Persevering in Our Priorities - The Message of Haggai

 

by Doug Smith

 

You've probably heard about or seen the object lesson where someone takes a jar and fills it with big rocks, gravel, sand, and then water.  The point of the lesson is that if you don't get the big rocks in first, you won't get them in at all.  In other words, if you neglect the important things in life, other things will press in and crowd them out.  We need to make sure we have our priorities right.

 

The book of Haggai chronicles God's message to people who had let their creature comforts crowd out their priority of fully restoring the public worship of God.  The Jewish audience was composed of those who had returned to the land under the auspices of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians who carried the Jews into captivity in 586 B.C.  They began the project, laying the foundation, but soon quit due to opposition (Ezra 3:8-6:18).  They would go on to complete the work (Ezra 6:14), but first they needed some serious reminders from God.  By the time Haggai the prophet (a contemporary of the prophet Zechariah) brought them God's message in 520 B.C., sixteen years had passed.  The people were living in nice, paneled houses while God's house still lay in ruins (1:4).  God had sent agricultural and economic hardship to get their attention (1:6, 9-11).  Haggai's message was this:  consider your ways and get to work rebuilding the temple (1:5, 7-8).  The people got the message and got to work (1:12).

 

God is not calling us to travel to Jerusalem and begin working on a construction project on the ruined temple there now.  The application for us is to build our spiritual lives, as individuals and corporately.  Christ Himself is the fulfillment of the temple – it is through Him that we have access to God (Jn. 2:19-22; Heb. 10:19-22).  If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, the first priority is that you come to God through Him.  You must repent of your rebellion and place your trust in Him who died as a sacrifice in the place of sinners so that God's wrath against them could be removed and that they could have eternal life in knowing Him.

 

Now that Christ has ascended and given His Spirit, we who are Christians are the temple.  This is true for us as individuals (1 Cor. 6:19) and as His church (1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16).  God dwells with us and in us.  The Jews needed to restore the public worship of the temple as a testimony to the living God who was worthy of worship.  We need to live for God's pleasure to display His glory (1:8).  Therefore, we need to make sure we have the right priorities.

 

There are several ways to discover what are priorities truly are.  How we use our time and money are chief indicators.  Our goals, or lack of them, and how we pursue or don't pursue them may show where our treasure is.  Our prayer life, including the content of our prayers (and indeed if we pray at all), reveals much about us.  Our commitment to hearing God's Word through reading the Bible and diligently listening to preaching is likely to be quite telling as well.  The presence or absence of family worship in our homes and the quality and consistency of our relationships with others in the local church may also help us assess our priorities.  Do we think of others?  Are we living lives that show joy in God, denial of self, and loving service to others?  We need to consider our ways.  What and who are we living for?  What do we hope for ourselves and our children to accomplish and why?  Let us see that, as individuals and as God's people, we are evidencing a heart of worship through obedient lives ordered by God's priorities.

 

Getting our priorities right is important, but it is not enough.  It is insufficient to simply be committed to an idea or vision on paper.  One must implement these priorities and be committed to persevering in them, despite difficulties.  Haggai encouraged the Jews, and reminds us, to do just this.

 

Haggai reminds us of God's help.  The people became discouraged by memories of the previous temple and its glory (2:3).  Haggai encourages them to look for their help in the LORD, who brought them out of Egypt, who will shake heaven and earth, and who has all resources (2:5-8).  The encouragement to be strong and the reminder that God is with them may echo David's words to Solomon, who first built the temple (1 Chron. 28:20).  These words are addressed to the leaders, Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the governor, as well as the people (2:2, 4).

 

Church leaders and congregations may become discouraged at their lives or ministries when they compare them with how things used to be or with others that seem to be blooming.  But we must remember that God has not called us to live in the past, to reconstruct the "glory days," or to imitate the latest church growth fad in order to get the appearance of success.  He has called us to faithful obedience to His Word.  He is our strength and help.  And what He chooses to accomplish through us should not be despised as something worthless.

 

Haggai reminds the people that holiness is not contagious, but uncleanness is (2:10-14).  Yet from their time of obedience, God would bless them (2:15ff.).  This may refer to the contaminating nature of their previous disobedience among one another, or perhaps to sinful attitudes and behaviors that remained even after they began rebuilding.  Either way, they are instructed in the importance of holiness.  We too should persevere in holiness, valuing God's blessing and desiring to encourage God's people, knowing that our sinful attitudes and disobedience can easily infect others (cf. the warning about the root of bitterness in Heb. 12:14-15).

 

Finally, Haggai would have us hope in the sovereign power and plan of God.  God has the final word in history.  He promises to overthrow thrones and kingdoms and to make Zerubbabel his signet ring, a symbol of authority and blessing (2:21-23).  Ultimately this promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who is of Zerubbabel's line (Matt. 1:12-13; Lk. 3:27).  Though we may face opposition, we must remember that God keeps His word.  The coming of Christ, His perfect life and death for sinners, His resurrection and ascension give us hope in the One who overthrows thrones and kingdoms and gives salvation to all who repent of their rebellion against Him and trust in Him alone.  It is this hope that enables us to persevere in our priorities and glorify God.

Priorities (Get the Big Rocks in First) – - Part 5 of 5 - Haggai 1:1-15

by Doug Smith How can you know if your priorities are correct? Ask yourself two questions. First, what would you do if you had a day with no commitments and could do whatever you desired? Second, if you had $1 billion, how would you spend it? What we do with our time and money reveals what is most important to us. But God's Word, worship, and work should be the big rocks we seek to get in our jar first. Perhaps you need to set an alarm earlier to do this. Maybe you should create a schedule and manage your time better, modifying it as you go along until you find the right balance of discipline and flexibility. A budget can be very helpful in setting and maintaining financial priorities and being sure you are giving to God's work. Rebuilding is hard work. It was hard for those working on the temple, and it is hard for us to work on our spiritual lives. Outside us are the world and the devil. Within is our flesh. These enemies conspire to destroy our spiritual lives by having lesser things fill up our jars. Let's be sure we get the big rocks in first: the Word of God, the worship of God, and the work of God. --- This series was adapted from a sermon I preached as a guest speaker at Pilgrim Baptist Church, North Brookfield, Massachusetts, on June 17, 2007. For the complete audio sermon I preached on this text, please click here (.mp3 file: left-click to listen, right-click to download).

Priorities (Get the Big Rocks in First) – Part 4 of 5 - Haggai 1:1-15

by Doug Smith We have considered the big rocks of God's Word and the worship of God. Let us consider: Big Rock #3 – The Work of God (The Evidence of Our Priorities) -– v. 12-15 In his book, How to Worship Jesus Christ, Joseph S. Carroll notes that "worship always precedes service" and says that "you will serve the one you worship." If we have the big rock of God's Word in place, and then the big rock of worship is present, then we will surely have the work of God as a priority. In fact, our service reveals our priorities. The people had returned from exile. They had begun rebuilding and had completed the foundation. But they had become discouraged and had not worked on the temple for 16 years! This was supposed to be a major reason for their return. Their lack of work was evidence of misplaced priorities. Conversely, their activity in working on the temple would be evidence of having their priorities straight again. God's worship leads to service, but God's presence encourages it and His Spirit empowers it. Haggai reminded the people that God was with them (v. 13), and the Lord stirred up their spirits to work (v. 14). As a result, they did work (v. 14). What does your work, or lack of it, reveal about your priorities? Works do not save us, but they can be an evidence of salvation. Christians do not work to be accepted by God, but because they are already accepted by God on the basis of what Christ has done. After trusting in Christ, the first work God calls a believer to is to follow the Lord by being baptized, thereby publicly identifying himself or herself with Christ through the symbolic burial with Him in His death and the resurrection to newness of life pictured by this ordinance. If you will not obey the command to be baptized, how can you expect to be useful in any other service to the Lord? Church membership is something else we should consider. Linking arms with a local assembly, covenanting to support its work and submit to its discipline, is another way that we go forward with the work of God. Do not view the church as another option in our consumeristic culture. If you are a Christian, commit yourself to a local assembly and love those fellow members and serve in and through that local church. Intentionally seek out ways to serve. Be proactive; take the initiative. Deliver a meal to that new family. Offer to babysit for that single mother. Get to know others and really help out and pray for them in specific ways that will bless them. Be friendly and reach out to those people that others seem to have little to do with. Don't let age differences, socioeconomic background, or skin color be a factor in choosing people to serve. Consider who you need to share the Gospel with. Do helpful things that you may not get recognized for. Do tough things that others don't want to do. Focus on things that build up the body of Christ and give encouragement in the Christian walk. Let us serve the Lord, since our works are evidence of our priorities. We will conclude our study in Haggai 1 tomorrow.

Priorities (Get the Big Rocks in First) - Haggai 1:1-15 - Part 3 of 5: The Worship of God

by Doug Smith Yesterday, we considered the big rock of the Word of God. Today, we look at: Big Rock #2:– The Worship of God (The Motive for Our Priorities) –- v. 8 We ought to consider why we do what we do. We often do things out of duty. We do things sometimes to please others. We do things because we like to do them. It may be that we are seeking recognition. But what motivation does God give for rebuilding? God says, "Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified" (v. 8). We ought to do things to please God and to glorify Him. His worship should be our priority. One's own private pleasure and recognition are not the highest reasons to do something. But to live for God's pleasure and to make Him known are the best and only pure motives from which we should do what we do. Jesus died for people "that they which lives should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:15). We are not to put God first in order that we might gain recognition, but in order to spread abroad His fame. That's the purpose of evangelism and the goal of missions. As John Piper has said, "Missions exists because worship does not." To use a book title from John MacArthur, worship is The Ultimate Priority. This is what we were made for! "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created" (Revelation 4:11). Are you taking time daily to worship God in private? Besides hearing His Word, are you praying that He would be pleased with your life? Are you singing praises to Him? Is family worship a priority? Fathers, this is your responsibility. If you are a single mother, you ought to consider this as well. It doesn't have to be lengthy or complicated. Read Scripture, pray, and sing a song to the Lord. How important is corporate worship to you? Are you having trouble getting all you could from corporate worship and putting all you could put into it because you stay up late on Saturday nights? Do you miss services because of things that are more important to you? Do you need to change jobs or work fewer hours to worship God corporately on a more frequent basis? The temple testified to God's glory and salvation, and the corporate gatherings of the church are a public testimony of the same today, particularly to God's redeeming work in Christ. If you are a college student, please be sure you are in contact with a healthy local church where you may worship God and hear His Word faithfully proclaimed. If you are in a spiritually damaging environment, consider transferring. Parents and high school students, please take into consideration the proximity of a good local church when looking at options for further schooling. Pastors, consider the reason for your ministry. It is not to please yourself or to make you look good. It is not to win a popularity contest. It is to please God and make Him known. Preach and shepherd the flock as acts of worship to God. And throughout each day we should all consider whether the pleasure and glory of God at the heart of our concern in what we do and how we do what we do. The worship of God should be the motivation for our priorities. Tomorrow we will consider the third big rock: the work of God.

Priorities (Get the Big Rocks in First) - Haggai 1:1-15 - Part 2 of 5: The Word of God

by Doug Smith We are considering the message of Haggai 1 –- priorities. Or, to use the illustration from yesterday, we need to get the big rocks in first. Big Rock #1: The Word of God (The Basis of Our Priorities) -– v. 1-11 Whenever we hear a command, it is natural to ask, "says who?" If the one giving the command has knowledge, authority, or our best interests in mind, we are more prone to listen. Twenty-seven times out of thirty-eight verses, Haggai uses words that indicate the message he brings is from God. His message has authority because it comes from the One with all authority. We should read and hear God's Word as His message, not as man's opinion. We should receive it as communication from the king. Notice how the Word works. It exposes our excuses, even as it revealed theirs: "the time has not come yet" (v. 2). Sometimes God's work requires things of us that are not easy, but now is always the proper time for obedience to God's commands. It searches our hearts, rebuking our misplaced priorities, even as it reprimanded the people for being more intent to build up their own homes instead of restoring the place of the public worship of God (v. 3-4). They were living in paneled houses fit for royalty while the temple lay in ruins! God's Word interprets our experience, even as it showed them that they were experiencing hard times as a result of their disobedience (v. 5-6, 9-11). It reminds us of our responsibilities, even as they were reminded to get to work on the temple (v. 7-8). God's Word instructs us in the way we should go, and calls for us to examine ourselves, considering our ways, and change what we are thinking and doing. We need to take time for God's Word, making a point to read it daily. We need to listen to it. We need to study it, meditate on it, memorize it, obey it, and share it. Husbands, perhaps you need to give your wife a break from her responsibilities (particularly if you are parents) so she will have adequate time in the Word. Parents, be sure you are reading the Bible, even if it is something like Catherine Vos's The Child's Story Bible, is a good way to include this in your family life. As the children get older, set aside times specifically for them to read their Bibles, perhaps a 30 minute slot where everyone in the family quietly reads their Bibles. Single parents, it is hard, but find a way to fit it into your schedule, even if in shorter intervals. Make time for it. While not a single mother, Susannah Wesley would put an apron over her head to indicate to her many children that she was spending time alone with the Lord! Pastors, be sure that God's Word is central in your preaching. Let the text determine and shape the message. Preach the point of the passage you are expounding. Include plenty of Scripture reading in the worship service, and be sure it is read with enthusiasm and life. God's Word is the first big rock that we need in our lives. If we don't make a point to get it in, there will be enough distractions to make sure that it doesn't get in at all. Tomorrow we will consider the second big rock: the worship of God.

Priorities (Get the Big Rocks in First) - Haggai 1:1-15 - Part 1 of 5: Introduction

by Doug Smith As a student, I remember seeing an object lesson that you may be familiar with as well. The speaker took an empty jar and placed three or four large rocks into it. He asked if it was full. It looked full, so I thought the answer was yes. He then poured some gravel into the jar and asked if it was full. Of course it was now – right? Then some sand filled in the space between the rocks and gravels. It was obvious that nothing more could go in, but somehow I knew that there must be something else. The speaker finally poured in water, and the jar was full. I was a bit slow on this object lesson. I thought that the point was that no matter how much you have going on in your life, you can always squeeze something else in! Of course, I was wrong, and, thankfully, the speaker gave the correct interpretation. The moral was that if you do not get the big rocks in first, you will not get them in at all. Another way to say it is that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. The lesson dealt with priorities and so does the book of Haggai. If we do not get the big rocks in first, the sands of time will quickly fill our lives and we will fail to take care of those things that ought to be our priorities. Our mindset must be "first things first." Haggai is one of the Minor Prophets, so called because of the length of the book that bears his name, not because he is less important than other prophets. The only references to Haggai outside his book are Ezra 5:1 and 6:14. He is one of the last three Old Testament prophets, the other two being Zechariah (whose ministry overlapped Haggai's) and Malachi (who came along about 100 years later). Haggai, the first prophet for the returned exiles, preached so that people would rebuild the temple. Many years before Haggai, God called Abraham out of a land of idolaters. He made promises to him: he would receive a land and descendants, and he would be a blessing to the nations. He kept His promise to him by giving him Isaac, who was the father of Jacob. Jacob's sons became known as the 12 tribes of Israel. God had told Abraham that his people would be in bondage 400 years, and so they were. God brought them out by His mighty hand, cursing Egypt with plagues and parting the Red Sea so that the people walked through on dry ground. Eventually the people returned to the land. God gave them instructions for worship in the tabernacle, a movable tent. David desired to build a permanent house for the Lord's worship, a desire God did not grant to David. Instead, the construction of the temple occurred during the reign of David's son, Solomon. The temple was a sign of God's blessing and presence with the nation of Israel. It witnessed to His existence, supremacy, holiness, and mercy. The kingdom split after Solomon's reign, and eventually both parts were taken captive because of their rebellion and idolatry. The Northern Kingdom (called Israel) was overtaken by the Assyrians, and the Southern Kingdom (called Judah) by the Babylonians. In 586 B. C., the temple was destroyed and Judah was taken captive. But in 538 B. C., Cyrus, ruler of the Medo-Persian Empire, defeated Babylon and took charge. He allowed conquered nations, including the Jews, to return to their homelands. He even decided to finance the reconstruction of the Jewish temple. In 536 B.C., only about 50,000 returned to the land. This was a sign of their faithfulness to God. Many of the other Jews had become comfortable in Babylon and prospered; they were not interested in the difficult journey to the once-conquered homeland to undertake the difficult job of rebuilding. Their way of life was more important to them than re-instituting the public worship of God. Yet the faithful Jews made the journey and began the job. They laid the foundations of the temple in 536 B.C. But they encountered opposition. And they put the work on hold. They started to focus on building up their own homes and neglected the house of the LORD. In fact, the rebuilding of the temple was on hold for sixteen years, and that's why God sent His Word by His prophet Haggai. The application for us is not to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem but to focus on the things that matter to God. We need to rebuild our spiritual lives. Jesus replaced the temple – He is the One through whom we worship God. He is the altar, the sacrifice, and the great high priest. And He has made His people a temple for the Lord. One must first of all be trusting Christ for this message to have significance. There is no spiritual life apart from Christ. If you are not a Christian, realize that God is your holy Creator against whom you have rebelled, that you deserve eternal death in hell, and that God will forgive your sins if you will repent and trust in Christ, the Son of God who lived a perfect life, died as a sacrifice for sin, rose from the dead and is returning to judge the world in righteousness. But if you are a Christian, even the most committed among us need reminders to rebuild. We need to get the big rocks in first. Tomorrow, we will look at the first big rock we need to get into our jars: the Word of God.