Haggai 1: Consider Your Priorities
Theological Proposition/Focus: Sometimes God's timeline is a long timeline but that does not change his expectation that we faithfully complete the tasks he has given us.
Homiletical Proposition/Application: In the midst of a long project for the Lord we must make sure we do lose track of our priorities.
Introduction:
Image: Loving to tinker verses getting things done
I enjoy tinkering on projects. When we were first married I was not as organized or picky as I am now and I would regularly have several projects going at the same time. In one area of the house I would have a computer in various parts. In the garage there would be a small engine in some state of repair. There would be some pile of lumber somewhere else and then a stack of papers for the latest math problem I was working on. When I got bored or stuck with one item I would jump over to the other item. Usually at some point Emily would be cleaning and ask me, can you please finish something!
Today we are going to look at the call God made on His people to finish His temple.
Need: we need to consistently consider our priorities
Preview: today we are going to see that the people who returned from exile to rebuild the temple faced a major problem, were given a solution, a reason to solve the problem, and responded in a wonderful way.
Text: Haggai 1
Setting the Stage:
Recall that after Solomon reigned the nation of Israel split, the temple was located in the nation of Judah to the south.
The northern nation of Israel fell to the Assyrian empire in 722 BC
In 586 BC Babylon invaded the southern nation of Judah and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem beginning a period of exile.
In 539 Cyrus made an edict that the Jews could return from exile and rebuild their Temple.
Two years later the foundations of the temple were laid as described in Ezra 3:8-13)
However, 16 years later, spiritual apathy had set in and the temple was uncompleted. God commissioned the prophet Haggai to challenge the apathy that had set in.
The book of Haggai is a report on four messages delivered to the people by the prophet Haggai.
Haggai 1:1
Haggai's message comes at a significant time, August 29, 520 BC. On the eve of the season for grape, fig, and pomegranate harvest.
However, as we will see, there is a cloud of dread, will this harvest be enough?
The Persians are now in charge and Darius is on the throne, in his early years Darius instituted a series of economic reforms that included taxation that resulted in inflation.
The stage is set for Haggai to deliver this very important message from God to a people who have been in construction for 16 years and are wondering what exactly is going to happen.
Body
The problem: procrastination, wrong priorities, wheel spinning (2-6)
Procrastination: If you only serve God when it is convenient you might be procrastinating.
It is wise to wait for God's timing, it is unwise to procrastinate!
Look at the phrase that God uses to refer to His own people. "These people"
The phrase "these people" puts some distance between God and the people showing us God's displeasure with His people.
There are times when we should wait for God to tell us to act. However, when it is clear that God wants us to act, we must take action, further waiting does not please God.
Patience is a virtue but procrastination is a symptom.
Notice that the people recognize the need to rebuild the temple, it just isn't convenient for them.
Cyrus had ordered the temple be rebuilt (Ezra 1:2) but had not personally intervened when Samaritan opposition came (Ezra 4:4-5)
Finances were tight (we will see this later in the passage)
It really wasn't safe to go around (Zechariah 8:10)
It might be a stretch but Ezekiel 37 suggests that Messiah will retire the temple, so let's wait for him. i.e. we have a hairline theological argument for waiting.
God is not impressed with our ability to generate excuses.
The people had a laundry list of excuses and how does God respond "these people."
Wrong Priorities: If you consistently use your excess on yourself then your priorities are wrong.
The people had been arguing that they could not afford the resources to be able to complete the temple, yet they lived in houses with wood walls!
I honestly don't know of a minor prophet who speaks a more relevant message to us today than the message of Haggai. We complain about money, economic hardship, but we have it really good! You might not live in a mansion, but your apartment or house, bedroom or dorm, is far nicer than what I think these people would have known. Seriously, what these people would have known would probably be condemned today as uninhabitable.
