God Tells the People to Build Irrespective of the Government
Intro: Well morning friends and visitors. Welcome to South Sydney Anglican Church. My name is Matt Johnson and today we are continuing our study of EZRA but looking at Haggai. Today, we’ll see the PROPHET HAGGAI tell Gods People (in the days of Ezra) to obey God irrespective of what spiritual and political obstacles they face…
Prayer:
Well friends, over the past few weeks we’ve seen Gods people face all sorts of obstacles when they returned from Babylon in 539BC. They originally went into slavery in Babylon because they disobeyed Gods Word. Babylon was punishment for their sin. But when God graciously brought them back to Jerusalem – they found themselves in SERIOUS SPIRITUAL WARFARE – the minute they started obeying God’s Word. All of a sudden Satan was doing everything he could to 1) corrupt God’s people, 2) discourage God’s people and 3) even make it illegal for Gods people to obey God’s Word. THE QUESTION was fast becoming who should Gods people obey – God or man?
In many ways this is what Christians now face today in Australia. We are no longer a Christian nation. We are a POST CHRISTIAN nation. And in this context – even my Bishops recognize the spiritual warfare has changed from subversive, to coercive and oppressive. About every 4-5 months – my Bishop ENCOURAGES all the pastors by telling us about all the new laws that threaten to put us in jail. So this past week I received an update on free speech (Slide 2). The Bishop basically explains all the damage HATE SPEECH LAWS have done in the UK and how many Christians (and pastors) are being unlawfully prosecuted. So the Bishop RINGS THE ALARM because we are now following the UK on this delightful path to hell. (Slide 3). Now on this page you can see a THREAT INDICATOR (he loves the threat indicators) – saying that the threat to free speech in Australia is now HIGH. The Bishop says (at the star) – READ. This is our reality. The government is now prohibiting what God tells Christians to do and say…
(Slide 4) Now over the page the Bishop (as he always does) bemoans how ALL these laws are contrary to the United Nations International Charter of Human Rights. As you can see he quotes Article 18 and Article 19 of the United Nations Scriptures – as if they actually mean something. The Bishop always appears genuinely shocked that the United Nations are not following their own Scriptures. (It’s almost like they’re flat out lying to us). Mmmm.
Now as many of you know I am not a fan of the United Nations. But one of the reasons I don’t trust this organization which you can validate for yourself (if you care to look) is that the United Nations is allowing a two-tier system of human rights. Every Muslim country that has signed up to the United Nations and has promised to follow the International Charter of Human Rights – has subsequently released a public statement saying that they intend to interpret ALL Human Rights through the lens of Sharia Law. IN PRACTICE this means Sharia law automatically TRUMPS anything in the Charter of Human Rights that Muslims don’t like AND they still retain full voting rights. So the UN bows the knee to the strong man of Islam. (I’m not making this up. Google it. Simply look up the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights*). The UN has a two-tier policing system that keeps shocking my bishop*.
Now if you don’t believe me – try evangelising a Muslim in Saudi Arabia and see what happens. Meanwhile, here in Australia, Albo tells us we have to obey UN International Law – which now includes giving passports to Muslim terrorists. THE PROBLEM IS “the Rule of Law” (a Christian principle that says we should all stand equal before the law) is actually breaking down at both the International and the National level. That’s why you have more human rights outside the womb than in the womb. You have more human rights if you’re a transgender woman than a biological woman. And some religions have more rights than others. So like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King – I now find myself contemplating how Christians should handle laws that are flat out contrary to Gods Natural Law and Moral Law.
Point 1: God Tells His People to Obey Him and Build the Temple
Show: Hagg.1:1-2 (READ)
Explain: Well friends, please know that THE REAL GOAL in building the temple is that Gods saving Word might go out A) from Mt Zion to B) the ends of the earth. THE TEMPLE represents God. THE TEMPLE is the visible witness to both Gods law and Gods mercy. THE TEMPLE is also the place from which salvation is to come to all the world through a special Messiah. So in the Old Testament the temple is the visible sign of Creator Gods right to judge or to pardon the world. In other words, the temple represents everything that Satan and sinful man detest. No sinner wants to acknowledge Gods right to rule their life.
So when Gods people start building the temple (all the forces of evil in the spiritual realms) start attacking them. Now to counter this spiritual attack God raises up two prophets to preach His Word fearlessly. Those prophets were HAGGAI AND ZECHARIAH. Now in this passage we see that HAGGAI started his preaching ministry in the second year of Darius, on the first day of the 6th month. We also know from the Bible that the prophet ZECHARIAH started preaching about 2 months later. They both had the same message. THE MESSAGE was build, build, build like the wind. FORGET the opposition, FORGET the excuses and obey God with all your heart.
Now we know from last week in Ezra 5 – that it was the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah that drew the governor Tattenai’s attention (Ez.5:1). God’s people had been BULLIED into quiet submission. But now, through the preaching of GODS WORD – they were being mobilised into action. This was a real threat to Tattenai’s authority. We know from Ezra 4 that the building of the temple was making many people in Tattenai’s electorate uncomfortable. All the foreigners with their false religions and all the woke syncretists with their blended religions (didn’t like the absolute truth claims of God’s Word). So they discouraged Gods people and they even bribed officials to hinder Gods people (Ez.4:4-5). It worked.
Gods people were discouraged and in a state of apathy and quiet acquiescence they were irrelevant. No threat to anyone including Satan’s kingdom. But when Haggai and Zechariah started preaching, people started working and this got Tattenai’s attention.
We know that Tattenai’s goal was to STOP THEM – because Ezra 5 tells us; “BUT God was watching over the elders of his people and they were not stopped….” As we saw last week, there was A STAND OFF on the building site of Gods temple. Tattenai told the people to stop building and they responded we don’t think you have that authority – either from God or King Darius. So run along and check with your boss. The point is – there are many examples in the Bible (and church history) of Satan using corrupt, foolish government officials to oppress Gods people. So it is ok (even righteous) to stand up to politicians when we can see they are blatantly opposing Gods Word. We know this is right – because this is what Haggai, Zechariah, Zerubbabel and Joshua do with Tattenai. They say, “No, God told us to do this and you don’t have the authority to go against Gods Word, so go away and check with the supreme court.” Sometimes this is necessary. Gods people should stand against UNJUST LAWS that directly go against Gods natural law in creation or Gods moral law in the Bible.
Illustrate: Now I’m on a What’s App group called “SYDNEY METRO OUTREACH” that includes about 265 street evangelists (Slide 7). These guys organise much of the street evangelism in Sydney including the regular gig at Town Hall. Now a Christian friend of mine, named Russel Fanebust, tries to keep all these EVANGELISTS preaching the gospel and interacting with the public in a truly Christian way. Its not always easy. But it’s getting harder because of state over-reach. What’s happens now – is someone, anyone (who hates the gospel) can claim they have been offended to Council. COUNCIL RANGERS then turn up telling the evangelists they have to stop. Now do Council Rangers have the right to stop people sharing the gospel? Is there any law in Australia (yet) that has taken away this freedom? (PAUSE). NO!
This is simply intimidation. Its Tattenai on the building site. Now I see – some of these interactions with rangers on the What’s App Group and generally speaking, I’d say the evangelists handle themselves in a very firm, but respectful manner. Now after the last negative interaction (about a week or two ago) MY FRIEND RUSSEL posted something on the Group that I want to share with you. (SLIDE 8).
Friends, I think this is entirely biblical. When people in authority begin to challenge obedience to Gods Word – whether at work, on the streets or even increasingly in churches – Christians need to find THE COURAGE to say – No! Do you really have this authority? Please tell me which law I’m breaking? I can assure you other religions are pushing back strongly against our laws – under the freedom of religion. Now I’m not telling you to get VIOLENT. But it is ok to offend people. It is ok to upset people with God’s truth. Jesus did it all the time. Jesus rebuked stupidity. He had zero patience for hypocrisy and part of the reason he was killed is that he challenged those abusing their authority. But Christians have become a bunch of nice, woke, tolerant cowards who are so politically correct that we say nothing about anything because we are afraid we’ll upset someone. (I include myself in that rebuke). Don’t be afraid of upsetting people. Be afraid of what is going to happen to people’s souls and our society and our grandchildren if no one speaks truth.
This is what Haggai and Zechariah are telling the people. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t go quietly into the night. Obey God. Challenge those abusing their authority and trust that God will be with you in the fight. Sometimes loving your neighbour means standing up to ungodly, immoral, woke and Islamic nonsense and calling it out. Don’t be cowards. Men start leading by example. Call a spade a spade. Act like Jesus. Confront hypocrisy and don’t be afraid to challenge unjust laws. Jesus healed people on the Sabbath. He drove the sheep out of the temple. In both actions Jesus defied unjust laws of the Sanhedrin.
Point 2: God Rebukes the People for Making Dumb Excuses
Show: Hag.1:2-7 (Slides 9-11)
Explain: Now please notice that just about EVERY SENTENCE begins with a reference to Gods Words. The Lord Almighty says… The word of the Lord came etc etc. God clearly told the Jews to rebuild the temple. But after 19 years in Jerusalem – the people are still saying “the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.” It’s been 19 years. They returned in 539BC. Its now 520BC and still they’re making excuses. It’s all too hard. If God was really with us – we wouldn’t face all these obstacles and unjust laws. Let’s just kick the can down the road a little bit further. What’s really going on – is the people don’t want to rock the boat. They don’t want to suffer for God…
Now we know the problem here is COMFORT. The prophets rebuke the people for living in their fine-panelled houses – while neglecting Gods temple. They’re rebuked for living IN COMFORT. The word panelling is only used five times in the Bible and it always implies a kind of luxury, affluence and comfort. They’ve now all got comfortable lives. They’re back in Israel with their McMansion’s, their respectable jobs and their annual holidays and they don’t want to put any of that at risk by upsetting the authorities. So let’s just acquiesce to the worlds pressure. Let’s just kick the can a bit further down the road and at some point (you know when its easier) then we’ll obey Gods Word.
Now sadly, I think this is true of many larger comfortable Christian denominations in Australia. We’ve all become too lazy, too fat and too comfortable to rock the boat. We like our fine-panelled institutions. We all receive too much filthy lucre from the government that subsidizes our Christian schools, our social justice ministries and nursing homes. So we can’t afford to risk publicly challenging anyone in authority because we might have to suffer for Christ and lose our comfort. So rather than admit that comfort and cowardice are the problem – we pretend our apathy and accommodation is wisdom and godliness.
So the argument goes – that we still have THE FREEDOM to build the temple and preach the gospel – so let’s not rock the boat on any of these other “minor” issues. You know, minor issues like 1) BABIES being aborted at full term, 2) CHILDREN being taught transgender ideologies in our schools, 3) experimental VACCINES being imposed on Christians with excommunication for non-compliance. 4) LGBTQIA rights being quietly accepted in Christian schools. 5) ISLAM demanding we respect sharia law in their communities. 6) EUTHANASIA being quietly accepted in our nursing homes. But everyone seems to believe that when the rubber hits the road and we no longer have the freedom to preach the gospel – then we’ll all stand courageously against the tyranny.
But my response (theoretically speaking, of course) is that if you kick the can far enough down the road – the church will become so COMPROMISED, so CORRUPTED and so LUKE-WARM on serious matters that when you eventually take your stand, you may find yourself standing all alone. We do not build Gods temple (the church) simply by preaching half truths about Jesus. We can only build Gods temple if we are faithful to ALL of Scripture. For the gospel itself calls people to REPENT of things like abortion, transgenderism, homosexuality, spiritual animism, Islam, wokism and euthanasia. You can’t build Gods temple with the gospel unless you take the risk of calling people to repent from all these things which the Bible calls sin. So I believe many Christian denominations (that no longer speak of these things) have already forfeited true temple building because they have become too cowardly to clearly call sin, sin
(GOSPEL). Yes, the good news of Christianity is that Jesus died for your sins upon the cross. Yes, you deserve to be punished for all the things you have done wrong. But praise be to God, Jesus loved us all so much that he died on the cross to take the punishment for us. And yes, the good news is that if you BELIEVE Jesus died for your sins, you ASK GOD TO FORGIVE you and you begin to REPENT of all that the Bible calls sin – you will be saved.
But Christian faith in Jesus without repentance from sin is not true faith. SO WHAT IS SIN? (PAUSE) I’m really sorry but I can’t tell you anymore, because its politically incorrect, it’s called hate speech and the government is threatening to send me to jail. But good luck in trusting Jesus. This is now the no repentance gospel of many modern churches and I believe very, very little real building of Gods temple is now taking place.
So Haggai tells God’s people to GIVE CAREFUL THOUGHT TO THEIR WAYS. In verses 5-7. God says; you have planted much, but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. We get the same ideas in verses 7-11. God says what you brought home, I blew away. You wanted abundance, but I brought drought on everything. This is all harking back to Deuteronomy 28. God gives BLESSINGS for obedience and God gives CURSES for disobedience. Yes, salvation is entirely by God’s grace. But God’s blessing requires trust and obedience. Do not be mistaken (the Bible says) God disciplines all the children he loves (Heb.12:1-11). He does this largely by allowing them to reap the consequences of their disobedience.
So Haggai – says to the people – GIVE CAREFUL THOUGHT TO YOUR WAYS. Can you not see that you are paying a heavy price for your compromise and your comfort? I truly believe that if you look at most western nations today – you can see God’s blessing gradually slipping away. What was happening to Gods people in Haggai’s day is now happening to the church in the west. We’ve taken God’s blessing for granted and it is now slipping through our fingers because of cowardice.
Point 3: God Stirs up His Peoples Spirit for Courage, Action and Blessing
Show: Hag.1:12-15 (READ)
Explain: Well friends, as you know the Bibles says FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD. Prior to Haggai’s preaching – all the Jews would have claimed they were Gods chosen people and they had real faith. But their lives were telling a very different story. They’d been ATTACKED, DISCOURAGED and POLITICALLY DISCRIMINATED to such a point that they were neither hot or cold about anything. They were just like the the Laodicean church in Revelation that was in danger of being spat out of Gods mouth. The situation was dire.
So God raises up Haggai and Zechariah to do some serious BUTT KICKING. Zechariah says – Return to God and he will return to you. Haggai says; stop kicking the can down the road. You can’t play the coward to preserve your COMFORT because at some point you will reap Gods CURSE. So give careful thought to your dumb, foolish and cowardly ways – because you are forfeiting God’s blessing – not just for yourself, but for your children and your grandchildren. So pull your finger out and get to work today. Not tomorrow. TODAY.
Now remember – TATTENAI has sent someone travelling to Persia to find out if Cyrus really gave permission to Gods people to rebuild the temple. Its 2000km on camel. But there’s no record in Persepolis, or in Babylon. Eventually they find something in Ecbatana in Media (outside Persia) – that says yes, Cyrus gave Gods people permission to rebuild the temple. But this then has to go back to Darius for his approval. Then someone has to ride all the way back Jerusalem with the news. HOW LONG DID ALL THIS TAKE? At a minimum months. Perhaps years. But the prophets do not say; ‘Ok lets wait and see what Darius says and then we’ll start building if we’re granted permission.” NO! They don’t wait for permission. The prophets encourage them to trust God, act in faith and start building now. If God is with them simply trust that the authorities will fall into line.
So the people begin to trust and obey and God Spirit begins to stir up everyone’s spirit for action. Oh for us to pray – “Come Lord God, stir up our dead spirits. Replace excuses with encouragement. Apathy with obedience. Cowardice with true courage. Come Lord God, stir up our spirits for action.” In Haggai, chapter 2 – God calls the men to be strong, men of courage. He tells them, “Do not be afraid – for He is now with them in a special way.” And, on the 24th Day of the ninth month (less than 3 months after starting to obey God) God promises that from this very day – He is going to start blessing their obedience.
Apply: Yes, God was with these people when they returned from Babylon. But when these same people started to really trust and obey Gods Word – God was with them in blessing, not discipline. He turned His face towards them and gave them a shalom peace that was music to their spirits. If God is for us who can be against us. Friends, there are still people who need to hear about Jesus and repent of their sins. The temple is not yet finished. And while too many church leaders hide like cowards in their ivory towers – because their ivory towers are far too comfortable – God is still with those who courageously trust and obey Him. SO WHAT WILL WE DO? WHO WILL BE OBEY? And if Gods people had have waited for a favourable word from Darius before they started building, would it have still been a favourable word? Or was it a favourable word from Darius – because God’s people trusted and obeyed God?
Whatever happens around us (and whatever church leaders choose to do) FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS must continue building Gods temple and that means not only speaking of Jesus’ wonderful death for our sins. It also means speaking clearly of all the evils from which God calls us to repent. There is a way that leads to life and there is way that leads to death (and the Churches clarion call must remain clear).
