21 September 520 B.C. Getting Up When Down (Haggai 1.4). God in Action, Covenant Promises & People in Action Building the Temple.
21 September 520 B.C. Getting Up When Down (Haggai
1.4). God in Action, Covenant Promises
& People in Action Building the Temple.
Backstory.
The wickednesses
of the Old Testament church were horrific.
Judgment had been in the making.
Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the nation and the Temple. The hubris and
doctrinal-worship-piety-disorders of the covenant people had accumulated. Nebuchadnezzare
had deported the Jews, or, most of the Old Testament Church, to Babylon. The Temple lay in ruins.
But
wait, can’t we just be Marcionites and dismiss it all, for crying out?
Jeremiah
had been forecasting it all, including a 70-year exile.
Jeremiah
29.10, inter alia.
Jeremiah 29:10
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
10 But thus saith the Lord,
that after seventy years be accomplished at Babel, I will visit you, and
perform my good promise toward you, and cause you to return to this place.
In
538 B.C., per Cyrus’ decree, humbled believers returned to Israel. God turns a Persian Emperor’s will.
Ezra 1:2-4
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
2 Thus saith Cyrus King of
Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me [a]all the
kingdoms of the earth, and he hath commanded me to build him an house in
Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3 Who is he among you of
all his people with whom his God is? let him go up to Jerusalem which is in
Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel: he is the God, which is
in Jerusalem.
4 And everyone that
remaineth in any place (where he sojourneth) [b]let the
men of his place relieve him with silver and with gold, and with substance, and
with cattle, [c]and with a
willing offering, for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.
Footnotes:
a.
Ezra 1:2 For he was chief
Monarch, and had many nations under his dominion, which this heathen king
confesseth to have received of the living God.
b.
Ezra 1:4 If any through poverty
were not able to return, the king’s commission was that he should be furnished
with necessaries.
Zerubbabel,
a Davidic scion, and 50, 000 Jews returned to rebuild the land and Temple.
As
usual with reprobates and unbelievers, however, opposition developed to the
rebuilding program. Expect such at all
times. In effect, it was taking on the LORD of the covenant promises.
Ezra
4.4-24.
Ezra 4:4-24
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
4 Wherefore the people of
the land [a]discouraged
the people of Judah, and troubled them in building.
5 And they [b]hired
counselors against them, to hinder their devise all the days of Cyrus king of
Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6 And in the reign of [c]Ahasuerus
(in the beginning of his reign) wrote they an accusation against the inhabitants
of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of [d]Artachshashta,
Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions wrote when it was peace,
unto Artaxerxes king of Persia, and the writing of the letter was the Aramites
writing, and the thing declared was in the language of the Aramites.
8 Rehum the [e]chancellor,
and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the
king, in this sort.
9 Then wrote Rehum
the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions [f]Dinai,
and Apharsathcai, Tarpelai, Persia, Archevai, Bablai, Shushanchai, Dehave,
Elamai,
10 And the rest of the
people whom the great and noble [g]Osnapper
brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria, and other that are beyond the [h]River
and [i]Cheeneth.
11 ¶ This is the copy of the
letter that they sent unto King Artaxerxes, THY SERVANTS the men beyond the
River and Cheeneth, salute thee.
12 Be it known unto the King
that the Jews, which came up from thee to us, are come unto Jerusalem (a city
rebellious and wicked) and build, and lay the foundations of the walls, and
have joined the foundations.
13 Be it known now unto the
king, that if this city be built, and the foundations of the walls laid, they
will not give toll, tribute, nor [j]custom:
so shalt thou hinder the king’s tribute.
14 Now therefore because [k]we have
been brought up in the King’s palace, it was not meet for us to see the
King’s dishonor: for this cause have we sent and certified the King,
15 That one may search in
the book of the Chronicles of thy fathers, and thou shalt find in the book of
the Chronicles, and perceive that this city is rebellious and noisome unto
kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition of old time, for the
which cause this city was destroyed.
16 We certify the king therefore,
that if this city be built, and the foundation of the walls laid, by this means
the portion beyond the River shall not be thine.
17 ¶ The King sent an answer
unto Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their
companions that dwelt in Samaria, and unto the other beyond the River, [l]Shelam
and [m]Cheeth.
18 ¶ The letter which ye
sent unto us, hath been openly read before me,
19 And I have commanded and
they have searched, and found, that this city of old time hath made
insurrection against kings, and hath rebelled, and rebellion hath been
committed therein.
20 There have been mighty
kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all beyond the River, and
toll, tribute and custom was given unto them.
21 Make ye now a decree that
those men may cease, and that the city be not built, till I have given another
commandment.
22 Take heed now that ye
fail not to do this: why should damage grow to hurt the king?
23 When the copy of king
Artaxerxes’s letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe, and their
companions, they went up in all the haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and
caused them to cease by force and power.
24 Then [n]ceased
the work of the house of God, which was in Jerusalem, and did stay unto the
second year of Darius king of Persia.
Footnotes:
b.
Ezra 4:5 They bribed the
governors under the king to hinder their work: Thus they that halt, cannot abide
that God should be purely served.
c.
Ezra 4:6 He was also called
Artaxerxes, which is a Persian name, some think it was Cambises Cyrus’ son, or
Darius, as verse 5.
f.
Ezra 4:9 These were certain
people which the Assyrians placed in Samaria instead of the ten tribes.
n.
Ezra 4:24 Not altogether for the
Prophets exhorted them to continue, but they used less diligence because of the
troubles.
God sends Haggai (Haggai 1.13). Encouragement comes.
Haggai 1:13
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
13 Then spake Haggai the
Lord’s messenger in the Lord’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you,
saith the Lord.
Often,
God says, “I am with you” and it is often connected to “Do not be afraid.” When
it omits one, it infers the other.
The Call of Moses. Ex. 3.12.
Exodus 3:12
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
12 And he answered, [a]Certainly
I will be with thee: and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent
thee, After that thou hast brought the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God
upon this mountain.
Footnotes:
The call of Gideon. Judges 6.16.
Judges 6:16
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
16 Then the Lord said unto
him, I will therefore be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites, as one
man.
Jeremiah. Jeremiah 1.8
Jeremiah 1:8
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
8 Be not afraid of their
faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
Again, the Word for all of God’s people. Haggai 1.13.
Haggai 1:13
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
13 Then spake Haggai the
Lord’s messenger in the Lord’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you,
saith the Lord.
God “sparked” or “stirred” the
leaders and the people.
Haggai 1:14
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
14 And the Lord stirred up [a]the
spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, a prince of Judah, and the spirit of
Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high Priest, and the spirit of all the remnant
of the people, and they came, and did the work in the House of the Lord of
hosts their God.
Footnotes:
a.
Haggai
1:14
Which declareth that men are inept and dull to serve the Lord, neither can they
obey his word or his messengers, before God reform their hearts, and give them
new spirits, John 6:44.
Ezra 5.2.
Ezra 5:2
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
2 Then Zerubbabel the son
of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose, and began to build the house
of God at Jerusalem, and with them were the Prophets of God, which [a]helped
them.
Footnotes:
a.
Ezra 5:2 Which encouraged them to
go forward, and accused them that they were more careful to build their own
houses, than zealous to build the Temple of God.
Philippians 2:13
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
Footnotes:
a.
Philippians
2:13 A
most sure and grounded argument against pride, for that we have nothing in us
praiseworthy but it cometh of the free gift of God, and is without us, for we
have no ability or power, so much as to will well (much less to do well) but
only of the free mercy of God.
b.
Philippians
2:13 Why
then, we are not stocks, but yet we do not will well of nature, but only
because God hath made of our naughty will a good will.
Questions:
1.
Does fear
of failure stop action?
2.
Fear of
rejection by others?
3.
Fear of
people? How about Canterbury and
Anglican bishops in relation to the same-sex marital issue in England? How about 19th-20th
century liberals trying to accommodate their own projections of the needs of
the populace and popularity?
4.
Fear of
small numbers? How about Rick Warren and
Bill Hybels?
5.
Fear and
the English Reformers? Willliam Tyndale?
Miles Coverdale? John Knox? John Calvin?
6.
Fear and
Scots Covenanters?
7.
Isaiah
and his message? That few would hear or
listen to him? That God would actually
cut the three down?
8.
Fear and
Jeremiah in jail? Why not just “go along
to get along?”
9.
Amos
before Jeroboam’s court? Amos 7?
10.
How does the doctrine of the Trinity and God
influence this?
11.
Athanasius and Arianism?
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