Lessons From Ezra – Lesson 4
We saw in acts Peter and the other apostles were faced with the issue do we obey man or do we obey God.
Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
And they did. It is a great example.
Then we went back to Ezra and saw that the people who moved their families to Jerusalem for the purpose of obeying God and building the Temple, and were doing the job until man commanded them to stop.
They then chose to obey man and not God. Their faith wavered.
God sends two prophets to them. Haggai and Zechariah. In Ezra 5:1 it tells us they were sent and in the next verse it says the people responded and they decided to obey God and not man.
Ezra 5:2 Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.
And in Ezra 6:14 we learn that Haggai and Zechariah help them thru the entire project.
Ezra 6:14 And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it,
And in Ezra that is all that is said about it. To find out more about what was said and how God worked to change these people from obeying man to obeying God you have to stop and go read Haggai and Zechariah.
All of the information needed to understand what happened is not in one place. Comparing scripture to scripture and considering all that the Bible says about a matter, that is the Biblical way. So we are taking a look at both Haggai and Zechariah.
Last week we saw in Haggai that God exposed their excuse. They were saying it is not time to build God’s house. So they were not saying we will never build it. Just not right now so we can obey man.
There are many times in life where you can obey God and obey man. Taxes are one of those things. Jesus said give unto Caesar that which is Caesars. But there are times when the two conflict and you have to choose to obey one or the other.
They tried the excuse it is just not time now. They tried we will obey God, but we will wait until conditions are better for it.
God is not putting up with that and He then tells them to consider their ways and then tells them how they are not satisfied. They do not have enough to eat or drink and are not warm.
Then God gave the solution.
Hag 1:8 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 fix the problem of obeying man and not God by simply start obeying God again. Just start and God is both pleased and glorified. There is no demand here to do penance before God is pleased. There is no demand to work to make up for the offence before God is pleased.
It is truly wonderful how much God loves to show forth mercy. This is a timeless truth. If you find yourself off track and not obeying God, just fix it. What you will find is mercy and that God is pleased.
While the solution is simple, just start obeying God. Getting there can take more than just a few sentences. We are weak. We like to walk by sight. We like to see how it is all going to work beforehand.
But we are to walk by faith and not by sight.
The people now know God is not pleased with their excuse. They now have been reminded of their situation of not being satisfied and they have been given the simple solution that will please God. But more needs to be said.
God wants them to know that it is Him that is chastising them for this. The situation they are in is not because of any other reason. It is not just chance or bad luck.
Hag 1:9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
Hag 1:10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
Hag 1:11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
Ok. God is the creator. These people believe that. God has all power. These people believe that. God made a covenant with their ancestors that is still in effect with them. They believe that. There are blessings or cursing’s attached to this land in relation to them. If we obey blessings, if not cursing’s. They believe that.
And now they have been told very clearly that God is actively involved and it is God that is sending the hardship in relation to the land.
And since it is Almighty God actively involved, then there is no way around this issue. No way to side step it or get around it. No way for it to be overlooked. There is no waiting it out. It will only get worse.
So they make their decision.
Hag 1:12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.
I need to mention one thing before we move on. Was God chastising them for obeying man and not Him? Did God want them to know that it was Him doing it?
Why did God want them to know that it was Him?
The principal of God wanting you to know that you are being chastised by Him. Do you think that still hold true today?
Some people have the wrong idea that anything hard that comes your way is God’s chastisement. That is wrong. We live in a sin stained hard world. Some hard things are just naturally going to come your way.
Sometimes God sends some hard things your way but not for chastisement. He can have many other reasons. 1 so you can help some else 2 so you can be an example for others 3 to teach you something positive like the power of His grace.
There can be a lot of different reasons. I believe that if the hard thing that comes is chastisement, God will want you to know it. He will send the conviction to you about it.
Be careful. It is possible to so quench the Spirit so much that you don’t hear it. So when hard things come. Stop and examine things, especially the health of your relationship with God. And prayerfully listen with an open heart.
And ask God if it is chastisement and if so ask Him what you need to fix. I believe that if God is chastising you that He wants you to know it. This is one of the biblical truths that we see in Haggai.
God understands people. He knows what they need. 1st they needed the facts. The plain truth laid out. God also knows that they need some encouragement.
Hag 1:13 Then spake Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
They have decided to step out on faith and obey God and not man. You can know that it is the right thing to do. You can logically reason it out and make the decision.
And yet it can be scary. We are still flawed people with emotions and fear and doubt. God of course knows all of this. God is not cold and uncaring or indifferent to our emotions. So God immediately sends the reassuring message, “I am with you, saith the LORD.”
God knows they need one more thing.
Phil 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Hag 1:14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, 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,
God knew that they needed Him to work in their hearts. To stir them up. This is a timeless truth. God gives truth thru His word. God stirs people up. God works in hearts and men have to voluntarily respond.
God gave the truth of His word, God then worked in hearts and the people came and did the work.
Remember Ezra says that Haggai helped thru the project. So Haggai is not done preaching. Starting in verse 15 are messages that God gave while they were working. Messages that came after they switched to obeying God instead of man.
Let’s get the timeline down.
Haggai 1:1 in the 2nd year of Darius the king in the 6th month in the 1st day Haggai first comes to give God’s Word.
Hag 1:14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, 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,
Hag 1:15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
By the 24th of the same month, the people made their decision and are stirred up and working.
So the total time frame is just over 3 weeks. To go from obeying man to obeying God and being stirred up to do the work.
First came a short message from Haggai to Zerubbabel who was the governor and to Joshua the high priest.
Then came a longer message from Haggai to the people.
The people then make the decision to obey God rather than man.
Then came a short message to the people. This third message was short. I am with you, saith the Lord.
God stirs up the people and on the 24th day of the month they start work.
The entire process took just over 3 weeks. So it was not like some people think. Some think that you preach one message and immediately after you are done, the people should be broken and crying and immediately go from obeying man to obeying God.
That is not how it usually works.
Haggai preached one message and 2 min after he is finished speaking the people did not start obeying God and not man.
They had to think about it. They had to hear the truth and then go home and compare their lives with the message. They had to live a few days and have not enough to eat for dinner and think about it and say yep.
I am experiencing exactly what Haggai said. They had to have a cold night or a cold day and say yep. I have clothes but am not warm. What is happening to me is exactly what Haggai described.
Families talked about it. Friends talked about it. Then came another message and this one God was clearly saying this is because He is bringing all this.
They had to talk about that, and they had to count the cost. What is the cost and results going to be if we continue to obey man. They had to hear the word of God first. That is always first. The process always starts there.
That is why what we are doing getting God’s word out is so important.
Then the people had to compare their lives with what they heard. And then they had to hear the Word of God again. They had to consider the cost and make a decision.
And then God had to stir people up. And then after a little over 3 weeks they are building again. Putting God first.
It took time. God talks about this in the New Testament. He talks about one planting the seed and another watering it and yet another person reaping.
There needs to be some faith that God is the Lord of the harvest. That He is moving and working and using this process. The seed needs planted and then God works in circumstances and in lives to get it watered.
What is needed is obedience to get the Word out, and patience and trust that the Lord will work. This is the biblical way.
So we learn in Haggai what happened to get the people to switch from obeying man to obeying God. But that is not the end of the matter. They started obeying God but they need to continue. The next day and the next week they have to keep making the same choice.
So just under 1 month later God gives another message thru Haggai.
Hag 2:1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,
Hag 2:2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,
Hag 2:3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
Remember those people who were crying when the foundation was laid because it was going to be smaller. God is now going to address that.
And the message will be simple and encouraging.
Hag 2:4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, 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:
That is an encouraging thing to hear. God says I am with you. This is only one month since they started obeying God and not man. Man is not happy with this. The solution to the conflict has not happened yet.
A new letter will be written to the king and the records will be found that authorized the building of the temple and the command of man to stop building will be given. But that has not happened yet. It takes more than a month in those days to get a letter written and delivered and time for the records to be searched and for a response to be written and then delivered again.
Jerusalem is a long way away from either the summer or the winter palace. So hearing the Lord say I am with you is a very helpful encouraging thing to hear.
And then comes a reminder of how God is faithful. He keeps His promise.
Hag 2:5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
Hag 2:6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
Hag 2:7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
Yes the new temple will be smaller. However, I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of host.
Hag 2:8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
This is like saying. If I wanted this new temple to be bigger, I certainly could have arranged it to be bigger. I certainly have the resources. It is not smaller because I don’t have enough.
It is not smaller because I am lacking anything. It is the size that it is because it is the size that I want it.
And then comes a hint of what God is going to do with this smaller temple.
Hag 2:9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
God says that the glory of this smaller temple will actually be greater.
To those looking only at the size, they are looking at the wrong thing. The smaller temple will actually be greater than the larger one.
God is letting them know that He is going to do something special in the new Temple. He does not tell them exactly what. But in hindsight we know.
Yes the old temple God filled the house with the smoke of His presence. That was a lot of glory. But men had to leave the temple. Man could not look upon God. Man could not speak to God in it then. They could not stand in the smoke.
God is also going to visit this new temple. But not as smoke. In person. God the Son will be circumcised and presented at 8 days old in this new Temple.
God will actually in person be there. And He could be talked to and seen and handled. Later Jesus would teach there.
Mat_21:14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
God the Son healed in the temple.
Mat_21:15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David;
He did wonderful things in the Temple. God the Son received praise in the temple.
Mat_21:23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching,
God in person taught in this new Temple. God kept His promise. God gave peace in this New Temple. The smaller Temple that they were building would actually have greater glory. God Himself was going to visit it and do great and mighty things there.
God would not have them look at it the wrong way. What God is going to do in the Temple is not determined by the size and grandeur of the building. God can actually use smaller things in greater ways. God’s ways are not our ways. He is greater than the size of a building.