Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20090322.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Haggai: Calling God's People To Correct Temporal Values
Part III: God's Call To Faithful Obedience For His Faithful Temporal Rewards
(Haggai 2:10-19)
  1. Introduction
    1. One's faithfulness in obeying God is so important to Him, He connects it to His temporal rewards for it as long as His people continue to heed Him in order to encourage them to keep on heeding His will!
    2. This truth is displayed in the message God gave through His prophet in Haggai 2:10-19 as follows:
  2. God's Call To Faithful Obedience For His Faithful Temporal Rewards, Haggai 2:10-19.
    1. The message of Haggai 2:10-19 came exactly three months after the events in Haggai 1:12-15 where the returned Hebrew exiles heeded Haggai's call to return to rebuild the temple, cf. Haggai 1:15; 2:10.
    2. During that three month period of time, the people reconstructed the foundation of the temple, Hag. 2:18.
    3. However, since the reconstruction of the entire temple had not yet been completed, the Haggai 2:10-19 message urged the people to keep on obeying the Lord by completing the temple reconstruction work:
      1. God told Haggai to ask the priests if a man who carried sanctified meat destined for sacrifice could transfer that meat's sanctification to other items if he then touched them, Haggai 2:10-12b. The answer was no, for ceremonial cleanness could not be transferred, Haggai 2:12c.
      2. God then had Haggai ask the priests if a man who touched a ceremonially corrupt corpse and was thereby defiled could transfer his defilement to other items he touched, and the answer was yes, Haggai 2:13. Ceremonial defilement was transferable though ceremonial cleanness was not transferable.
      3. Accordingly, God said He similarly viewed Israel in her past disobedience to Him of ceasing her temple rebuilding work: every other effort the people had made to please God had been made unclean by their corrupting sin of not obeying Him regarding continuing to reconstruct the temple, Haggai 2:14.
      4. Indeed, before they had returned to begin working on the temple, God had disciplined the people for their disobedience in this matter as described in Haggai 2:15-17 as follows:
        1. God urged the people through Haggai to consider that from that day, the third month into their work on rebuilding the temple and finishing its foundation, and backward into their past, they had seen only a lack of temporal blessings, Haggai 2:15 (The KJV term "upward" here is better translated as "backward" in the sense of "past history," cf. Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Haggai 2:15).
        2. These lacks were measurable in the form of severe lacks of temporal blessings in line with God's promised curses in the Deuteronomy 28 Mosaic Covenant: (1) they had seen a 50 % drop in grain yields (Haggai 2:16a) and (2) a 60 % drop in olive oil yield (Haggai 2:16b). (3) God had caused "blight", "mildew" and "hail" damage to plague their yields (Haggai 2:17a), and the people had still not repented of failing to obey God in the issue of finishing the temple reconstruction, Hag. 2:17b.
      5. On the other hand, God told the people to consider that from that day forward, the day that they had finished the temple foundation, He would reverse their poverty in reward for obedience, Hag. 2:18-19:
        1. That 24th day of the ninth month would be in November-December when the people looked for the early rains to water their newly planted crops, Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Haggai 2:10 with Haggai 2:18.
        2. God observed that they no longer had any stores of staples in their barns such as seed, grapes [or olives] (Haggai 2:19a) nor "luxuries (figs and pomegranates)" due to the past year's scarce agricultural yield s, cf. Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, p. 1543.
        3. However, from that day forward when they looked for the early rains, God would send them, 2:19b!
      6. Accordingly, God hinted that it was in their best interests to keep on working to finish the temple if His people expected God to send them the latter SPRING rains for a fulfilling harvest!
Lesson: To MOTIVATE His own to KEEP OBEYING His call to reconstruct the temple, God gave them TEMPORAL blessings as FAITHFULLY as they FAITHFULLY OBEYED Him in that calling!

Application: We must recall that God is watching how CONSISTENTLY we OBEY His assignments for us, and that He REWARDS us as CONSISTENTLY as we CONSISTENTLY OBEY Him! May we then stay FAITHFUL in our ASSIGNMENTS from God for His SUSTAINED BLESSINGS!