The Twelve Minor Prophets: Haggai
Dr. James Smith
Haggai
6 November 2005
From the time that I first decided to follow Jesus Christ, I was of the opinion that money was the “root of all evil” and therefore was a significant spiritual hindrance. In fact, money was evil.
My grandmother who led me to faith in Christ, often supported certain well known tele-evangelists of the 80’s and I was strangely relieved that she passed away before their well publicized falls.
Building funds were particularly annoying to me, because I was of the opinion that tithes and church money in general, should be invested in people as well as key programs and staff that would reach more people for Jesus Christ.
And so when my family’s church made a big push for funds to purchase new property with an eye to build a new church and ministry center, I became frustrated and felt that their emphasis was all wrong.
And when I felt the God’s call to serve Him in the ministry, I vowed that I would never talk at any length about money or ever support any kind of building campaign.
After all, I firmly believed that God wasn’t interested in buildings, He was interested in people.
This kind of thinking remains alive and well among many of God’s people today. Somehow the raising of funds and the physical effort to erect buildings is seen as “unspiritual” in many quarters.
And yet when we come to the Old Testament book of Haggai, we find that God was intensely concerned that a building, and specifically a temple, be erected to His honor and glory.
And such a temple would take considerable time and money to build as well as a significant amount of labor from God’s people.
And so in 520 B.C., God’s word came to a prophet named Haggai who ministered in the land of Judah after the Babylonians had been defeated by Persians.
The Persian Empire operated quite differently from the previous Assyrian and Babylonian empires, which were known for their infamous terror tactics.
The Persians were what we might call, “benevolent despots.” To be sure, they had no time for rebellion in the empire and they had no problem taking the center beam out of a house and hanging a man on it if he offended the king, as we see in the Book of Esther.
But in general, the Persians attempted to restore the lands and fortunes of those who had been exiled far from home, and in the process they expected the loyalty and even prayers of their subject peoples.
In general, the Bible depicts the Persians very positively because they allowed God’s people to return from their long and hard exile and to rebuild a life for themselves in Judah.
To assist in this process, the Persians gave the Jews as well as other people the needed funds, supplies and support necessary to rebuild their houses of worship.
And so in 538 B.C., the Persian king Cyrus issued a decree allowing 50,000 Jews to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple. After about 2 years of work, the foundation was laid amid great celebration as we are told in Ezra 3.
This aroused the opposition of the Samaritans in the north who feared the renewed growth and vigor of the Jews of the south and attempted to interfere with the building efforts .
The Book of Ezra tells us that King Darius of the Persian empire fully supported the Jews rebuilding their temple and in 516 B.C. the temple of God was finally completed and dedicated.
The work on the temple had languished for some 16 years with only the foundation that had been laid, before God called Haggai to speak to the people’s lethargy and fear in 520 B.C.
Haggai was one who would not be taken in by this somewhat artificial dichotomy of buildings vs. spiritual truth as so many evangelicals are today and indeed as I was not so many years ago.
In a move that would seem strange to many Christians today, Haggai unapologetically declared that God’s people should, “go up to the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that God may take pleasure in it and be honored.”
Is it true then, that God can take pleasure in buildings that are erected to honor His name?
Strangely enough, the answer seems be “yes!”
And what is more, is that there is a very important spiritual principle behind all of this that is of direct concern to and conviction for God’s people.
God declared through Haggai in 1:2-4, “These people say that the time has not yet come for the Lord’s house to be built” and yet they live in completed homes with fine paneling and decorations.
Haggai rightly pointed out the ugly hypocrisy of it all and reminded the people that God couldn’t possible bless them because they had so dishonored Him by relegating Him to a distant second place in their actions and heart’s affections.
And it was only when the people heeded God’s word through Haggai and showed their repentance through the work of their hands that God blessed them and said, “I am with you.”
My thinking has changed so much in this area over the last 3 years. I who swore that I would never talk about money in church or be involved in a building campaign have learned to “eat crow” and even learned “to like the taste of it.”
Just 3 or so years ago, our church had $200 in the bank with no prospect of paying our utility bills when I was challenged by a woman on the board who said, “if I found out my church was on the brink of closing and no one had even bothered to tell me about it, I would be furious!”
That got me thinking, praying and fasting as well as brainstorming with the board about ways to build, maintain and prosper God’s house and honor here at Hyde Park Alliance Church.
People from the church began to step up and tithe of their income, their time and their resources with renewed vigor and enthusiasm.
Others, particularly in the Midwest District of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, began to become excited about the unique position of Hyde Park Alliance Church to reach academics and professionals for Jesus Christ
And they stepped up and offered to $150,000 of crucially needed repairs on our 1893 Victorian mansion that we use as a church & ministry center. (Oh, and by the way, God gave us this building for $200,000 in 1985).
And now I sing a different song and it is this . . . is this a time for us to be living in paneled houses when God’s house is in need? When God’s honor is at stake?
I want to challenge each and every one of you and I want to take the risk of stepping on some toes and say, “what are you personally doing right now, to see that this house of God is built up and that His name is honored here in Hyde Park?”
To some of you, I challenge and dare, to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your finances and to begin to tithe or give 10% back to Him.
To some of you, I challenge and dare, to obey the 4th commandment and to put down your studies and work, to focus on God and to rest on Sundays.
To some of you, I challenge and dare, to speak to my wife and invest in our children’s ministries that have been tremendously understaffed in the last several months. (If you don’t, who is going to teach the next generation to build God’s house and to honor His name?)
To some of you, I challenge and dare to simplify your lives and loads so that you can begin to have time to give to God’s work and to loving your neighbor as yourself. (Evangelism in a postmodern world takes time and if you don’t have time, then you cannot love your neighbor).
Haggai helps to disavow us of this false dichotomy between supposedly physical and spiritual things.
God has made us both physical and spiritual creatures and therefore the physical and the spiritual will either mutually inform and help one another or they will war against and destroy each other.
But for those who discover the truth of this matter and whose actions witness to this truth, God says to this person, “I am with you!”
Let’s Pray
