God’s Promise of Future Blessing (Haggai 2:10-19)

God’s Promise of Future Blessing in Haggai and Ezra

Good morning, everyone.

Good to see you all welcome to Kootenai Church adult Bible study This morning. We're going to continue our study of the prophet Haggai. So I invite you to open your Bibles to Haggai. We're going to be looking at chapter 2 verses 10 through 19 this morning, but you could also.

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Ezra once again Ezra who wrote the history of this period of time. We're going to be going back and spending a little bit of time in Ezra, but before we do let's commit our time to our Lord. Oh, are these for me?

Bunch of presents up here you shouldn't have you didn't. Let's commit our time to our Lord and ask his blessing on our time our father we do thank you once again that we are able to gather and Fellowship In the name of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

We know that it is by your grace that we are able to do this. Thank you that we can open your word and be taught by your spirit this morning. So we just ask your blessing help us all to understand your word more clearly.

Help us to be more obedient to what we learn and then help us to praise you. For all that you're doing in our lives, and we just thank you in Jesus mighty name. Amen. Well last time just a real quick review we we looked at God's promise of future glory and that was chapter 2 of the first nine verses and We saw that he had them remember past glory or actually some of them are remembering the past glory as the old People and as the old King James said the ancient ones.

I was going to make a direct application that last time. But we don't have any ancient people here. Okay, just thought I'd let you know and whether or not we have any old people. It doesn't say how old you have to be to be an old person.

So personally, I'm gonna make a rather liberal application of that but There there were people that were obviously Upset that the this new temple was not quite as great as the old temple enough of an issue for God to use Haggai to to bring it up and remind them who is left among you who saw this house and its former glory.

He asked how do you see it now? Is it as nothing in your eyes? He said and I was you know in looking at that we went back and looked at Ezra. I'm kind of wondering were they thinking that maybe they deserved a bigger temple.

Possibly. Well, then we saw that he reminded them of their present glory what they have to do now and exhorts them to be strong three times. Be strong. They have a they have the promise of God that he is with them no matter what they're doing.

And then he moves to revealing the future glory. There's also going to be a future judgment and we saw this cataclysmic event not a local earthquake, but a a cosmic earthquake of giant proportions that's going to take place and Then the future glory will be greater and then the future peace will be greater.

So were there any questions or comments you might have had about what we saw last time any ancient people got offended?

Okay, good.

Well, how about some questions from verse chapter page 8. Questions to consider? How did the older the ancient returnees possibly discourage or contribute to the discouraging of the rebuilding effort?

Any thoughts on that? We know that they were discouraged by the the people group that was there by the existing indigenous people.

Also in there but okay.

So the same audience is exhorted now to be strong and he says it three times says it to each Individual and the whole group of people they are reminded of the Mosaic Covenant which obligated them to obedience but also promised God's protection and presence the presence of God.

It's okay. That's what why we're doing what we're doing. Okay, number two since none of you ancient people want to talk about that first one doing God's work God's way means working in total dependence on his.

We got to depend on God's what? Spirit, okay, or you could put strength.

Spirit.

His spirit is represented in his presence which he provides by his continual presence. Which he had promised in the Mosaic Covenant. I am with you. He says what a promise if you're tasked by God with doing something no matter what it is.

Good to know you have his presence. Should remind you of the Great Commission. Matthew 28 all authority is given unto me right. And then what make disciples and. Then that final part of that is and I am with you always.

So number three at Mount Sinai Yahweh shook the mountain and the surrounding region in the future. He promises to shake Everything. Yeah cataclysmic and multiple references there. He's going to shake the heavens and the earth in other words all everything the nations as well.

And then number four between verses six through nine Yahweh says I will four times. Do you think he will actually accomplish what he says he will do vote for one? It's an election. So, you know kind of was getting in the spirit.

Maybe okay. No, maybe I don't know or an emphatic. Yes. Okay, and I'm not trying to influence your vote here. That's you can't do that not supposed to do that not supposed to tamper with ballots or influence votes.

Just thought I'd let you know. Except this is my ballot and I can do what I want with it. Okay, just saying number five the promise of the latter glory being greater and peace in this place. That place being Jerusalem where the temple was that has not happened yet.

These will be features of the Millennial Kingdom. Jesus Christ will establish at his second coming multiple references there. This is not a thin doctrine in Scripture. It is absolute promise of the coming kingdom and this is cover to cover in throughout Scripture.

We have then a reference to Peter's Preaching he's preaching to the Jews down at the bottom of the page there Acts chapter 3 verses 18 through 21 and He says but what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets.

In other words, this is nothing new. This is this is God's plan God's Word from the very beginning. That his Christ would suffer he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and turn back that your sins may be blotted out that times of refreshing.

That's a technical term meaning the restoration of God's creation. Times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send the Christ appointed for you Jesus whom heaven must receive until the time for Restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

Bracketing this statement or is a reference to the prophets the prophets and That that phrase Restoring of all things that again every the Jews would have understood what he meant by that. This is God's restoring the fallen earth and the restoration of it.

That will happen when Christ comes back and that will be part of his kingdom. The the earth will bloom and blossom and it'll be restored creation will be restored. This is the same root word that is found in Acts 1 6 when the disciples after being with Jesus for 40 days after he was raised from the dead and He gave them a 40-day clinic on the kingdom.

It says the kingdom they had one question that question was what? When they didn't ask anything else about it why he'd already answered those questions. They had a 40-day clinic about the kingdom and their one question and they used the same the same root word as user.

Is it at this time you will restore the kingdom to Israel? There was a high messianic expectation in those people and you see that all through the New Testament. They were expecting the coming Messiah in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

They believed what God said simple they just believed what he said and so there was a high messianic expectation and When this happens and I think this passage is one of the key passages for understanding the nation will be saved.

Then Christ will come back the exegetical look at this would tell you that This is what he's calling them to do be saved so that Christ can return and he will and when he comes back He's going to come back to a saved nation of believing Jewish people.

Okay, any other thoughts you might have or questions about what we saw last time? Well, we're into week three. This is going to be page 9 and we're looking at verses 10 through 14. This is the third Oracle as it's called or message by Haggai and It starts out in verse 10 on the 24th day of the ninth month in the second year of Darius.

The word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet now once again we have that we've seen it over and over again this timestamp.

Right.

Mentioned it before I think that Haggai is called the most chronologically sensitive of the prophets and he is. He's so specific getting down to the days and here we have 24th day of the ninth month second year of Darius.

All of these oracles or messages of Haggai took place within about a four-month period in the same year the second year of Darius and one of the things we need to notice is chapter 2 verse 1 in the seventh month and Then this one starts on 24th day of the ninth month, but if you turn one page ahead to Zechariah Zechariah returned Somewhat after Haggai did but his ministry is going to overlap with Haggai's ministry so you see the verse 1 of Chapter 1 in the 8th month in the second year of Darius the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah so if you like to Scribble in your Bible you could put between verse 9 and verse 10 Zechariah begins here.

So we're talking a lot about dates and times in our study. That shows you there's some overlap there because Zechariah Clearly tells us he's beginning in the eighth month. So we have 7 8 and then 9. Starting in verse 10 right there.

So Zechariah begins here and what does this oracle talk about? Well, ultimately it's going to talk about a future blessing. That's way at the end. So. But what he has to deal with first is problem and you're gonna you've noticed this sort of a cycle, right?

There's a problem and God deals with that then talks about the solution talks about what it's doing to their lives. But then he gives a promise a future blessing and we're just sort of cycle back and forth.

Around through the same sort of a sequence. So the first thing he's going to do is deal with this problem of unclean Worship and the way he does it is to simply ask two questions what he's really doing here.

He's taking them back to basics back to the basics of the law and the law early on. I mean, this is even all the way back to Mount Sinai. I think we talked about that last time. Basics basics, there's God and he's holy.

He's up on the mountain and you are down here. We're not holy and there's separation or distance between God and people. He's holy. We're not and he even put the barrier Around the mountain you can't come up to me.

You can't approach God on your own basis. If you're gonna approach God you have to approach God his way and of course God made the way through that sacrifice that was made and at that particular covenant on Mount Sinai was a.

A.

Bilateral covenant the blood some blood poured on the altar representing God's part other blood was spattered on the people they were obligated to obey the Mosaic Covenant and so what we have here is a is a Return back to the very basic question of holiness and it says in verse 11.

Thus says the Lord of hosts ask the priests about the law because the priests would have been the ones Who would have interpreted the law and the people would have asked them questions about the law and so on.

Here's question number one if someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold Bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food? Does it become holy? The priests answered and said no in other words basic question can holiness be transferred or communicated Merely by contact or touch and even here it's it's in the fold of the garment.

So it's not really even direct contact. But the but the basic principle is can holiness be transferred. The answer is no in verse 12. And then the second question he asks. Then Haggai said if someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body Touches any of these in other words any of this food.

Does it become unclean? The priest answered and said it does become unclean so the second question is Defilement transferable the answer is yes and The difference in the answers there one one said no and the other one there is no word in Hebrew the biblical Hebrew for the Word yes, so they just answer with a positive statement.

It does become Unclean, so here we have back to basics this basic attempt by God to say here's the fundamental issue here holiness or unholiness and.

Holiness.

Can not be transferred but defilement can and Then he makes application of it in verse 14. Then Haggai answered and said so is it with this people and with this nation before me? declares the Lord and.

So with every work of their hands and what they offer there is Unclean. What's going on here? Why why is he bringing them back to this basic fundamental issue and back to what? What was wrong with was in their lives they had gone back to work.

We know that from chapter 1 they had begun to rework work on the temple again. And yet as we're going to see they're still suffering the chastening of God. Well, let's go back to Ezra since Ezra wrote the the history of this we looked last time at the event concerning the old people complaining about the The temple not being what it used to be but prior to that in Ezra Chapter 3 we have the account of right when they came back right when they came back to Jerusalem to begin to build the temple and remember they were sent back in order to build the temple even Cyrus the Great who had issued the decree to let them go back understood that this is the purpose you're going back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and Even financed by the Persian Empire, so they really had no excuses.

But in chapter 3 verse 1 of Ezra, here's the history of when they write just when they came back. Look what they started to do. When the seventh month came and the children of Israel were in the towns the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem big Massive gathering of people this would have been thousands and thousands of people back into Jerusalem.

Then arose Yeshua, that's Joshua the son of Josedach with his fellow priests and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen and.

They built.

Not the temple they built the altar of the God of Israel. To offer burnt offerings on it as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. They set the altar in its place. Now here's the real there's a real tell for fear was on them because of the peoples of the land.

Their motivation is not obedience to God. If it would have been they would have been busily building the temple, right? But for fear of the people in the land, they got busy being religious. Okay back to the law back to the requirements of the Levitical law and all of these offerings.

So they built the offer the altar and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord burnt offerings morning and evening. Verse 4 and they kept the feasts of booths as it is written and Offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule as each day required.

They weren't missing anything they were getting it all down they were checking every box and After that the regular burnt offerings the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord and the offerings of Everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord offering offering offering they were getting really busy really religious, right?

Then verse 6 verse 6 once again There's a time stamp that sort of is a bracket that closes this off. From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord but the very next statement but The foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid so they started to do that they gave money to the Masons and the carpenters and Food drink and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea to Joppa according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia, so They had a priority that was not God's priority and you could say well, okay.

Well, what's wrong with going back to the Levitical law and doing the offerings that it said to do there. What's wrong with that? Wouldn't you call that good works?

Sure, right? Yeah, and well and they did not. They weren't doing what God told them to do.

You parents can probably come up with some illustrations concerning your kids, right? Billy clean your bedroom and Billy is doing some other stuff. Maybe good stuff, right but.

Billy you're not cleaning your bedroom, right? Yeah, the question the.

Cornell's comment is I Can come to God on my terms? We're back to Mount Sinai. They thought they could approach God on their terms and God put barriers. No, you can't. I'm the one that's going to create a way for you to come to me apart from that.

You can't come to me. Well, let's go back to Haggai. Now that we see the background of this this indictment he's taken them right back to basics right back to spiritual life I'll say 101 but what's the 1 .0?

Is that the bitter more contemporary? Okay back to basics and then he says So so that's the problem unclean worship they get they understood this that holiness is is not transferable, but defilement is and What is defiled every work of their hands and what they offer there is Unclean, do you want to kind of a good working definition of paganism?

Okay religion. Without revelation when I say revelation, I mean the Word of God religion without revelation. External religious ritual and it could be lots of stuff. I mean it could be good stuff. You know everything and why of course, it's going to be good stuff because you're using as a substitute for for internal spiritual reality external religious ritual as opposed to internal spiritual reality and that external stuff could be probably is really good stuff and I mean you can think of movements and groups who who emphasize that well.

We feed 10 ,000 people a week through our church. We got rid of the pulpit and all that I mean we're turning this into a food bank. Isn't that a good thing? I mean and you can go down the list you can find all kinds of things that are good.

But when you use them that way you're displacing the best. You're displacing the Word of God and the place that is supposed to have in the body of Christ and in the church. This is what they were doing.

External religious ritual is no substitute for internal spiritual reality. Think of Nicodemus John chapter 3 this guy could check all the boxes right right down the line.

Jewish a.

Pharisee Jesus referred to him as the teacher. The article is there the teacher of Israel now. He may have been the preeminent teacher of his day. But he was at least a very prominent teacher and yet he didn't know the basics about being born again and the Lord rebuked him.

You're the teacher of Israel you don't understand these things. Well, he's a Pharisee. He's an expert in the Old Testament. He could have understood it from many places right. Genesis 12 the Abrahamic Covenant.

He could have understood it from Ezekiel. He could understood it from many places. Paul even told Timothy because Timothy he said you grew up you had the sacred scriptures. He would have had the Old Testament.

He's not talking about the New Testament. They're able to make you wise unto salvation. You can get saved from reading the Old Testament. I Want to get off down a rabbit trail, but what do we have nowadays?

We have a lot of people running around saying well, we just need to just focus on the New Testament. The famous well-known Andy Stanley says we should decouple ourselves from the Old Testament. He didn't get that from God.

Okay. Well, the problem was unclean worship. The people then are called once again to consider or to think carefully in verse 15, it says now then Consider from this day and there's a very interesting textual issue here some commentators have said that all of the interpretive issues of Haggai are between verses 15 and 19 and they are and a very interesting one is right here the word onward there and In the ESV here.

There's a little footnote that takes you down to the bottom and it says or backward now usually when there's a little footnote concerning a word and you're looking at the Semantic range or the the range of meaning, you know, you're gonna have they want you to know.

Well, there's a different kind of a nuanced meaning or a couple of them here. Well, that's not exactly nuanced. Right. I mean, is it going to be look onward or look backward? I mean, that's kind of a polarity, right?

So that is an issue, but I think and and I the best Commentators, I think understood this that needs to be backward mainly based on context what he's calling them to do. Think back like he has before think about your life think back and he says Consider from this day and I'm gonna use backward think back.

Because he calls him in the next sentence before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord. How did you fare? When one came to a heap of 20 measures there were but 10. When one came to the wine vat to draw 50 measures there were but 20 in other words.

The heap would have been the heap of grain. From the threshing they would pile the grain up and then the the wine so you have the basic staples of life. Back, then, you know, you have bread and wine that would have been the basics.

But you didn't have what you thought you were going to have even though you began to build the temple. There is still chastening taking place up to this point there were but 10 but there was only you came to draw 50 measures there were but 20 and.

Then here's why God says I struck you With and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail. Yet you did not turn to me declares the Lord. He calls him to consider what their lives were like up to that point, even though they began to rebuild the temple.

It just wasn't what it should have been there was still chastening. Continuing on even after their obedience their punishment was Unproductive work. Think carefully about this. They were back in the land and since stopping work on the temple for 16 years.

Their hard work was not productive yet. They still didn't turn to God in Repentance that's the blank there for verse 17 and then verse 18 calls them to carefully think back. From that day. This was the 24th day of the ninth month.

And again, the timestamp is the laying of the temple foundation. He says in verse 18 consider from this day onward or backward. Think back from the 24th day of the ninth month since the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid.

Consider is the seed yet in the barn. Expecting a no answer. Indeed the vine the fig tree the pomegranate and the olive tree have yielded nothing at this point in time.

They were being.

Still being chastened because of their disobedience. They had not returned to the Lord yet. They had not in repentance turned to the Lord what they early on got busy with external religious Ritual, but they had neglected the internal spiritual reality.

Some scholars believe the stress placed on this date means that this day was the last day of their 70 year Chastisement and why they still suffered the consequences of this judgment for 18 years after entering the land.

But regardless of their past failures and disobedience They now have this glorious promise and that's at the very end there of verse 19 but from this day on I will bless you and so that's why some scholars believe that the They're out from under the 70-year chastening now and now from now on in their land God is going to bless them.

The blessing or cursing all through scripture is has to do with them being in their land if you want to see the the Relationship between the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant read Leviticus chapter 26.

Leviticus 26 because he's going to go through and it's a horrific list of chastening and and and. All of the punishment that God will give them for disobedience to the Mosaic Covenant. But then he repeatedly says as Jeremiah does but I will bless you.

There's a promise of future blessing and that's based on the Abrahamic Covenant made four plus centuries before. That was not conditioned on their obedience. It was conditioned on the faithfulness of God and So that's probably could be what is in view in The end of verse 19 from this day on God's making a real point of marking the day one more time stamp in scripture.

From this day on I will bless you. One commentator says this. The people were to notice something on the day this prophecy reached their ears the 24th day of the ninth month. They were to notice that from the day they started to rebuild the temple looking back their hardships had continued.

They still suffered shortages of staples Such as seed grapes olives and luxuries such as figs and pomegranates. However, the Lord revealed that he would now bless them beginning that very day the 24th of the ninth month this Oracle explained why Agricultural blessing had not begun immediately after the people resumed reconstruction on the temple.

Their present dedication and obedience did not wipe out their previous covenant unfaithfulness and its punishments that punishment had to run its course, but now as The day of this prophecy God would begin to bless the people with better harvests.

This message surely must have encouraged the Jews to persevere in their obedience. God will bless his people for their obedience. But sometimes he will not erase the punishment that previous sins have made necessary.

Sometimes that punishment must run its course before blessings can begin. So God's promise of future blessing is based upon his covenant. Faithfulness by which he bound himself to the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant and all its provisions.

Remember Abraham did not participate in that God put him in a trance and he was on the sidelines just watching in a vision. This covenant promise in Genesis 15 the cutting of the covenant and God himself Passed through the parts of the animals.

It was unconditional Unilateral and it depends totally on the faithfulness and the power of God to bring it to pass. That's why these people are still Surviving after 70 years of captivity. They are going to be the people through whom God provides Messiah the seed promise and that's what we're going to look at next time.

Do you have any thoughts or questions about?

This Oracle here, right?

He wanted to know who the commentator was. I'd have to get back with you on that. I don't have it here on my notes. It might have been. Sounds like him. Yeah, could it be Charles Feinberg. I'd have to check and see to verify that.

It's not my comment. I just want to make sure that that'd be plagiarism. We can't do that. Well, you can do that and maybe rise to some higher Heights in. It's any quick. Any other questions?

Cornell yeah.

Yeah, all scripture is God breathe think Jim brought that out in our study of God wrote a book all scripture God breathed and profitable so There's a profit even in the very short things that people that God has written and communicated any other thoughts or questions that you might have there is a There's if you didn't get notes, there's more of the notes Around but then there's also this little time chart here.

I was kind of hesitant about reproducing this but we're gonna talk about a little bit next time. You've noticed how how much how many time? How much time is part of what we've been studying right? In fact, it's it's a major part of a lot of things if you even some of the sort of the historic Arm wrestling theologically back and forth if you just kind of boil it down.

What's it about? It's about timing, you know, are you pre or you post or you all those are timing issues? So it's it's an important issue and what kind of motivated me Motivated me to put this together was in in my studies of Haggai Of course and I'm looking at commentators that are conservative for the most part and an exegetical commentators that kind of get you back behind it the the the usual English translations, but even they are mentioning other commentators and historically there have been commentators who have looked at the 70 years that we see in Jeremiah and so on and they basically kind of can't put it all together and They can't figure it out.

So what do they immediately do they pronounce it as well that that number can't be taken literally. You can't that's not 70 years that's so you have to spiritualize that okay, and That's something that I I personally disagree with on a on a on an exegetical basis from Scripture.

But it's a it's kind of a it's kind of a way that people reconcile in their own minds. Apparently how they can't figure this out. And the second way is if it if it conflicts with their theological System.

Well, they have to pronounce instead of changing their theological system to Come closer to identifying the Word of God with the Word of God. They say well that word can't be taken Literally, you must have to spiritualize it and there are scholars who want to say this can't be taken literally.

Well, I came across an article there and it's that's under at the very back on page 3 Dr. Talbert. It's a real you can look that article up. It's it's a Short article and basically so was it 70 years or not?

And as I read through that article what he did he basically showed from the text of Scripture there are different aspects to this 70 years and. So what I thought I would try to do is try to chart this.

Okay. Now this is a draft. Okay, and it says possible. All right, so don't you know, don't hold me to this is not for public. Consumption is just for you guys. Okay, we're gonna talk about this a little bit next time.

But I encourage you just kind of go through this and see what you think. So if and I believe he's correct in this understanding there are different aspects to the 70 years. There is a 70 year land Issue right and what did we see back from 2nd Chronicles 36 and we talked about from Leviticus.

They failed to let the land lie fallow or desolate. To let the land have its rest and they did that for 490 years. And so when they went out of the land that 70 years is just not an arbitrary number. God is basically saying you're not letting the land have its Sabbaths.

So I will and out they went so the there's a 70 years that's applied to the land. But then there's also the 70 year captivity of the people. This is the one people most people commonly think of the 70 year captivity in Babylon.

It probably started in somewhere around 606 the decree of Cyrus was 538 and the bottom line is if you just kind of look at these as individual aspects. You can easily see how 70 years Fits this and it does and then Babylon.

This one's fascinating one to me the Babylonian Neobabylonian Empire came into existence 609 you can just you look that up on any any Source you have they'll they'll say if you look up a Syrian Empire.