Haggai 2:1-4 Take Courage

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continue on in the book of Haggai, referring that way now.
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Let us go ahead and start off with a prayer for the message today. Lord God, I do thank you,
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Lord, for everything that you were bringing through this church, Lord, everything that you are using to glorify yourself through the members, the men, the women, the children, every individual here,
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Lord. God, and I just pray that through you, to you, and for you, Lord, all glory would be yours,
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Lord. God, I would ask that today we would remember what the
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Christ has done for us on behalf of us, and that as this week progresses, that our thanksgiving would be solely reckoned,
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Lord, to that rock that we are standing upon, Lord. And so, God, I just pray that all our thanksgiving would just be focused upon you today, and also with this
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Thursday coming, Lord. God, I just lift these things up to you and would ask you to help us remember this, and we say this in your name,
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Jesus Christ, amen. So today, we are going to be in Haggai chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, and brothers and sisters,
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I will be honest with you, I wanted to do Haggai 1 through 5, and as I was working on the message, I realized I was going to try to make a whole message out of just verse 5, and I realized how much
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I would skip if I just went to verse 5 to give the message. So we're going to do verses 1 through 4 today.
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Verse 5 will be talked about in short, as I think it really anchors what these verses are getting at in here.
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Let's go ahead and read these verses, verses 1 through 4 for the day, and then we'll go ahead and pray again, give some more context, and continue on.
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But verses 1 through 4 out of Haggai chapter 2 says, on the 21st of the 7th month, the word of the
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Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying, speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shattail, governor of Judah, and Joshua, the son of Jehoshaphat, the high priest, and 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?
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Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison? But now take courage,
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Zerubbabel declares the Lord. Take courage also, Joshua, son of Jehoshaphat, the high priest, and all you people of the land.
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Take courage, declares the Yahweh, and work, for I am with you, says the
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Lord of hosts. Let us pray. Lord God, I do thank you for this letter here today that we are reading about in the book of Haggai, Lord.
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I thank you for your word, and Lord, I just pray that as we just heard, conviction comes from your word,
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Lord. I pray that when we read this, we would be convicted in our own heart, and that we would take courage in what your words have said here for us today,
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Lord. God, let us remember your goodness, let us remember your faithfulness, and Lord, let us remember the promise that you have made, the cutting of the covenant,
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Lord, and we just thank you so much, and we just say this in your name, Jesus Christ, amen. So, in short, brothers and sisters, let us just get into the nitty -gritty context real fast to remind us of what's going on in this text.
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First of all, who noticed that it was a little cold in here this morning? That was my fault. There was a movement made in the 1800s called the
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Shakers, and they would go about shaking when they thought that they had the Holy Spirit in them, and so I wanted to see if we were
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Shakers today is what I was going to just joke with us about. I forgot, and I apologize for that, and I just saw the space heater, so I needed to mention that.
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But Haggai chapter 2, this is interesting. So the whole book of Haggai, we are familiar with Paul's epistles in the
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New Testament, how there's 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, right? There's 1 Timothy, 2
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Timothy. Paul would write letters to these different churches and individuals, and then these letters got made into individual books for us to read about.
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Well, the book of Haggai consists of actually four somewhat to akin letters, four prophecies, four words from the prophet
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Haggai sent to these individuals, four letters. And so right here in our modern day, in those days back when this was first written and recorded and many, many years after that, there was no chapter or verse breaks.
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It was just one continuous word. And so today we have modern, modern people have come and put chapters and verses together, which has been a benefit and also hindered us in some different ways because we end up seeing things broken up a little bit more when they're actually continuous.
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And so here in the book of Haggai, chapter 1, all of chapter 1 is the first prophecy, the first letter that Haggai wrote.
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And after this, chapter 2, verses 1 through 9, is the second letter, the second prophecy that he had regarding this.
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And then we'll see how that continues on for us. And so what we're doing here in this first verse is we're starting a new prophecy, a new letter from the prophet
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Haggai to the people of Israel. And that's important for us to remember because what has happened now from verses 15 of chapter 1 to chapter 2, verse 1 is that there's about been a month that has been transpired between the time that the letter was ended to the time of this new letter being given.
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So just remember that there's been about a month that has gone by. And so in that month, what has happened as we will see here in a moment, it seems to be that these people are being discouraged in their month long of work.
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They're having hardship. They're seeing, they're remembering what the old temple looked like, and they're seeing the workers of their hand and they're being discouraged in this month.
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And so the prophet Haggai receives a prophecy from the Lord, the word of the Lord to encourage them in their work, to tell them, nope, don't, don't concern yourself with the past.
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Keep on going. It will be all right, essentially is what's going on in here. And so we are again in the year of 520
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BC. Temple is going to be finished five years later in 515
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BC. So these letters do what they were meant to do. Encourage, convict, tell the people to go and do.
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So in verse 1, it says on the 21st of the seventh month, the word of the
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Lord. This is how Haggai will start off each one of his prophecies, the word of the
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Lord. And immediately your mind should be taken to Hebrews chapter one, verses one through three, where he says that in former days, he spoke through the prophets, but in these last days has spoken to us through his son,
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Jesus Christ. God has revealed himself in the old Testament prior to his incarnation through whom?
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Through the word of the prophet. And so when we read from the book of Haggai, we are seeing the exact same
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God that we have in the New Testament. I heard Rick talk about this to the children today, that God is three persons, the father, the son, and the
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Holy Spirit. And he pointed out how even in the old Testament, that that is what has been taught, that the prophets have been revealing the same
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God from the beginning all the way to the end of book of Revelation in the New Testament. There is no change in God, that it's the same
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God that we're talking about. And so the word of the Lord came by Haggai, the prophet, saying, speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shattail, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadek, and the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, so this is instruction given from God to the prophet
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Haggai. And he's given it to, and we've talked about this, especially in chapter one at the beginning, that the reason that God has chosen to give a letter to these different individuals is for typology, for a pointing forward to the new.
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We have in this text, we have a prophet, we have a priest, and we have a governor, a king in that day.
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And that's all three offices that Christ will have when he comes incarnate. And so even in the beginning of this letter, it's still pointing us to Jesus Christ.
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We have to, as a people of God, as readers of the Bible, as Christians, we must recognize
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Christ in every one of these texts because they are what reveal him. In John chapter five, when
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Jesus is before Pharisees, he says that in the scriptures, you think you have eternal life. These things spoke of me.
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All these verses, all these words, all these chapters, all these prophecies have been pointing us to Jesus Christ.
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So we have in there, we have the three different groups of people in this. We also see that there's a remnant of the people.
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And we spoke of this last week as the last verses of chapter one talk about the stirring up of these individuals, the stirring up of the remnant of Israel.
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And whenever that term is used as a reminder is the remnant is the few that are still faithful to God.
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It's the people that are not just descendants of Abraham in the flesh. They have not just received the sign of circumcision, but they also have with them the very presence of God himself.
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It says that the Yahweh in verse 14, I believe it is. It says that in the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehoshaphat, the high priest and the spirit of the remnant of all the people.
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And they came and they worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God in verse 13. God says, I am with you.
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The Lord God has been with his people, the entirety of this time, his true believers, those that are not just descendants of Israel, not just ethnically blood related people of Abraham, but are actually true believers of Yahweh.
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And so we see in this, that this letter is being written to Zerubbabel, Joshua and the remnant to go and do what, what are they to go and do?
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They're saying to go and build the temple. And so in verse three,
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God is wanting Haggai to ask and pose the question to the people. He wants them to ask who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory.
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And how do you see it now? Does it not seem like to you like nothing in comparison?
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So God is saying, look, people, you, the, the people that would still be alive.
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So in the year of 605, I believe it's 593 BC, I'd have to look at the calendar again.
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But in those years, there's a deportation from Israel to Babylon and the temple is destroyed.
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Babylon comes and destroys the entirety of the temple. And it is wiped out. And so if you could imagine living in that day, this is the place where God's presence resides and it's beautiful and magnificent.
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The work that they have done on it is wonderful, absolutely beautiful.
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And so the people that would still be alive from that day to the day of 520
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BC would be few in this day. There's, there's many that have died in this process, but the ones that are still alive that remember the temple in the former glory, it would be quite strange to remember what it used to look like, see the land that it was completely destroyed from, and you see the new building being erected.
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And it seems like nothing in comparison. It seems like nothing in comparison. It's probably difficult to wrap your mind around.
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And we can all think about this in our own lives that when we are younger, we can remember what our grandparents or parents built for us.
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And then something happens, a fire happens, whatever it is, and it's gone. And now when you look forward, you are discouraged about what's before you, because it doesn't seem to compare to what was prior.
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It doesn't seem like it's, it's comparing well for them. And so there's only been a month that's gone by and God knows what his people are thinking.
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And so he's asking this rhetorical question to them. Does it seem like it's anything? Does it really seem like it's going to meet expectations of grandeur and splendor to the eyes like what the last temple did?
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Does it really seem like a place where God, in this text, where God could dwell and his presence could be seen?
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Does it really seem like that yet? And the answer is no, it would have only been a month. It wouldn't have been in comparison.
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It wouldn't have seemed like it would have been the place for God. But what does God now say in verse four?
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This is truly remarkable in this text. In verse four, after asking, does this compare?
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Does the former temple compare to the latter temple yet? Verse four says this, but now take courage, but now be strong, but now take courage.
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Oh, remnant of Israel is what it's getting out in here. Take courage. Zerubbabel declares the
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Yahweh, the Lord, take courage. Also, Joshua, son of Jehoshaphat, the high priest and all you people of the land, take courage, declares the
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Yahweh and work for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts.
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Take courage, Zerubbabel. Take courage, Joshua. Take courage, the people of Israel.
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What is going on right now is you could imagine that you could see the, the maybe the skeleton, the temple has been set up for them.
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It's, it's there. They can see it. They're being discouraged and remembering what the old temple worked for, what it looked like and what it used to be, the former glory of the last temple.
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And God is saying in here, don't exhaust yourself.
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Don't, don't, don't think that it's done. Don't think that there's no future hope. The future temple, the second one that's coming about is going to be even greater than the first one.
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Take courage, knowing that I am with you. And we understand what was the temple for.
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What was the temple shouting as we talked about several times in the past, it was all pointing us to whom
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Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ. Now, immediately our mind should be thinking about this.
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How did the Jews recognize Jesus? Did they see him as something that was a grandeur and splendor to their eyes?
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No, they didn't. Especially on the cross. When we consider Isaiah 53, what does it say in there?
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That he was marred beyond appearance and that no one wanted to look at him. No one liked it.
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It didn't seem like it was good, but we understand that the latter temple was far greater than the previous one.
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And when I say the latter temple, I'm speaking about the very body of Christ, the very substance of what those temples were, the latter tabernacle, the latter, the very body of Jesus Christ, though it did not seem like anything to their eyes, the glory there was far greater than the past.
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Far, far greater. That's the typology that we would see in this text. Take courage,
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Zerubbabel. Take courage, Joshua. Take courage, remnant of the people. And why do why are they to be strong?
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Why are they to take courage? Why is it that they are to do this? It says here in verse four,
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I am with you. And then it uses this term for the fifth time in this book, says the
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Yahweh of hosts. It doesn't say in this text to take courage because of some false god is with you or take courage because bell or take courage because of this or take courage because of that.
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The Yahweh of hosts, the Lord of hosts, God Almighty is with them. And that's why they are to take courage in what they're doing.
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Don't worry about how it looks right now. Put your shoulder to the will and go and work for I am with you.
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Take courage in what God has declared for you to do. Take courage in the in the in the command from God to rebuild this temple.
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And so as they're rebuilding the second temple, what are the people and what are they in need of right in this text?
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Why is the whole second letter of Haggai written? Is to encourage the people to continue in the work.
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Church, when we as as as Christians, we often get this mentality of this world is sinful and I don't want to look at it anymore.
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I just I'm done with it essentially is what we go because we hate sin. We don't like it. That is the wrong mentality that we have.
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We are ambassadors aliens sent to this world and we're not sent to this world to hate this world.
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We're sent to this world to love this world and tell them about whom Jesus Christ. So when we look out to this world and we see that it's falling apart, there's sin in it and I just want to leave.
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We cannot say I just want to leave and then shut our door and not tell them about Jesus Christ.
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What I would encourage you today is is in that text that we've read now every single week now,
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I think going through the book of Haggai's almost every single week has been Matthew chapter 28, verse 17 through 20.
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You and I have been given a command from God to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son and the
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Holy Spirit. I heard Rick read that again with the children today, talking about the Trinity, the name singular, and then at least three for us, the father, the son and the
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Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you and lo, I am with you to the end of the age.
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You see, when we go into this world, we end up getting discouraged and forgetting that God has given us a command to do something.
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We get discouraged in that. And that could be everything from raising your kids up in Jesus Christ, teaching them about who he is, or that could be anything from going to work and having those awkward conversations about the gospel with your coworkers, whatever that looks like for you in your own situation.
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We get discouraged in this. It seems like it's failing. It seems like it's not being done the way it should be often, but what is the word that the book of Haggai tells us for the people in that day that had a similar situation going on?
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What does he say to them? Take courage because not just anyone is with you,
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Israel, not just anyone is with you, not just anyone is with you. Joshua Yahweh of hosts is with you.
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His purpose, his command, his decree is going to be accomplished the way that he wants.
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Yahweh is with you. Go therefore and work. Now, the, the little portion that we need to make reference of here in his chapter in verse five, because it says as for the promise, which
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I made you when you came out of Egypt, my spirit, my spirits, what was the third person of the
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Trinity that the kids spoke of today? The Holy Spirit, right? The Holy Spirit.
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Lydia, do you remember learning about that today? The Holy Spirit? Is he the third person of the Trinity? Is he
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God? God is the Holy Spirit. God. I saw a little nod there.
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She, she, I remember watching earlier that same question kind of got the kids to stumble a little bit, but it says my spirit, this is the whole
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Testament. My spirit is abiding in your midst. Do not fear. What God is telling these people to remember is that he is faithful, that he is good.
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Remember the promise that was cut with you, that was made with you.
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When I took you out of Egypt, remember these things, remember them. How can we, how can we do this?
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How can we remember what Christ has done for us? How can we remember these things? And the reason
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I ask that is that it's right next to us right now. This ordinance that we do as a church, this, this communion is a remembrance for us, for what
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Christ has done, that he has been faithful, that he's good, that there is a covenant and a promise that he has given to us.
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I want to read here just shortly, and then this will probably be the last portion that we remember of or that we read from.
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But I want you to remember that God has been faithful to us and that you and I are to take courage.
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Christians, whether you have, you, whether you fail, you sin, that you, whether you are attacked, your name is dirty, false accusations come to you, hardships come along the road, or even death itself is around the corner for you.
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We are to take courage because Christ has already won at the cross. The work is already done.
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Christ has done it. What are we there for to go do is to go and take courage that Christ has won and overcome.
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Take courage in the Lord and know that God himself, Christ himself, what does he say there in Matthew 28 verse 20?
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Lo, I am with you even until the end of the age. The same promise that's given to Israel that I am with you, take courage, is the same thing that God has told us, the church.
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I am with you. I want to read Matthew 26, 26 through 29.
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And I want you to think about remembering this covenant verse 26.
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And we are going to talk much more in depth and detail about this next Sunday. But in verses 26 through 29, it says this.
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And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread and after blessing it, he broke it, gave it to the disciples and said, take and eat.
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This is my body. And when he had taken the cup and given thanks, he gave it to them saying, drink from it, all of you.
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For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many for the forgiveness of sins.
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But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until the day when
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I drink it anew with you in my father's kingdom. I want to read verse 28 again here.
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For this is my blood of the covenant, the blood of the covenant, the blood of the covenant.
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Don't know the exact scriptural reference. So I'm going to turn there so I don't misquote this. Hebrews 13, verse 20 says, now the
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God of peace was brought up from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even
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Jesus, our Lord. That day that Christ walked up Calvary and died there upon the cross, the greatest new covenant could ever be done.
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The better supreme covenant was made through his flesh hanging upon the tree and the blood being spilt.
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You and I have been covered by his righteousness, that perfect life that he lived. And so when we go out to this world, when we leave from this church building, when we go into the world, how are we to remember and take courage and, and be strengthened in the promise of what that word on that cross was to tell us die, it's been paid for in full.
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We are to remember what Christ has done for us. And we do that today with doing communion.
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We remember it is his body and his blood. That is my righteousness.
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Let us not look anywhere else. Let us not look anywhere else. And we do this until he comes again.
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So let, let's pray. And then we'll partake in communion. Lord God, I do thank you for today.
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I thank you for your grace, Lord. I thank you for this new covenant, Lord. I thank you for, for making this covenant,
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Lord, keeping those old covenants and, and doing what we couldn't do, God. Lord, I, I would ask you that you would help each one of us take courage,
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Lord, whatever it is that we're doing, whatever way right now that it seems like despair has come and there's nothing good from it that we can see,
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Lord, remind us, take courage, be strong. Lord, let us remember that we are not to go into this world and see the evil and sin and say, no, thank you.
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But we are to go into this world and tell him to repent and believe in the gospel. And we do that until the day we die.
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And Lord God, let us sing great glory to you today after communion and let us remember that covenant and let us help it remind us to have courage in what you've done,