Latest / Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms / #184. When Your Priorities Are Out of Order: Lessons From Haggai & Zechariah | Haggai 1–2, Zechariah 1–3

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#184. When Your Priorities Are Out of Order: Lessons From Haggai & Zechariah | Haggai 1–2, Zechariah 1–3 · Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms

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  This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.
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  I'm Stephanie Hickox.
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  In today's episode, we're looking at two of the minor prophets.
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  First, we'll cover Haggai chapters one and two, and then Zechariah one through three.
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  These prophets charge the returning exiles and their leaders to prioritize righteousness and the rebuilding of God's house, and we'll be reminded that it's not our works that make us holy, but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf.
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  Haggai and Zechariah are two of the three post-exilic prophets.
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  They wrote to Israel after they returned home from the Babylonian captivity Haggai's main purpose was to encourage the people to rebuild the temple Yet he cautioned them against merely completing a construction project.
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  He wanted the rebuilding to be the fruit of a righteous and purified generation This book contains four messages that the prophet delivered to the people within a very short time span, all in 520 As we listen to Haggai's
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  rebuke of the people's priorities in chapter one, I pray that the Holy Spirit would be at work in our hearts as well in the areas where we need realignment and adjustment.
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  Beginning in verse one In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel, the son
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  of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
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  Thus says the Lord of hosts, These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.
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  Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet.
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  Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins?
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  Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways.
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  You have sown much and harvested little.
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  You eat, but you never have enough.
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  You drink, but you never have your fill.
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  You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm.
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  And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
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  Thus says the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways.
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  Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.
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  You looked for much, and behold, it came to little.
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  And when you brought it home, I blew it away.
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  Why, declares the Lord of hosts?
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  Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.
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  therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.
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  And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and on beast, and on all their labors.
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  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
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  their God had sent them.
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  And the people feared the Lord.
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  then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message.
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  I am with you, declares the Lord.
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  we previously read that the people faced opposition in the Book of Ezra They began building the temple, but they were shut down by the adversaries around them.
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  They thought, "Okay, now's not the time.
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  Let's go focus on our own homes."
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  And as they were apathetic to the priorities of the Lord, there were economic consequences.
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  He didn't prosper and bless them He wanted their attention and he wanted his house to be rebuilt But Haggai says, Now is the time to rise up and complete the project."
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  Thankfully, the people receive the word and they obey.
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  I'm going to highlight a couple verses in chapter two.
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  God acknowledges that some might be discouraged if they had experienced the former glory of Solomon's temple.
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  But three times He tells Zerubbabel their leader, and Jeshua or Joshua, their high priest to be strong in the Lord.
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  In verse five, he affirms, "My spirit remains in your midst.
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  Fear not."
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  And he promises that at some point he will fill this house with glory, and in that place, he will give peace.
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  unlike Moses's tabernacle or Solomon's temple, We do not have a scriptural account or a record of God's glory filling this temple.
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  So this, like many other verses in these post-exilic prophets, Points to the future glory of the Messianic King.
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  At the end of Haggai, God confirms he was reestablishing the Davidic line through Zerubbabel.
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  I will take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you," declares the Lord of hosts.
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  now let's look at the Book of Zechariah, and part of his ministry was concurrent with Haggai's, but he ministered for a very long time.
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  He's unique in that he is both a priest and a prophet, and part of this book was written in his younger days as a priest, and part of it when he was older.
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  There's a bit of a stylistic difference, but an abundance of consistencies that reassure us that they were all written by the same author you may notice this difference between chapters one through eight and nine through fourteen.
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  Listen to this description from George L.
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  Robinson.
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  Zechariah is the most messianic, the most truly apocalyptic and eschatological of all the writings of the Old Testament."
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  And I really love what David Barron says about this minor prophet Zechariah makes several significant contributions to the Bible, foremost being the revelation of the Messiah.
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  Indeed, it seems to be the special aim and mission of Zechariah to condense and concentrate in small compass and in his own peculiar terse style Almost all that has been revealed to the former prophets about the person and
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  mission of Messiah, about his divine and yet truly human character, and of his sufferings and of the glory that should follow Zechariah's precise predictions of the Messiah are sure to sound familiar to you.
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  And he rightfully understands that Messiah will be priest and king will be honored and rejected In the next episode, we'll talk more about Zechariah, and I'll explain a really neat theory Meredith Kline proposed about the structure of Zechariah
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  and the Messianic passages it hinges upon.
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  The first section of the book covers six visions that occur on one night So I guess Zechariah can relate to your sleepless nights as a mom this sleepless in Jerusalem night occurred 16 years after the people returned from
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  captivity.
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  Let me point out some portions that I think are especially revealing about God's heart Right away, Zechariah issues the purpose of the book.
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  He reminds the people, The Lord was very angry with your fathers.
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  Thus says the Lord of Hosts, 'Return to me,' says the Lord of Hosts, and I will return to you,' says the Lord of Hosts.
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  Do not be like your fathers to whom the former prophets cried out Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.'
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  But they did not hear or pay attention to me," declares the Lord.
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  Next, Zechariah has his first vision of riders on horses the angel on the red horse is the angel of the Lord.
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  And this horse represents blood and judgment The white horse represents triumph and glory And the Moody Commentary says that the sorrel horse probably means That his coloring, that this horse had a variegated coloring, and that it might represent
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  a combination of judgment and triumph Here Israel is in a ravine.
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  That means that they are in a lowly and oppressed place the angel of the Lord acknowledges that the Lord has been angry these 70 years against Judah This reaffirms verse two, where Zechariah used a very intense word, which
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  actually translates to angry with anger God's anger was absolutely justified.
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  But listen to how a perfect loving God handles his anger verse thirteen says, And the Lord answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
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  Thus says the Lord of Hosts, I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion, and I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease."
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  For a while I was angry, but a little.
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  They furthered the disaster.
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  Therefore thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy.
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  My house shall be built in it,' declares the Lord of Hosts."
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  And later he says, And the Lord will again comfort Zion, and again choose Jerusalem."
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  In chapter two, Jerusalem is being measured again, But this time an angel reports it doesn't need walls because there will be so many people in it And that God will be the glory in its midst In verse 11,
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  "And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day and shall be my people.
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  And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you.
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  And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem."
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  It is amazing to me that after all the nation has done, how they've betrayed and forsaken the Lord, and that even after their extremely long consequence of being grounded for 70 years, they're returning to the land and falling
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  into complacency once again But God still says, I'll dwell with you and I'll choose you again."
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  He chooses to act in mercy toward his people, and it is beautiful.
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  The anger he spoke of is the jealous anger of a bridegroom that loves his bride.
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  He just won't give us up for another.
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  And if you ever find yourself experiencing a consequence of sin, you should feel so honored, loved, and chosen by your Heavenly Father that faithfully disciplines you for your good As a parent, I hope you can see over and
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  over what faithfulness looks like.
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  God is relentless in pursuing His people He has not shied away from allowing suffering to sanctify them And he's not trying to provide everything that would make them happy in this life.
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  He knows that He is what will make them happy.
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  Modern psychologists may not love it, but He's not afraid of giving fair consequences to get to the heart of His people.
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  He's not about behavior modification, but He knows He is the only one worthy of their worship, and He doesn't give up on them until they return to Him.
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  He really does call His people to faithfulness.
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  But praise Jesus, our God does not require perfection.
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  And I'm humbled And I'm humbled at Zechariah's vision in chapter three Then he showed me Joshua the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
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  And the Lord said to Satan, 'The Lord rebuke you, O Satan!
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  The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you!
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  Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?'
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  Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.
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  And the angel said to those who were standing before him, Remove the filthy garments from him.
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  And to him he said, Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.
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  And I said, Let them put a clean turban on his head.
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  So they put a clean turban on his head, and clothed him with garments.
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  And the angel of the Lord was standing by And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, Thus says the Lord of hosts, If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my
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  house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here.'"
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  God promises to send his servant, the branch, which combines two messianic descriptions.
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  The phrase that Joshua was clothed with filthy garments utilizes one of the strongest words to communicate filth.
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  But God doesn't even ask the high priest to remove these clothes.
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  He has the angel remove the garments because Joshua, you, and I have never been asked to be the solution for our sin Instead, God has asked us to love kindness, to do justice, to walk humbly with Him, and
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  to worship the one who will take our iniquity away The one who is both the rider on the red horse And the high priest and king who laid down his life for us Heavenly Father, we praise you that
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  you require our faithfulness You pursue us so diligently when our priorities are misaligned.
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  And I ask for your Holy Spirit to be at work in each of us, convicting us of how we focus our time and where we devote our energy As you have chosen to dwell in our midst and have
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  selected us as your daughters, you deserve first place in our lives We praise you that you have removed our filthy garments from us.
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  And we need your Spirit to allow us to communicate the beauty of this reality to our children.
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  Help us to walk mercifully and patiently with them, pointing to the perfection and sacrifice of Jesus Christ We pray that our children would understand that the burden does not fall on their shoulders And Jesus, we pray that this
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  acknowledgement would cause each and every one of us to draw near to you.
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  May your presence be the privilege of our lives.
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  It's in your worthy name we pray.
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  Amen.