Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20090301.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Haggai: Calling God's People To Correct Temporal Values
Part I: Calling God's People To Value His Ministry Assignment Over Extensive Livelihood Goals
(Haggai 1:1-15)
  1. Introduction
    1. Living in a world where we are called to work to earn a living for our family (1 Timothy 5:8), we risk making our gaining that livelihood our chief goal in life over fulfilling God's ministry assignment.
    2. That is a sin, one that God addressed in Haggai 1:1-15, and we view that passage for our instruction:
  2. Calling God's People To Value His Ministry Assignment Over Extensive Livelihood Goals.
    1. Haggai addressed the exiles of Israel who returned from the Babylonian Captivity, folk whose assignment had been to rebuild the Jerusalem temple, cf. Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., p. 1306; Haggai 1:2, 8.
    2. However, in that era, opposition from without and spiritual apathy from within had led the people to exchange their priority of building the temple to establishing a good livelihood on earth, Haggai 1:1-4:
      1. Haggai's prophecy came 15 years after "Samaritan harassment and eventual Persian pressure brought a halt to the rebuilding of the temple," Ibid., Ryrie; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1537; Ezra 4:21-5:1.
      2. With that cessation came a shift where one's livelihood took precedence over God's assignment, 1:1-4:
        1. When Haggai began to speak God's Word to the returned exiles, God noted they had concluded that the cessation of the temple work by Persia indicated it was not yet time to rebuild the temple, 1:1-2.
        2. However, this conclusion was a false rationalization, for the people had poured their efforts and money into building luxurious homes to meet personal, earthly goals versus saving them to build the temple, Haggai 1:3-4: (1) God's questioned the people, asking why they thought it was time to live in paneled houses with costly, imported timber while His temple went unfinished, 1:3-4; Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Hag. 1:4. (2) This question, in contrast to the people's statement that it was not time to rebuild the temple, showed they had used the opposition faced to rebuilding the temple to pour their money into building luxurious homes instead of saving their resources for the temple's construction!
    3. Thus, God called the people to consider how He had disciplined them for such errant values, Hag. 1:5-6:
      1. The Lord urged the people to consider how they had sown much, but reaped little (Hag. 1:5-6a), and in view of the Mosaic Covenant at Deuteronomy 28:1-3 with 15-17, that meant they had sinned!
      2. God urged them to consider though they had eaten, drunk, and clothed themselves, they were hungry, thirsty and cold (Hag. 1:5-6b,c,d), so Deuteronomy 28:15, 23-24 revealed this meant they had sinned!
      3. God urged them to note though they had earned money, they had put it into a bag with holes, that their buying power had declined (Hag. 1:5-6e), so Deuteronomy 28:15, 43-44 revealed they had sinned!
    4. The solution to this problem was to be to repent by going up to the mountain, cutting down and bringing wood not to panel their homes, but to get back to God's assignment that they rebuild His temple! God would then take pleasure in the temple, be glorified, and bless them in their livelihood efforts, Hag. 1:7-8.
    5. Again, God clarified He had been working very extensively to make Israel's efforts to focus on their own livelihoods go unrealized that they might consider their sin and return to rebuild His temple, Hag. 1:9-11:
      1. The Lord claimed though the people had looked for much material gain in their work, what little they had gained He had even diminished to motivate them strongly to repent and rebuild His temple, 1:9.
      2. Indeed, God had called for a severe drought on all their produce and work to this end, Haggai 1:10-11.
    6. In response, twenty-three days later, the people under their governor, Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest heeded God's call under Haggai's ministry, and started to rebuild the temple, Haggai 1:1, 12, 14-15.
    7. Haggai encouraged them in the process, sharing God's encouragement that He was with them in their effort to rebuild the temple regardless what opposition they faced in the rebuilding work, Haggai 1:13.
Lesson: God disciplined Israel with livelihood hardship for letting their effort to gain a livelihood replace His assignment to rebuild His temple. The people were thus to return to God's assignment!

Application: (1) May we always put fulfilling God's ministry assignment above making a luxurious living for ourselves. (2) Though we are no longer under the Law (Romans 7:4), if we notice our efforts to make a living suffer extensive failure, we should test to see if we have ceased doing God's ministry assignment, and repent if needed. (3) If we are unaware of sin, we must trust God to lead, Psalm 23:3b.