Lack of Proper Priorities Leads to Carnal Compromises

LACK OF PROPER PRIORITIES LEADS TO CARNAL COMPROMISES

(Haggai 1:1-15)

1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'This people says, "The time has not come, even the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt."'"
3 Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
⁴"Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?"
5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways!
6 "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes."
7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways!
8 "Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified," says the LORD.
9 "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.
10 "Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce.
¹¹"I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands."
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 showed reverence for the LORD.
13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke by the commission of the LORD to the people saying, " 'I am with you,' declares the LORD."
14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.

PURPOSE:

To encourage my listeners to make God’s kingdom their top priority

AUDIENCE:

Audience: Youth/young adult

INTRODUCTION:

God’s people were presented with a task. He had brought them out of exile back to the land of Israel with one purpose at the forefront of their minds. Rebuild the temple. In 586 B.C. Solomon’s temple had been destroyed when Jerusalem was burned by the Babylonian army. Now more that seventy years had passed. God used Cyrus a pagan king to send his people home. The king himself commanded the people to build a temple, but after a while other things became more important.

I. Haggai’s First Message: The Call to Rebuild the Temple (1:1-11)

    A. The People’s Lame Excuse (1:1-4)

        Prosecutor: First of all we see that the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai. A prophet was a spokesman for God, one who would deliver messages often symbolically to a wayward ruler or an unrepentant people. He would pronounce doom and sometimes offer deliverance. On could think of a prophet in some cases as a prosecuting attorney, bringing indictments against those who had broken the law of God.

        Defendant: Following this illustration, we could see Zerubbabel and Joshua, the ones to whom the message is directed, as the chief defendants. Zerubbabel had led the Jews out of Babylonian exile some eighteen years before this prophecy. He was a descendant of David and ruled the people not as king but as a vassal governor to Cyrus, king of the Persian empire. Joshua as high priest was Zerubbabel’s joint-leader. Thus the indictment is made against governmental and religious leaders.

        Indictment: The charges against Zerubbabel and Joshua were also true of the people as a whole. But leaders are always held responsible for the actions of those they lead. This is a true statement: Everything rises and falls on leadership. Leaders are held to a higher standard and are charged with the responsibility to motivate their charges to work and live according to Godly principles. The charge was this: The people of Israel had abandoned the building of the Temple – the house of the Lord – in order to build immaculate housing for themselves. They had ceased doing the work of the Lord and instead were working only for themselves. “Paneled houses” was a phrase usually connected with royal housing. The panels would have been made of cedar. They were living like kings while God’s house was still in ruins.

    B. The Poverty of the People (1:5-6)

        Sentence: Consider your ways! – Think carefully about what you are doing. Their houses looked good. While they were building they living in so much luxury that they all could make their houses look royal. But now they were starving in royal homes. Their clothes were wearing out and money was becoming less valuable.

    C. The Reason God Has Cursed Them (1:7-11)

        Sentence con’t: In 5 and 6 they were instructed to think carefully about how bad things were. Here they are instructed to think carefully about why things were so bad and how they could be changed. IT all boils down to this: God had brought the Jews from Persia to build him a temple. Almost two decades have passed. They’ve spent that time rebuilding their way of life, houses and crops, etc. That was fine. They needed houses and crops. But they didn’t need to live like royalty while God’s house was in ruins. When they had first arrived, they had worked on rebuilding the Temple, but as time passed they became more concerned with their own lives and quit doing the work God had commanded them. Because of this God was withholding the blessings he had previously given them. In essence, they had broken his law – the covenant – and on the basis of the covenant he punished them.

II. The Response of Zerubbabel and the People (1:12-15)

    A. The Leaders and the Remnant Obey (1:12)

        Restitution: The leadership encouraged the people to work and they did so. They obeyed God by rebuilding his temple. The people had committed a crime against God by not obeying him. He had offered them the chance to alleviate punishment by making restitution. They did so with a reverent attitude. They recognized that God had the right to expect of them and that they must obey him

    B. The Lord Strengthens the Workers (1:13-15)

        Restoration: When the people began to obey once more, the Lord sent Haggai with another message. It was short, but it must have given the people so much confidence to hear it at last. “I am with you.” The punishment would now end. No longer would the Lord withhold blessings. Now he stirred up the spirits of the leaders and the workers alike to accomplish the work he had set out for them.

CONCLUSION:

Haggai came with a simple proposition: You have sinned against God by putting your own wants above what he has commanded you. Because of that, you are not being blessed. Now, obey God. Do what he says and he will bless you yet again.

APPLICATION:

How about us? Are our priorities correct? Do we place building God’s kingdom above out own? If not, why should we expect him to bless us? Think about this. Do you need to re-prioritize your life today?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barker, Kenneth (Gen Ed). The Zondervan NASB Study Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.

MacArthur, John. MacArthur’s Quick Reference Guide to the Bible. Word, 2001.

Placed on site October 16, 2002

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