Haggai 2:1-9

In the 7th month, on the 21st day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, who is left among you who 'Who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' declares the Lord. 'Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,' declares the Lord. 'Work, for I am with you,' declares the Lord of hosts. According to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst; fear not. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.

The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts. This is the word of the Lord.

In 126 BC, there was a Roman general who conquered Carthage. It was a 3-year campaign and finally after the city fell, he stood there looking at the city as it was in its ruins and he started to weep. And there was a historian there, it was his good friend, and he asked him why he was crying. He said, "This is a foreshadowing of what's going to happen to my city someday." Looking forward, looking toward the city that he had just conquered, it should have been a victory, should have been something that was a happy moment for him, but he looked at it and knew that one day this too would come for him. And that's what ruins do to us. They don't just tell us about the past. They make us afraid for the future. You don't have to be in ancient Rome to know this, to see this. You can just drive really anywhere, you see this. You've driven past a barn 1,000 times and one day it's leaning and then one strong spring storm hits it and it's down. Then it's just a pile of wood in a field. And something in us sinks in, not just because we feel like we needed the barn, but the landscape tells us that something's missing.

Big Question

Are things getting better or are things getting worse?

We realize that things are in decay. Brings us to a question that we all ask, either out loud or in our hearts: "Are things getting better or are things getting worse?" Things getting better or things getting worse? We all ask this question and yet, as a people, we have a united answer to it. It doesn't matter what ethnic group you're from, it doesn't matter what location, socioeconomic status, what political party you voted for; we're all united in this. It doesn't matter what time period you're from; we can go back throughout history and see the way We've always said things are getting worse. Talk to somebody on the left. They'll tell you that institutions are failing, the planet is dying, or the system's rigged. If you talk to someone on the political right, you'll hear that morality is gone and the family is falling apart and that there aren't values like we once had them. Talk to a parent and they'll tell you that kids aren't safe in the way that they used to be. Talk to a grandparent and they'll tell you nobody knows their neighbors anymore. Talk to a 20-year-old who's trying to buy a house and says they can't, everything's too expensive.

Talk to someone who's retired, and they'll tell you that the world they built is unrecognizable. Here's what's remarkable in all of this: nobody thinks the arrow's pointing up. Nobody thinks that things are getting better. Left, right, young, old, rich or poor, one thing that Americans all generally agree on is that the— our best days are behind us. Declinism isn't a political position, it's the air we breathe. And if that's the air we breathe out there, It's almost certainly the air that we breathe in here too. The church is not immune to this. And so are things getting better or worse? Fortunately, the Bible has an answer for us. So if you would, keep your Bibles open to Haggai as we're going to look at two major movements in this passage, in these 9 verses. First, we'll see God meets discouragement with his presence, Haggai 2:1-5, and then God promises a glory greater than the former in Haggai 2:6-9.

Outline

1. God Meets Discouragement with His Presence (Haggai 2:1-5)

2. God Promises a Glory Greater Than the Former (Haggai 2:6-9)

1. God Meets Discouragement with His Presence (Haggai 2:1-5)

So let's look at that first section, God meets discouragement with His presence. This is all happening in a certain time and that time is important for us to understand. This is happening, this, "The word of the Lord came to Haggai the second time during the festival of Sukkot." This was a festival that was celebrated in Israel all the way up through Jesus' time.

Jesus actually celebrated this. It was called the Feast of Booths. What would happen is Um, people would move out into the desert. They would sit in booths, they would sit in tents to remember Israel's journey through the wilderness. But this was also a harvest festival, which would have had to make people feel uneasy. Harvest is a time to celebrate bounty. It's a time to celebrate what God has done, what God has provided. And they've been in a time of scarcity. In Haggai 1, we saw God had given them pestilence. He had given them a plague. He had given them, uh, a drought on the land, and that they had not been able to harvest what they wanted. Haggai 2:3, God then asks 3 important questions, all 3 leading up to the last one. The first question addresses those who saw the last temple. The middle temple there that got destroyed in 586 BC. Some of those people were children when they saw— who were alive during this time in Haggai's life. They would have been children that saw the temple and had a memory of what it looks like. The last question that Haggai asks, or that God asks, is rhetorical.

It's this: "Is this nothing in your eyes?" As they're looking at the new temple that had just been built, God's telling them it looks like nothing. God is naming discouragement that already exists. He isn't here saying, "Well, this isn't too bad. Let's look on the bright side of things." Why don't we just be optimistic here? Why don't— why don't we look at this as a glass half full moment? God does not dismiss their grief. He names it, but he doesn't let them— he doesn't allow them to sit in their grief or to let it be the lord over them. I think it's something important for us to understand. Oftentimes, I think in Christianity when hard things come our way, we so often want to be the people who respond by saying, "Well, God's on the throne and things are okay and it's going to be alright." And it's okay to feel that, to know and to trust that God has everything, that he holds the world in his hand. But Haggai, the book of Haggai, allows us to recognize when things are disappointing. When things aren't the way that they're supposed to be. The temple that was built was a shadow of what it once was.

It was not nearly as glorious as what Solomon had built. Their grief was specific. Not just grief about the future in general, but grief that the future would not match the past. A belief that the best days of their people are behind them, that their building and what they're building now will never be what it once was. This is a moment where we have to pause as a church and recognize that God is speaking to us in this moment, not just the universal church, but here at Prosper. If you haven't felt those same temptations about this place, it's probably your first time here. You might be a visitor. I haven't been here long enough to hear every story, but I've been here long enough to hear the heartache. Prosser's been through a lot in the last 5 years. You've lost some tragically We've lost some pillars of this community. Some of your cousins, relatives, children, maybe they don't worship with us anymore. I've heard that a lot. I've heard that we've lost a lot. I've heard that there aren't as many children in the children's message. Each of those things are Haggai 3:3. Just dressed up in modern language.

Does this seem as nothing in your eyes? See, there's a way to honor the saints who came before us, before us, that strengthens our faith. There's also a way to honor them that quietly accuses God of being less faithful now. To be faithful, to do this, to do this right, we must believe that God is still present, still speaking, still shaking, still building. Because I know this to be true: that the best days of this church are not behind her but in front of her. I know that we believe that too. I know that I've heard little things here and there and I've heard some of those heartaches But overwhelmingly, I have heard of the amazing things that God is doing here. Elderly people setting aside their preferences, praying that God would set aside their preferences in order to reach the next generation. Young people loving and coming to love the hymns that their ancestors have sung for generations. People stepping out of their shell and out of their comfort zone to serve. People who are battling addictions seeing victory over those same addictions. I've seen elders genuinely care for the people here. I've seen deacons serve widows and take care of widows and shut-ins unlike any other church I've been in.

I've seen so many things here that are proof that we believe the best days are ahead of us. The God of Haggai 2, does not allow us to sigh over what used to be. He promises what's coming. That's what he does in this next section. He continues by saying, "I am strong and I am with you." He says, "Be strong." But that's not a strength that comes somehow from finding it within us, right? This isn't a Disney movie. This is not, you know, the end of the story is not, "You had it in you the whole time." The story here is be strong because I am with you. Be strong in the work, not because your work looks promising, because I am the one who is with you. The promise is not that the work will always even look impressive. The promise is that his presence will make the work worth doing. The person who loves their idea of being strong will eventually collapse because the idea has no power to sustain what it promises. The person who trusts God, trusts what He commands, that strength will endure, not because that they are impressive, but because of the One who they rely on.

All throughout the Bible, anytime that there's been a command to have courage or to be strong, it is never one that says, "Find it within you. You have the courage. If you just unlock these things, if you just try these tips, and you can finally become the man that you're— man or woman that you're supposed to be." Whenever God commands strength, whenever he commands courage, He does so and then immediately after he says, "For I am with you." This biblical pattern is not for strong people to do big things. It is for a strong God to, to use weak people. That weakness is the point. All throughout the Bible, God uses the weakest. The overlooked, the people who have no, no right to be able to be used that way. If God were to only use the smartest, the strongest, the fastest, the people with most, the most power, we would say, well, God's good at picking a good team. But because God uses those who are overlooked, who no one would pick to lead, who no one would pick to do the things that God picks them to do. All throughout the Bible, it shows that God is the one who's glorious.

It puts his power on display, not ours. So why, why can God be with his people here in Israel and during this time but here with us today? It's because he is a God of covenant. He is a God who is faithful. That's what we see in Haggai 2:5. Haggai 2:5 says this: "According to the covenant I made with you when you came out of Egypt, my Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not." Another way to say that would be like this: This is the covenant commitment I made to you in Exodus. God is telling Israel that my promise to you is stronger than anything that you could have done to kill it. And that's the foundation of everything that God says next. Before God tells them what he's going to do, he reminds them of what he's already promised that he will do. His future glory rests on his past faithfulness. The same God who brought them out of Egypt, is the same God who kept the covenant with them in the wilderness, is the same God whose Spirit remained with them after the exile, the same God who promised that he would be with them as they rebuild his temple, is the same God who says now, "I'm not finished." So the next words are not merely comfort for us; it's a promise.

2. God Promises a Glory Greater Than the Former (Haggai 2:6-9)

God does not merely meet their discouragement with his presence. He meets it with future glory that is greater than anything that they lost. And that's what we see in this next section. God promises a glory greater than the former, Haggai 2:6-9. Haggai 2:6 says this: "For thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.'" God continues by saying, "I'm about to do something. I'm about to upend history itself." That word that he uses for shake here is important because it's the same word that he used and that Moses used when he described what happened on Mount Sinai, that the mountain shook. God's using that language intentionally. He's saying what happened at Sinai is going to happen again. Sinai shook and God soon will shake the the world again. But not just them, not just Israel, not just everything around them, but the nations. He's saying the oppressors you have, I will shake, I will upend, I will disrupt history. I think we know this to be true. We know this to be true about what God promises us that he will come back one day and that he will make everything sad come untrue; that everything be made right in his second coming.

I think we would confess that; we know that that's true. But it's so easy for us to live like it isn't. It's so easy for us to forget that. I think we have, without realizing it, stopped believing that God shakes things. I think we believe that God comforts, that he heals, that he inspires. We've forgotten that that he overturns, that he shakes the world. Haggai is telling us that the current arrangement of power is not final. It wasn't for Israel and it isn't for us either. The God who shakes the nations has not retired. Then he moves on to something even greater in Haggai 2:9. He says this: "The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the glory of 'than the former,' says the Lord of hosts. God had just told his people that the, the temple that they're looking at is a disappointment. And then he says something so encouraging here in Haggai 2:9. He's not telling them that the temple will be bigger or more beautiful, but he says, 'My presence will be made greater than it was before. One quick kind of thing that we don't get in our English version of this text, God is saying that this is one temple.

He's saying this might be two different buildings, two different constructions, but this is one temple. There is one continuation of what God has promised to do. The building might have changed, but God's promises didn't. And that's how God does things. The temple is one continuous story from the garden to the tabernacle, from Solomon to Zerubbabel, from Jesus to the church to the new creation. Every step of the way is one promise, and that promise is the same one we see here. It is a greater glory in each step. Each step along the journey gets better and better. And I want to say this, make sure that you understand this clearly. I'm not saying that every step along the way is going to feel good. This is not a message saying that everything is going to be alright and everything's going to be fine. God brings disappointment in our life. He brings things that are hard. I don't want to move past the pain and suffering, the miseries that we experience in this life. So it doesn't mean that every congregation gets bigger, that every budget gets easier, or every generation looks more faithful than the last.

But what it does mean is that the story God is writing is moving towards His glory, not away from it. The overall direction of God's— of God's story, of God moving is better and better. There's a reason for hope. We see this all throughout the Bible that Jesus is the greater temple. Jesus is the greater Jonah. He's the greater Solomon. The new covenant is greater than the old covenant. The heavenly tabernacle is greater than the earthly one. The latter glory of the gospel surpasses the fading glory of the law. And that's what this is about. It's about God's glory becoming greater and greater every step of the way, every step of our faith, every, every moment of our life. Everything that we do is about God's glory. I love the Heidelberg Catechism but the Westminster Catechism asks this question: What is the chief end of man? It's to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. That's our primary purpose as people is to glorify God because glory is the only thing that will be left throughout all eternity. Revelation 21:23 says this, I think this is beautiful, "And the city had no need for sun, of sun or moon to shine on it." for the glory of God gives it its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

We will have no need for sun in heaven. We'll have no need for the moon to illuminate where we go and what we do, because the glory of the— of God will be great enough, great enough for us to see. That's what we will use to see. God is promising this glory to the temple, but also to the church as well. Haggai 2:9 is the Old Testament seed of the entire pattern of God's glory and how it grows over time. The people in Israel's time in this passage were mourning the glory that they lost in the temple that Solomon had built. They were mourning something. That was always meant to be surpassed. They were weeping over a candle, right, right as dawn was about to break. The temple looked unimpressive because they were judging it by its components— how it was built, the stones that it was made of, the wood that it was made out of— and God was judging it by his promise. And that's what we need to hear. If ever our numbers feel small, if ever our budget feels tight, if ever we feel like culture has won and we have no hope, whenever we're discouraged, when it seems like everything is in ruins, God is telling us that he is about to shake everything up.

Not to try harder, not to put more on our shoulders and just give a little bit more effort, Not to remember what used to be. He's imploring us to trust him, to trust him, to not look inward, not to look at us, but to look at what he's done, to look towards his faithfulness. Notice what God gives in the place that looks unimpressive. Haggai 2:9 ends with peace; not size, not wealth, not Not visible success; peace. The peace of his presence and the peace of his covenant. And ultimately, the peace that comes through Jesus Christ who makes peace by the blood of his cross. And that changes everything about how we look because if he can bring peace through a crucified Savior, then we have to admit that our eyes are not always a good judge of what God is doing. The cross looks like defeat. It looks like weakness. It looks like the end of the story. But God called it salvation. God called it victory. God called it glory. So the question is not, does this look impressive to me? The question is, what has God promised? And that leads us into our main idea.

Main Idea

Judge the work by God's promise, not by what your eyes can see.

Because we worship a God who's faithful. Not just as a component of who he is, but that he is faithfulness itself. Look at your life. Look at what God has done all throughout the Bible. Has he ever failed you? Has he ever failed his people? All of God's promises come true. And yet, it's not just about being an optimist. The temple was disappointing. It was. And yet, God would use it for his glory and in even greater glory than what was there before. All throughout the Bible, God takes disappointments and turns them into testaments for his goodness and for his glory. Abraham waited decades for a son. David was anointed king and then spent years hiding in caves. The disciples followed Jesus and then watched him die on a Friday. Every single one of these stories looked like they were dead while they were living in it. And yet none of them were. And neither is yours. So what do we do with this? If God is the one who turns disappointment into glory, what does it look like to live like we actually believe that?

Application

Pray for What God Has for This Church — Haggai 2:9

Our first point of application is this: Pray for what God has for this church. If we judge by promise, not by sight, then our prayers need to match. Stop praying for what Prosper was or for whatever your home church is and start praying for what God says it will be. This is not the same prayer, right? One looks backward and the other looks at God. This week when you pray, when you pray for your church, when you pray for this church, don't pray, God, give us what we had. Pray, God, show us what you're building. Anytime God resurrects something from the dead, he doesn't bring it back to what it used to be; he brings it to an even greater glory. And that's Haggai 2 in a prayer and that's a prayer that God answers.

Work Because God Is With You — Haggai 2:4

Second point of application is this: Work because God is with you. God commands us in this passage; God commands Israel to work. But not just to work because they've got great ideas and they can conquer, they can do the right thing. He says to work because God is with you. So teach children even when there are fewer than there used to be.

So sing with conviction even when your voice seems stronger than it used to be. Invite a neighbor even if you think that they'll say no. Serve in the nursery, visit shut-ins, disciple a teenager, encourage an elder, give faithfully. Pray for someone by name. Not because prosper is impressive but because God is present. Haggai talks about God's glory filling the house. Everyone was expecting something like what had happened at the tabernacle. In Exodus 40, it says, "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, and everyone praised God." Everyone was weeping. But that didn't happen when this was finished. When this temple was constructed, Jewish rabbis have recorded that the Holy Spirit was missing and it seemed like God has broken his promise because he said there will be a glory in this, this place that is greater than what left it. But he hadn't broken his promise. 500 years later, after the temple was built, the presence entered it. Not with thunder, not with a cloud, not with an overwhelming display of power. It was a young mom carrying a baby. The glory came. Luke records, in the Gospel of Luke, he records Simon saying this: "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation," that you have prepared in the presence of all the peoples a light for revelation for the Gentiles and a glory for your people in Israel.

Simon said that when he met the baby Jesus as he entered the temple. The glory finally came. A greater glory did not come because the temple was more impressive. The greater glory came because Jesus walked into it. But it came far lower, far more humble than anyone had expected. Not a glory that kept sinners at a distance, but a glory that came so close that sinners could touch it. This is the greater glory. It's Jesus, the true temple, the presence of God with us, and the sacrifice for sinners. Because the glory of God is seen most clearly not in a building, filled with a cloud, but in the Son of Man lifted up on a tree. At the cross, the true temple was torn down and on the third day it was resurrected; it was rebuilt. So now, peace is not found in a place. It's not found in a physical location. Peace is found in a person—Jesus Christ crucified for sinners. That is why we judge the work not by God's promise, but by what we see. And not by what we see with our eyes, but by God's promise. Because our eyes would have looked at the cross and we would have said, "This is nothing." But God looked at the cross and said, "This is his glory." Church, hear this.

Judge the work by God's promise, not by what your eyes can see. Let's stand and pray as we respond. And we're prepared to respond in worship. I'm going to invite the worship team to come forward at this time. Let's pray.

Closing Prayer

Father God, we praise you for who you are. We praise you that you are a God who remains with us, who promises and delivers on that promise. Father, help us not to rely on what our eyes can see but on who you are; that you are a God who is faithful and that your promises can be trusted. Father, I thank you for all of those who paid the ultimate price to serve our country so that way we could gather in a place like this, this morning. God, it's true, greater love knows nothing than this, that someone someone would lay down their life for their friend. Thank you that people have laid down their life for us to be able to worship in that freedom. God, help us to respond to your word this morning in worship and by glorifying you. It's in your name we pray. Amen.