Last week we were looking at a
letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the
book of Haggai. We looked on as the Jewish people
selfishly rebelled against the Lord by failing to place the Lord first in their
lives. Instead, despite the Lord’s activity through Cyrus that provided them
the opportunity to return from exile to their own country, the Jewish people
selfishly placed themselves first. And because of their selfishness and
rebellion against the Lord that placed themselves over the Lord, the Jewish
people experienced economic insecurity from the hand of the Lord.
We looked on as the Lord commanded the Jewish people
to stop delaying and to start rebuilding the Temple. And is His command, we see
the Lord call the Jewish people to consider their ways. The Lord wanted the
Jewish people to consider that the way that they were living their lives
resulted in economic ruin and poverty. And the Lord wanted the Jewish people to
clearly understand that the reason that they were experiencing economic ruin
and poverty was due to the fact that they had selfishly placed themselves and
their plans before the Lord and His commands.
The Lord wanted the Jewish people to consider that the
way that they were living their lives resulted in the Lord bringing a drought
upon the Jewish people. And the Lord wanted the Jewish people to clearly
understand that the reason that they were experiencing a drought was due to the
fact that they had selfishly placed themselves and their plans before the Lord
and His commands.
After spending 23 days finishing the harvest season
while preparing and planning how they would go about rebuilding the Temple, the
Jewish people began the work of rebuilding the Temple. And as the Jewish people
began the work of rebuilding the Temple, the Lord proclaimed a promise to the
Jewish people: “I am with you”. The Lord wanted the Jewish people to clearly
understand the He would be present with them and would empower them to rebuild
the Temple as they strove to place the Lord first and follow His plans and
commands.
We looked on as Haggai delivered a second message from
the Lord. As the Jewish people had laid the foundations of the Temple, hopes
were running high among the Jewish people who grew up living as a captive in
the nation of Babylon. Hopes were running high because they had never had the
opportunity to see the Temple that was built by Solomon, which was one of the
seven wonders of the ancient world.
However, for those who were older and who had seen the
glory of Solomon’s temple, hopes were not high. Instead they were incredibly
disappointed, as they viewed the foundation of the Temple as though it “seemed
like nothing” in comparison to Solomon’s Temple. The Lord proclaimed a command,
promise His presence, and provide a promise for the future. Even though the
Temple that they were building seemed like nothing in comparison to the Temple
in the Days of King Solomon, the Lord commanded the Jewish people to take
courage and continue the work that they had began to rebuild the Temple.
The Jewish people were to take courage and continue
the work that they had began because although the temple being constructed was
very humble, the Lord promised that there would be a day in the future when the
nations would bring their treasures to it in the times when God would fill His
house with glory. The Lord wanted the Jewish people to clearly understand that
when our lives seem like “nothing in comparison” remember that God is in the
midst of the small things. The Lord wanted the Jewish people to live their
lives in a way that did not despise the small things. Instead, the Lord wanted
the Jewish people to remember that the Lord was present with them, even in the
small things, and often worked in and through the small things to accomplish
great things in the future. Today, we see Haggai deliver the third of four
messages from the Lord to the Jewish people in Haggai 2:10-19. So let’s look at
that message together:
On
the twenty-fourth of the ninth month,
in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Haggai the prophet,
saying, 11 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Ask now the priests for a ruling: 12 'If a man
carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with this fold,
or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other
food, will it become holy?'" And the priests answered,
"No." 13 Then Haggai said, "If one who is unclean
from a corpse touches any of these, will the
latter become unclean?" And the priests answered, "It will
become unclean." 14 Then Haggai said, "'So is this people.
And so is this nation before Me,' declares the LORD, 'and so is every work of
their hands; and what they offer there is unclean. 15 'But now, do
consider from this day onward: before one stone was placed on another in the
temple of the LORD, 16 from that time when one came to a grain
heap of twenty measures,
there would be only ten; and when one
came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there would be only twenty. 17 'I smote
you and every work of your
hands with blasting wind, mildew and hail; yet you did not come back to
Me,' declares the LORD. 18 'Do consider from this day onward, from
the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month;
from the day when the temple of the LORD was founded, consider: 19
'Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the
pomegranate and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you.'"
On December 18th 520 B.C., two months after
the second message, Haggai delivered a third message from the Lord to the
Jewish people. In this message, the Lord commanded Haggai to ask the religious
leaders for a ruling regarding what would cause something to be considered
holy, or set apart, to the Lord. In addition, the Lord commanded Haggai to ask
the religious leaders for a ruling regarding what would cause something to be
considered unclean, or unacceptable, to the Lord.
After receiving the correct answer from the religious
leaders, Haggai applied their answer to the condition of the Jewish people. The
Lord commanded Haggai to ask these questions because the Lord wanted the Jewish
people to clearly understand during the past eighteen years, all of their acts
of worship to the Lord were unclean and unacceptable to the Lord because they
had been living their lives in a way that was unclean and unacceptable to the
Lord.
You see, the Lord commanded Haggai to ask these
questions because the Lord wanted the Jewish people to clearly understand that
they were not to assume that religious activity somehow cleaned up and made
acceptable an unclean and unacceptable lifestyle. The Lord wanted the Jewish
people to clearly understand that something unclean and unacceptable to the
Lord does not become set apart and acceptable to the Lord simply by association.
Instead, the Lord wanted the Jewish people to clearly understands that the
opposite always happens- the things that are unclean and unacceptable to the
Lord will always contaminate that which has been set apart and acceptable.
And because of the reality the Lord called the Jewish
people to live their lives from that day forward in a way that was set apart to
a life of faithfulness and obedience to the Lord. By living in such a way, the
Jewish people would no longer experience the seasons of economic insecurity and
drought that came as a result of their selfishness and rebellion against the
Lord. Instead, the Jewish people would experience the blessings that the Lord
had promised the Jewish people and that flowed from living a life that
faithfully placed God first. Haggai then delivered a fourth message from the
Lord to the Jewish people in Haggai 2:20-23. Let’s look at that message
together:
20 Then the word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai
on the twenty-fourth day of the
month, saying, 21 "Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah,
saying, 'I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 'I will
overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the
nations; and I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and
their riders will go down, everyone by the sword of another.' 23 'On
that day,' declares the LORD of hosts, 'I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of
Shealtiel, My servant,' declares the LORD, 'and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you,'"
declares the LORD of hosts.
On the same day as the third message, Haggai delivered
a fourth message from the Lord that proclaimed a promise from the Lord. And
that promise from the Lord was that the Lord had removed His curse on the house
of King Jehoiachin as a result of their previous selfishness and rebellion against
the Jewish people that led to the Jewish people being conquered and led into
captivity by the Babylonian empire. Instead of a curse, there was hope that a
descendant of Zerubbabel the governor, who was from the house of Jehoiachin,
would be the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to send a rescuer, a deliverer,
a Messiah who would bring the Jewish people back to God and usher in the
Kingdom of God here on earth.
However, it is here when God speaks through the
prophet Obadiah, that we
discover a timeless truth about the nature and character of God and God’s
activity in history. And that timeless truth is this: God deserves, desires and
demands to be our highest priority. You see, the point of the book of Haggai is that God deserves to be our highest priority. God deserves to be our highest priority
because it is God who is the Creator who is in charge of history. God deserves to be our highest priority
because it is God who is worthy of worship and worthy of glory as our
provider, protector, rescuer, and deliverer.
The point of
the book of Haggai is that God desires to be our highest priority. God desires to be
our highest priority because it is when God is our highest priority that we
experience the lives of meaning and purpose that we were created to experience.
God desires to be our highest priority because it is when God is our highest priority that we live
in light of our true identity as a child of God. God desires to be our highest priority
because it is when God is our highest priority that we experience His presence
and activity in our lives most powerfully.
And the point
of the book of Haggai is that God demands to be our highest priority. God
demands to be our highest priority because God alone is worthy of being our
highest priority. God demands to be our highest priority because when anything
other than God is our highest priority, we are committed idolatry. You see,
idolatry is taking a good thing and making it a God thing. Idolatry is taking a
good thing and making it an ultimate thing.
Now a natural objection that could arise here is “Well
Dave, God sounds arrogant. God sounds needy. It sounds like God is just running
around like ‘worship Me, worship Me, worship Me’. It sounds like God is He is
full of Himself”. If that question and objection is running through your mind,
I just want to let you know that is a fair question and objection to have.
And if we were able to have a conversation out in the
courtyard coffee house, here would be my response: You are absolutely right. God
is all about God. Because if you were God, who else would you be into? If you
were God, would you be into you? I don’t think so. If you were God would you be
into me? I don’t think so? God is into God. God is totally into Himself. God is
full of Himself.
God is totally into Himself because for God to point you
to something that was less than the best would mean that God did not know what
was truly best, which would mean that God was not really God. You see, God is
totally full of Himself because there is no other being other than God that
deserves to be our highest priority. There is no other being that is all
powerful, all knowing, ever present, everlasting, never changing, perfectly
right and just, perfectly merciful and loving. So who else would God point you
to when it comes to what should be our highest priority. And because of that
reality, God deserves, desires and demands to be our
highest priority.
So here is a question to consider: What
is the highest priority in your life? And what does how you spend your time,
talent, and treasure reveal about what is the highest priority in your life?
Does your behavior betray what you say is the highest priority in your life?
What priorities in your life are competing with God to be the highest priority?
Because God
deserves, desires and demands to be our highest priority…
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