Authority, politics, and a reminder of Who controls it.

Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms.

Haggai 2:21-22

 

Just a short observation as I wrap up this look at Haggai’s prophecies: God has authority over all human politics. That is the assertion made here by God Himself. It is true. God was telling a government official through His prophet that He was in control of both of heaven and earth. And no throne or kingdom was beyond His grasp.

 

The warning was meant to encourage the returned exiles that foreign nations would bring them national prosperity again. But this would be God’s doing and not strictly the result of human endeavor. God even says that military outcomes will result in Israel’s enemies destroying themselves. This would clearly leave God in control and worthy of worship. So don’t get any more wrapped up in politics than God is. It exists to exalt God as He gets the glory! Human power is nothing to Him.

 

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Worthless Pursuit

Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.

Haggai 2:19

 

So long ago God’s people learned

a painful lesson of Law spurned

They turned away from worship and praise

for personal rest and home luxuries

 

For a very short time they were at ease

Until drought and famine gave them the squeeze

And backed into hunger and pain

They listened to God’s call again

 

The stuff of this earth failed them

as God’s prophet relentlessly assailed them

Haggai told them judgment would change

to blessing if they obeyed again

 

In their return the truth was heard

And the walls went up… the lesson learned

They came back to the Lord repentant

Found Him forgiving and truth accepted

 

The worthless pursuit of personal ease

will let us down but falling to our knees

we will find God forgives and even restores

so that we can find His blessing once more

 

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God of the Exodus and the Exile

Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.

Haggai 2:4-5

 

God’s covenant love is strong and binding. While encouraging the Jerusalem generation of re-settled exiles, God views His relationship with Israel from the very beginning of their national identity. He brought them out of Egypt. In a way, God is reminding them that He has done this sort of thing before. He knows how to take care of His people when they have come into covenant from slavery in a foreign land. The same powerful God of the Exodus was also God of the Exile. And He is God of this new endeavor among a generation that was re-settling the Land of Promise and re-building the temple of God.

 

God calls them to courage and asks them not to fear the task in front of them. Though it was big, He was bigger. God appeals to three things to encourage them. He appeals first to His Presence – “I am with you”.  They had forgotten that in the slow slide into apathy. When they settled into their lives, homes, and personal business without recognizing God, they failed. Now they would succeed with God’s promises as they recognized God’s presence with them to do His work.

 

His second appeal was to the His Covenant by which they came into relationship with Him. It was both past history and their present reality.  It bound them to obedience and blessed them with God’s care. It was a gracious and unique position. God’s people ought to build His house.

 

The final appeal was to His Spirit. He was active among the people. He had not abandoned them thought they had forgotten Him. God was faithful and would provide what they needed for the hard work. He promised to supply simply and abundantly from His Spirit, His Presence, and His Covenant that were always with them.

 

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obedience and the fear of the Lord

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, 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 feared the LORD.

Haggai 1:12

 

“I love it when a plan comes together!” Somehow, I feel Haggai smiled and muttered that to himself. In one of the few times in Israel’s history, the voice of the prophet is heeded…immediately. The Word of God was heard and obeyed. The alarm produced in Haggai’s two stern warnings at the beginning of this book leads to a real obedience. Israel heard what God said. The remnant was ready to repent of their selfish lethargy. They began to work on rebuilding the temple again.

 

There are two words that characterize the response. They are simple, but important to understand. The first part is obedience. They did not debate the message. They did not analyze or worry about the ramifications. It seems to have started with the leaders and moved through the ranks. By obeying the message, they were admitting their own slack and disregard for God. And they focused again on the covenant. They simply obeyed.

 

The second response is deeper and more personal. They feared the Lord. There is a lot wrapped into those four words. They undoubtedly were afraid of His judgments that they were already experiencing and that Haggai was quick to point out to them. But fear of God is also found in the respect that is due to the One Who holds all things before Him. They knew He knew their hearts and lives. A healthy respect for God grew again in their hearts. They did not want any more economic hardship. But they did not want to hurt their relationship with God. They repented and returned in obedience. And a personal respect and reverence for their God grew again in their hearts, blossoming in a quick and ready obedience.

 

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what God deserves and demands

Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD.

Haggai 1:7-8

 

Once again, God calls the Jews to get back to the task of building His temple in Jerusalem. There has been an agricultural and economic recession among the people. God takes credit for it (Haggai 1:9-11). He tells the people to repent of their materialistic ways which He has brought to nothing and instead to concentrate on His worship. And He will be worshiped, even if it means withholding from them as they have withheld from Him. Covenants certainly have a painful side to them.

 

What God is asking for is a renewal of their since and full attention in worship. And He draws all focus on Himself since they would not. There were two reasons why they needed to heed this call and get back to work on the temple. They are God-centered reasons.

 

The first reason to get back to the task was to please God. This was the covenantal reason. When God took pleasure in their work of building His temple, they in turn would find happiness, peace, blessing, and fulfillment. That was the way God had set up things with Israel through Moses and the Law so long ago.

 

The second reason was to glorify God. This was the worship reason. God is the only being in the universe Who deserves and demands worship. He is the only One with “glory” and should be glorified. In the context of Israel’s relationship with God under the Law, this came through obedience and sacrifice. And for now, Haggai’s call to build the temple meant just that. They had not obeyed. They had not sacrificed. God could not be worshiped and neither could He be happy with them until they did so. God deserves our full obedience. His Word should be followed. God deserves our worship. He should be glorified in our lives.

 

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spiritual lethargy

Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,  "Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.”

Haggai 1:3-5

 

The prophets often had to confront spiritual laziness at various times in the history of Israel. No two messages were ever quite exactly the same. The unique circumstances in which Haggai’s message came are worth careful reflection. They can enlighten our attitudes toward love for the Lord.

 

The post-exilic Jews had returned from Jerusalem. They came from poverty and servitude to a new degree of self-determination. Some were becoming wealthy in their endeavors. Their one specific task under Zerubbabel as governor was to rebuild the temple. This is why they had been released from captivity. Nehemiah and Ezra give us the other side of the projects these new settlers were called to do. For some reason, the work had slowed down and suspended. The people grew materialistic and contented in their own homes. They invested time, energy, and money in decorating their own houses while the house of God lie unfinished. Haggai is tasked with the messages from God to call them back to this work.

 

The message calls them to think about their circumstances. God was not being honored. They had put their personal comfort above spiritual commitment. And they were not really prospering there. God was not blessing their spiritual apathy. They were not keeping covenant with Him and He was not going to bless disobedience (Haggai 1:6).

 

There is instruction here for our own days. No place or time has been so blessed and so easily apathetic than our own. Even in the worst economy in 60 years, materialism abounds. The housing market may be down, but you can’t tell it by what people want. Luxury is still worshiped in America. And Christians are not immune to the apathy and lethargy of materialistic thinking. We need to consider our ways. We need to remember that our commitment is to honor and worship God in and with all things, not just have the things in and of themselves.

 

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