Do You Get the Connection?
Embracing God's Perspective & Priorities series
by Pastor Frank Rice
Haggai 2:10-23
Some people just do not know how to connect the dots! After listening to Fox News and hearing about some of the decisions that our leaders are making, I am convinced that many in leadership have no clue when it comes to the cause and effect relationship! That said, we need to evaluate whether we get the connection between the physical realm and the spiritual realm. There is a very real connection. The prophet had pointed out the glaring inconsistencies in the lives of Jewish people. The response had been positive. He now drives home his point and provides further encouragement and instruction.
I. Your Spiritual Condition Affects Everything You Do (Vv. 10-14)!
v The timing of Haggai’s messages is worth highlighting (v. 10).
1. The phrase noting the messages’ source occurs repeatedly! They are from the LORD of Hosts and come via the prophet.
2. There is time to process (respond to) each message since they extend over a fifteen week period in 520 BC.
Message #1 (1:1-11) delivered August 29th
Message #2 (2:1-9) delivered October 17th
Message #3 (2:10-19) delivered December 18th
Message #4 (2:20-23) delivered December 18th
3. “Haggai continues to call God’s people to zealous service. Half-hearted allegiance is no allegiance. He is waiting to bless, but He cannot do so while His people are apathetic and self-centered.” (Baldwin)
v The prophet begins by asking a question for which the answer is all too obvious to those familiar with OT law (vv. 11-13).
1. According to OT law, is holiness transferable (vv. 11-12)? The answer is “no!” (If healthy people visit sick people, do they make them well?)
2. According to OT law, is uncleanness communicable (v. 13)? The answer is “yes!” (If sick people visit healthy people, do they make them sick?)
3. “The two scenarios in these verses contrast the ability of that which is consecrated or defiled to communicate that quality to another object.” “Uncleanness is more contagious than holiness.” (Boda)
v The prophet, after engaging his listeners (“What’s he getting at?”), makes application (v. 14). (The priests are not the only listeners!)
1. God’s people have made themselves unclean because of their disobedience, their refusal to embrace God’s priorities.
2. Therefore, everything they do is affected by their spiritual condition! The separation between the secular and the sacred is a delusion! If one area is displeasing to God, both are!
3. That is exactly why things have not gone well for them! The interaction with the priests was to help them connect the dots!
4. “A defiled people defiles everything it touches, the agricultural products and the offerings.” (Verhoef)
II. Your Spiritual Condition Can Alter Your Future (Vv. 15-19)!
v The future for God’s people looks much brighter when His priorities become our priorities (vv. 15-17). Things have changed!
1. They are encouraged to “think carefully” about what He has said to them and what they have experienced! Things have changed because they have changed (v. 15a).
2. The LORD reminds them of their former disobedience and its consequences when they ignored the temple in ruins (v. 15b).
3. They had experienced unmet expectations and constant frustration because of their messed up priorities (v. 16)!
4. They were the object of His displeasure at that time. He sent disaster to get their attention and turn them around so that He could bless them (v. 17a)!
5. But even then they behaved poorly and failed to make the connection between their misery and their negligence (v. 17b).
v The future of God’s people is contingent upon what we do in the present about the past (vv.18-19)!
1. They are encouraged again to think carefully about (consider) the turning point of their national life (v. 18). “Encouragement is offered by comparing the dismal past with the promised future, linking blessing to the obedient response of the people.” (Boda)
2. The seed for their crops was now in the soil and God had promised that from this point on He would bless them (v. 19). “God’s promised blessings presuppose repentance and obedience.” (Verhoef)
III. Your Spiritual Condition Leads to a Glorious Hope (Vv. 20-23)!
v The LORD promises to act on behalf of His people (vv. 21b-22).
1. He will destabilize (shake) the very stage of human existence!
2. He will overturn political and governmental structures in which men have trusted.
3. He will bring collapse on the economic strength of nations.
4. He will demolish the military might of powerful nations.
5. He will turn the nations against each other so that they destroy one another! The LORD of Hosts will do as He said!
v The LORD looks beyond the immediate future (vv. 20-21a & 23).
1. He does speak of the present ruler of His people (vv. 20-21a)! What He promises does come to fruition.
2. He also speaks of a future Ruler of His people (v. 23).
(a) The phrase “in that day” usually refers to the distant future.
(b) Multiple phrases clearly indicate a future Davidic King who will reign in Israel over regathered people!
· The phrases “I will take you” and “I have chosen you” are often found in contexts in which Davidic kings are anointed for kingship.
· Clear messianic implications are communicated by the title “My servant” as found in Isaiah 40-55.
· The mention of the signet ring provides another clue that the Messiah is in view!
“The scenes of cataclysmic upheaval and destruction that portray the collapse of all human kingdoms and the establishment of that of Yahweh are enough to put beyond doubt that Zerubbabel is a type or foreshadowing of a greater one to come,..” (Merrill)
“The progress of revelation makes it clear that the promise to Zerubbabel will be fulfilled through his descendant, Jesus Christ.” (Chisholm)
There is hope for those who have connected the dots, who have figured out the relationship between sin and the cross and between obedience and blessing.