Destination: Zephaniah & Haggai | Skip Heitzig

[Music] this flight brings us near our final segments over the Old Testament first we will see Zephaniah who was a descendant of the good King Hezekiah next in view will be hey guy this prophet encouraged his fellow Jews in Jerusalem to complete the rebuilding of the temple I want to start by saying poor Zephaniah poor Zephaniah you know he's a neglected fellow I could prove it how many of you have heard a sermon in the book of Zephaniah lately raise your hands how many of you have ever heard a sermon on the book of Nehemiah in your whole life raise your hands okay a few of you where'd you hear that here okay so so maybe that wasn't totally fair but you know here's a neglected prophet it's in the Galactic it's a small book it's hard to find some people may still be trying to shuffle around go where's that book had it stuck to back there somewhere all those other short little books with weird names in it he's mistaken for Zechariah sometime which is a different prophet we're gonna talk about next week as we finish out the Old Testament and because of the theme he he packs a punch he's a short little book with a heavy-duty punch and a very powerful message and it's not a message that necessarily we would want to read a lot or we would make it our life verse for instance I have yet to find somebody who said you know my life verse is F an ayah chapter whatever verse whatever it's a message of judgment it sounds like a hard message but let's call it this the dark side of love the dark side of love and let me illustrate that by a little story there once was a man who stood over the bed of a young girl and as she looked up at that tall imposing figure of a man she started screaming and the mother rushed in the room and grabbed her little girl the man went out of the room got on the phone and set a plan in motion with another man on the other the telephone so the man then quickly rushed back into the room took the screaming little girl into his arms rushed out and put her in the backseat of his car and squealed his tires out of the parking lot and took her to a very plain drab looking building to the top floor where there was a single light on the ceiling and there a man who was talking on the other end of the telephone plunged a knife into the young girl now you hear that story you go that is horrible that's cruel well let me fill in the details the man who drove the girl was the father of the girl the girl was his daughter she burst her appendix he took her to a hospital and on the top floor where there was a surgery suite the man who took the knife was a surgeon with a scalpel who operated on the girl to save her life by taking out the ruptured appendix and you go okay I get it and so that's what you have to do with some of the stories and some of the themes like Zephaniah he talks about a God who loves his people enough to hurt them in order that he might heal them he's like the surgeon with the scalpel plunging the scalpel in carefully performing an operation and so this prophet looks through judgment to blessing that's the theme of the book through judgment to blessing looking past the judgment that God says must come upon a nation that has sinned but in the end the hurting is to bring healing he's a very very good physician so through judgment to healing Charles Haddon Spurgeon one of my favorite old dead preachers said that he visited a man on a farm who had a weathervane on the top of his barn and it was a very unusual weather vane because not only did it spin around in different directions with the wind but on the main part of the weather vane were the words God is love god is love and so Spurgeon said are you by that trying to show that God's love changes like the wind now he said what I'm trying to change say is that no matter which way the wind blows God is always loved and this prophet basically in three chapters tells us that the wind of judgment will blow through but God is love the wind of blessing is eventually going to come and it's because God is love and so we as children of God shouldn't question when the wind is blowing against us in adversity and say this can't be of God God wouldn't allow this to happen hey God might have caused this to happen because he wants something good to come out of it cuz God says he's gonna bring judgment through the Babylonians now I want to teach you two words tonight two new words you ready you can impress all your friends pre-exilic and post-exilic just remember those words because the prophets the minor prophets break up into those two sections they're either pre-exilic prophets that is they wrote before the exile before the Babylonian captivity of seventy years or they are post-exilic they were written after the Exile the Babylonian captivity of 70 years pre-exilic and post-exilic by the way you also have a third category and that is Xillia prophets prophets who wrote during the Exile Daniel was an axillary land exilic prophet but Jeremiah Isaiah and most all of the others were before pre-exilic prophets there are three prophets that our post exile or post-exilic prophets and one is Haggai that's the one we're going to cover next right after this in just a minute and then the last two of the Old Testament Zechariah and Malachi both of those were written after the Exile so now you learned three new words tell all your friends about pre post and exilic prophets now something about Zechariah excuse me see I'm gonna get a messed up now Zephaniah the Prophet Zephaniah was the prophet of the eleventh hour the eleventh hour let me explain you know prophets would come at different times and give messages but every now and then you'd have a group of people listening to what the Prophet said and thereby turning the judgment or keeping the judgment away for a period of time certain things happen the hearts of the people would respond it is believed that because of Zephaniah smin astray that the reforms of josiah the king started now i want to explain that if you remember back in your history there was a king of judah named Josiah and Josiah was eight years old when he became King you go a politician a ruler of a nation and eight-year-old kid well he actually did a lot better job than a lot of politicians who've been doing it a long time because he his heart was after the Lord he was seeking the Lord when he was sixteen years of age eight years into his reign you know what he did he started finding all of the false altars of BHEL breaking him down grinding them to powder taking the the bones of the priests who had worshipped on those false altars and burned those bones and scattered their ashes and then when he was 26 years of age they were cleaning out the temple and he gave a large sum of government money to fix the temple they found a book of the law and when the law was brought before King Josiah and it was read and Josiah realized man we have fallen away from God a massive reform happened to the people and they turned back to God and they celebrated the Passover and it is believed that the preaching of this Prophet Zephaniah was one of the key components during that time to bring the people back to God he was the eleventh hour' prophet so the theme once again true the judgment to the blessing and so judgment and blessing are the two main themes of this book well you could divide the book up by three chapters basically I'll give you the exact divisions but there's three chapters it's a very short book I think there's what fifty three verses in this short book thirty eight verses in the very next book it's a very short book but the three chapters are the three major themes chapter number one is look within look within chapter number two look around and then chapter number three look beyond so chapter 1 verse 1 all the way to chapter 2 verse 3 is where they're told to look within look within your walls o Jerusalem and see all of the things that I the Lord God and then a judge Jerusalem and Judah for as you look within you'll discover why the judgment is coming on you but then chapter 2 verse 4 all the way to chapter 3 verse 8 they're told to look around and they look around at different nations north south east and west of Israel as all of them are called into judgment by God and then eventually they're called to look beyond and beginning in verse 9 of chapter 3 - all the way to verse 20 is there to look beyond the judgment in Jerusalem beyond the judgment to the nation's and to the blessing that is going to come in the future so let's look at verse 1 chapter 1 the word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Kushi the son of get Alya the son of a Mariah the son of Hezekiah there's a lot of ayahs there in the days of Josiah the son of Ammon the king of Judah now why are all of those names put in the first verse to let you know that this prophet was directly related to the royal class of Judah he's the great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah the great reformer king of Judah which makes him a cousin to King Josiah who is presently on the throne so that genealogy is placed there in verse 4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem I will cut off every trace of bale from this place the names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests those who worship the hosts of heaven on the housetops this was astrology worship they worship the Stars the Sun the moon on altars that were atop their roofs those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord but who also swear by milcom or Molech a Phoenician God here's the deal here's the deal they said they loved God they loved Yahweh they they worshiped in the temple all that stuff they said that and they were going through the motions of temple worship but at the same time they were worshipping other things other gods other modes of worship so they would blend their worship together it's called syncretism it's like saying you know I'm gonna go to church every Sunday because it's gonna make me feel really good that I go to church every Sunday and it's really good to show my kids that I go to church every Sunday then I'm gonna live any way I want to live God is saying you know what I see that I'm gonna do something about that you can't live that way that's not commitment that's not devotion so verse 6 those who have turned back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of him so as I said in ancient times the rooftops were flat sort of like New Mexico but on the top of their roof it was like an open place where the family would gather in this summer sometimes they'd spend the nights out there but pagans and now Israelites those down in Judah put altars on top of their roof in view of the sky and in view of the Sun and the moon and the stars a practice known as Sabian ISM and they believed that the constellations and the movement of the heavens and then their prayer to the gods who govern the heavens would alter their future you say oh well that's so old-fashioned and that's so pagan that's so primitive really 40 million Americans believe in astrology today in our modern technological culture there are three times more astrologers in our country along with psychics as there are clergymen in this country and the American public eats it up so it's not so ancient of practice just gets repackaged so look at first 10 and there shall be on that day says the Lord the sound of a mournful cry from the fish gate you're thinking what does that have to do with me in 2008 a whaling from the second quarter allowed crashing from the hills whale you inhabitants of mock Tesh for all the merchant people are cut down all those who handle money are cut off now what he's doing is he's he's warning the merchants of the City of Jerusalem who would bring their wares in and out of the fish gate down through the mock cash which I'll explain in just a moment and and there they would buy and sell and here's the point an invasion is coming of this city of Jerusalem by the Babylonians that it's gonna wipe out all of their economy all of their hope all of their joy will be gone by the Babylonian invasion of 586 BC Jerusalem is an interesting place it's built among a configuration of several hills on the east side the Mount of Olives on the western side the Western Hill or Mount Zion and then smaller little Hills all the way around it those hills also have valleys and there's three major valleys on the eastern side is the Kidron Valley on the southwestern side touching the Kidron is called the Valley of Hinnom or Gehenna the idea of Hell comes from that burning the valley where the garbage was burned so you have the Kidron Valley you have the Hinnom Valley and right in between a short shallow valley called the tyro peein Valley and in the tyro peein Valley where the city of Jerusalem is in sort of a lowland area that's where the market place was and that's here the idea of the valley of MOC Tesh or the MOC Tesh was in that Terr tyro peon valley it's where all of the economy of the city of jerusalem took place the fish gate it is believed was a gate that faced the north and it became later known as the Damascus Gate it's through the fish gate that the Babylonians came from the north and swept down through the land and breached the city walls entering through the Damascus Gate to take over the city so now scoot down to verse 14 the great day of the Lord is near stop right there you have read as I have read many of the Old Testament prophets use this phrase the day of the Lord the most famous so far has been Joel because his theme was the day of the Lord 26 times Old Testament prophets used the term the day of the Lord this guy Zephaniah uses it 18 of those 26 times so it's one of his major themes the day of the Lord he says the great day of the Lord is near it is near and hastens quickly the noise of the day of the Lord is bitter there the mighty men shall cry out that day is a day of wrath a day of trouble and distress a day of devastation and desolation a day of darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness now what is the day of the Lord I'll refresh your memory the day of the Lord is simply a period of time in which there's direct intervention by God in human affairs it's as if God says you've had your day the day of man is now over I God am going to act supernaturally through a chain of events in a time period known as the day of the Lord typically the term the day of the Lord is used eschatologically that is speaking of the end times the end of days the tribulation period or the Great Tribulation Period and certainly the Great Tribulation is the ultimate day of the Lord time of judgment time of divine intervention very graphically described in fact there are there's no subject or just about no other subject in the Bible with as great a detail as the day of the Lord prophet spoke about it Jesus elaborated on it Matthew 24 Luke 21 the Gospel of Mark chapters 6 through 19 of the book of Revelation are totally devoted to the day of the Lord so the day of the Lord often speaks eschatologically or the end of times but sometimes it is used in a local immediate non eschatological manner now can i complicate it even further sometimes it's used both ways where a prophet will look at a day of the Lord that is coming for the local people that he's writing to but that is a picture of the far-off greater big day of the Lord that is coming and this prophet does that what he's saying here is basically a day of the Lord is coming on Judah and that day of the Lord is going to be like the day of the Lord that's coming on the whole world there's a microcosm or an example or a preview of coming attractions or a harbinger whatever word you want to use to describe it of what is going to take place in the world wide scope chapter 2 verse 1 continues gather yourselves together yes gather yourselves o undesirable nation before the decree is issued or the day passes like chaff before the Lord's fierce anger comes upon you before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you seek the Lord all you meek of the earth who have upheld his justice seek righteousness seek humility it may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger by the way you know what the name Zephaniah means means the Lord will hide this is a plan words at the prophets name it means the Lord will hide and here he says in the day of the Lord's anger it may be that you will be hidden now understand something about the nature of God in judgment it is typically God's character God's nature to shelter his own from the full brunt of his wrath it doesn't mean that God's kids don't suffer don't don't misunderstand that Jesus said in the world you will have tribulation but the tribulation that comes from the world is very different then the wrath the tribulation the full brunt of judgment that comes from the Lord two different sources two different reasons so example God sent a worldwide flood it destroyed everything but there was a family that found favor in his sight family was Noah and those eight righteous ones were lifted off the earth during the time of judgment then there's the case of the Egyptian judgments plague after plague after plague and ultimately the death of their firstborn remember but all those who believed in God who trusted in God and applied the blood to the doorposts and lintels of their house they were spared the full brunt of God's judgment so God's style is to not allow his people to go through the full brunt when it's his wrath in his judgment in the day or days of the Lord so you got the example of knowing the flood you got the example of Egypt and there are other examples we could cite but let's move to a future one and why some of us including my believe in a pre-tribulation rapture because it fits categorically with the character and nature of God who makes a difference in judgment and as Paul said to the Thessalonians God has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation through Christ Jesus also you remember in Revelation when Jesus writes a little postcard to the church at Philadelphia and said because you have persevered jesus said and you have kept my word therefore I will keep you from the hour of trial that it will come upon the whole world and that hour of trial that came upon the whole world is read and written about in chapters 6 through 19 of that same book of Revelation it's God's style God's character to keep his people from his wrath and that's a good thing because if you read about the day of the Lord you find out it's pretty gnarly in fact as you read through the book of Revelation you notice a pattern of 7 in the judgments right there are 7 seal judgments and then after that there are seven trumpet judgments after that there are seven Bowl judgments and with each set of judgments and indeed with each judgment of the seven they become worse and more intense for example the fourth seal judgment is a judgment that wipes out one-fourth of the entire population of the earth is destroyed in that one judgment and that's just the first set then you move to the trumpet judgments and the sixth trumpet judgment wipes out another one-third of the population of the earth so now effectively with just two judgments you have half of the entire population of planet Earth destroyed then you get to the seven bowl judgments and the seventh one is cataclysmic and catastrophic the mountains and the islands are leveled flattened and hail stones weighing 125 pounds each fly out of heaven killing people on the earth so this is God's day this is God's judgment the ultimate final eschatological end times day of the Lord that is coming and this is simply a trailer of that this is simply a preview of what is to come but what happens even during that horrible time in the future God saves a remnant there's a hundred and forty-four thousand not only is the church not there but those believing Jewish people are spared 144,000 spared from the judgment of God that will then enter into the Millennium so look within chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 2 verse 3 second in this book look around look at the other nations that God is going to judge let me just let me just show you what's going on show you how cool God is the Lord allowed Babylon and before that Assyria to be his chastening rod to get his people's attention to spank them in other words I'm going to use Nebuchadnezzar I'm going to use psalmanazar and all these other rulers in their nations to get you guys your attention back on me and eventually after a few years you're going to turn back to me but their desire is to destroy you totally ultimately now they've messed with you and you're my people and though I have used them to get your attention I'm going to punish them for what they did to you so now beginning here in chapter 2 in verse 3 for different nations are addressed and all of them are representative nations from four different points on the compass north south east and west let's just run through a few of these verses verse 4 for Gaza shall be Forsaken and ashkelon desolate they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday and ekron shall be uprooted these were the Philistine cities and this was a little nation that was to the very east right along the Seaboard of the nation of Israel and Judah by the way this is the disputed territory still today the Gaza Strip in verse 8 I have heard the reproach of Moab now he's pointing to the east and the insults of the people of Ammon still to the east with which they have reproached my people and made arrogant threats against their borders verse 12 you Ethiopians also another from the south you shall be slain by my sword verse 13 and he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria and make Nineveh which is the capital of Assyria a desolation as dry as the wilderness so all of these other nations that hassled Judah aren't going to escape God's judgment okay Jerusalem look within look what I'm gonna do inside your own quarters inside your own walls but then look around at all those people who hated you and hassled you I've got a plan for them the Babylonian army is not only going to wipe out Judah and take some of them captive but also destroy those other nations until God will deal with Babylon even later on so let's go to Chapter three we've looked within we've looked around and now the theme is look beyond the judgment to Judah and beyond the judgment to the nation's and look to the healing that's going to take place the coming well-being and in verse 9 there's a great passage that says for then I will restore to the people's a pure language and they or that they all may call on the name of the Lord to serve him with one Accord another way to translate that is I will purify the lips of the people there's a little bit of dispute as to what that means exactly some think it just simply means that this is a contrast between the idol worship that has been going on in the land and God is saying look eventually what you're going to speak you're gonna speak my beautiful praises you're gonna uh tur from your lips pure worship in contrast to the impure vile words of praise to the pagan gods and goddesses it could mean that in fact it could be taken to mean that ultimately in the Millennial Kingdom when Christ rules and reigns from the throne of David in Israel that then and only then will it be pure around the whole world that's a possibility but still other scholars believe and I'm not going to be dogmatic but believe that this is a reference to after the captivity and they would come back speaking Chaldean which they did the language that jesus spoke was Chaldean or aramaic it was a the standard language around that part of the world because of the Babylonian captivity it could be that this is a promise that God is going to restore Hebrew the pure language of the Jews back to them eventually now that's interesting because if that's the case that didn't happen till recently in fact very recently if you go to Israel today they speak Hebrew but years before that they didn't speak Hebrew now I'm gonna read you something that comes from a very reliable source but you'll have a question mark after I tell you the source and what they say this is from the Encyclopedia Britannica it's a reliable source right this is a 1911 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica listen to their comment and I quote the possibility that we can ever again recover the correct pronunciation of ancient Hebrew is as remote as the possibility that a Jewish Empire will ever again be established in the Middle East close quote well that was 1911 I wish those guys could've hung around on 1948 and seeing that a nation was reborn in that land and today the Prophet Zephaniah could walk down the streets of Tel Aviv and read every menu in every restaurant in that city and in Jerusalem and though there are differences between ancient biblical hebrew and modern hebrew a modern Israeli can read ancient Hebrew fact they can sit in the shrine of the book and read the scroll of Isaiah the prophet from the Dead Sea Scrolls as they could read modern Hebrew there's enough some ladies there could be that that's what it's referring to we're uncertain but look at verse 15 the Lord has taken away your judgments has cast out your enemy the king of Israel the Lord is in your midst you shall see disaster no more it shall be or in that day it shall be said to Jerusalem do not fear Zion let not your hands be weak the Lord your God in your midst the Mighty One will save he will rejoice over you with gladness he will quiet you with his love he will rejoice over you with singing that verse that I just read it's a little bit different in the King James but it used to be a song that we used to sing years ago even here years ago and in the King James it's the LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save he will rejoice over thee with joy he will rest in his love he will joy over thee with singing it's a great song would you like to sing it well let's see how much time we have and finish the next book and maybe we'll go back to it but but here's the point like a bridegroom who would rejoice over the bride the Lord delights in his people know this tonight he delights in you he said I don't feel very delighted in you don't know what I've been going through but God does and even as he saw this land that would be buffeted it was the same land that he promised to bless and and here's the key to the blessing the Lord the king is going to be in your midst this is a tremendous promise because the Lord well do you remember in Ezekiel there are several chapters where Ezekiel actually sees the presence of God leave town God splits God is out of Dodge and at first he sees the presence of the Lord in the temple the Shekinah glory hovering over the temple he sees it but then he sees the glory of God in chapter 8 9 and then a chap 10 moved toward the east and sort of hover over the eastern gate and that eventually go East over the Mount of Olives and depart the glory departs from the temple the glory departs from Israel now God says I'm coming back and eventually he will come back in a very unique way at the end of the day of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself will come back to the earth with his people there will be a millennial kingdom on the earth there will be a temple in the Millennial Kingdom on the earth but eventually in the eternal state in New Jerusalem a new heaven and new earth God himself it says it's the temple there's no need of light there's no need of a building God will dwell intimately with his people forever and then this will be ultimately fulfilled and that day the Lord is in your midst let's go to the next book the book of Haggai it's the second shortest book in the Old Testament 38 verses only 1131 words and though it's short it packs a punch sort of like the first one but it's a wonderful little book okay so so this guy Haggai is the first and there are three I said this is the first post post-exilic prophet after the Exile so get this in your mind now all we did is turn a page but we have moved forward in history these other guys the other prophets were were way before 586 BC way before the exile in Babylon way before the 70 year captivity and they're saying Babylonians are coming look out they're gonna get you guys they're gonna wipe you out okay so that's already happening now they've come back to the land so this is now after the Exile anybody know how many people came back when they were released back into the land from Babylon 50,000 not even not even 50,000 of all of the people of the Jews Israel and Judah came back but 50,000 did come back and they started getting so excited about rebuilding the temp of God they cleared the courts they moved the debris away they built an altar of sacrifice they started sacrificing animals they were all excited God's gonna do it again he's gonna build a temple but as time went on they stopped building in fact you know I'll give you a timeline about 5:30 6:00 in the spring of 536 the debris was cleared and that ultra was built or the foundations that the temple were laid and then they stopped building and they started sort of like leaving the work of God and turning toward their own personal affairs for a number of reasons they got discouraged they got hassled by their enemies Cyrus the guy who allowed them to come back has died his successor a guy by the name of canvases he's the art exerts ease in Chapter four of Ezra is the new guy who's kind of hassle in the Jews so they just quit building but now in this book we're in the Year 520 BC some 16 years later after they started to build and then quit now they start building again so I hope they're asking well why so you're asking what why I'm glad you asked I'd like to tell you why they started building again because four individuals came on the scene sir rubba Bell he's the mayor of town he's the governor of Jerusalem Joshua he's the high priest he's the religious dude and then two prophets Haggai and Zechariah inspired the people to build and that's what takes us to Haggai chapter 1 verse 1 hey how many of you remember 1989 a film called the field of dreams remember that film and what was the line he was building a baseball field and what did he got a little voice he heard if you build it they will come right Shoeless Joe Jackson and all those great baseball players of the past would show up and play baseball Yeah right like in the middle of Iowa but but that's how the film goes if you build it they will come the theme of this book could be if you build it he will come if you build the temple if you go back to seeking first god kingdom rather than your own little personal lifestyle and agenda God will come in his glory and meet you there and bless you that's the theme of this book so Haggai chapter 1 verse 1 I'm going to quickly outline as we go through this for reasons that they just gave up on the work of God reason number one selfishness they were selfish they put their own interests before the interests of the Lord in the second year of King Darius in the sixth month on the first day of the month the word of the Lord came by haggai the prophet to zerubbabel the son of shealtiel governor of judah and to joshua the son of josedech the high priest saying thus speaks the Lord of Hosts saying this people says the time has not come the time that the Lord's house should be built ok so that's what they're saying and they started building it 16 years go by and they're still saying it it's just not the right time I don't think I don't think God really at this time is leading us to like build the temple that's what they're saying so then the word of the Lord came by haggai the prophet saying is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your panel houses and this temple to lie in ruins so he gets right to the point right Haggai is basically saying look you're building your own homes and making it really fancy and really nice and it's all about you and you're neglecting the temple of God so you're saying I just don't really feel love that it's it's like the right timing to build God's house but I really feel that it's like the right timing from for me to live my life so rhetorically the Prophet goes oh really is that what time it is for you to be self consumed and self-absorbed okay this was just spiritual talk that's all it was it's just blah blah blah that's all this was this is this is an excuse they they thought it was a reason there's just an excuse Billy Sunday used to say an excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie a lot of people have reasons why they don't get involved in God's work or reasons why they don't come to church well the weather is bad today notes could rain really I've been to movie theaters when it's raining doesn't seem to keep people away from those places well you know I don't like crowds you go to you'll go to a baseball game or a basketball game crowds a lot more people well yeah preacher just talks way too long about like Haggai and Zechariah what's interesting when the game goes into overtime a lot of people just stay right there and don't move so it could be that even some here tonight though you came so I certainly don't want to castigate you but could it be that God is a task for you to do until the Lord returns and you know it you're feeling that the compelling of the Spirit but you said I don't know if it's the right time yet and it might not be the right time but the Prophet says is it time for you to be self-absorbed self consumed so verse 5 now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts consider your ways you're gonna find that four times in this book consider your ways literally set your heart on your ways or we would say reality check it's time for you to just sort of assess your own priorities here consider your ways look at what you're choosing verse six you have so much and you bring in little you eat but you don't have enough you drink but you're not filled with drink you clothed yourself but no one is warm and he who earns wages get this earns wages to put it into a bag with holes that sounds like today so this is the result of inverted priorities it's like God is saying you're always working and you're working extra on weekends and you work through the lunch period and you take extra nights and yet with all that you're broke it's like trying to walk up the down escalator every step you take you take another step you go back to you another step you go back two steps that's what's happening here there's an old Pennsylvania Dutch expression the hurry er I go the behind her I get so they were building their houses they were fulfilling their agenda it was all about them they neglected God's Word God's house and with all of their self-absorption they're not being satisfied they're not getting ahead of the curve listen to this proverbs 23 will you set your eyes and that which is not for riches certainly make themselves wings and they fly away like an eagle toward heaven you say that is my experience in it's interesting on the back of the dollar bill and the right hand side is an eagle that's so biblical did you get it and pretty soon that dollar goes just starts going you just got it it's gone thus says the Lord of Hosts consider your ways there's number 2 go up to the mountains and bring wood and build a temple that I make take pleasure in it and be glorified says the Lord here's the solution be obedient get on with what God wants you to do and build this temple and you know what happens whenever you obey God God is glorified look at verse 8 but I may take pleasure in it and be glorified when you obey God you glorify Him you know what glorified God means it's real simple it means you make him more famous you make God more famous you say Oh God's already famous no around a lot of people he's infamous when you show people that you love God supremely that you're willing to obey Him in every aspect you show people even unbelievers Wow they must like really have like an inside track with his God you make him renown you make him famous because you're obeying his word there's 12 then zerubbabel the son of shealtiel and joshua the son of josedech 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 feared the presence of the Lord I got to tell you something this is what a preach lives for when people hear God's Word they go yes that's God's Word to me personally and I'm gonna take it to heart and I'm gonna live it that's what John said I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in the truth sorry here's a message spoken by a prophet that fell on good ears and the people listened to it and took it for what it was this is a message from God to us now we're gonna do something about it listen to this in the New Testament book of 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 13 Paul commends the church he writes to them and he says for when you receive the Word of God which you heard from us you welcomed it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the Word of God which also effectively works in you who believe I'll tell you what hag I walked away after that message was obeyed by the people he thought hot-diggity-dog I don't know if he actually thought those words or not but he was excited as he saw the people respond verse 13 then Haggai the Lord's messenger spoke the Lord's message to the people saying I am with you says the Lord so the Lord stirred up the spirit of zerubbabel the son of shealtiel the governor of Judah and the spirit of joshua the son of josedech the high priest and the spirit of all the remnant of all the people and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of Hosts their God I want you to notice something here's a group of people that heard God's Word they said okay I think God's speaking to us directly so let's get to work let's finish the temple so they worked they labored they served but what does it say it's the Spirit of God that energized them you know what it says basically it says the Spirit the Lord stirred up the spirit of zerubabbel and the spirit of Joshua and the spirit of all these people now there's a principle here I want to tie together with a verse of scripture some of you've had questions on in Philippians chapter 2 verse 12 and 13 it says this work out your own salvation remember that verse it says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling and a lot of people go I can't believe it says that this I could salvation of works right ah just read the next verse and it'll be cleared up work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it's God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure is how this is how it operates when you decide I'm gonna obey God I'm gonna serve Him I'm gonna work hard not for my salvation but because I'm saved I want to please him you know what happens at that point at the point of your obedience God starts working in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure he energizes you to do the work where'd I get all this energy and vision oh I guess it's when I started obeying God not long ago I was flying a connecting flight through Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport ever been there okay like it's a big airport right and there's you'll always get in you landed one little port and you get off in your airplane and you have to like walk you know that's it's the complete opposite end of the airport that your next connecting flight is not it's never next to it it's always on the other side of the universe so my plane landed late and my other one was on time but you know what I was so thankful that they have those moving walkways so I get on the moving walkway and I work hard and I walk hard but because it's a moving walkway it looks like I'm going 45 miles an hour I'm working but I'm cooperating with a force much greater than myself it enabled me to make it there in time and here's my point when we run when we work when we serve we then are cooperating with the power of God to get it done it's like the moving walkway he propels you forward to do it so the people worked God stirred up their spirit they were working out their own salvation but God was working in them to will and to do of his good pleasure and that cooperation enabled them to get it done reason number - that they stopped building the temple is addressed now in chapter 2 okay you ready nostalgia nostalgia they look back at how the first temple before this was so much better than this temple does it look the same as it used to that's what they were getting into verse one in the seventh month on the 21st of the month the word of the Lord came by haggai the prophet speaking out is a rubber Bell the son of shealtiel governor of Judah and to Joshua the son of jaha's attack the high priest to the remnant of the people saying who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory and how do you see it now in comparison with it is this not in your eyes as nothing how many of you remember back to the book of Ezra when this event actually happened they came back and Ezra writes all about it there was a group of old-timers who had seen Solomon's Temple it was grander more beautiful more ornate and so now they make this makeshift zoo rub a bell temple very very plain it's a temple it works but in comparison to Solomon's Temple it's just like a cardboard box and so on the day they dedicated the temple you have this energetic group of young people when ya God is cool he's great hallelujah praising the Lord and then over here a group of older people they're making a lot of noise - but it's whining and wailing crying it's not like it used to be and so you couldn't distinguish ezra said the noise from the old timers wailing and the young folks getting all stoked you know if you want to live a miserable life try to walk forward looking backward you'll fall down you'll bump into stuff you'll make yourself obnoxious try to move forward always looking backward now if we start looking at what God has done for us even here in this church and in this city we have so much to be thankful so much to be grateful for but if instead we start comparing what God has done here to the day of Pentecost Oh horrible or if we start comparing what God has done here to the great awakening now what we're doing is looking backward trying to move forward it's a new work that God is doing this was a new work God was doing here interesting the Babylonian Talmud said that says there were five things lacking in zaraba bells temple that used to be in Solomon's Temple according to the Babylonian Talmud the Ark of the Covenant the holy fire number two the Shekinah glory of God the Orem and the Thummim and the fifth was the spirit of prophecy or the Holy Spirit and the Babylonian Talmud says those five things were present in Solomon's Temple were no longer present in siravo's temple you know what I say big deal because you know why verse 4 yet now be strong says the Lord and be strong he says to the high priest says the Lord for what I am with you says the Lord of Horse hosts the Lord of horse excuse me the Lord of hosts well he did make all the horses in the world too so technically he's the Lord of horses but anyway the Lord of hosts so for whatever was lacking in the temple what was there was God himself so reason number two they just stopped the work of God Goods no like what it used to be I quit number three unconfessed sin now this is two months later verse 10 on the 24th day of the ninth month is around December in the second year of Darius by the way these three messages there's one in September one in October now one in December the word of the Lord came by haggai the prophet saying thus says the Lord of hosts now asked the priest concerning the law saying if one carries holy meat in the fold of a garment and with the edge he touches bread or stew wine or oil or any food will it become holy and the priest answered and said no hey so you get the picture if you carry something sanctified and made holy and it touches something to file will it make the defile thing turn holy priest goes no way exactly the opposite will happen which says in in the very next verse and Haggai said okay if one it was unclean because of a dead body touches any of these will it be unclean so the priest answered said yeah it shall be unclean and Haggai answered and said so is this people so is this nation before me says the Lord and so as every work of their hands and whatever they offer is unclean impurity is more easily passed on than purity if a if a father is in perfect health and the son or daughter is sick if the father touches the sick son or daughter will that son or daughter will the health be transmitted into the body of the sick child no but what often happens is the sickness is transmitted from the child to the parent defilement is very easy and even in spiritual things but not sanctity it's not easily passed on it's not enough to do God's work but to do God's work you and I need to do it without defilement and the defilement going on then was was there going through the motions but they had unconfessed sin they were still defiling the place because it was all outward but inside their hearts weren't any different now let me just apply it this way whenever we gather together whenever you get together with another Christian make sure that you don't defile the place or the people I don't don't misunderstand me that if you had a bad day didn't mean it to file the people but don't go in with a bad attitude a sour attitude rather than a god-honoring attitude have you ever been around a person of great faith their faith is contagious makes you want to walk away trust in God you've never been around somebody who is very doubtful and unbelieving and sour that too is very contagious in fact it seems to spread a lot quicker a lot more easily so we want to do the work of the Lord and not stop it but we want to have clean hands and a your heart let's watch our attitudes you know frankly I've been around some Christians they say well I'm a Christian and it's like I want to say please don't tell anybody please you're gonna ruin it for everybody for the rest of us I mean to be around some Christian it's like witnessing an autopsy it's like yeah you just give off death rather than life attitudes can go a long way I'll tell you one of the things that that I love about you and love about this fellowship you're happy and I hear visitors all the time so what a happy place you know bars have happy hour I think when we gather together this ought to be happy hour we have so much to rejoice in for what God has done and promises to do well let's oh boy well I'm a loud mouth preacher let's let's go quickly or uncover the last one when I have a few verses and then we're done here's the last reason that they stopped and that was unbelief now verses 2223 is directed to zerubabbel it's a personal message to him I think he's feeling a little discouraged he's looking around at great empires that are very imposing well he's got just a few thousand people built on a makeshift temple and they wanted to quit and he's sort of feeling very discouraged you know I'll just tell you this Satan loves to discourage spiritual leaders if he wants to work on getting somebody sour he wants to get a spiritual leader sour first so he can infect a lot of people so he's feeling discouraged and verse 20 again the word of the Lord came to Haggai 24th month 24th day of the month saying I'm going way too fast so speak to rob a bail governor of Judah saying I will shake heaven and earth as is quoted in Hebrews chapter 12 I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them the horses and the riders shall come down every one by the sword of his brother in that day says the Lord of Hosts I will take user of Abell my servant the son of shealtiel says the Lord and make you like a signet ring for I have chosen you says the Lord of Hosts you know a signet ring is it's a little ring usually warned around the neck sometimes on a hand and a stone on the ring was carved in the symbol of the one who bore it it spoke of authority okay so documents were signed or made valid by a signet ring it was the signature of the person in ancient times they would take their ring and stick it in some wax and that signet ring was the signature it met the authority of the person so here's the thought here zurafa Bell is from the house of David he is in the genealogy of Jesus Christ both Luke and Matthew have him zurafa Bell this lineage of the house of David it's like you're taking the saruba Bell and saying using him emblematical II to say the promise for the royal house of David ie the coming of the Messiah will come through this man Zuba bel it's the promise of becoming Messiah and zerubabbel was in that genealogy that will be fleshed out in Luke and in Matthew so there's what I want to close with what work has God called you to do that you've stopped or you've been discouraged from doing you just you haven't finished it and you just thought well you know what it's just it's not the right time there's a lot of stuff I got to do and it may be that you do have to get your own house in order your own life in order but I do believe that simultaneous to living your life having your career raising your family we all are called to build the temple the house of the Lord the Church of the Living God we're all a part of it we're all members of the body of Christ what is it that God has put in your heart to do find that and make it your passion Psalm 37 delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart I don't think that means delight yourself in the Lord and he'll give you your little hearts desire I think what it means is you delight yourself in the Lord and God will actually give you the does fire for what he wants you to desire he'll put a desire in your heart you know and when I was first Saved I had no desire to be a preacher trust me I was like a plague worse than death I started to lighting myself in the Lord and I got a whole different set of desires all of a sudden I desired to read the Bible I never wanted to read that before I wanted to hang around Christians they were the last group I wanted to hang with before all these new desires that God put within me but then there's the desire the passion that God gives you to fulfill some some ministry some work and each one of you has it let God ask God to give you the desire because here's the difference if you took water at 211 degrees you can make coffee you can make tea 211 degrees add one more degree one more degree 212 now you have steam now you can make a latte now you can power a steam locomotive now you can really go places that one extra degree is desire passion will so all the difference between going through the motions and ah it's the desire that God gives you ask God to put that passion in your heart and finish the work that God calls all of us to do let's pray Heavenly Father thank you for your word thank you for the principles of both of these prophets these are the very words that the Apostles read this is the Bible that Jesus read and referred to thank you Lord that we can devote our Wednesday nights to going through the whole Bible from cover to cover sometimes moving fast sometimes slowing down and getting the full impact of it thank you for tonight in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Skip Heitzig

Views: 1,076

Rating: 4.4285712 out of 5

Keywords: How to study the Bible, How to read the Bible, Jesus, Skip, Skip Heitzig, How to know God, Zephaniah, Haggai, Day of the Lord, Judah, encouragement, exile, rejoice, Temple

Id: TbA32yLATsY

Length: 62min 21sec (3741 seconds)

Published: Mon May 13 2019