Exposition by Max A Forsythe
The
Reformer's Fire
Exposition by Max A Forsythe
A couple years ago the boys bid for a difficult task of clearing an old fence row. Three times the trees and weeds had been cleared before. Each time the workers had simply cut off the trunks and left them to sprout and multiply. Deep in the weeds and brambles these former cuttings cluttered the ground. First we had to cut down the tall grass and weeds, then we had to deal with hundreds of stumps. Long summer hours were spent getting down to bare dirt.
If you have ever had the joy of such a special labor, then you can well appreciate the more daunting task facing the people of Israel who returned to the ruins of Mount Zion. As the people heeded the urgent call of the prophet Haggai given barely a month before, they climbed to the Temple platform whose present stones date back to the time of David. For sixty-six years the charred timbers and fallen walls of Zion had nourished brambles and thorns and weeds. And so they gathered their chain saws, their wheel barrows and their weed trimmers _ No?
Actually, they used much more primitive tools and the work was hard. On top of this the particular season of the year delayed their work as well. Have you ever had busy weeks when you could accomplish absolutely nothing? Every time you wanted to get started more important things got in the way. In Church planting one of the key principles is to put off worship, deacon's help, Sunday School and such as long as possible so that the whole combined effort of the new church can be aimed at growth, growth and more growth.
Once you start essential ministries they cannot be easily put aside. And so it was that the Israelites discovered in the fall of 520 BC. There were the rests of the seventh day, the Feast of the Trumpets, the great Day of Atonement and the week long Festival of Booths. The people probably grumbled that these religious observances were getting in the way of the rebuilding program. Add to these problems the severe shortage of resources.
Once when we were helping my brother clear five acres of accumulated junk, fence and ruins, we stumbled over two of the old barn beams. These beams were eighteen inches by twenty-four. Each was forty foot long. They were partially rotten and yet we discovered that in their prime the black walnut beams had been the key structures for a great barn. No one can find such building materials today. In Haggai's time, the former glories of the forests of Lebanon had dwindled to pitiful remnants. What there was left was expensive. And unlike the Exodus era and the Solomonic era: silver and gold were in extreme short supply. Even the harvests had been short and the thanksgiving common during the Festival of Booths was lacking in enthusiasm.
Finally, certain glories of the former temple were now lost. The sacrificial fire, the glory of the divine presence, the ark and cherubim, the Urim and Thummin and the regular spirit of prophecy upon the advisors of the king. Still, Haggai declares the promise of the Lord that "the glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former."
Imagine going to Florida and walking through the ruins while telling the people that the new structures will make the former pale in comparison. There is no politician in this country who could pull that off and the limited resources of our run down Republic may even be inadequate for the task.
Yet in the midst of the Jerusalem ruins the prophet urges the leaders and people to be strong and to continue the work. Yet the most pressing problems facing the people were not the ones that worried them. The Lord assured them that not only the gold and silver were His, but the future as well. The work that they would lay their hands to would be blessed beyond their expectations.
Yesterday eight of you gathered to make an investment in the Lord's kingdom. We had about forty dozen cookies and less than a dozen people. We visited the homes of about a third of the 120 people on our list, found sixteen families at home and talked seriously with one. In all such visitation endeavors we can usually expect a return of one or two per cent. That means we must visit widely to find whom God is calling into His kingdom. Each year at school one out of a hundred students will acknowledge the work of the Spirit in his life. But working through that hundred is more work than most would wish to do.
This work is being systematized and scientifically applied by Church growth experts in many denominations. We can see results across the country, but the essentials for revival are deeper than hard work as we discover in the second portion of our text today. Here we learn that the national revival of Haggai's time ran no deeper than the herd instinct to work towards a common goal. The essential problem in Jerusalem was in the attitude of the workers.
Regularly today, employees are being battered with the idea that if the worker's attitude was better _ then production, sales and profits would turn around. Everything could be better it is thought with the right attitude. This week our school kicked off its annual United Fund Campaign. It was emphasized that a 100% participation rate was more important than the amount of gifts accumulated.
This is not the purpose here. Haggai is no mere worldly cheerleader. Haggai instead is reporting the words of the Almighty God who sees into the hearts of every man and woman. In verses ten through thirteen Haggai asks the priests a leading question to establish a scriptural principle. To make these Hebrewisms clear we have to understand the principle of cleanliness and contamination.
In verse twelve the sanctified meat sanctified the wrapping, but the wrapping had no similar effect on further meat which might be wrapped in it. In verse thirteen the question is put to consider if a person who has touched an unclean dead body could contaminate the same ordinary meat. The correct answers to those questions are no for the first and yes for the second. Common sense would agree with the understanding of the priests.
Now, Haggai applies this lesson to the contemporary problem at hand. Look carefully at verse fourteen. He is telling us that contamination is communicable. It is far easier to spread evil than virtue. The essential problem of the people in Jerusalem is that they are not holy, therefore they cannot work the work of God unless God works for them. Unless their hearts are cleansed by the power of the Spirit their work for material and spiritual benefits will be in vain.
Verse fifteen here is a turning point. Consider or "give careful thought to this" the Lord declares. How have things been for you in the past? Have you profited? Have you been blessed? Clearly in the following verses we see that the people have not. Now, God says that their crops have failed by His causes. And the reason? They did not sincerely turn to God. They had merely gone through the motions. Would you have God's blessings in our day? Then like the people of Israel in Haggai's time we must turn to Him.
Just as the people of Europe turned to God in the course of the Reformation and sought first the Kingdom of Heaven, God immediately provided them the opportunities of the New world. And as the reformation spread, the additional blessings of capitalism and republican democracy began to spread to the wonder of the wide world beyond.
Seek first the kingdom of heaven and things else shall be given to you as well. This is an essential principle of the Kingdom of God. And how hard it is for people in every time to comprehend and obey that command recorded in the Gospels. Too often, like the people of Haggai's time we misunderstand how the Lord's Kingdom is built up. Just as in the days of old, the Kingdom advances as our hearts are turned on fire by the power of God's presence.
Do you want to see the blessings of the Lord abundantly in our day? Do you want to know a personal sense of revival? Do you want your friends and relatives to know Jesus Christ even as you know Him? Then hear the Word of the Lord given through Haggai. Look carefully at where you are financially and spiritually yesterday, even a year ago. Consider where you stand within the Gospel of Grace today? Perhaps you have known the incredible blessings of the Lord in the last year. Perhaps not, would you want more - then ask Him to take more of yourself and use you for the accomplishment of His divine plan.
Give Him your heart, give Him your soul, your strength and your mind. Seek first the kingdom of heaven so that He might use you to revive others. Will you do that? Finally, pray for the Lord's might work of revival in our time and pray that it might begin with you.
Resources Used:
Baldwin, Joyce G. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Haggai ...
Bentley, Michael. Welwyn Commentaries: Building for God's Glory.
Boice, James M. The Minor Prophets: An Expositional Commentary.
Places Preached:
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America)
Box 13926 -- Columbus, OH 43213
Hag02a 20 September 92
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