The People s Obedience. The Coming Glory of God s House. June 8, 2014 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

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1 June 8, 2014 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON TRUST GOD S PROMISES MINISTRY INVOCATION O God: We give thanks to You for the manifold blessings to us. You did not have to bless us but You did. We shall remain eternally grateful. Amen. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND Until God s House was rebuilt, the people would continue to face God s Judgment. God promised to be with the people as they completed rebuilding the temple. THE APPLIED FULL GOSPEL DISTINCTIVE We believe in the indwelling of the Holy Ghost for all believers and that the Holy Ghost verifies and validates the Believer as part of the Body of Christ. TEXT: Background Scripture Haggai 1:12 2:9 Key Verse Haggai 2:9 Lesson Scripture Haggai 1:12 2:1-9 The People s Obedience 12 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 presence of the LORD. Haggai 2:1 9 (NKJV) The Coming Glory of God s House 2 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying: 2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: 3 Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? 4 Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel, says the LORD; and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land, says the LORD, and work; for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts. 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear! 6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory, says the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is Mine, and 1

2 the gold is Mine, says the LORD of hosts. 9 The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, says the LORD of hosts. COMMENTARY 1:12 The response to Haggai s message was immediate and decisive. The people acknowledged the prophet as a bona fide spokesman for the Lord, accepted his message to them, demonstrated appropriate reverence for the Lord and his word, and committed themselves to the work to which Haggai called them. The governor, the high priest, and all the people acknowledged that the Lord had sent Haggai to them. Through Haggai, they had heard not just the impassioned political or religious reasoning of a compatriot. They had heard the voice of the LORD their God (v. 12). Their receptivity to the prophet s message was grounded in an understanding that the Lord had sent him to them. The notion of divine sending of the prophetic messenger underscores Haggai s role as an authorized courier of the Lord s message for this community. The words their God (ʾĕlōhêhem), are significant. In the preceding disputation the Lord spoke contemptuously of those who because of their disobedience to covenantal responsibilities he termed this people rather than my people. They were behaving as though Yahweh were not in reality their God. In v. 12, we find affirmation of their obedience to the Lord s voice as mediated through Haggai s prophetic ministry. At long last they had begun to display the obedience that befitted their identity as a people of God, and with that obedience came renewed confidence that Yahweh was in fact their God. They obeyed the instructions He gave through Haggai, demonstrating by their actions the reverential awe they had toward Him. The inclusion of the people along with Zerubbabel and Joshua in the response described in v. 12 is significant. It is clear from the people s response that the message was not directed to the leaders exclusively. The people were implicitly included as part of Haggai s audience. They are called the remnant of the people. The concept of remnant is used in various ways in the prophetic literature of the Old Testament. It sometimes refers to a faithful segment of a larger group that included less committed Israelites. Other times the word is more inclusive, serving as a general designation for all Israelites who had escaped a particular disaster. The Jewish population of Haggai s day consisted of two distinct groups, namely, those who had returned from the exile and those who had remained behind in the land during that same period, Haggai s use of remnant probably is not limited to one or the other of these two groups. The prophet seems to use the term in a broad theological sense, referring to those 2

3 who were truly part of the covenant community, whether they had returned from the exile or had been present in the land all along. It is significant that the word remnant does not occur in Haggai until v. 12, which describes the people s obedient response to Haggai s message. It is this obedience to the Lord s message that qualifies them to be thought of as a remnant, a designation that invokes the remnant theology of earlier Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. It calls attention to the appropriate human reaction to a display of divine grace. The only proper response to hearing the word of the Lord that the prophets entertained was one of reverential awe and prompt obedience. Haggai 2 Verse 1. In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month. The seventh month is Ethanim or Tisri, answering to parts of September and October. The twenty-first was the last and great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, when it was the custom to celebrate the ingathering of the harvest. The joyous nature of this festival was sadly marred on this occasion. Their crops were scanty and they had no temple in whose courts they might assemble to pay their vows and offer their thank-offerings. The building, which had begun to make some progress only the more showed its poverty. Everything tended to make them contrast the present with the past, but God mercifully relieves their despondency with a new message. By the prophet Haggai Ver. 2. Speak now to Zerubbabel. The message is addressed to the heads of the nation, temporal and spiritual, and to all the people who had returned. Verse 3. Who is left among you? etc. It is quite possible that there should be some old people present who had seen Solomon s temple. Many have thought that Haggai himself was of the number. It was sixty-eight years ago that the temple was destroyed, and we can well believe that its remarkable features were deeply impressed on the minds of those who as boys or youths had loved and admired it. This house. The prophet identifies the present with Solomon s temple, as being adapted for the same purposes, to fill the same place in the national life, built on the same hallowed spot, and partly with the same materials. In the Jews eyes, there was one only temple, whatever might be the date of its erection or the comparative worth of its decorations and materials. First; former, as ver. 9. How do ye see it now? In what condition do ye see this house now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Does it not seem in your eyes as if it had no existence? If the injunction of Cyrus (Ezra 1:3, etc.) had been carried out, the dimensions of the new temple would have exceeded those of the old; but Zerubbabel seems to have been unable, with the small resources at his disposal, to execute the original design, though even so the 3

4 proportions were not greatly inferior to those of the earlier temple. The chief inferiority lay in the absence of the splendor and enrichment with which Solomon adorned his edifice. The gold which he had lavished on the house was no longer available; the precious stones could not be had. Besides these defects, the ark of the covenant, with the cherubim and mercy-seat; the holy fire; the Shechinah; the spirit of prophecy; the Urim and Thummim. Verse 4. Be strong. This is repeated three times for emphasis sake. The same exhortation was given by David to Solomon before the building of the first temple. Haggai seems to suggest comfort in the thought that such admonition was needed at that time as well as now when they are so depressed. And work; literally, and do; The word is used absolutely. Work on bravely, finish what you have begun. I am with you. The consciousness of God s presence gives confidence and strength. Verse 5. According to the word that I covenanted. The Hebrew is simply, the word that I, etc. There is intended no injunction respecting the observation of the old covenant, but a consolatory message under present despondency. I will confirm. The promise of present help is confirmed by the remembrance of God s former covenant with Israel, that they should be His peculiar people, and possess the right of access to Him and a claim on his help. So my Spirit remaineth among you; Revised Version, and my Spirit abode among you. The clause refers to God s presence among them now, which was shown by the revelations made to the prophets, as Haggai and Zechariah, and which exhibits itself in His providential ordering of events, the removal of obstacles, the furthering of the good work. Fear ye not. If God be for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31; and comp. Zech. 4:6). Verse 6. Yet once, it is a little while; The expression is equivalent to once again within a little time. I will shake, etc. All, however, agree in seeing an allusion to the promulgation of the Law on Mount Sinai, which was accompanied with certain great physical commotions, when, too, the Egyptians were shaken by the plagues sent on them, and the neighboring nations, Philistia, Edom, Moab, were struck with terror. This was a great moral disturbance in the heathen world; the next and final shaking will be under the Messianic dispensation for which the destruction of heathen kingdoms prepares the way. The Israelites would soon see the beginnings of this visitation, e.g. in the fall of Babylon, and might thence conclude that all would be accomplished in due time. The prophet calls this interval a little while (which it is in God s eyes and in view of the vast future), in order to console the people and teach them patience and confidence. The final consummation and the steps that lead to it in the prophet s vision are blended together, just as our Lord combines His prediction about the destruction of Jerusalem with details which concern the end 4

5 of the world. The physical convulsions in heaven and earth, etc., spoken of, are symbolical representations of political revolutions. Verse 7. All Nations. Before Christ s first advent there was a general shaking of empires. Persia fell; Alexander s dominion was divided and gradually shattered before the might of Rome; Rome herself was torn with civil wars. The faith in the power of national gods was everywhere weakened and men were prepared to receive the new revelation of one Supreme Deity, who came on earth to teach and save. Now is mentioned the object or consequence of this shaking of nations. The desire of all nations shall come. The words in this case point to a person, and this person can be no one else than the Messiah, for whom all nations consciously or unconsciously yearn, in whom alone all the longings of the human heart find satisfaction. The meaning is that all nations with their wealth come, that the Gentiles shall devote their treasures, their powers, whatever they most highly prize, to the service of God. This is what is predicted elsewhere and it is called, metaphorically, coming with treasures to the temple. To hear of such a glorious future might well be a topic of consolation to the depressed Israelites. I will fill this house with glory. There is a verbal allusion to the glory which filled Solomon s temple at the dedication but the special mode in which it is to be manifested in this case is not here mentioned. Verse 8. The silver is mine. All the riches of the world are the Lord s, and He disposes of them as He wills; if He has promised that the Gentiles shall offer their treasures for His service, be sure He will perform His word. There may also be intended a word of comfort for the desponding; they need not grieve because they had but poor offerings to bring to the house; He wanted not gold or silver, for all was His. Verse 9. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former. This house means the temple at Jerusalem, regard not being paid to the special building whether of Solomon, or Zerubbabel, or Herod. As understood by the hearers, this promise referred to the material riches, the precious things offered by the Gentiles. To us it speaks of the presence of Christ, God incarnate, in the holy city and in the temple itself, and of His Presence in the Church, wherein he abides forever. Here is the complete answer to the complaint of ver. 3. In this place will I give peace. Primarily this means in Jerusalem, the place where the temple stood, God would grant peace from enemies, freedom from danger, and quiet enjoyment of promised, but the promise is not fulfilled by this; the peace promised to the spiritual temple is that peace of heart and conscience which is given by him who is the Prince of Peace and which includes all the graces of the Christian covenant. The first temple was built by the king whose name is Peaceful; the second is glorified by the presence of the Peace-bringer. 5

6 RELATED DISCUSSION TOPICS CLOSING PRAYER My God: I am grateful to have found You and kept You in the forefront of my being. Bless us continually with Your grace and mercy. They represent bountiful blessings for all of us. Amen. 6