Haggai Lesson 5

Why? Haggai

Lesson 5

THE THIRD MESSAGE

Let's turn our attention now to the THIRD MESSAGE that God gave through the prophet, Haggai. It contains some very important principles that apply just as much to us today as to its original recipients. Indeed, there are some things in this message that both they and we need to "give careful thought to."

And, yes, you guessed it correctly, it is time for another assignment.

So, your next assignment is to read Haggai 2:10-19, the Third Message, and as you read,

Mark every occurence of the word consecrated / holy (kjv)

by circling it with a BLUE Circle

Mark every occurence the word defiled / unclean (kjv)

by putting a BLACK Square with an X in it around the word.

Then answer the following questions:

1. When was this Third Message given? (Day / month/ year) (2:10)

____________________________________________________________________

2. Approximately how much time had passed since the Second Message? (Hint: see Haggai 2:1)

Circle the correct answer:........1 month.........2 months.........6 months........1 year

Did you notice that God also began this Third Message with questions to a specific group of people? In Message # 2, God had directed a series of questions to another specific group of people, to those who had seen and remembered Solomon's Temple and its former beauty and glory. Now, in Message # 3, God is again asking questions to a specific group of people.

Who were the specific people that God now addresses with these questions in Message # 3? (2:11)

_______________________________________________________________

The two questions which God asked of the priests may seem complicated to us today, yet these very important questions were based on the LAW which had been given to Moses and the people shortly after their Exodus from Egypt.

The Law had been given to Moses and the Jewish Nation in approximately 1491 BC, shortly after they had crossed the Red Sea and while they were still in the wilderness.

Now we need to examine the questions which God asked of the priests and to understand the principles being emphasized by these questions because the underlying fundamental truths which they reveal are just as applicable and pertinent to us today as they were to the priests and the people initially addressed!

In fact, this THIRD message is a very key part of the entire book of Haggai and it is one of the reasons WHY HAGGAI is included in the Bible and WHY HAGGAI is so important and instructive to us today.

True, the book of Haggai does give us much important and interesting information concerning the rebuilding / building of the Temple. But, more importantly, this book defines and emphasizes principles which we must understand and follow today if our lives are to be blessed by God and filled with His peace, joy, and contentment.

They, the Jews, the returned exiles from Babylon, obviously had not been living in joy and peace and blessing. How do we know this?

Well, let's re-read Haggai 1:6-11 and also look at the list you previously made that tells of the difficulties they were having.

Then, in the space below, summarize what their lives were like as described in 1:6-11 and in 2:16-19.

So, we see they had experienced poor crop yields, were often hungry and thirsty, were not warm enough, couldn't make their wages stretch to buy all they needed, couldn't seem to get ahead, experienced drought .... . In short, they were having all kinds of problems -- financially, materially,

agriculturally, and in basically every area of life. They were surviving and existing but only from day to day and only while enduring great hardships, disappointments, and difficulties. There was no real joy, peace, contentment, or sense of blessing. In short, they were not experiencing the blessings' of God.

Yes, they were God's Chosen' people but their lives were neither outwardly nor inwardly reflecting the anticipated benefits of such a designation.

WHY? What was their problem?

Why weren't they living like God's Chosen People were intended to live? After all, hadn't God rescued them repeatedly? Hadn't God even brought them back from their exile in Babylon? So why were they having these difficulties? What had gone wrong? Why were they having these problems?

Does this sound all too familiar to you? Is your life similar? Do you relate to these people and the problems they were experiencing? You and I, as Christians, are God's People also.

WHY? What's our problem?

Why isn't life easier and more satisfying for us? Why do you and I have problems and difficulties and reversals and hardships? Why do we "plant much but harvest little, eat but never have enough, drink but never have our fill, put on clothes but are not warm, earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it," ... ?

Well, to find the answer,

let's look at what God said to His people, the Jews, because the principles which God gave to them are just as applicable to us today. And, if we will learn from what God showed them, we, too, will be able to live in and by God's blessing.

We know that they, God's Chosen People, were not living in the victory and blessing and joy that God had intended, planned, and desired for them. Perhaps you are not either.

So, Haggai, as God's messenger, tells them and us WHY! And, what they are told to be the reason for their problems and difficulties is just as valid and applicable for us today as it was for them then.

Therefore, if we will learn from what God told them, then, we, too, can live in victory, peace, joy, contentment, and blessing regardless of the situations and circumstances of life that may swirl around us.

So, WHY? What was their problem? And what is our problem? WHY? HAGGAI.

Tell us WHY !

To find out WHY?', let's examine this Third Message from God contained in 2:10-19. In these few short but important verses, God tells them, and anyone who will listen and heed His reproof, the reason why.

So, of course, it is time for another assignment:

Let's begin by looking at the 2 questions which God asked the priests and see if there are any principles in these questions that apply to us today also.

In Haggai 2:12 and 2:13, there are two questions which God asked directly to the priests.

Underline and number these 2 questions in the text.

Then, on the chart below entitled "GOD ASKS 2 QUESTIONS', write these two questions in the first column. (I am sorry that this chart is not very beautiful but it is the best I can do with my limited knowledge of html. But, again, you are smart students, so you can figure this out!).

Next, read the scriptures in column 3 of the chart (Leviticus 6:27 & Numbers 19:11-13), which explain why the priests, who were experts of the Law, answered with the answers they gave. Record the answers, "Yes" or "No", which the priests gave, in the second column on the chart.

Do NOT fill in the last Column! We will do that later.

Ok, here is the chart:

GOD ASKS TWO QUESTIONS

The Question....................The Answer......................... The Law................................The Why /The Principle Taught.

Question # 1:

Leviticus 6:27 NIV

"Whatever touches any of the flesh

will become holy,

and if any of the blood is spattered

on a garment,

you must wash it in a holy place."

Question # 2

Numbers 19:11-13,22 NIV

"Whoever touches the dead body of anyone

will be unclean for seven days.

He must purify himeslf with the water

on the thrid day and on the seventh day;

then he will be clean.

But if he does not purify himself

on the third and seventh days,

he will not be clean.

Whoever touches the dead body

of anyone and fails to purify himself

defiles the LORD'S tabernacle.

That person must be cut off from Israel.

Because the water of cleansing

has not been sprinkled on him.

... Anything that an unclean person touches

beacomes unclean,

and anyone who touches it

becomes unclean till evening."

Now let's see what it is that God was saying to them and to us by asking these two questions.

At first glance, you may wonder why God is talking about consecrated meat and defiled people. However, when we understand the principles being revealed in these questions, we will understand the significance of these questions and how they explain WHY these people were not living with God's blessing concerning their crops, finances, etc. Similarly, we will understand and discover why we also don't always live in joy, peace, victory, and with God's blessing in our own personal lives.

Well, you have looked at and worked on the first 3 columns on the chart, GOD ASKS TWO QUESTIONS'. But, before we fill in the final column concerning The Principle Being Taught, (ie. The WHY'), let's look in some detail at the truths being presented by these questions. Then, when we understand these principles more completely, we will summarize what is being taught and place our conclusions on the chart.

Let's begin by looking in Haggai 2:12 (NIV) at God's first Question:

"if a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment,

and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil, or other food,

does it become consecrated?"

Haggai 2:12 NIV

The word, CONSECRATED, used here is the Hebrew QADASH (Strongs # 6942), and, as defined in the Lexical aids to the Old Testament in the Hebrew Greek Study Bible by Zodhiates, means:

"to be clean, to make clean, to pronounce clean (ceremonially or morally); to hallow, to dedicate, to sanctify, to purify, to make oneself clean ..., to consecrate to God ...; to be selected, to be pure, to be holy, to be sacred, to be consecrated, to be devoted, to be regarded as holy ..., to show oneself holy ..., to be consecrated; to seclude, to declare as holy; to treat as holy, to purify oneself. This Hebrew verb captures the element of being pure or devoted to God. The concept of being separated' is a derived meaning, not the primary one. It signifies an act or state in which people or things are set aside for use in the worship of God, i.e., they are consecrated or made sacred for that purpose. They must be withheld from ordinary (secular) use and treated with special care as something which belongs to God... . Otherwise, defilement makes the sanctified object unusable "...

So, now that we understand something about the meaning of the word, Consecrated, what is God saying?

God is reminding them (and us) not only how holiness is transmitted, but also how it is not transmitted.

God is using this illustration about contaminated meat (flesh), to show them that even though the meat itself was consecrated (holy) and the meat, in turn, made the garment containing or holding it consecrated (holy), the passing on of holiness ended there. Therefore, the garment holding the meat could not and did not pass on its holiness to anything or anyone else.

God is, therefore, emphasizing that holiness is not passed on or transmitted simply by coming into contact with something that was holy because it contained holiness.

Ponder that thought, but don't write anything on your chart yet. Let's look now at question # 2. Then, after we have considered both questions, we will be better able to summarize our conclusions.

The SECOND QUESTION immediately followed, thereby building upon and reinforcing what God was telling them concerning holiness and how holiness is and is not transmitted and / or lost.

Let's read that second question as stated in Haggai 2:14 (NIV),

"If a person defiled by contact with a dead body

touches one of these things,

does it become defiled?"

Before we continue, we need to know what DEFILED means:

DEFILED, also translated unclean or contaminated in some versions of the Bible, is the Hebrew word TAME (Strong's # 2931) and is the adjective form of the Hebrew verb, TAME (Strong;s # 2930).

The verb form of TAME (defiled / unclean) is defined by Zodhiates :

"To be unclean (in a ritual or moral sense), to become clean, to be polluted, to defile oneself; to make unclean, to profane, to desecrate, to pronounce unclean. This verb occurs 155 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. There are125 more occurrences which derive from it. Certain animals and foods were considered clean or unclean by their nature. Persons and objects could become ritually unclean. Birth, menstruation, emissions from the body, sexual relations, contact with death could cause personal uncleanness. It was the business of the priests and Levites to be concerned with these matters (see Leviticus chapters 11-15). Idolatry was the most serious type of uncleanness. All these regulations were object lessons for Israel about God's holiness ... "

Now, even though this may be new information to you and me, this certainly was not new information to these chosen people of God. They had known the Law concerning this for almost 1000 years.

You will recall that the Law had been given to God's Chosen people, the Jews, through Moses on Mt. Sinai in about 1491 BC, shortly after their miraculous deliverance by God from their bondage and slavery in Egypt.

So the Law had been given in about 1491 BC. It is now 520 BC, almost 1000 years later!

During the interval of time between the giving of the Law and 520 BC, they, as a people and as a nation, had lived in varying degrees of obedience and adherence to the Law.

But, Regardless of whether they had obeyed the Law or not, the priests and the people were knowledgeable of the Law and knew what made something holy (consecrated / sacred) or defiled.

So, this was not new news, but apparently was information they needed to be reminded of since they were not living in obedience to this aspect of the Law at this time in the history of their nation. By ceasing work on the temple shortly after their return from Babylon, they had been disobedient to God!

Therefore, by this disobedience (sin), they had become defiled. And this defilement was affecting everything they did and touched.

Similarly, this is information about which we, today, also need to be reminded!

Yes, this was not new news. But, what is very significant, is the statement that followed in the next verse, (2:14 NIV). Read it.

"So it is with these people and this nation in My sight,"

declares the Lord.

"Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled."

GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE ARE DEFILED !

Wow! Imagine that! Here are God's Chosen people, actively working at His assigned task of rebuilding the Temple and God is telling them that they are defiled (unholy, unclean) !

Why did God say this? Why did he tell them that they were defiled? And, how did they get that way? After all, aren't they God's chosen people?

Remember, these people thought that, as God's Chosen people, they were automatically and always consecrated, regardless of what they did.

But God is telling them that, as far as He is concerned, they and their nation are defiled and that everything they touch is defiled. Even the work that they are doing on the temple is defiled because there are other unforsaken sins still in their lives.

Look again at the chart, GOD ASKS TWO QUESTIONS'. You know what the questions are and you have read the scriptures that support and explain the answers given by the priests.

With all this in mind, now, it is time to fill in your conclusions concerning "THE WHY", THE PRINCIPLE BEING TAUGHT, for each of these two questions.

So, your next assignment is to:

Concerning Question # 1,

Summarize what God was teaching His Chosen people concerning how a person or thing is and is not consecrated. Fill in your answer in the space provided in column 4 of the chart.

And, concerning Question # 2,

Summarize what God was teaching about defilement and its consequences. Fill in your answer in the space provided in column 4 of the chart.

Wow! That was quite a thought provoking assignment, wasn't it? How did you do? Did you reach any conclusions?

Well, let me share with you a statement, from Wilmington's Guide to the Bible, which helps to explain the principles that were being taught by these 2 questions.

"... Holiness does not pass on to other things that way" (ie by touching something that touched something holy)

"...The point God was making here is that whatever righteousness the nation Israel might have once possessed was not automatically transferred upon them at this time. But their own unrighteousness was affecting both them and their children."

Hmmmm. "Righteousness was not automatically transferred... but their own unrighteousness was affecting both them and their children." That is a powerful, awesome, and serious statement!

God is telling them that there is a correlation between the fact that they are defiled by sin (disobedience to His commands) and the difficulties, hardships, poor harvests, etc. which they had been experiencing since their return from Babylon in about 538 BC. God is showing them that disobedience (sin) takes its toll and has its consequences.

We have already looked at what they were to "consider", i.e., their poor harvests ( heaps probably referred to stacks or mounds of grain), their poor wine supplies and the blight, mildew, and hail which were destroying crops ... .

Now let's consider WHO was the source of these difficulties, these judgments' upon the people and the WHY?'

WHO had caused the blight, mildew, and hail? (2:17)

Write your answer in the space provided:

_______________________________________________________

And WHY did God cause these things to happen to His Chosen people, the Jewish nation of Israel ? (2:17)

_______________________________________________________

Wow! There it is in black and white !

God has revealed to them the underlying basic root problem (cause) of their difficulties. God has told them that HE had caused these things to happen because they did not turn to Him or obey Him.

GOD CANNOT BLESS UNRIGHTEOUSNESS !

God has told them the reason "WHY" He had not blessed them and WHY they had been experiencing these consequences of disobedience which included blight, mildew, and hail.

Their failure to turn to God and to obey Him was active disobedience (sin). This had resulted in their defilement. These consequences of poor crops, etc., therefore, were judgments of God because of their disobedience and defilement. They were unrighteous in God's sight and God cannot bless unrighteousness!

Therefore, it was God who had caused their poor crops, ....

And the reason God had done this for the past 17 or so years was because they had not obeyed Him in the matter of rebuilding the Temple. Neither had they turned to Him as their God and their provider. They had not acknowledged Him to be the supplier of their needs. They had not made Him Lord and Master but, instead, were doing things in their own way and in their own strength and had left God out of their plans.

Now God is trying to show them that even though they had finally understood and repented concerning their past disobedience of failing to rebuild the Temple and were now obedient in this matter, they were still defiled in other areas.

Yes, they were now obeying and again working on the Temple, but, they still were defiled in other areas.God is now trying to show them that they must be obedient in everything because until they are obedient in every area, all they do and touch will still be defiled because of sin (disobedience).

God is, therefore, telling them that even though they may do the right thing in one area or even in several areas of obedience, He desires that they be obedient in every area.

God is reminding them that, because of their other sins, they are still defiled and therefore unworthy to build the temple because God cannot bless unrighteousness!

God is showing them that anything less than total obedience in every area causes the very work that they do to be defiled and that until they have repented in every area, they are still defiled.

God is, therefore, calling them (and us) to Holiness (consecration) in thought, mind, actions, and attitude in every area of their (and our) lives.Anything less than total obedience and commitment to God results in defilement of self and of anything and everything that they (and we) do!

What an awesome principle!

Does this explain to you or give you any insight as to the cause of some of the situations and difficulties you may be experiencing in your own personal life today?