives clean. We must examine ourselves, find the areas that are impure, and change them. Paul urges this in Corinthians. He says we should examine ourselves before coming to the table. Are we living worthy to be called Christians?

The people had been living unclean lives, but they had now turned towards God. When they were unclean God had cursed them, giving them poor harvests and leaving them struggling to get by. Now that they were living for Him, He would bless them. Blessings from God come in all sorts of ways. For the Israelites here it was in a very material way, but this won't always be so. However, whether it is in a good harvest, a peaceful mind or a loving friend, God promises to bless those who are clean and follow Him.

Haggai Part 4 - Be Encouraged

Haggai 2 v 20-23

And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,
Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;
And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.
In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.

In this last part of our look at Haggai, we finish off chapter 2, and God's message to His people: be encouraged.

Review

Some of the people were discouraged because the temple wasn't as beautiful as they remembered. Haggai encouraged them to be strong and remember the Lord was with them.

The people had started working for God, but there were unclean areas in their lives. Haggai impressed upon them their need for spiritually clean lives. When they obeyed, they found that God blessed them, and the harvests that had been so poor were now more than sufficient.

Part 4 - Be Encouraged

The Lord's message to Zerubbabel and the people is "be encouraged". They were rebuilding the temple, but what for? Israel had been a strong nation, defeating all who opposed it. But now it was just a remnant. Zerubbabel was of royal descent, but the Lord had said that none of his natural family would be king again. How could God's promised Messiah come? The Lord tells them that the Messiah will come, He will come through Zerubbabel's line ("make thee as a signet"). He reaffirms His plan and reassures His people. His mighty plan will come to pass, even though it seems impossible, and despite the weakness of the people.

"I have chosen thee". Imagine how Zerubbabel felt, knowing that God had chosen him. Yet each of us who are saved can say it as well. God has chosen us. He is working out His purposes in us and His plan will not be thwarted by our weakness. Quite the opposite: our weakness reveals His strength. We can become despondent, with our weakness and our sin. But the Lord tells us to be encouraged, His plan is perfect and it will come to pass.