Haggai 2

About a month after the people began building the temple, God sent another prophecy to Haggai.  Apparently the people had been comparing this temple to Solomon's temple and noticing that this new one would be inferior.  This apparently had caused them to stop working.  God's message to them was that He was with them.  His Spirit remains in their midst.  God tells them to fear not.  He also tells them to work.  He promises to provide the materials for them.  Gold and silver belong to God so He is able to provide them.  God then promises that the latter glory will be greater than the former glory of the temple and in this place He will give peace.  This is ultimately fulfilled when Christ comes to the rebuilt temple.  It indeed had more glory than even Solomon's temple.  I think this prophecy can be applicable to us when we compare our ministry to other ministries.  Sometimes we can get discouraged when we see another ministry has more fruit than ours.  When that happens, it is important to focus on God's promise to be with us and provide for us.  It is our job to obey Him more than it is our job to have an effective ministry.

Two months later, God has another message for the people.  Apparently they had this idea that since they were doing something holy, they should be seen as holy and should be blessed.  This hadn't happened and they were actually dealing with a famine.  God then asks the priests if something holy touches something else does that item become holy?  No it does not.  However, if something comes in contact with something unclean, it becomes unclean as well.  Doing something holy does not make you holy.  Since we are unclean. our uncleanliness spreads to whatever we touch.  Anything we offer God is unclean.  God then calls them to turn to Him and he will bless them.  This is definitely applicable to us.  It reminds us that no matter what we do we are sinful.  There is nothing good in us, it is only because of Christ's mercy that we even have an opportunity to serve God.  God makes us holy, not what we do.

This last prophecy comes on the same day as the previous one.  This is directed to Zerubbabel specifically.  God promises to shake the earth and destroy the strength of kingdoms.  When that happens, He will make Zerubbabel like a signet ring.  God has chosen Zerubbabel.  There is some back story here.  In Jeremiah 22:24, God curses Jeconiah by telling him that though Jeconiah was the signet ring on His right hand, He would tear him off and give him to Babylon.  Jeconiah was the grandfather of Zerubbabel.  This promise at the end of Haggai is basically God telling the heir of the throne of Judah that he was chosen to be a signet ring.  This was after his grandfather was the signet ring which God had given into the hands of Babylon.  These last few verses of Haggai are a beautiful picture of God redeeming and reconciling the line of David and Zerubbabel specifically and placing him back into favor.  Sure enough, in Matthew 1, we see that Zerubbabel is in the line of Jesus.  This entire book is a cool picture of God motivating, correcting, and restoring His people.

Haggai 1

Haggai occurred during the reign of Darius.  These prophecies are unique in that we are given the exact day and recipient of each prophecy.  The first prophecy came to Haggai on the 1st day of the 6th month.  The recipient for this prophecy was Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.  Here is some background on this book.  The people of Judah had been in exile in Babylon for 70 years.  Cyrus conquered Babylon and then allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem so they could rebuild the temple.  This is written in Ezra 1-2.  As you can see in Ezra 3 and 4 however, opposition arose and the rebuilding of the temple stalled.  This prophecy is to these people who had stopped rebuilding the temple.

The opening statement reveals the attitude of the people.  "The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord".  God replies by chastising them for living in paneled houses while His house lies in ruins.  He then points out that their labors have not been blessed because of this.  He then commands them to gather wood and build the Lord a house so that He may take pleasure in it and be glorified.  God reveals that he has caused a drought to come because his people busied themselves with their own house but left the temple in ruins.  The paneled houses the people lived in are significant because there is not much wood in Israel.  The people would have had to go far away to gather wood for their homes.  Indeed this is exactly what God tells them to do for His home.  I would say that the issue was not that the people were working on their homes or putting efforts into their homes.  The problem was that they were looking after their own homes and ignoring God's home.  Their priority was themselves.  They busied themselves with their own houses.  This was a heart issue more than anything.  Their priorities were wrong.  It was okay for them to work on their homes, but it should not take priority over what God wanted them to do.  Shea Sumlin at the Village Church said in his sermon on Haggai that "The worst thing you can do with your life is be totally committed to it."  There is definitely truth to that.  

The people's response to this prophecy is important.  They obeyed.  They feared the Lord.  Throughout the Old Testament we see Israel and Judah fail to obey the Lord so it is good to see an instance where the people were moved by the prophet and obeyed.  The Lord affirmed them by reminding them that He is with them.  The Lord then stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel and Joshua and all the people and they began rebuilding the temple 23 days later. 

I think there is an interesting application to this prophecy when we consider what the temple represented to the people of Judah.  This was where God lived.  He dwelt among them in the temple.  By putting off rebuilding the temple they showed that giving God a pure house and having Him live among them was not a priority.  Their security came before the presence of God.  This is ironic since God punished them by making their labors fruitless.  The security they sought was denied them by God.  1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him.  For God's temple is holy and you are that temple."  What do we do today that shows our priority is our own house and not God's house?  How do we neglect keeping ourselves pure and holy since God's Spirit dwells in us?  I personally spend very little time in the word or in prayer compared to the time I spend on my own needs.  It is something I have been working on with some success lately, but it really shows that I do not have a great grasp on the need for the temple of the Lord to be holy.  This should be an area where I ask God to stir up my spirit in this area as he stirred the spirit of Zerubbabel, Joshua and all the people.  

Zephaniah Summary

         To sum up Zephaniah, I think I would say that this is a book about where our security comes from.  Do we look to false gods?  Do we look to money? Do we look to ourselves and no one else?  There are two types of people mentioned in Zephaniah: the arrogant and the humble.  Here are some characteristics of each.  The arrogant are idolatrous, violent, fraudulent, weighing out silver, complacent, shameless, prideful, taunting, boasting, having false security, rebellious, defiled, listening to no voice, accepting no correction, not trusting the Lord, not drawing near to God, roaring lions, evening wolves, fickle, treacherous, profaning what is holy, doing violence to the law, proudly exultant, haughty.  Meanwhile, the other group is described as humble, doing His just commands, calling upon the name of the Lord, worshipping, serving God, humble, lowly, doing no injustice, speaking no lies, and not afraid.  The fate of these two groups is also vastly different.  Some examples of what will happen to the first group are they will be swept away, cut off from the face of the earth, come to a full and sudden end, etc.  For those people the day of the Lord is a day of wrath, distress, anguish, ruin, devastation, darkness, gloom, clouds, and distress.  The other group has a much better fate.  On the day of the Lord, they will be hidden.  They will be given the seacoast, their fortunes will be restored because the Lord their God will be mindful of them.  They will plunder Moab and possess them.  their speech will be changed to a pure speech, they will not be put to shame, their judgments will be taken away, God will be in their midst, He will rejoice over them with gladness, He will quiet them with His love, He will gather them to Himself, He will save the lame, He will gather the outcast, their shame will be turned to praise and renown.  This all ultimately comes because the love and mercy of God allows a remnant to survive his just judgements.  What is our responsibility in all of this?  This all seems out of our control doesn't it?  Zephaniah 2:3 is what our responsibility is.  "Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord."  As we read Zephaniah let us humble ourselves call on the name of the Lord, the just judge, for mercy and safety.  Let us rely on Him for our salvation.  Let us worship and serve Him and offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him.  Let us hold to the hope of His promise to save us and rejoice over us with gladness and quiet us with his love.  

Zephaniah 3

        Zephaniah 3 picks up right where Zephaniah 2 left off, but instead of naming another nation, the prophecy turns back to Judah.  Jerusalem is described as rebellious, defiled, oppressing, listening to no voice, accepting no correction, not trusting in the Lord, and not drawing near to her God.  Her officials and judges are predators not protectors.  Her prophets are fickle, her priests profane and violent.  The Lord within her, however, is righteous and just but the unjust know no shame.  We see in this description of Jerusalem that the city was not how it should be.  They were stubborn and rebellious, and didn't listen to correction.  Apparently judges who should protect were devouring and attacking.  The prophets who were supposed to be firm were being fickle.  The priests who were supposed to be holy protectors of the law were profaning the holy and doing violence to the law.  In the midst of all of this role reversal though, we see that God was still in the city and He was still righteous and just.  God describes how He has judged the nations in the hope that it would cause Judah to fear Him and accept correction.  Instead they were even more eager to make all their deeds corrupt.  Because of this, the Lord promises to judge the nations and pour out His jealous anger on the whole earth.  

      

        At this point though, we now see the mercy of God interacting with His justice.  I feel like there is a tension between the justice of a Holy God and the mercy of God.  I believe this tension is resolved in the remnant of people He will keep.  We already saw that there would be a remnant left of Judah, but we now see that this remnant is bigger than just Judah, this remnant will be global.  In verse 9 we see that God "will change the speech of the people to a pure speech that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve Him with one accord."  A couple of thoughts about this.  These people are in contrast with those who rely on their own strength, or their money, or other gods.  These people believe that God is active in the world.  These people call on the Lord and serve Him.  They understand where they stand compared to God and it compels them to call on His name.  They worship Him and serve Him and give an offering to Him as we see in verse 10.  These people will come not just from Judah, but from beyond the rivers of Cush.  These people are not shameless and have rebelled against the Lord, yet He promises that on that day they will be not be put to shame because of the deeds by which they have rebelled against God.  We see His justice here in that He will remove the proudly exultant and the haughty.  He is purifying His people.  The humble and lowly He will leave and they will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.  They will be just and honest and will have peace.  

      

        Zephaniah then finishes with a song of praise and joy because of the restoration of Israel.  The Lord will have taken away judgements against them and removed their enemies.  He will be in their presence and they will not need to fear.  Why won't they fear?  Verses 16 and 17 give the answer. "On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."  This is amazing!  The same God who the people rebelled against will not only come and be in their midst, but He will save them.  He will delight in them.  He will love them.  How does a just God show mercy and keep a remnant?  It is because of His intense love and desire for our affections.  It is important to remember that not only is God our saviour, not only is He our judge, but He delights in us and loves us and is mighty to save and restore us.  In verse 19 we see that God will save the lame and gather the outcast and change their shame to praise.  They are in a position of exclusion and it has caused an inward focus on their shame.  God will restore and gather them to Himself and give them the community and inclusion they had been denied.  This will change their inward focused shame to outward focused praise.  God will gather His remnant to Himself and make them into a people who will be renowned and praised.  He will restore their fortunes.  

       Zephaniah begins very negatively.  The people are trusting in themselves and in other gods and ignoring the one true God.  God's will eventually judge them which means they will be destroyed.  However, God will keep a remnant of people who He will restore to Himself.  These people will not rely on their own strength, but rather on the name of the Lord.  They will call on His name and He will restore their fortunes.  We see a people at the end of this book completely opposite to the people in the beginning of the book.  Zephaniah ends up being a promise of restoration and mercy and love.  It is a beautiful promise from God that if we humble ourselves and turn to Him and seek Him and rely on Him, He will save us and delight in us and gather us to Himself. 

Zephaniah 2

      Zephaniah 2 changes the focus from Judah to other nations.  Before doing this, He urges Judah, who he calls a shameless nation, to gather together before the anger of the Lord comes upon them.  He urges the humble of the land to seek the Lord, seek righteousness, seek humility.  This may allow them to be hidden on the day of the Lord.  This shows that there are those in Judah who follow His commands and who are humble.  This is also the main point of this entire book.  This prophecy is designed to show Judah their sin and to cause them to humble themselves and turn back to God, seeking Him and His righteousness.  I believe that this is also the message we should get from Zephaniah.  God is the only God we should seek and follow.  The only God we should trust.  If we have lost sight of that, we need to turn back to Him.  This is similar to 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says, "if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  It should also be noted that this judgement will still happen.  They cannot stop God from judging Judah, but they can separate themselves from others in Judah who have turned away from God.  This is also the only command in this book.  Zephaniah mostly consists of warnings and promises.  

      

      The book then begins describing what will happen to other nations on the day of the Lord.  The section begins with the word "for".  This shows that the coming warnings back up the call to repentance.  This is why they should repent.  These are mostly neighbors and enemies of Judah.  In many ways, this section is good news for Judah and they would have been happy to hear it.  Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron were four city states of the philistines, also known as the Cherethites.  God says he will destroy the philistines and give their land to the remnant of Judah.  The idea of a remnant is interesting.  It implies two things.  It implies that all that will be left of Judah is a small remnant, but it also implies that God will be merciful enough to leave a remnant to be His people.  His justice and mercy are both required when He promises to give the land to the remnant of Judah.  Verse 7 says the "The Lord their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes."

      God then turns his attention to Judah's east to Moab and Ammon.  He will make the Moabites and ammonites like Sodom and Gomorrah.  This is because of their taunting of God's people and their boasting.  Once again, God's remnant will plunder them and possess their land.  This is because of their pride; because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.  I like verse 11. "The Lord will be awesome against them; for He will famish all the gods of the earth, and to Him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations."  As it was with Judah, ultimately the nations will be judged for serving other God's than the true God.  On the day of the Lord, He will put their gods in their place.  They will all bow down to Him.  

 

       The focus then turns to Cush and Assyria.  Cush was Northeastern Africa.  It could include Ethiopia and Egypt. Assyria was north of Judah.  It was Assyria that conquered Israel in 2 Kings 17.  God promises to destroy Assyria and their capital of Nineveh.  Only animals will inhabit Nineveh.  Nineveh's sin is laid out in verse 15.  They lived securely and said in their heart "I am and there is no one else".  This phrasing is essentially claiming divinity.  Nineveh denies the existence of a God and have made themselves their god.  Their security was in their own strength.  For this reason, God will destroy them as well.  

      Ultimately, I think chapter 2 is very interesting because it lays out the reasons why the nations will be destroyed and it is very similar to the reasons Judah will be judged.  Israel and Judah may be the people of God, but God is the God of all nations.  Anyone who turns from Him and follows other gods or money or their own strength will be judged by Him for that.  There is no use trying to run away.  This judgement is global.  the Philistines to the west, the Assyrians to the north, the Moabites and Ammonites to the east and the Cushites to the south are all being judged for the same thing.  God is promising there will remain a remnant.  This chapter also shows why it is crucial to humble ourselves.  We see what God's justice demands happen to the arrogant.  This entire chapter, and honestly book, are summed up by Zephaniah 2:3.  "Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do His just commands, seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord."

Zephaniah 1

       I am studying some of the minor prophets right now.  Why?  Because I believe that the minor prophets can teach us a lot about the character of God.  What is important to Him, what do we do that needs to change, what should we do.  What is a proper attitude of worship?  The way I have approached Zephaniah is I have read it several times, I have researched it, I have thought about it, I have listened to John Piper's sermon from 1982 on it.  I am sitting down with it and going through it verse by verse summarizing it.  When I come to a point that I have a thought on what is going on, I will give it.  These are all my thoughts, but they have been influenced by Piper's sermon. If you want to listen to it yourself, the audio and the transcript are both at http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/the-lord-will-rejoice-over-you

       This prophecy occurred in the days of Josiah.  This was a time when Judah was turning back to the Lord. The prophecy begins with God promising to sweep away man and animal from the face of the earth.  He then specifies that He will also judge Judah and Jerusalem.  He specifies that he will cut away the remnant of Baal along with idolatrous priests and those who bow down on roofs to the host of the heavens.  He also calls out those who bow down and swear by the Lord and also swear by Milcom.  Zephaniah 1:6 summarizes the sins of Judah which the Lord is judging.  He says He will cut off from this place...those who have turned back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of Him.  This is the primary issue for Judah.  They do not seek the Lord.  They don't inquire of Him, they don't follow Him.  They basically pay Him lip service while also following and worshipping other gods.  They have relegated the one true God to a status equal to the lesser gods of the nations around them.  This is something that I feel like I am susceptible to myself.  I very often pay God lip service but I don't honestly seek Him.  My first thought is not to inquire of Him.  I ultimately am not following Him.  While I don't have an issue with worshipping Baal or Milcom, or the stars and moon, I do tend to worship myself.  I follow my will, I inquire of myself when I need to make a decision.  I want God's will to submit to mine instead of vice versa.  It is important to remember how serious it is to God when we choose to follow anything other than Him.  

        The chapter continues about the day of the Lord.  This is very similar to Joel 2:1-2 which says "Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!" (Unlike the prophecy in Joel, God does reveal how the people have sinned in Zephaniah.)  God is going to prepare a sacrifice and consecrate His guests.  I first thought of the sacrifice as referring to Christ, but my notes say it is referring to sinners.  That is consistent with what He says next.  He begins listing who He will punish.  I won't go into a ton of detail, but I will list who He lists.  He will punish the officials and the king's sons, all who array themselves in foreign attire, everyone who leaps over the threshold (Leaping over the threshold was to show respect for a god. 1 Samuel 5:4-5 says, "But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day."), those who fill their master's house with violence and fraud (I think this refers to the temple.  2 Kings 21:3-9 describes how Manasseh built altars and idols in the temple itself).  He lists different parts of Jerusalem which will wail on that day.  He specifically lists traders and those who weigh out silver as being cut off.  Verse 12 seems to once again give a more general reason why God is judging Jerusalem.  The people were complacent.  They say in their hearts that God will not do good nor will He do ill.  They basically don't acknowledge that God is active in their lives at that point in time.  This justifies their following other gods.  God says that they will build houses and plant vineyards but they won't inhabit them or drink wine from them.  The day of the Lord is described in terrible terms.  It is a day of wrath, distress, anguish, ruin, devastation, darkness, gloom, clouds, thick darkness.  A day of trumpet blast and battle cry against fortified cities and lofty battlements.  He says mankind will walk like the blind because they have sinned against the Lord.  Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them.  (That seems to show something else the inhabitants of Jerusalem had been following instead of God) God will consume the earth in the fire of His jealousy.  

         This chapter is very much a warning to Judah which should teach them a lot about who God is and what He is passionate about.  He is a jealous God who wants us to follow Him.  He wants us to trust Him and seek Him.  He wants us to understand that He is active in our world.  He will not let us get away with turning away from Him and following other gods or money.  I think it is interesting that the reliance on money and foreign gods is very much tied to their complacency regarding the true God of the universe.  This was true of God's character then and it still is. He is jealous for our affections and our worship.  That sounds bad, but God is the only one who deserves our worship and affections.