Latest / HBCWestminster / 12.12.21 Haggai 2:1-9 Pastor Danny Gardner

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12.12.21 Haggai 2:1-9 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Let's get to God's Word, shall we? In Haggai 2, our text will be verses 1-9, and I'm curious if you listened to Messiah this week. I challenged us last week to maybe consider doing that, listening to Handel's Messiah. And did you stand for the Hallelujah Chorus? 300 years ago, a tradition was begun by King George II in 1742.
• 0:25
  When he was so moved by the music, listening to Handel's Messiah, that he stood when they got to hallelujah, hallelujah. For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Because he stood and he was the king, everyone else also stood who was in attendance. And every generation ever since has stood in the same way. We all now stand for the hallelujah chorus because he did 300 years ago. Such a cool tradition. It's one of my favorite things.
• 0:55
  If you were to make a list of some of your favorite things, what would they be? Maybe some of your favorite holiday traditions. What would top the list? What would be in your top ten? You can imagine a guy coming to you, maybe a man you don't know, and you asked him, what are some of your favorite things? And he began to tell you, here are the things that are my very favorite things. Number one, I like the rain. You're like, okay. But I only like the rain if it falls on roses. I don't like rain anywhere else. I don't like it on sidewalks or streets or the lawn.
• 1:26
  I don't like it on any other flowers other than roses. That's strange. And then he says this, I don't like cats. And you're like, well, I can get on board with that, right? I don't like cats either. But I do, I guess, he said, like the facial hair on baby cats. What? He continues, I like anything shiny that you can boil water in. He says, I only like gloves that are made from wool. I don't like synthetic. I don't like elastic. I don't like cotton. He said, I love brown paper sacks. I especially like string.
• 1:56
  I like baby horses, but only if they come in certain colors. I love dessert, but only if it tastes like apples. I like doorbells. Doorbells? I like doorbells. I don't like doors. I don't like the sound the doorbell makes, but I like the doorbell itself. He says, I like deep fried food, but only if it's served with a side of noodles. He says, I like undomesticated geese.
• 2:20
  And now if the girl next door is feeding those geese and so she calls them her pets, I'm not interested. I only like undomesticated geese that fly at night and only at night. No standing geese during the day. You say, well, that is a ridiculous list. Perhaps Maria von Trapp said it better when she said raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.
• 2:43
  and bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens and brown paper packages tied up with strings and cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels and doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles, wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings. These are a few of my favorite things. And you're like, when it rhymes, it sounds a lot better, right? It doesn't sound as weird when it rhymes. But when you take that list apart, these are a few of your favorite things. You have settled for something far too low.
• 3:12
  There are so many better things on earth than wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings. If you, church, were to make a list of your favorite things, what would they be? And how far down that list would peace with God be? Peace with God, in my opinion, is underrated. And the passage before us this morning in Haggai chapter 2 is...
• 3:41
  My favorite in Haggai because of one divine promise made in verse 9. It's the very end of our text where it says, and in this place I will give peace. And so with that in mind, church, would you stand as I read our text? We'll pray and dig in. Haggai chapter 2 and verse 1. In the seventh month on the 21st day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet. Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah.
• 4:12
  To Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, who was left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt.
• 4:41
  My spirit remains in your midst, fear not. For thus says the Lord of hosts, yet once more in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and I will shake all nations so that the treasures of all nations shall come in and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place, I will give peace.
• 5:11
  declares the Lord of hosts. Would you pray with me? Lord, your word says that you keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you. And so we commit to trust in you with all of our hearts. Lord, we do not lean on our own understanding, but we commit our way to you. And so God, we ask that you would make our paths straight in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church.
• 5:42
  Well, we fast forward 300 years from last Sunday. You'll recall from the last Lord's Day that the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin were considering allying themselves with foreign powers.
• 5:57
  In order to fortify themselves against Assyria. Do you remember that from last week? The Assyrian army is on their doorstep. Their invasion is inevitable. And so the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin are looking around to the nations. Wondering who will come to their aid. And we said last week that nobody would come to their aid but the Lord God. And the Lord God is more powerful than the Assyrians. And there was this promise given in Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 that a son would be given.
• 6:24
  a son whose name would be Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God and Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. If you were to read the first chapter of Haggai, our text now, you'd find how those two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, did because of their disobedience eventually fall. They were taken captive into Babylon where they stayed for 70 years and were eventually released. They were eventually even encouraged to move back to Judah.
• 6:54
  and to begin rebuilding the temple that had been destroyed. The Jews of the time, energized by a renewed sense of nationalism, began reclaiming the promised land in wave after wave. The most famous of these were under Ezra and Nehemiah. They began work, laying the foundation of the temple, but they were soon distracted by work on their own houses. And so all work on the temple ceased, and soon that building lay in ruins.
• 7:25
  The people of Haggai's time heard the challenge of the Lord in Haggai 1 and verse 9, where he said, My house lies in ruins while each of you busies himself with his own house. They had come from Babylon back to the promised land, back to Israel, back to the Temple Mount, and they began that work with enthusiasm. They wanted to do it, but very soon they were distracted with their own houses, with the cares of their own lives.
• 7:52
  And so God challenges them in chapter 1 and verse 9. You're all busy with your work and not mine. And so in chapter 1 and verse 14, the people respond. It says that the Lord stirred up the spirit of the people. And so they came and worked on the house of the Lord, their God, again. A renewed sense of vigor and enthusiasm. But again, they soon became despondent because they quickly forgot what the building was actually designed to do.
• 8:21
  That temple that they were working on wasn't meant to be a formidable structure in order to intimidate their enemies. It was never meant to dazzle the eyes with its beauty in order that it may become a bragging point to outsiders. That temple that they were working on was meant to make peace between God and man. And so we pick up the story in chapter 2 and verse 1. It says, in the seventh month, on the 21st day of the month.
• 8:50
  The challenge of God had been given, the people of God had responded in chapter 1, but only a mere month later we find in the timing of the event that the passage before us now takes place in less than a month. They renew their commitment to rebuild the temple and a month later they're back to doing the old things. And we notice in verses 1 to 3 that what began...
• 9:15
  as an enthusiastic work project, was in danger of grinding to a halt again. We pick up in verse 1, the word of the Lord, it says, came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, speak now to Zerubbabel, he is the chief of the Israelites who was in charge of the building project, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah.
• 9:33
  And to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, who was the high priest, to all the remnant of the people, everybody in town, he says, who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts.
• 10:00
  The temple foundation had already been laid in the time of Ezra, which was 15 years prior to Haggai's writing. The project had been started, but almost immediately abandoned. So neglected was that temple building, that foundation, that it took people nearly a month to reach the foundation that Ezra had laid. It had been piled up with trash and debris, completely neglected. It would have been like...
• 10:29
  That car restoration project that so many men are enthusiastic about at the beginning. They go out and purchase a fixer-upper. They fix the dents. They sand it. They block it. They prime it. They pull it into the garage, waiting for the next step. And then a month goes by, and then months turn into years, and then years turn into decades. And by the time they decide to pick up that project again, there is so much trash on top of the car that they have to spend a week even just unloading all the trash before they can even get...
• 11:00
  to what they had begun. Now you can imagine the joy and excitement of that faithful remnant as they got closer and closer. They're digging down to the foundation every day to what would become the ground floor of the temple. And these young men, the stories they had heard of the first temple, Solomon's temple, the sacrifices and the incense and the implements of worship and the lampstands, the choirs, the festivals, all of these were brought to mind, right? Keep on working because
• 11:30
  They've got this glorious idea in mind. Their imaginations would have been running wild, and then the last pieces of garbage and construction waste were removed. The man whose job it was to sweep the dirt from the stones began his work. With every kind of swoosh of the broom, the people began to realize what a pathetic structure they had actually uncovered. It was nothing like what they had imagined. It was small, even embarrassing.
• 12:03
  So the people lost heart. Church, we go through moods like this ourselves. We may begin the work of God with great joy and vigor, but we soon become distracted, discouraged, disillusioned. We might begin to compare our work with another's. We find ours coming up short. We compare our faith with another's. We find it lacking. We compare our abilities and talents with the work at hand, a work that seems too great, even overwhelming. We feel defeated even before the battle is fought.
• 12:36
  We compare our expectation on God with His expectation on us. We're forced to make a decision. Say, wait a minute. I thought when I got saved, I thought that God would use me for something glorious, that I would go and accomplish something mighty, something great, something that they would write songs about. But all He wants me to do is that? I mean, all I do all day is sit at a desk.
• 13:03
  My whole day is wrapped up in just changing diapers. That's all I do all day. This is not glorious. It is not exciting. Where's the religious romance? You know, I mean, where is it? Ezra describes the scene that had taken place only 15 years prior to Haggai's writing when he says in Ezra chapter 3, that all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, when that foundation had been laid. Because of the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. What's the next word? But.
• 13:35
  That's a weird word. So there's this rejoicing. The temple foundation is finished, but many of the priests and Levites and heads of the father's houses, you see this? Old men who had seen the first house. The guys who were old enough to remember Solomon's temple, they weren't rejoicing. They wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being built.
• 13:59
  Though many shouted aloud for joy, the young ones, so that the people couldn't distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping. For the people shouted with a great shout and the sound was heard far away. Everybody just assumed that it was rejoicing, but it wasn't all rejoicing. Some looked at the temple project and said, this must be a joke. Keep in mind, church, it is the call of God that is glorious, not necessarily the task.
• 14:30
  to which we are called. Let me say that again. It is the call of God that is glorious, not necessarily the task to which we are called. It is up to the Lord to determine what work He has for us. Our job is simply to be faithful. And in faithfulness, we bring Him glory. Amen? That's what it is. It is the call of God. And so the voice of the Lord continued through Haggai in verses 4 and 5. He issues a declaration of strength.
• 14:59
  Of courage. Because of God's presence in their midst. Look again at verse 4. Yet now, it says, be strong, Zerubbabel. It says it again. Be strong, Joshua. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord. Work. You ever noticed how often in Scripture God or one of His messengers tells someone to be strong? Moses commanded the people to be strong.
• 15:30
  When he delivered his farewell address as they prepared to cross over into the promised land. Be strong. Joshua was told to be strong and courageous as he began the conquest. And then in turn, at the end of his life, he told the people to be strong as the conquest drew to a close. David charged his son Solomon to be strong when he began the first temple. The New Testament, the Apostle Paul commands believers to be strong in the Lord and in the might of his.
• 16:01
  And you notice throughout these texts, even the one before us now, men and women were not encouraged to be strong because of the strength that lied untapped within them. You notice it never says be strong because you are strong. Be strong, Moses, because of the strength that lies within you. Be strong, Joshua. Be strong, Christians, because of your inner strength. That's never what it says.
• 16:31
  In fact, it is the Lord's presence that brings strength to the believer. Verse 4 says, For I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts. James Montgomery Boyce has said, It is the presence of God that makes God's people strong. It is the presence of God that makes God's people strong. What a simple quote. That's one you can memorize 10 seconds. You probably already have it. The presence of God that makes God's people strong. You may ask, well, then how do I get that kind of strength and courage?
• 17:02
  How do I get it? I want to be strong like that. How do I get it? The answer is by walking in the presence of God. The closer you draw to God, the stronger you will be. And the stronger you are by the strength of God's might, the less you will have to fear. That's it. You say, okay, that's what I want. How do I get that? How do I walk in the presence of God? And church, the answer is not that hard.
• 17:26
  Don't overthink this one. How do I walk in the presence of God? The answer is the same as how do I walk in the presence of my spouse? Like if I came to you and said, how do I have a healthy and strong marriage? And you said, be in the presence of your wife. Well, how do I do that? How do I stay in the presence of Hallie? Like, well, not that hard. Hang out with her, right? Hang out with her. Spend time with her. Maybe even decide to enjoy spending time with her.
• 18:01
  Talk to her. Let her talk back to you. And the more time you spend in her presence, the more strength your marriage will gain. Right? If you never talk to your wife, you guys, it's not going to work out very well. And can I just encourage you, the same is true with the presence of God. Hang out with Him. Spend time with Him. You're like, well, how much time do I have to spend? Nine minutes when my alarm goes off? Is that because I can check the box? If it's nine minutes, I can do that? You guys, no, it's not about that.
• 18:32
  Spend time with him. Hang out with him the way that you would your spouse. Enjoy spending time with him. You say, well, how much time do I have to spend with my wife? As much as possible. As much as possible. And the same is true with the presence of God. The presence of God brings strength that we find makes it so that we never have to fear.
• 18:56
  And this, in verse 5, is an awesome promise given where it says in verse 5, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt, now notice, my spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. The language here I love. It's awesome because veiled within this statement, my spirit remains in your midst, is a divine promise. He says, you may have strayed, but I'm still here.
• 19:27
  You may have gone off the rails, God says, but I'm still with you. My spirit remains in your midst. And church, the same promise remains today. You may have strayed. You may have made poor choices and gotten into trouble. You may have made a mess of your life or your marriage or your job. But God's spirit remains in your midst. And I've heard it said that no matter how many steps you've taken away from God,
• 19:57
  it still only ever takes one step to get back. I love that. I'll say it again. No matter how many steps you've taken away from God, you're like, I feel so far away. It only ever takes one step to get back. Yahweh reminds the people here that he remained with them during the exodus of Egypt and he would remain with them now. He delivered then, he would deliver now. And then this brings us to our name for the morning.
• 20:26
  You know we're going through a Christmas series called He Shall Be Called, looking at the names of Christ, and we find one again here in verse 7. The next four verses, 6, 7, 8, and 9, God makes a series of decrees. It ends ultimately in peace between God and man. And so look at verse 6. For thus says the Lord of hosts, Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.
• 20:57
  The silver is mine, the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house, referring to the temple, shall be greater than the former. Now imagine what he's saying there. People who had seen the first temple, Solomon's temple, were now crying because of the joke that the second one is. And now he says, now the second one is going to be even better. It's going to be even better. Verse 9 ends, and in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts. Now quite possibly the most difficult verse in the book is verse 7.
• 21:28
  There's a wide array of suggestions as to the meaning, even the translation of the Hebrew word, hamat, meaning treasures in the ESV, treasures of the nations. Whether the word should even be singular or plural is difficult to determine. Due to time constraints, I'm kind of forced to only skim the surface here of the issue, but I believe that this is a reference to Jesus himself. I believe that he was called the treasure of the nations. In fact, that is...
• 21:57
  Our sermon title for this morning, he is the treasure of the nations. Why do I believe that? I think there are three clues pointing to that truth. The first is the syntax itself, okay? Desired of nations, wealth of the nations, yours may say. ESV says treasures of the nations. Now, the problem for many commentators, I think, is kind of the awkward grammatical structure of the phrase. Desired, hamat, wealth, treasure is singular.
• 22:29
  In the Hebrew, it's singular, and yet, you'll notice the ESV translators have added an S. You guys all see that? The treasures of the nations shall come in. It's not plural. It's singular in the Hebrew. Now, the verb that follows is plural, and that's why there's this kind of weird debate. Is it meant to be treasures or treasure? I think there is no problem translating hamat as...
• 22:58
  In fact, this translation actually keeps with the Hebrew more literally. There is one treasure that will come into this new temple, and that is the Messiah himself. That interpretation has been around for centuries, almost millennia at this point. Ancient rabbis, early church fathers agreed that the desired of nations is a reference to the coming Christ. In fact, if you did indeed listen to Handel's Messiah, then you heard it translated that way. Where Handel says at one point all the tenors are singing,
• 23:28
  And they are singing Isaiah chapter 40. You can hear the tenors there in your head. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for God. We know that text. That is John the Baptist. And then the whole choir jumps in. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. And then the bases pick up. Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. Yet once in a little while.
• 23:57
  I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations. He's quoting Haggai chapter two and the desired, the treasure of all nations shall come. That was 300 years ago. A more modern musician has taken the same approach in a song called Famous One. Some of you guys know that by Chris Tomlin. He says the same thing, desired of nations and every heart, you are beautiful, beautiful. You are the Lord.
• 24:26
  The syntax, I think, points to Christ, but notice also the splendor that is described. Verse 7 says, so that the treasure of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The use of glory is frequently used in reference to the Messiah. Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 5, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.
• 24:53
  And all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah chapter 16, verse 1. Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. When Christ was eventually presented at the temple, when he was a mere eight days old, he was handed by those young parents to Simeon, a righteous, devout, old man, who not only declared this newborn to be the Messiah, but actually called him much more. Look at Luke chapter 2.
• 25:21
  Verse 29, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace. He says, I can finally die. According to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for, what does it say? Glory to your people Israel. The second temple, what was being built during Haggai's time, we find was to be honored by the presence of Christ himself.
• 25:51
  a divine presence. And although the building itself may have been slightly diminished in terms of beauty compared to the first temple, Solomon's temple, the glory of the second temple was by far greater, which is why he says in verse nine, the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former. Not because of its earthly treasure, not because of its gold or silver. God says, all of that belongs to me already.
• 26:21
  Rather, because this would be the temple that Jesus would claim as his own. The presence of God resided in the first temple, but the person of God would take up residence in the second. By far the greater of the two. And notice, finally, the serenity, the peace that is offered in verse 9. And in this place it says, I will give peace. The glory that was to be revealed.
• 26:52
  through that desired of nations, the treasure of the nations, would result in peace between God and man. This was the child who would be declared to be the prince of peace. This would be the child of whom it was sung by that angelic host to the shepherds, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. It wasn't the silver of the earth or the gold of the earth, but rather this temple's glory would outshine the former because of the desired one.
• 27:21
  That would come to this place and reconcile all men to God. Let me end with a question. We're talking about peace with God. Did it work? Did it work? When the child was born, when the Prince of Peace was born, did it work? Do we actually now have peace with God? Yes. Romans chapter 5 and verse 1 says this. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 27:55
  Church, where does peace with God rank on the list of your favorite things? Better by far than doorbells. All right? Better by far than wild geese. Better by far than kitten whiskers. Than raindrops on roses. Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, I pray that everyone who hears this message will have experienced that same peace freely offered, freely received through Jesus. And it's in his name we pray. Amen.