Haggai 1:1-11; 2:5-9 KJV SEEK HIM FIRST 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, 2 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. 3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider * your ways. 6 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. 7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider * your ways. 8 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. 9 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. 10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. 11 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. 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. 6 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; 7 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. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. 9 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. THE INTRODUCTION Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Illustration About Priorities: In recent years a head coach divorced his wife of 26 years when he left coaching a college team to become head coach in the National Football League. He said he needed a wife while coaching on the college level for social functions and to show families that he would be looking out for their sons. In pro football, however, she was an unnecessary accouterment and a distraction to winning. He said winning football was his number one priority and his two sons second. How tragic! In contrast to this, Tom Landry, former coach of the Dallas cowboys said, "The thrill of knowing Jesus is the greatest thing that ever happened to me... I think God has put me in a very special place, and He expects me to use it to His glory in everything I do... whether coaching football or talking to the press, I'm always a Christian... Christ is first, family second and football third." May 9/10 Page 1
Lesson Intro Continues: SEEK HIM FIRST In some ways the book of Haggai could be described as a book of priorities. Previously we know that Judah, God s people, had been defeated and taken away from their homeland and into captivity to Babylon. The Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed and the city burned. Their home no longer existed. They were God s people and yet they had lived for 70 years as slaves. Over that period of time there were people who had died not seeing God s deliverance. In that same window of time other people had been born and grew up not knowing what it was to be free or to freely worship the one true God of Israel. Now under King Cyrus they had been returned to Jerusalem and began to rebuild the Temple. They were able to lay the foundation but were subsequently attacked by other powers that surrounded the area. All work had stopped and the people spent their days defending the area. This went on for 15 years. So much time had passed that there was a change in leadership in Persia and King Darius assumed power. He supported the work of the Jews to rebuild. During this time, there was preaching and teaching by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah and the Temple would be rebuilt. Later the wall would be completed under the leadership of Nehemiah. The priority that we referred to earlier? Debris in the city had to be removed, the Temple foundation had to be laid and God s Temple had to be restored. Until God s work was given the priority what else could really begin in the lives of the people? Until we give God priority in our lives what can we really accomplish in our lives? THE PEOPLE SAY NOW IS NOT THE TIME Haggai 1:1-2 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, 2 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. Clearly the priority was wrong. The people, as we often do, were looking at their circumstances and not at God. They knew they were there to rebuild the Temple of God. It is very significant The Lord is speaking through the prophet Haggai a clear message of the priority, or lack of priority of the people. Note two important aspects of God s declaration: 1. God knew what the people were saying (He is aware of our words and actions.) 2. The people were saying that it wasn t the right time to do God s work. In addition note that the prophet Haggai was not complaining to himself or others. He was delivering God s message to the people who could and should act on the observations of God: 1. Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah 2. Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest May 9/10 Page 2
THE LORD SAYS NOW IS THE TIME SEEK HIM FIRST Haggai 1:3-4 3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? It is time to take action not to wait. God s house lies in ruins and you are making do with temporary shelters. Cieled is a Hebrew word that means to cover with boards or paneling. In other words the people had patched up their places to have a home while they neglected God s Temple. However note that their homes were little more than temporary shelters modified from the ruins of the past. This is not what God had intended, but the people had made getting themselves a place of shelter ahead of preparing God s Temple. Haggai 1:5-6 5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider * your ways. 6 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. Consider Your Ways You Plant Much But Bring In Little Consider not the word you are used to. This is from a Hebrew word that means to lay hold on or seize violently. In context God is saying to His people His patience is near an end, get a hold of yourselves and pay attention to what has been happening. God, through the prophet than gives the people five examples of what happens when they are self-centered and hold back from God and put their own needs and desires ahead of His service: 1. (vs 6) You plant for food but have a poor harvest God will not bless 2. (vs 6) You eat and yet you never seem to have enough Operating in hunger 3. (vs 6) You can drink but you are not satisfied, thirst continues 4. (vs 6) You get clothing but it does not keep you warm 5. (vs 6) You make money but never enough, your savings dissapear Haggai 1:7-8 7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider * your ways. 8 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. Consider Your Ways Get To My Work And I Will Be Glorified Consider This is the same word, from the Hebrew that we saw in verse 5. This is from a Hebrew word that means to lay hold on or seize violently. In context God is saying to His people His patience is near an end, get a hold of yourselves and start taking action, show Me you are ready to get to building My Temple. God also gives His people a clear expectation and promise: do my work and He will be pleased with their work. Do we put God first? Do we look for things that please God? Do we share the Gospel, tithe, give offerings and use our talents and gifts for the Lord? May 9/10 Page 3
SEEK HIM FIRST Haggai 1:9-11 9 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. 10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. 11 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. Consider Your Own Strength God Could Not Bless Wrong Priorities Looked for much Hebrew meaning to make a turn as if you were showing signs of turning to make or become great, to increase greatly. In other words, God saw that His people at one point were trying to take actions to prosper. Regretfully what they were trying to expend energy on was for their own resources. They focused on their houses, their belongings and not the rebuilding of the Temple. Wrong priorities that God could not bless. Little this looking for much that they did yielded little. The word little comes from a Hebrew word meaning just hardly enough being of little worth. Blow From a Hebrew verb meaning to cause to breathe out, to give up or lose life (as in the breath of life.) In context, what little you found when you looked for resources, God took the life out of it. Possibly to imply that animals that the people would be depending on were also a loss. Because God s house continued unrepaired or cared for, the blessings of God are withheld. Note the losses: 1. No dew or moisture comes to the land 2. No harvest for food 3. God brings a drought on the land and surrounding area 4. The reference to corn, new wine and oil all indicate a long term loss (a full harvest season) 5. The punishment of God impacts both human and animal life Consider what happens when we feel our resources are tight and we cannot afford to tithe. Are we looking for much, but what we have, even when we hold back the tithe, will never be enough? Is our sin price limited to us? Not according to this context, others are impacted. THE LORD SAYS PREPARE FOR THE LATTER TIME Haggai 2:5-9 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. 6 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; 7 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. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. 9 The glory of May 9/10 Page 4
SEEK HIM FIRST 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. Covenanted This action was a sacred agreement by God to His people that He would protect them and that they would obey the law of God. Spirit This is the Hebrew word for life. Literally it means the breath. Although it can refer to the Spirit of God the implication is the work of the Spirit of God indwelling and being the people s source of continuing to live in a time they were in jeopardy. Contact Scott for a gift card to the bookstore. In other words, God promised the people He would be with them not only getting them out of Egypt but that He would be their sustainer and provider, their source of life. Shake To cause to quake. The God of Israel will shake those who oppose Him and His people, He will get their attention. In other places of Scripture when this word is used it is translated to shake, tremble and be afraid. People in the world outside of God think He has no impact on their lives that they are in control. The truth is that God can get anyone s attention. God identifies to the people that the silver and gold of this world belongs to Him. The rebuilt Temple of God will be greater than the prior structure. In addition, God promises that peace for the people will be found in the Temple. CONCLUSION In this passage we have seen that God s people could be selfish in a time that they clearly knew they needed to honor God. They had been given an opportunity to restore and rebuild the temple. God had used the powers that be (Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Romans 13:1) to help bring this about. Yet they focused on the circumstances. It is easy to look back at this time and question why God s people would do this. Had they not learned? After all that they had been through wasn t it time to be obedient and set God as their priority? It is easy to question those in the Old Testament, but what about questioning ourselves. How many times in any given week do we plan for the world and put God second? How often do we think in terms of only the resources that we have or can earn on our own and leave God out of the formula? What things can we do to trust God more and lean on our own understanding less? Consider these passages: Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. May 9/10 Page 5
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