Haggai chapters 1-2 (part 1)

Now we'll just read a verse or two from the book of Ezra to begin with please. These verses have been read already but it will just help us to set Haggai in its proper context, the book of Ezra and chapter four. Now this is the first opportunity that I've had just to address you all publicly and formally and it's a great blessing to be here back amongst the saints at Mount Sterling and to see many faces that are familiar to me.

Thank you very much for the welcome, the invitation and a real pleasure to be sharing with my brethren in the Bible reading and across the weekend. It's a blessing to be here. If you haven't worked it out already, I am not Irish.

I think that question was asked not to me personally by the way, tongues are wagging. Who is this man? Where does he come from? Well I'm not Irish and I think it's been said that he wants to be Irish. Well that's not true either.

Some of you will think that I am English but I'm not even English. Actually I'm Cornish and that will mean next to nothing to most of you. If you knew the joke you would be laughing heartily but I'm Cornish and Cornwall is a small part, a southwest corner part of England and it wants to be independent.

Now that's where I was born and brought up in Cornwall. So sometimes I say I'm not English, I'm Cornish, just depends where I am but I am both English and Cornish. Right, does that make sense to you all? Nevertheless, lovely to be here.

God will bless us as we consider this reading together. Now Ezra chapter 4, just look at the last verse of chapter 4 verse 24, then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem so it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia and then chapter 5 verse 1 then the prophets Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo they prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel even unto them and then just one more verse in chapter 6 and verse 14 and the elders of the Jews they built it and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo and they built it and finished it according to the commandment of the God of Israel and according to the commandment of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia and this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. Now that helpfully sets Haggai doesn't it in its context as far as Ezra is concerned now we'll read the little prophecy please of Haggai the second shortest book I think in the old testament and we may not just read every verse and certainly we won't be thinking about every verse but we'll read the majority of the prophecy Haggai apparently is how you should pronounce his name I prefer Haggai that's how we were all brought up right but Haggai is the proper way to pronounce his name it means festival or feast and certainly through the ministry of this man Israel were going to be restored weren't they to the joy of their feasts so Haggai chapter 1 verse 1 in the second year of Darius the king in the sixth month in the first day of the month came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel governor of Judah and to Joshua the son of Josedek the high priest saying thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying this people say the time is not come the time that the Lord's house should be built and came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet saying is it time for you oh ye to dwell in your sealed houses your paneled houses and this house the house of the Lord lie waste now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts consider your ways ye have so much and bring in little ye eat but ye have not enough ye drink but ye are not filled with drink ye clothe you but there is none warm and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes I saith the Lord of hosts consider your ways go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the house and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified saith the Lord you look for much and lo it came to little and when you brought it home I did blow upon it why saith the Lord of hosts because of mine house that is waste and ye ye run every man unto his own house therefore the heaven over you is stayed from Jew the earth is stayed from her fruit and I called for a drought upon the land and upon the mountains upon the corn upon the new wine upon the oil upon that which the ground bringeth forth and upon men and upon cattle and upon all the labor of the hands now that's the first message and we've already thought about the fact that there were five messages over four months but that really is the first message and it's a message all about priorities consider your ways go up to the mountain and build now the second message verse 12 ends a rubble the son of Sheol TL and Joshua the son of Josedek the high priest with all the remnant of the people they the voice of the Lord their God it's very simple isn't it God speaks the people obey and the words of Haggai the prophet as the Lord their God had sent him and the people did fear before the Lord and spake Haggai the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message unto the people saying I am with you saith the Lord so this is a message about power now now God's people have been obedient to what Haggai has prophesied and exalted them to do now the Lord says I'm with you so this certainly is a message all about power the Lord would in would strengthen them enable them in their service and in their business the Lord stirred up the spirit as a rubble a son of Sheol TL governor of Judah and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedek the high priest and the spirit of all the remnant of the people and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts their God in the 4 and 20th day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king now chapter 2 in the seventh month in the 1 and 20th day of the month there came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai saying speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Sheol TL governor of Judah and to Joshua the son of Josedek the high priest and to the residue of the people saying who is among you or who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory and how do you see it now is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing yet now be strong owes a rubble Seth the Lord and be strong Oh Joshua son of Josedek the high priest and be strong all ye people of the land saith the Lord and work for I am with you saith the Lord of hosts according to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt so my spirit remaineth among you fear you not remember that John yesterday was speaking about the various resources that were available to the people of God as they came out of Babylon and here it is just in a nutshell isn't it according to the word that I covenanted with you so here is the scriptures not just Haggai who's speaking but the Word of God which never passes away and my spirit remains among you so the scriptures and the Spirit of God for us Seth the Lord of hosts yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea in the dry land and I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory Seth the Lord of hosts the silver is mine the gold is mine Seth the Lord of hosts the glory of this latter house or perhaps better please the latter glory of this house shall be greater than of the former Seth the Lord of hosts 14 times and in this place will I give peace Seth the Lord of hosts these are outstanding verses aren't they in the four and 20th day so that's a message I would say all about promise that's the third message all about promise what God was going to do in relation to this house he was going to fill the house with glory and he was going to give peace now here's a message all about purity and we may not have time just to think about this in too much detail but certainly I will summarize it verse 10 in the four and 20th day of the ninth month in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet saying a seth the Lord of hosts asked now the priests concerning the law saying if one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment and with his skirt do touch bread or pottage or wine or oil or any meat shall it be holy and the priest answered and said no so holiness cannot be transmitted to other things such as the bread and the wine and so on and said Haggai if one that is unclean by a dead body has touched a dead body and touches one of these other things shall it be unclean and the priests answered and said it shall be unclean now they had answered correctly by the way in both cases so holiness is not contagious can't be passed from one to the other but uncleanness certainly is a little leaven leavens the lump then Haggai answered and said so is this people by the way that must have come as a real shock unclean so is this people so is this nation before me saith the Lord unclean and so is every work of their hands and that which they offer it's unclean say why were they unclean now think about this it was because of the neglect of the house what's the house today where is house of God today that's the local assembly if you and I neglect house of God today God says unclean and everything you do the works of your hands unclean I think that's very solemn that is a message which concerns purity and now I pray you still part of the same message consider from this day and upward and from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord and what he's going to do in these next few verses is show them that the Lord was trying to indicate through their harvests and through what they were suffering as far as their circumstances were concerned he was trying to show them that something was wrong but now of course through the exhortation of Haggai they had sought to put these things right and so verse 18 consider now from this day and upward and the last statement then of verse 19 from this day I will bless you and then of course you've got this last message which is a message really to the Prince and a message which concerns a rubble but speaks far beyond a rubble I think verse 20 and again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month saying speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah saying I will shake now you notice how that ties in with what we've had in verse 6 verse 7 we've got the shaking again and I think this shaking is elucidated for us I will shake the heavens and the earth you say what does that mean well verse 22 and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen the nations and I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride in them these were the times of the Gentiles and the Persians had control of this this little province here in Judah that's why there was a governor not a king so rubble of course was in the kingly line but he was a governor not a king because it was the times of the Gentiles the horses and their riders shall come down every one by the sword of his brother and in that day saith the Lord of hosts will I take thee owes a rubble my servant the son of Shealtiel saith the Lord and I will make thee as a signet for I have chosen thee saith the Lord of hosts that's the reading I know it's a long reading but that will do us more good than probably the Bible reading will do but nevertheless a blessing isn't it to read the Word of God together now I want to say a few things about the prophecy of Haggai just to introduce us to it and to its structure and then we won't have long at all so we won't get to speak about all of the verses but we'll think about it section by section just as we did in the earlier reading and we know that God will bless us now just a moment and just a word about the setting of the prophecy of Haggai that's why I read what I did in Ezra chapter 4 and you'll notice please Ezra 4 and 24 says this then ceased the work of the house of God and you say well why exactly did they cease working on the house of God and of course Ezra 4 tells us that and we thought about this I'm reminding you of what we know Ezra 4 says the people of the land they weakened the hands of the people of Judah and they troubled them in the building so God's people had become discouraged God's people had become disheartened and that is because the people of the land had weakened their hands and troubled them in the building now there have been 15 maybe 16 years of inactivity think of that that's where we get to when we get to this little prophecy of Haggai 15 to 16 years of inactivity yes as soon as they returned the altar had been reared yes the foundation of the temple had been laid but for 15 to 16 years there's been lethargy there's been despondency there's been disappointment I wonder about your assembly by the way I don't know much about the assemblies to which you belong but we're going to be making all of these applications through Haggai he is speaking time and time and time again about the house of God it's the local assembly today which is house of God in character let me ask you about the Saints that gather in your assembly I wonder if you are discouraged I wonder if you're disheartened I wonder if it's been 15 or 16 years since there's been any proper in the gospel in your local assembly and I wonder if you're feeling a little bit like some of these people were feeling doors open lights on but nobody's home and the worship in the assembly is a little bit stale the Saints are lacking exercise commitment gospel testimony is weak God forbid but don't forget that the assembly is the house of the living God it's not the house of the dead God and that's what was going on in these days so enter Haggai and what is Haggai going to do Haggai is going to stir affection for the house of God isn't that wonderful he was going to stir up the hearts of God's people to return to the work to build the house and to stir affection for that same house so this word that came through Haggai was absolutely momentous by the way I know that God had been speaking through Ezekiel in Babylon God had been speaking through Daniel in Babylon but this was the first time that God had spoken in the land since the days of Jeremiah and here's Haggai stirring up affection for the house of God so that's the setting you say what is the subject well we've spoken about this already but just look at the verses please the subject of Haggai is the house so look for example at chapter 1 verse 2 it's the Lord's house chapter 1 verse 4 this house chapter 1 verse 8 the house chapter 1 verse 9 my house again I chapter 2 he speaks of this house in her first glory so he's speaking there about Solomon's temple that had long since been destroyed but this was still the same house in the sense that God still had a purpose for this house so chapter 2 speaks about the house in a first glory chapter 2 and verse 9 the latter glory of this house which I suggest brings us right on to Ezekiel's temple so the or the house if you like is the theme that's running all the way through the prophecy of Haggai they were building another phase of exactly the same house now can I just remind you and what an encouragement this is the work might be arduous you say work in the local assembly sometimes is tough you say all of the time it can be arduous you say there's just a few of us there aren't many of us it seems that there are just some that are doing the work and the others are sitting back you say sometimes the result of all our hard work and labor it seems to be so insignificant that's what was happening here but thank God it was a work of God and it was a work that was linked to a future glory and you and I ever have to remember that all of the work and effort that we are putting into the house of God the local assembly sometimes it might seem small and insignificant as if nothing much is being achieved but it's God's work and God has a purpose in this day and age in relation to the local assembly the house of God so the setting the subject two more points here I just want to talk for a moment about the servant we haven't spoken much about Haggai and Zechariah in terms of their personal details but just think about this God is raising up four men he's raising up primarily four men to recover the house you understand that there are two men who are scriptural and then there are two men who are spiritual as far as the spiritual men were concerned and you cannot have failed to have notice this when I was reading through constantly it was Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel, he's the son of Shealtiel and then of course there was Joshua the high priest and he is the son of Josedek so four men that God raised up to recover the house two of those men were spiritual men they were leaders of the people they were Joshua the high priest and they were Zerubbabel the governor now what a wonderful foreshadowing of the person of Christ Joshua was a priest Zerubbabel was a governor he was in the kingly lie and of course combined in the person of the Lord Jesus a priest and a king and he is going to sit eternally he's going to sit upon his throne you say why are you calling them spiritual men well this is where you have to bring in the prophecy of Zechariah don't you and you remember Zechariah chapter 4 two olive trees two anointed ones two sons of oil Zechariah 4 not by might nor by power but by my spirit saith the Lord you say who were those two sons of oil Joshua the high priest Zerubbabel the governor spiritual men you make the application if we want recovery if we want reinvigoration in the house of God we need spiritual men and women you say that's not Haggai no no he was one of the scriptural men I'm sure he was spiritual as well by the way but he was one of the scriptural men so you've got two spiritual men and you've got two scriptural men we're thinking about Haggai we are thinking about Zechariah two prophets who were laboring together in the Word of God there is a little suggestion by the way that one of these men was slightly older maybe Haggai one of these men was slightly younger and I do think the Zechariah refers to Zechariah as being a young man so here's an older man in the scriptures here's a younger man in the scriptures and they are laboring together and just seeking to exhort and encourage the people of God remember what Ezra 6 said the elders of the Jews build it and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the Prophet and Zechariah the son of Ido so contemporary prophets complementary prophets and you might want to bring in something of the prophecy of Zechariah and some of what is said you can by all means bring that into this Bible reading but in the mouth of two or three witnesses every matter shall be established and here are two men.

Haggai by the way means festival or feast and what God is going to do through the ministry of Haggai is he's going to restore the joy of the feasts of the people of God and then Zechariah Jehovah remembers God is not going to forget his promises he's not going to forget his word but everything is going to be established as he has said so what you'll find is that Haggai is going to emphasize the temple Haggai is going to emphasize the house because that was the place of festival and Zechariah much more is going to emphasize the city and he's going to emphasize the throne he's going to emphasize the land in relation to divine purpose one more thing what about the synopsis of this prophecy of Haggai well you have the synopsis and that is on the sheet in front of you so five messages now some people like to say six messages it's maybe a little bit pedantic but if you look at chapter 1 verse 2 it says thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying this people say and who is he speaking to well at that point he's speaking to Zerubbabel and he is speaking to Joshua this people say the time is not come but yet on the same day there comes that word to the people themselves so some people like to split up that first message and they say well really it's two messages but we'll keep it as one message I think if you put them all together five messages and all of these messages that are coming within a four month time span now you say brother has just well he's wearied us with dates and with times when we were here yesterday evening and when we were here this morning all of these dates and all of these times and I just can't squeeze them into my mind well neither can I but good for John he hasn't wearied you with those dates whatsoever in fact those dates should be absolutely rooted in your mind you want to understand some of these post-exilic books you want to understand these books in the Old Testament you've got to get those dates absolutely rooted in your mind and thank God that Haggai spends a lot of his prophecy saying this was a month this was the day and you can build the messages that he was given as Zechariah saying the same thing and you can interlace these prophets I tell you this dates and times and years and months are important to God and they should be to us too so here are four messages five messages rather within a four month time span now look again and we'll think about these messages some of them will take a bit more time over we're not going to move verse by verse at all I'll introduce the message and then you can give me your comments on that particular message and we've got a shorter time for the Bible reading we've got an hour left which is fine but verses 1 to 11 this is a message all about priorities and my brethren will be saying things like it's time for us to prioritize all that we're doing in our lives how we fill our lives with all sorts of rubbish don't we and the rubbish had to be removed in it before the walls were built in Nehemiah's day but how we fill our days and our time very often with rubbish and the Lord says he says consider consider your ways he says go up to the mountain build I will take pleasure in the house I will be glorified in the house so we've got a message which is all about priorities because here is a people that were using things would especially that should have been used to rebuild the temple and they were actually expending it upon themselves consider your way so this is 1 to 11 a message about priorities versus 12 to 15 a message about power because God's people are obedient isn't it just wonderfully simple they heard the Word of God verse 12 they obeyed the voice of the Lord their God so what did the Lord say he said I'll give you a message about power he said I am with you Seth the Lord he's going to repeat that phrase in verse 4 of chapter 2 and this time it's I am with you Seth the Lord of hosts that's even more powerful isn't it wonderful if we are obedient to the Lord in our assembly testimony he promises and has already promised to be present with us so it's a message all about power verses 1 to 9 of chapter 2 this is a message of promise and you can understand that as a month has gone by then maybe maybe just after those weeks the hands of the people of God are starting just to well just to swing at their sides and maybe they're losing a little bit of emphasis and a little bit of energy and yet the Lord gives them a message of promise and he says what you're engaged in is going to be for my glory and he says chapter 2 verse 7 I'm going to fill this house with glory and it's a wonderful promise of a coming Messiah and please please don't take away from me the desire of the nations I don't know what your Bible says you've got a modern translation sitting on your sitting before you it will probably say the desirable things of the nations and it will speak about riches and silver and gold well I think that thought is there but my heart wants to see Christ as the desire of the nations and he is he is going to be the one personally that will fill this house absolutely with glory so what a promise isn't it I should encourage us when we think about a soon coming Christ and we think about a glorious Christ that should really encourage us to set about working in the house 10 to 19 of chapter 2 don't think we'll say much about this but that's purity they were neglecting the house and that was sin that of neglect had contaminated them and that uncleanness was contagious so he speaks to them about purity and then finally a message to the Prince and this is a message I think to Zerubbabel God is going to overthrow Gentile dominion what an amazing statement this is the times of the Gentiles the Persian Kingdom the world power of the day yet God says I'm going to shake I'm going to shake things up I'm going to shake world powers I'm going to overthrow Gentile dominion and ultimately and absolutely there will be a universal rule of a Davidic representative so Zerubbabel was just a little picture of a coming Christ and he is going to sit upon the throne of David so a message to the Prince so in case you didn't get it that was the setting that was the subject that was the servant we've said something about Haggai that was the synopsis of this lovely little book and of course the stimulus and let's not miss this but please notice the stimulus to all this work in the house chapter 1 verse 8 go up bring wood build the house here's the stimulus I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified saith the Lord in light of a glorious tomorrow in light of bringing glory and honor to God we seek to labor in the house even today that's all we'll say just by way of introduction I'll sit down and if you don't mind I'll say a little bit about the first message which is a message about priorities and then I will open to my brethren for comments on Haggai generally feel free or something about this first message a message about priorities now I have been warned that brother John when he was sat on this chair in the morning Bible reading he achieved moving the chair backwards by one or two feet into the row that was behind him by his his excitement and his exuberance during the Bible reading you understand so I'll do my best to sit very rigidly and just talk to you calmly and I'm going to be poked from behind if I start transgressing on those who are behind me now just have a look at this this this this lovely first message please and again my brethren you can draw out of this message I don't mind at all but let me just divide it for you so we put it all in its setting but look at verses 1 to 11 we're calling this a message about priorities it breaks really into three sections so first of all in verses 1 and 2 the Lord is going to speak about the excuse this is the excuse of the people and we might want to say something about their excuse and why it was that they had said verse 2 the time has not come now obviously fifteen and a half years ago they thought the time had come so something's changed now fifteen and a half years on the people are saying and it is an excuse by the way the people are saying the time has not come that the Lord's house should be built so we might say something about the excuse verses 1 and 2 then verses 3 to 8 this is the great exhortation the word of the Lord came and said consider your ways and the great emphasis there's a little chiastic structure here but we don't need to worry about it too much but the emphasis here falls on verse 7 and verse 8 consider your ways again literally I want you to set your heart toward I want you to meditate upon consider your ways go up to the mountain bring wood build so that's the great exhortation to get on with the work and then finally verses 9 to 11 I think really there is an explanation the Lord is saying they were looking for much as far as their harvests were concerned and verse 9 their harvest seemed to come to so very little and the Lord will explain he will say I blew on it I blew your harvest away I was trying to show you that you weren't dedicating yourself to the building of my house divine priority so I blew your harvest away why saith the Lord of hosts because of mine house that is waste so there's an explanation of some of the difficult circumstances that they were facing in the land and especially in relation to their harvests that's just finishing off the message right so brethren comments about Haggai or comments about that message in its totality we've only got time to speak about the whole section so so in regard to the men you have mentioned and I think quite rightly likely one of them was an older gentleman Haggai one was slightly younger one of the things that comes up is we don't know a lot about the data and the details of Haggai we know a little bit more through some of the mentions of in his own book one of the very precious things about this return from Babylon is just how that these men would work together for example Zerubbabel and Joshua or whether it's Haggai and Zechariah or whether it's Ezra and Nehemiah they had gifts differing brother Dan but even though there were gifts differing according to the several abilities they work together for the furtherance of the house of God and there's there's a very practical lesson for us yes in assembly life things differ you might not move your chair backwards but we forgive you for that but I was more concerned as to whether you John were the older brother and I was the younger everyone can see that wouldn't be the truth so what brother John is doing is just illustrating a point that I'm sure we'll pick up tomorrow in the in the book of Nehemiah but constantly the people of God it wasn't just the servants of God was it was the people of God and when you come to Nehemiah chapter 3 for example they're all laboring over against their own house and they're all laboring shoulder to shoulder with one another and of course you think about when the wall is being built I don't want to transgress but it's just the point you think about the wall that's being built around Jerusalem if one tiny small portion of that wall wasn't built and the whole structure falls so everyone in a sense was responsible to labor together and everyone was responsible for their part of work they're part of the work on the wall that's the same thing here Haggai and Zechariah and they're ministering together and that their messages are interlacing and of course the Lord gave them those messages but they're interlacing with one another and then the leaders rise up and say we were we will exercise our obedience we'll demonstrate obedience to the Word of the Lord this is body truth this is first Corinthians 12 body truth ye are body of Christ to the assembly at Corinth and members individual members of that body and listen if you cut off my hand well I'd survive I'd live if I got medical attention I could survive with an amputated hand but I would not be able to behave live work as effectively one hand down than I would with all my members and let's just say to every single person in this gathering this afternoon if you are in assembly fellowship you are a member of that local assembly and let me say this you're vital to that assembly I don't care what your gift is I don't care whether you are standing on a platform whether you are much more much more to be seen visible verbal it doesn't matter you're vital to the testimony of that assembly and if you're not there or if you're not functioning the assembly just will not be as effective without you critically important you very helpfully brother Dan showed the continuity of this idea of house of God the house of God you have the the house in her first glory in chapter 2 there and then you've mentioned as well that there will come a day when the Lord will fill it with glory looking forward to Ezekiel's temple same theme all the way through and very specifically on the first day of the month the word of the Lord came to these people to build a house so my point is this that while God is doing a work in assembly testimony there was a great movement to revive assembly testimony maybe starting about 200 years or so ago all the way through yet it is incumbent upon each generation to recover truth for God and build a house in our day in our generation I think we need to emphasize that yeah yeah and to maintain that truth right the recovery of that truth has been done for us hasn't it but our responsibility certainly to maintain that truth and leadership and shepherds have a great responsibility in that you can see that all the way through Haggai you can see it when you come to the book of Nehemiah whether it's Ezra whether it's Nehemiah whether it's Joshua whether it's a rubble these are the men that were raised up and and were obedient to that truth and sought to sort to lead the people out in their obedience to so so brother down in that regard as well then God is working to a timetable mm-hmm God has allowed the opposition yes and God in allowing the opposition was allowing the opposition so that Jeremiah 25 would be fulfilled because God is working to the timetable that this house will be established and will be raised in 516 BC so they say here the time is not come but God says that's not the truth the time is coming absolutely and so in their minds they have one thing in mind but the Lord is something else in mind along with that and with what William has said when we get to the book of Ezra it's most interesting isn't it that these men who were called to return they were working but it's practical isn't it that Haggai and Zechariah worked along with alongside them yeah lovely to see that that's a very practical thing so nice to have gifted men yeah but when there's practical things to be done in assembly like no matter how gifted the man is it's nice when that man will move chairs as well and when there's practical physical work to be done there's it's incumbent upon all of us that every one of us share in the burden of whatever to be done with regard to practical thing you're saying that because you were here yesterday setting up the chairs right he practices what he preaches which is a good thing now just on the excuse and John you've touched on this the people say in verse 2 the time is not come and I just missed what you were suggesting of course as far as the Lord was concerned and as far as divine prophecy was concerned the time certainly had come that was the point there is a program yeah so I'm not sure what what are the people and this is a question for my brethren and I can answer the question of course but I want to bring others in why is it that the people were saying oh no the time hasn't come the time hasn't come what was their excuse what was their problem why were they not putting putting their shoulder to the plow when we thought this morning of the concept of the desolations as opposed to the captivity remember the desolations relate to the house and Jeremiah specified there would be 70 years of desolation the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 do the math yeah 70 years that would be 516 we're sitting here at 520 correct so perhaps if they were thinking that way did you know I don't credit them with that is a great thought I don't know I don't know so it could be as brother William is saying well this people knew that the temple or the 70 years desolations came to an end at 516 is only 520 we've got a few years left yet but but it's gonna take four years to build this temple anyway I I'm not sure that there was a there was a spiritual reasoning behind it could have been this it was harvest time they say all this at this point we're just too busy you know too busy how many times do you say that are you too busy to work in the assembly that could have been their excuse by the way I do not like that excuse because it's very very often not true it's very often not true we can make time for what we want to make time for so very sad when we say are too busy to be at the assembly too busy to help in the preaching of the gospel the tractor whatever it might be but they may have been they may have been say it's harvest time we're too busy they might have been blaming economics I'm not assuming saying we're just a vassal state here you know we're not very rich we don't have much money although they were pouring that into their own houses the economic hardship of the times we cannot build well that was just an excuse to we're being troubled by the enemy Ezra for people have been hired just to weaken our hands as too much opposition now I wonder what our excuses some of us are far too ingrained in this world some of us are far too interested in material things some of us fill our lives fill our time with things that are temporal and will pass away and are not important and we've got so many excuses the fact of the matter is there is no excuse there's no good excuse not to put your heart into the work of the local assembly consider your ways now that's the excuse but just take me on and think then about the exhortation so you might want to say something about verse 4 is it time for you so perhaps they were putting too much time and material effort into their own homes is it time for you to dwell in your paneled houses and this house lies waste consider your ways twice consider your ways go up to the mountain so this is the great exhortation tell me something about those statements so do you think that we have a brother Frank this morning raised the idea of a replication of the Exodus mm-hmm I wonder if we don't actually have a replication of something that followed the Exodus so there was the return via the Exodus and then something happened now there's the return from Babylon and the very same thing is happening here goods that God had put into their hands that was intended for the tabernacle they put into gold for a golden calf here's goods that God gave to them for the service of his sanctuary and they're putting it into their own homes now that's why the censure comes in such an extreme way here consider your ways because the the things that I have given to you I expected that you would put into my things so as Ezra chapter 3 and we didn't mention it did we but Ezra chapter 3 they had cedar wood and and they brought that down to Joppa and where is this wood now and interesting isn't it and most of you will know this but that word they're paneled houses or sealed houses you'll find that it's used in first Kings chapter 6 in relation to Solomon's temple so that the cedar wood was used to panel or to cover the temple now interesting that the same word is now being used here and would that should have been used for this temple we sometimes call it as a rubber balls temple but cedar wood that should have been used for this temple they've been expending on their own homes and their own houses and of course the challenge to us is this how much time are we putting into ourselves our own homes our own houses rather than using those materials our time our energy our material goods and resources rather than building it into the assembly brother Dan you've used the word exhortation would you allow for the the word examination mm-hmm is it time for you sure so he's putting he's putting them to the to the examination yeah and then there follows the exhortations right similar to what Paul does in 1st Corinthians 11 says let a man examine himself examination first and then the exhortation so let him eat good verse 5 consider your way so it's set your heart towards meditate meditate on this sorry brother that's okay Frank that's right I was just wondering I think I would link it with you're saying these conditions that cause them to have this worldview or this perspective it's always easy for us to say you know God will understand you know we'll put him at the edge God understands he's loving he's kind and I need this I need that I need me time I need whatever and I'm wondering looking at that when God says to them consider your ways it's actually a I think the original would suggest consider how you've been faring yes that might be the better yes translation that's fine and he says your house my house lies waste now that's a play on the Hebrew word which is going to come not to get ahead but to come down further in verse 11 for the drought it's the same word so God is saying okay you've withheld from me I'm gonna withhold from you withhold from you and their condition was a result of their perspective and attitude toward him sure so look at verse 6 then and let me just paraphrase it for you no matter how much we plant we don't have a harvest no matter how much we eat we're not filled no matter how many clothes we wear we're not warm no matter how much money we earn we never have enough so they didn't have fruitfulness they didn't have satisfaction they didn't have warmth they didn't have riches and the Lord is showing look at these circumstances why is this happening because my house is lying waste now of course this was under the law and so these curses were coming upon them because they were disobedient to the law but think about our own circumstances if there is no spiritual fruitfulness in our lives if there is no spiritual satisfaction in our lives if there is no spiritual richness to our lives what might be the reason well the reason probably actually is that you're neglecting the things of the Lord it's as simple as that very relevant to us and somebody please tell us about verse 8 this is the great exhortation now isn't it go up we talked about up earlier go up to the mountain bring wood build I'll take pleasure I will be glorified somebody will just spiritualize that for me then we'll move on to the second message this is all uphill work wasn't it yeah it was difficult work it required labor and toil absolutely blood sweat and tears absolutely now when it comes to the assembly you know to prepare a word to edify the Saints yes it takes time it's not easy takes toil labor right investment of time and talent and so on but we could apply it that way absolutely so so just just as a converse to what you have said there are godly Saints brother down who have lived godly in Christ Jesus who have put their best into assembly things and haven't seen blessing yes that's not that's not to say they haven't lived godly just as a converse to what you I know you know that correct when it comes to this verse we're not under the law go up to the mountain as our brother said our brother William there's altitude involved in this it will be an uphill it will be an uphill walk well there's a correlation right between what you were expressing earlier that Israel's blessings were often material right Abraham was very heavy our blessings are spiritual and their future as well too yes so when it comes to the souls of men here's here's the product of nature bring wood but this product of nature has to be dealt with for the service of God and as this is work with then it has to be beautified and once it's beautified its purpose is it'll have a place in the sanctuary and once it has a place in the sanctuary then the Lord will be glorified and we can actually see that in gospel work yeah yeah it will be an uphill struggle but we are looking to see people who are the product of nature cut down beautified in the things of God and have a place in this sanctuary that God was looking at it just a little different when it says go get the wood yeah first wood was provided for them it was by the Kings decree yes so in order for them to go on now they have to replace what they've taken and they've got to do the work theirself so the work is even harder now than it would have been before beforehand yeah how'd they use the resources they were given right so we'll move on please but let me just you see what my brethren are doing and I asked them to do this but they are spiritualizing the idea you understand that these men and women physically they were going up to the mountain physically they were taking wood and they were going to build it into the fabric of the temple but we're spiritualizing the idea of going up the idea of going into the sanctuary I like to think the idea of going into the presence of God we need and we must glean resources from the presence of God Williams been speaking about it John's been speaking about we must if we're going to build into the assembly it's not just a case of turning up and being there necessarily but it's being in the sanctuary is gleaning resources from the sanctuary the high place the mountain and then building that into the local assembly and we're into 1st Corinthians 3 aren't we we've got plenty of scope in 1st Corinthians 3 so we're thinking about gold silver precious stones this is the spiritual the spiritual man the man who's been gleaning resources in the sanctuary he's building into the assembly he's building into the house of God he's building in things that speak of Christ and what we don't want is the flesh now that's wood hay stubble that's what it is and that's the flesh building into the assembly no it's hard work it's labor we need to be spending time in the sanctuary the heavenly sanctuary and using that time to build things service into the local assembly sorry enough of that but just look at verses 9 to 11 the Lord then is explaining he's saying you've been experiencing or you've been lacking if you like the Jew of heaven verse 10 you've been experiencing the dearth on earth you haven't been getting quite the the harvest that you should have been verse 11 there's been a drought now your disobedience is costly and why well the explanation is and it's re-emphasizing the same point you're running to your own house you're running to your own things you're emphasizing yourselves you are not emphasizing the work of the Lord right