God’s First Email
Is God “Off-line” With You? - Haggai 1:1-15
The Internet has become a part of our life whether or not we want it to have such a part. The elderly are using it to communicate with their grandchildren. Young parents send out massive files with pictures of their newborn children. The young communicate with each other. The last five years have seen the Internet invade our lives. The terminology of the “net” crosses all language barriers. Many see good and others see evil in the “net explosion.”
As we begin our study of Haggai, I have chosen to relate some of the messages of Haggai in terms of the Internet. I did this because, Haggai’s message is just as relevant to us as it was to the Jewish people of his day. Yes, they used scrolls and parchment and we use keyboards and digital electronics, but those people in 520 b.c. faced many of the same issues we face in our daily lives. As I prepared this series of messages, I became increasingly aware of the common worlds of 6th Century b.c. Israel and our world today. Let us see if this is true, and if it is, let us see what God would have us learn to better equip us to minister and serve Him in the 21st Century, here in the United Kingdom.
Haggai
Haggai was written over 2500 years ago. It is a short book of only 2 chapters, some 38 verses. It would only take you five minutes to read it, yet it contains a vital message for each of us. Actually, four vital messages from God. Haggai the prophet, was given four “words of the Lord,” that is four “emails” if you wish. . .
· 1st Word - 1:2-11
· 2nd Word - 2:2-9
· 3rd Word - 2:10-19
· 4th Word - 2:21-23
We will examine each of these “words” over the next four sessions. Tonight, we will consider the first one, Haggai 1:2-11. However, before we look at it, we must first understand the world of Haggai.
The Internet
Israel’s national “birth” was the Exodus, God’s deliverance from the slavery of Gentile Egypt. By 605 b.c. it seemed that God had abandoned Israel, His child. It was then they were once again slaves under a foreign Gentile power, this time it was Babylon. The average Jewish person wondered if God had gone “off-line” with them. As much as they pleaded for His help, and cried unto the Lord, no answer came back.
Many times I am on the Internet and trying to get a specific web page. On my screen it tells me that it is waiting for data. I watch the little green indicators on the lower right and I see my computer send out a brief message. Nothing comes back. I check the count and find out that while I keep sending out requests, no data returns. Finally, it dawns on me, that I have been “dropped” by my server. Ever had that happen?
For Israel, they have been “dropped” for 70 years. During that time Babylon was conquered by Persia. In 536 b.c., Cyrus, the Persian ruler issued a decree freeing Israel to return to Jerusalem. 50,000 Jewish people returned with Zerubbabel their king. By 535 b.c., the people had begun to rebuild their Temple. A year later, the work stopped.
In 530 b.c. King Cyrus died in battle and was succeeded by his son. Following the son’s death, a third king, Darius, came to the Persian throne in 521 b.c.
In Darius’ second year of rule, God went “on-line” with Israel through Haggai.
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,. . . Haggai 1:1
Over the next 4 months, God would send four “emails” to the people who had returned to Israel.
Let us now look at the first “email” from God given through Haggai the prophet. This message gives us two areas to examine in our lives to determine if God is off-line with us.
Two self-examinations of our personal lives in light of the words of Haggai in Chapter 1 verses 1-7.
First Area for Self-examination: Excuses Concerning God’s Work, valid or invalid
God begins by repeating the words of the returning exiles.
This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” Haggai 1:2
This tells us that the people knew that the Lord’s house, the Temple should be rebuilt, but they looked around them and thought that God’s time had not come. They failed to recognize that God had fulfilled prophecy to bring them back. They ignored the significance of this. Like people of all ages, they thought they knew better than God. They believed that God would fulfill the rest of the prophecies for Israel far in the future, and perhaps some of them thought they should not take God’s future promises literally. They were very content with their life and with the world around them. They no longer were refugees. They had been back in Jerusalem for 15 years. They were now established.
I can begin to understand them when I think of how I and my family have just moved to Scotland and after six months, we are settled within our house. Our ministry has begun and we are about the Lord’s business. During the summer, I found it very comfortable to visit Edinburgh and see the “sights.” If I had allowed myself, I could have felt like it was one big vacation. I could be very content with my personal life. But, as I observed the Festival and met students on the Royal Mile, I was constantly reminded of the need to share the Gospel. I understand how easily the returning Jews could settle down to daily life and forget why God brought them back into the land.
The key is they forgot they were God’s servants, sent on a mission by God
These people were brought back with a purpose. They forgot that God determines when His people are to serve Him. We don’t just decide when it is convenient, when it is easiest, when is the “right” time. God is our Lord and Ruler. He expects His people to do His “bidding” not the reverse.
Remember, God had planned and timed the captivity, the return, and the rebuilding of the Temple. Ezra tells us
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, Ezra 1:1
Jeremiah had prophesied God’s plan for a 70 year captivity.
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolation.
Jeremiah 25:11,12
For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place Jeremiah 29:10
Daniel understood God’s timing and purpose. He knew that God had allowed the desolation of Jerusalem. Seventy years had accomplished this desolation. The desolation and destruction of the Temple had purpose.
In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem. Daniel 9:2
Zechariah, contemporary of Haggai, questioned whether the people really wanted to return to the Land to be God’s servants or was life just too comfortable in Babylon. Remember, only 50,000 returned to Judah, less than 10% of the total Jewish population of the day [50,000ö500,000 [0.2%- of the total world population] = 10%].
Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? Zechariah 7:5
Now after 15 years, the people in Jerusalem
· were comfortable in their lifestyle
· did not want change or life to be difficult
· believed God was “online” but not “sending” out any commands for their life.
Time to Shake Complacency
God challenges their thinking in verses 4-6. His challenge is best summarized by His statement in verse 4
Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?
Who were these people who left Babylon and had gone to Jerusalem? They were the spiritual elite of Israel. Why else would they have left? They understood the prophecy, they knew they had to have a temple to properly worship, they knew the only place that Temple could exist was in Jerusalem. They knew that they were to glorify and proclaim the True God of the Bible. These were the spiritual ones who put God first in their lives.
In our world today, we might say these are the Christians who care, who go out on a Saturday night not to party, but to hear God’s word. Christians who care about the spiritual state of their church, their society, their country. Christians who want to see people saved from their sins and sin nature. Christians like you!
Thus, they left their comfortable homes, friends, and society in Babylon to return to the desolate Jerusalem. They sacrificed because their God was worth it and had called them to serve Him. These were not the rich of Jewish society. They stayed behind in Babylon where life was easy. These were not the famous, the clever, the “smart” ones. These were ordinary, average Jewish people who cared about their Lord and His worship. They came to Jerusalem with the best of intentions. They would rebuild the Temple to its former glory. They would properly worship and observe the feasts in the Temple.
What Feasts?
God had chosen the Temple and its specific location beginning with Abraham. He confirmed it to David, who purchased the land. Solomon built the Temple on that land, and God’s Glory came into the Holy of Holies.
Three times each year a Jewish man was commanded by God to come to this Temple to worship and observe a Pilgrimage Feast of the Lord.
Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord you God in the place which he chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you. Deuteronomy 16:16, 17
A feast of the Lord is an appointment with God, set by God, and for His purpose. Thus, God says that a spiritual Jewish male will obey Him and come three times a year to Jerusalem, regardless of where he is living at the time. Notice, the only proper place is the one that the Lord “chooses.” In 2 Chronicles 6:6 God designates Jerusalem
Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.
Thus, the place was chosen by God, the site purchased by David from Araunah [the title is recorded in 2 Samuel 24:24] for Israel. Once Solomon built the Temple, men from all over Israel came to this site to worship, three times a year, in obedience to the Lord’s command.
As spiritual followers of the God of the Bible, these former exiles people would rejoice that they could obey Deuteronomy 16:16, once the Temple was built. They could come and worship at each of the chag of the Lord.
What is a Chag?
There are three Hebrew words for feast. Your English Bible translates all three as “feast.” However, a study of the three words reveal that one of the words, chag gH, has a distinctive use. It is only used to describe the three Pilgrimage Feasts. Inherent in the word is the idea of “returning to the Temple” to worship the Lord in obedience to His command at His appointed time. In Leviticus 23:4 God limits the chag to those decreed by God “in their season” or appointed time.
Here in Haggai, God reminds the Jewish people that they came to Jerusalem at His appointment, after 70 years of captivity. The time did not just happen, He caused it. Now it was the “second year of King Darius.” [Haggai 1:1]. 15 years after that appointment and their marvelous obedient response in faith.
They have forgotten the purpose of their spiritual pilgrimage from Babylon. They had not restored the Temple and its proper worship, including the three Pilgrimage Feasts. God sent them a messenger to awaken or remind them of that purpose. That messenger was named Haggai, which means “Feast one.” Every time they said the name “Haggai” it was an indictment upon their lack of action, their excuses for delay in serving the Lord, their failed spiritual pilgrimage.
Their Excuses Hinder the Work of God
Yes, there had been opposition to the Temple back in 535 b.c. [Ezra 4:24]. But that was 15 years ago! They had allowed the opposition to become an excuse. 15 years later there was no opposition in a Jerusalem. The city was no longer desolate. Their daily needs were met. Life was comfortable. They were settled in.
In fact, the word “dwell” (v. 4) means to “sit down, be still, linger”, i.e., be set in your ways, comfortable. God’s assessment is that they are idle and not hindered. Further, God notes their “paneled houses.” These are homes with wainscots and inlays which suggest great wealth. They did not live in “huts,” but had spent time in constructing their own beautiful home. Since those who left Babylon were the poor, they had accumulated much wealth in those 15 years.
God almost shouts the contrast, He says they lived in “paneled houses, and this temple lies in ruins.” His house, their purpose in returning was in ruins for almost 55 years, yet they lived in luxury.
You can almost hear a fine up and coming Jew saying upon his arrival back in the land,
We have returned, now we can properly worship the Lord. Lets get busy and build the Temple. Oh, but it might rain and get cold, lets first build a quick little house to protect our families. But, don’t get carried away, we lived very poor in Babylon, we don’t need much. Just do enough for shelter, and then we will start the Temple.
Good intentions, but the flesh controlled and they never got to the Temple. Instead, they had good careers, they had beautiful homes, they had families, they worked very hard to earn money. There never was time to build the Temple. Always one more excuse. I need shelter, I need food, I need a job, I need more training, I need to pay for my kids schooling, I need to think of retirement. Not now God.
Yet God says
Consider your ways! Haggai 1:5
I knew a man that told me God wanted him to be a missionary in South America. When I asked him why he didn’t leave now, he told me, he had only a few more years to go to retirement from his successful career. He said he would go after he retired. You can guess the rest of the story. He developed a terminal illness and never made it to the field.
What is your excuse that may hinder you from the things of the Lord. There was nothing wrong with these exiles meeting their basic needs. The problem came when they used these reasons to excuse them from doing God’s ultimate purpose for which He brought them into the land.
Christians are not to build a Temple. Perhaps they are to work on the church structure, or teach a class, begin a ministry, speak to neighbor or fellow-worker. I have heard there is much opposition to the Gospel in this land. I am sure there is, but there was just as much over 100 years ago in the UK, and yet a great awakening came. Missions grew and the Gospel was preached.
God has placed each of us in this land of Scotland. Maybe he has moved you from the other side of the world, wherever, you are here for His tasks, not your own purposes or careers.
Each of us needs to see if we use the idea of opposition as an excuse for in action. Do we use the excuse of fatigue from our job as a reason to not pray, study the Bible, or go to church?
God says “consider” which means to “set your mind.” A decision is called for by you, not the one next to you. It says “consider your ways!”
This leads to the second self-examination
Second Self-Examination: Consider your Priorities
Their problem was not that they needed to know the Lord, remember they were the spiritual elite of Israel. Their problem was not that they had true opposition. Their problem was not that they were too poor to divert their energy to the Temple. Yes, they had excuses, but these were the symptoms of a deeper spiritual problem, setting their priorities.
Their lives were very much caught up in the world around them. There was little difference between them and the pagans around them, or their former Babylonian friends. Their lifestyle, music, entertainment was almost the same. They were seeking the world’s life for their satisfaction instead of God. Remember, they were the spiritual elite, the true followers of God. Yet, God says they are inwardly unsatisfied with life.
You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough, you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes. Haggai 1:6
What stinging words to those who are His people. Again He tells them to “Consider your ways!” [Haggai 1:7].
“Your Ways.”
Look at verse 5,
Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of Hosts, “Consider your ways.”
Notice the term used of God, “Lord of Hosts.” Up to now God used the term “Lord” for most of this chapter. Here He changes it to “Lord of Hosts.” Why? The word, “Lord,” always speaks of the loving God who made a covenant with Israel, the loving God who never changes, the “I Am” of the Old Testament. Whenever He uses “Lord of Hosts” He is using a battle term. Often against the enemies of God or against those opposing Him. Thus, these are harsh and strong words of warning to His people. God speaks to them in the strongest of terms. The “therefore” means literally “at this time.” These people are at a crossroad with God. They must decide what is important in life, their paneled homes or His Temple.
We now see that verse 6 shows that God has been the one who has withheld their contentment in life. He allowed them all the wealth and luxury to show them that such things will never satisfy. Look at verse 9
You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? Says the Lord of Hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of your runs to his own house. Therefore, the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. Haggai 1:9-10
Can you feel the anger of God at their sin. He was last in their priorities. Their “ways” were not His ways. The word “way” refers to “conduct.” There was more to it than just going about daily life and being caught up with the routine and forgot about God. He suggests that they were walking in ways that displeased Him. God then outlines areas that they were like the world, rather than living like His people [v 6].
· Activities in general - sown … little
· Daily needs - eat … not enough
· Pleasures - drinking - not filled
· Clothing - . . . but cold
· Occupation - bag with holes
You could sum this up as materialism had taken control. They were like the world and did not know it.
You all know the story of the frog. If you have a frog and you drop him into a boiling pot of water, he will instantly jump out - he knows the danger. But if you put a frog in a pot of comfortable water and then start heating it, he will remain until he too boils.
Throughout Haggai, God will constantly charge or warn them against living in the world’s manner. God says
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2
These people had come from one of the greatest civilizations this world has known. They knew “the good life.” Babylon set many a fashion, established many trends, which still affect our world. God says to “not to be conformed to this world [or age],” A.T. Robertson phrased it, “do not take this world as your fashion plate.” In other words, Christians should establish the right way of doing things, not merely copy the world’s current fashion. Conformed means to make your mind and character like another’s pattern. Christians today are not the leaders but seemingly the followers of society.
We are not Israel nor are we talking about building a Temple. We are talking about our personal lives. Over the last 100 years the UK has declined spiritually. Less than 7.5 % attend “church” on a Sunday. Approximately 2.0 % attend Bible teaching churches in the UK. The age of great missionary outreach to the world has faded from a priority in the UK.
But more importantly, Christians today watch what the world watches on TV. We condemn adultery in those in government or in our neighborhoods, but we get entertained by watching adulterous relationships acted out on the screen. We condemn the world’s music and its advertisements, but do we ever get upset over an advertisement on a billboard in Edinburgh displaying nudity? If we want the world to repent, it must first begin with God’s people.
The people of Haggai’s day responded as the leaders responded [Haggai 1:13-15]. Why, because God motivated them? No, because they feared the consequences of the Lord of Hosts [v. 12]. Notice, they thought over what the Lord had said and 23 days later they responded [v. 15].
Was God off-line? Yes, until He could wait no longer. They should have been grateful for what He had done in returning them to the land, instead their greed and desire to copy the life of the world around them, caused them to slumber.
Is God “offline” with us, NO! but are you hearing Him, reading His messages? Yes if Jesus Christ is not you Savior.
Each of us should consider our ways, our conduct. The church of true believers is not dead. We can each make a change. Not with more programs, but with examining our lives, setting aside the excuses, and adjusting our priorities while there is still time. Is there a difference between your life style and those unsaved around you? If not, Why?
· Are you comfortable in your lifestyle
· do you not want to change or life to be difficult
· do you believed God was “online” but not “sending” out any commands for their life.