Haggai - A Prophet for Today - Part 2
by Rich Murphy
|
While Haggai's first message to the people of Jerusalem was one of correction, to get them restarted on the work of building the temple, his second one was a message of encouragement. Some of the people who were working on the temple were unhappy about it. They remembered the great temple of Solomon, and in comparing it to their current work, couldn't see how God could be glorified by the new temple.
Where did this attitude come from? What was the problem with the new temple? Was it too small? Wasn't it fancy enough? Were they leaving something out of its construction? First of all we need to understand that all these ancient people groups had the idea that the bigger and more magnificent the temple to their god was, the bigger and more powerful their god. We can even see this in Mexico, where the Mayan pyramids showed the importance of the various gods. The more important the deity, the bigger the pyramid they built in his honor. If we compare the sizes of the temple that Zerubbabel and the people were building, they shouldn't have had any reason to be sad; it was to be bigger and grander than the temple of Solomon. In First Kings, chapter 6, where it talks about the construction of that earlier temple, it says that it was 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide and 30 cubits tall. Although it doesn't tell us here in Haggai the dimensions of the new temple, they are mentioned in the book of Ezra, where King Cyrus commanded it to be built 60 cubits wide and 60 cubits tall (Ezra 6:3). Even though the length isn't written in, we know that it was to be twice as tall as the temple of Solomon! So, since it can't be the physical size of the temple that was the problem, it must have been something else. So, what about the richness of the temple? Let's take a moment to compare how much money they spent on the two temples:
Well, even if we don't know the units of measure they used in those times, it seems pretty obvious from the numbers that the offering given for the first temple was much bigger than the one given for the second. Oh, those poor returning exiles, they didn't have hardly anything to give to the work of the Lord. Wait a minute! Let's take a little closer look at that. In the dollar of today, the total offering for Solomon's temple comes to $5,107,773,185.00. The total offering for Zerubbabel's temple comes to $9,929,500.00. While I have to say that there's a huge difference between those two numbers, I don't see too many churches built today that cost almost ten million dollars! Okay, looking at that, I'll have to admit that those who had seen Solomon's temple might have thought they had reason to be sad; but, then on the other hand, most of that gold and silver was in the holy place, and the holy of holies. Since the people weren't allowed to enter in there, how did they know what it looked like? I don't know the answer to that one, unless it was the high priest himself that was sad. However, even though he's mentioned by name, here in the very same prophecy, he's not mentioned as one who had seen it. Still, I have to say that a ten million dollar temple isn't like little roadside shrine. They were building the best they could, even though to them it wasn't good enough. But, we must understand that how much money they spent putting a "natural glory" in the temple wasn't God's focus. The glory of the temple doesn't come from the money that's spent on it, but on who the money is spent for.
God's response to their sadness over the lack of material richness in the new temple is to encourage them. Essentially, He tells them, "Don't worry about your lack of ability to make this temple glorious, because the glory that you can give it is only temporal. On the other hand, I can and will give it a glory that surpasses anything you can think of. I'll give it my own glory" Wow! What a great encouragement that must have been to them. To know that the one true God, the God of Heaven and Earth was going to put His glory and His presence in the temple they were building. It was almost like God was putting His seal of approval on their work. You see, God doesn't look at things the same way we do. He's not focused on dollars and cents; he's focused on hearts and minds. That probably has something to do with the reason why there isn't a temple in Jerusalem today. We are supposed to be His temple. Why? Because, our God wants us to give ourselves totally to Him; heart, soul, mind, and strength. That's the best offering we can give. We can take the idea of not worrying about the money to the other extreme, too. There are a lot of people that just throw something together, and say that God will have to understand. That isn't right. If we are going to do something for the Lord, we should do the best we can, not just enough to get by. God does things with excellence, and we should too. I'm sure that those Jews were very interested in doing their work for the Lord with excellence. That would explain why they were sad. But, excellence doesn't just come from the amount of money one spends. Yes, buying better materials can make the end product better. But, if we don't' take the time to use those materials wisely, crafting and forming them into something of beauty; all we've done is spend money, not done a work of excellence.
Let me go back a minute, because I jumped over one verse in this prophecy:
More than anything, the temple was a symbol of the presence of God in the midst of the Jewish people. This little phrase "for I am with you" that is included in this verse, should have given them great joy; knowing that their God was with them. This should be one of the greatest goals of our lives. Not that we just say that God is with us, nor even that we "feel" His presence, but to hear Him say to us, "I am with you." There is nothing more important to us, as believers, than to have the presence of God with us, both individually and corporately. What do we need to have, in order to have the presence of God? Is it something automatic that comes to believers? Or, is it something that we need to seek and work for? In the church of today, we've basically held the point of view that the Lord is always with us, as long as we are saved, no matter what we say or do. While there is ample scripture to support this point of view, including several verses that the Lord Jesus Himself said, I'd like to say that I don't think we've understood our Lord correctly. You see, there is presence, and then there's PRESENCE. Not all presence is the same. Let me try and give you a natural parallel to show you what I mean. If you were a young, single man in the plaza, and an absolutely gorgeous girl is on the other side of the plaza, you can say that she's in your presence, or that you are in her presence. But then, she walks across the plaza, and happens to go by where you are sitting. You can still say the same thing, that you're in her presence, but the presence is a much surer, stronger thing. Finally, she sits down next to you and starts to talk to you. Once she does that, nobody can argue that you're in her presence; it's so clear that as we say, "a blind person can see it." You keep seeing that girl, and start going out together. While the same term applies, that you're in her presence, there's a huge difference between this presence and the presence you had at the beginning, with her on the other side of the plaza. But, we still haven't reached the greatest "presence" that can exist. Do you know when that happens? It happens on your wedding night when you close the bedroom door. That's "PRESENCE." The same idea works when we talk about the presence of the Lord. While I have to agree that Jesus will never leave us, or forsake us; I also must recognize that often times, we only have His presence, instead of having His PRESENCE." Okay, so if there is a difference in the type, or intensity of His presence with us, where does this difference come from? Is there anything we can do to affect it? How can we have more of God's presence? Two unknown prophets, both of whom prophesied to King Asa in Judah give us a clue about the answer to these questions. The first one, Azariah, said:
Several years later, Hanani prophecied to King Asa:
Okay, okay, I realize this is Old Testament, and someone is going to say that things are different now. But, our God hasn't changed! The truths of the Old Testament still apply to us today. There are a few things that really stand out in these two verses of prophecy. First of all, finding God, and having His presence requires some action on our part; we have to seek Him. How do we need to seek Him? We need to do it fervently. With all our heart, until we find Him. Both Luke and Matthew quote Jesus as saying:
If we read those verses in Greek, the language of the New Testament, they hold a little different understanding than what they show in English, or Spanish. Instead of "ask," it says, "ask, and keep on asking;" instead of "seek," it says, "seek, and keep on seeking;" instead of "knock" it says, "knock, and keep on knocking." In other words, there is a necessity for perseverance if we want to have God's presence. God isn't just waiting for us to call, like some servant. He's looking for people who are truly looking for Him. On the other hand, going back to the same verse in Chronicles, He's perfectly willing to forsake those who forsake Him. What does that mean, to "forsake God?" Usually, when we think of this term, we apply it to sinners who don't want anything to do with Him. However, I'd have to say that the true meaning of this word is much greater. Anyone, believer, or unbeliever who isn't actively seeking God all the time has forsaken Him. Forsaking Him means not focusing on having His presence. Forsaking Him means that He isn't number one in our lives. Forsaking Him means being to busy for prayer, worship, and study of His Word. Forsaking Him means we aren't desperate to receive a touch from His mighty hand. Now, let's add the second verse that I mentioned from Second Chronicles. It says that God is actively seeking people with perfect hearts. Who are those? Have you ever found someone who was perfect? I haven't, and the Bible tells us that nobody is perfect. So, what is God talking about here, seeking people with perfect hearts? Once again, it helps us to look at the Bible in its original language. The word that is translated as "perfect" in our Bibles is the word "shalem" in Hebrew. "Shalem" is the verb of "shalom," which means "perfect peace" (the word shalem is the same in the Aramaic language). I mentioned that the word "shalem" is a verb, which means it is a word which talks about some action. In this case, we can take "shalem" to be an action which brings about perfect peace; something that is totally completed, such as finishing a difficult task. Or, in the case of God seeking "shalem hearts" we can take it as hearts that are one hundred percent seeking after Him. Once again we find that it takes more than just asking for His presence once. If we want His presence, we must seek Him constantly. God's glory and God's presence are synonymous. When God told the inhabitants of Jerusalem that He was going to make the new temple more glorious than the old one, he was talking about His presence; He was going to fill it with His presence!
What do we need to do, in order to have that great PRESENCE of the Lord? How can we receive that blessing? We must realize that the presence of God isn't something that comes to us automatically. His presence, especially His great presence comes to those who have prepared to receive it. Understand me correctly on this. Yes, you can know His presence without much effort, that's a benefit of being a believer, but to know the true glory of His presence, the glory that transforms the temple, requires effort. I've already mentioned the need to have a heart totally seeking after Him. But, what else does one need to receive that great presence? There are five interrelated things that I have found which contribute to our ability to receive His great presence: Holiness - God is unable to be where sin is. So in order to have His presence, we must be without sin. That doesn't mean we have reached a state of being perfect, except possibly in our ability to repent. True holiness isn't something external, it's internal. It isn't a mask we put on to cover the filth within us, it's a way of life in which we desire to do what makes our Lord happy. That desire to separate ourselves from the filth of the world expresses itself to others in the outward acts of holiness. But, it always has to start in the heart of the individual. Obedience - If we don't obey what God has commanded us, there is no way we can live in holiness. Once again, this isn't something that is put on like a garment, but it is something that comes from within. It is not an attitude of sacrifice, in which we are giving things up for the Lord; it is a condition of the heart in which we don't want anything to do with that which is contrary to His will. In verse five of this prophecy, God tells His people to follow the covenant that He had made with them. Why? Because, the terms of that covenant are the commandments of the Mosaic Law. As Jesus said, "if you love me, obey my commandments" (Jn 14:15). Commitment - Holiness and obedience are impossible without a true commitment to the Lord. What is a true commitment? It is one in which He is truly our first priority, not just in word, but in deed. It is where Matthew 6:33 (seek first the Kingdom of God) becomes a reality in our lives. We cannot know how true our commitment to the Lord is if it is never tested. Just as God had to "prove" Abraham, we too must be "proven." Why? Because while it is easy to say and think we are committed, we never really know how deep that commitment is until it costs us something to keep it. Focus - It is possible to have everything else I've mentioned here, and still miss the presence of God if we aren't focused on receiving it. All through history, there have been holy, obedient, committed believers who never sought the presence of God. They probably thought that His presence was something that they could not obtain. Or, they might have thought that they weren't good enough for Him. Or, it could just be that their understanding of God didn't allow us to come close to Him. For whatever reason, they didn't seek His presence, and they didn't find it. Worship - Finally, once we've dealt with all the heart issues which impede our ability to receive God's presence, we must usher in His presence with praise and worship. Psalm 100, verse 4 tells us that praise is the key to the door of heaven, and that worship is what we do when we get there. God is still looking for those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
There is no substitute for the true presence of God. Any glory that we as human beings can fabricate for our churches, our services, or our lives is only a cheap copy of the true glory of God's presence. Many have tried to fabricate this glory, but it cannot be done. Many have talked about it, without truly having it. But, it is available to all who are willing to pay the price to receive it. |
              |
|
Go to Previous Teaching in Series Copyright © 2007 by Richard A. Murphy, Maranatha Life. All rights reserved. |
