Recap: Series. Ezekiel- Faith is remembering the story; exodus and Jesus.
Micah—Faith as doing what God requires, walk humbly, do justice and kindness
Tonight. Haggai, Hebrew means to Observe a pilgrimage feast or make a pilgrimage
It is ironic, since, the Judeans have made this journey from Babylon back to Jerusalem. No one knows who Haggai is related to, nor if he was one of the exiles, but that is not important. What is important for us to know is that he is a prophet sent from the LORD.
History: Economy is in bad shape. Persian empire still in control, so the Judeans are not totally free. Darius Persian emperor, 5 centuries before Jesus.
1 of the exiles who returns is Zerubabbel, a descendant of David who becomes governor. The other leader, according to the prophet Zechariah, Haggai and Ezra the priest, was Joshua the high priest during this time.
Israel’s leadership is complaining about their economic crisis, probably asking God why. God’s answer: Haggai 1:3-9
God does not want to go on the show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and have that Ty Pennington; He wants the Jews to rebuild his people
Verses 5 & 7,twice, the phrase “consider how you have fared” the Hebrew literally means ‘set the heart’; the heart in the OT is the organ for thinking, feeling, and will. The mind and heart are joined together. God is asking Judah to pour out their hearts, to work for Him to rebuild His house.
The Temple is important. First Temple. Why? 1st Kings 8:27-39
Not gonna go into great detail, but you can find them in 1st kings 6-8. Temple walls tell a story. Besides all of the garden imagery paved in gold, in the middle of the sanctuary stood 2 statues; if you recall for our lesson in Ezekie; the 4 faced 4 winged alien creature animal angels, well, they are statues in the temple, staring at each other—the seat where God’s presence is, where God is supposed to have sat.
Resemble the Garden of of Eden, Genesis 3, guardian angel. God, like he tells Micah, want to walk with the Judeans in the temple once again, like things were in the Garden of Eden.
After hearing this, the Judeans were so filled with fear, they did not know what to do. So guess what? They procrastinated! Just like I have, as recently as I had this morning, and I sure you have for midterms or last minute papers/projects. They procrastinated for 3 weeks.
So, God has to shake things up. Haggai 1:13-15 Ppl get inspired. God stirs things up, but the text does not tell us how. As someone who likes to cook, I know that for different recipes, there has to be specific temperatures, stir right time, right ingredients. I brought stirring spoon I won from chilli contest; demonstrate. Eventually, the temple gets finished.
How does this apply to us? Haggai’s message
#1 We know in the gospels that Jesus and his disciples lives revolved around the temple: (John 2:16-22)
#2 Jesus and the apostle Paul teach us that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1st Corinthians 3:16-17)
First Christian leaders after Jesus died, Clement of Alexandria once asked, “Without the body, how could (God’s) or the divine plan achieve its end?”
God needs human bodies to execute his agenda, which we learned from Mark is love.
#3 Because we have God’s Holy Spirit within us, the Spirit of Faith, we know that God is faithful. God walks with us now, just as God with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and just like He did with the Judeans in the Temple. Faith is know that God is with us, even when times get tough. Like Haggai’s last name suggest, our lives are a pilgrimage, a journey, one in which God joins.
#4 Lastly, Sharing our faith, means telling others that God loves them, and wants them to be temples of His holy spirit. There are opportunities to testify to the Spirit of Faith, like Haggai. Groups on campus like Invisible Children. Frogs for Life, because the unborn are also temples of the Holy Spirit. Spring break also: when you have fun, remember that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Trinity! Equality! Liberty!
