
Book of Haggai
Rev. David Ryan
We have been working our way
Through the minor prophets for a number of weeks now.
We are closing in on the end.
There is today’s text from Haggai, next week Zechariah
And then Malachi.
Last week you may remember that I said
There are 12 minor prophets.
9 of them were sharing their message pre-exile.
Zephaniah was the last of them.
That leaves 3 post-exile prophets.
The first of which is Haggai.
The book of Ezra, who was the Priest who lead
The exiled people back from Babylon,
Mentions Haggai 2 times.
It was a hard time for the people of Israel
They yearned to return to their homeland
But things were in Chaos there.
Now, I have to tell you in advance
That some of today’s message will sound a lot
Like last weeks message-
Because we are in the minor prophets
All of whom were addressing isreal
Through the same historic period.
Now that’s ok with me.
Because I know that sometimes
I don’t hear something the first time.
Sometimes God has to repeat his messages to me
Before they make into this brain and heart of mine.
Last week we talked about some of the hard times we face.
We don’t need to go into them again.
We know what they are.
There are times when we are feeling blessed
And we know it, and we are giving God thanks for it. –
But there are times when we feel like we are just
Living through a hard time.
how do you deal with life
when , at least – it does not feel like a time of blessing.
When it just feels hard
When you wonder – what is going on?
Someone said to me the other day –
I know we are not supposed to think this way
but sometimes you just feel like wondering
What did I do to deserve this?
Hard times happen.
It's a part of this life.
Yes...there are moments of blessing -
even in the worst of times
But man – sometimes its just hard.
One of the things we can do
in those hard times
is turn to the word of God
Because there are plenty of instances throughout history -
that there were hard times.
There can be personal hard times
and there can be national hard times -
and the folks in scripture had it the same way.
Again, Our scripture text for today is from Haggai -
it’s not a place we turn to very often -
I at least get to it once a year when I am reading
through scripture – that's the truth with most of the prophets
for me – but there are gems to be found in them.
First a review of history.
Israel had been unfaithful to God for a long period of time.
We have gone through the time of the kings
there were good kings, but mostly bad kings.
Mostly they did things that were “evil in the eyes of the Lord”
and the people generally followed the example
of their king
one of the ways God dealt with the unfaithfulness of isreal
was to allow other world powers to come in
and take over their land
God never stopped loving his people
but sometimes God allowed hard stuff to happen to them
in part, as a way of drawing them, eventually back to him -
at least that seems to be the lesson scripture is trying to teach.
Israel had been unfaithful
and so the Babylonians came in
took over the land
Destroyed the temple
and most of the population was sent into exile
a remnant remained
but most were sent to Babylon.
Babylon was in the area that is modern day Iraq
But that was only for a season.
Eventually the Persians took over the Babylonians -
the center of the Persian empire is today's Iran.
That area of the world has been in contention
a lot of times through history.
The Persian king Cyrus was for sending the Jews
who have been in exile back to their homeland.
And many of the Jews did return -
but when they got there -
that was not the end of their hard times.
Inflation was rampant.
Everything cost more money than people had.
The weather was bad
Crops were failing.
The temple was in ruins.
The wall was torn down in many places.
It was a hard time.
But God sent a message through a prophet named Haggai
Repeated time and time again are the words –
Give careful thought.
This is important.
How we respond to our hard times is important.
And scripture tells us that the people listened to Haggai
There was a governor – Zerubbabel -
and a high priest – Joshua ( not the same Joshua who took over
leadership after Moses).
There was a revival
people began to turn to the Lord again.
In chapter 1 of Haggai we are told that
the Lord stirred up the spirit
of Zerubbabel and Joshua -
and not only them but all the people.
And the spirit of God spoke a word of encouragement to them
even in the midst of their hard time.
Here's what happened.
God called them to make a good assessment of their problem.
He told them – Give Careful thought.
take a good look at this place
it’s a mess.
The temple is in ruins.
Face it.
There is no use denying it.
Do you remember its former glory
how does it look now?
Does it not seem like...nothing?
Sometimes, folks, we can be in a hard place
but we don't want to admit it.
We don’t want to face the facts.
But you know, denial only lasts so long.
Eventually you got to tell it like it is.
Eventually you've got to say – yes...things are a mess.
In my family.
In my life
With my work.
Maybe even in my church.
When we face it, God can, in his time, begin to work with it.
Assess your situation.
Is it good? Then good!
Is it messed up? Well then...seek the Lord.
And here it what the Lord said through Haggai the prophet.
Be strong.
Be strong Zerubbabel – governor of the people
Be strong Joshua – high priest
Be strong all the people of the Land.
In the midst of our hard times
I think the Spirit of the Lord calls out to us
Be strong.
How can we be strong we wonder -
Sometimes in the midst of our hard times
We feel anything but strong.
In fact, we can't be strong on our own.
We are weak-
But guess what ...if we are weak – that's OK
maybe that is just where God wants us!
Ever think of that?
God is OK with us being weak –
because then we can be strong in him!
A long time from when Haggai was preaching
there would be another preacher by the name of Paul
you've heard of him?
Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 12 and look for verse 9.
Paul knew a lot about hardship.
Before he was Paul, he was Saul -
and as Saul, he caused a whole lot of hardship for Christians
But then, when God turned his life around,
He had his own shares of hardships.
He was shipwrecked
beaten
had times when he was starving
had times when he was bitten by a snake
he also had something he called the thorn in his flesh -
we don't know exactly what that was -
but it was something that was hard for him to deal with.
And he asked God to relive him of it.
But God never did.
Why?
Well – Paul came to understand
that it was to keep him from becoming conceited.
He pleaded for God to take it away -
But do you remember what God said to him?
You probably will when you read it.
God said these wonderful words to him
My grace is sufficient for you
for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
So you know what Paul said to that?
He said -
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me
That is why, he writes -
for Christ's sake I delight in weaknesses -
in insults in hardships, in persecutions,
in difficulties
For when I am weak – then I am strong
Oh – can I get a hallelujah or a praise you Jesus on that?
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Not because of me
but because of God's grace working in me.
Come on holy spirit!
Rest on me!
Breath on me!
Melt me!
Mold me!
Fill me – use me!
Spirit of the Living God – fall afresh on me!
When I am weak then I am strong
When I am in hardship... it's OK.
God calls me to be strong.
Just like Zerubbabel
Just like Joshua
Just like the people who came back from exile
Be strong – for I am with you – said God.
We heard it last week from Zephaniah –
We hear it again in Haggai.
I know you are in a hard time
But be strong – because I am with you.
God is with us folks.
Yes, we got problems
But God is with us!
Now, there is something I skipped over.
It's right there in verse 5 -
that's why it's important that as I preach
you be looking at the scriptures!
Don't let me get away with skipping over something!
God says – be strong – but he also says – and work!
You have something to do!
You have stuff to put in order!
Grace is there.
God is there-
But grace has work for us to do!
If stuff is messed up in your family -
there is stuff for you to do
If stuff is messed up in your work
there is stuff for you to do
If stuff is messed up in our church
there is stuff for us to do.
Yes, it's guided by grace
yes, its empowered by grace
but God still wants to use our hands and feet -
our minds – our voices.
If we are sick,
there is grace and there is healing -
but there is also our part
to do our therapy, say –
we see our doctors
we follow a treatment plan.
We have surgery if we need.
Or maybe it is more basic –
We eat well
or rest
or exercise
or do what we can do on our part -
in our families – there is counseling maybe to go to
There are truths to be voiced
There is forgiveness to give
There is love and care to be shown.
If it's in our work
there is work to put in
We've got to do our part as God enables us.
In verse 6 God starts saying the things he will do
in a little while....
not yet
but in a little while.
He will shake the heavens and the earth.
the sea and the land
he will shake up the nations.
he will have the gold he needs.
he will have the silver he needs -
what is that to God?
God can do whatever God wants to do.
But in the meantime, he calls the people to have faith.
Believe in what is yet to be.
Oh – and I know that is hard for us to do in hard times
to believe that things will one day be different.
But with God anything is possible.
Do you believe that?
I sure do!
With God anything is possible.
Believe that.
A broken family?
It can be made right again someday.
A Bad time at work?
It can be made right too
A low time in the church?
A better day can be in the future.
How we gonna get there?
By faith
By believing in what is not yet.
The temple was rebuilt
but never to its former glory – as a building
but that is because God had something even better in mind.
A temple not made of stone
but the hearts of the people
God had in mind to build the church
through Jesus.
Jesus would say – this temple will be destroyed
but God will raise it up in three days –
he was not talking about the temple in Jerusalem
like the disciples though – but about himself –
and later, we would be called the priests and the temple.
God is at work
and he has work for us to do.
And as we do it, we are called to believe
in what is yet to be.
And it will be better than anything we ever dreamed of
Even if all that does not happen here in our time
or even here in our earth –
A future time is coming....
a place called heaven
Where there will be no more tears
no more pain, no more suffering
no need for hard times
for we will finally be what God has called us to be.
So friend if you are going through a hard time
be encouraged.
Be strong...work...for the Lord is with you.
The Lord is with us.
Amen.