Haggai - a Prophet for Today - Part 3
by Rich Murphy
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In his third prophecy, Haggai returns to correcting the people. This is a constant process of God, and one we see constantly throughout prophecy. Prophecy doesn't come to tell us how good we are, but to show us where we need to change. We must remember that God's goal in all of our lives is to transform us into the image of His Son, Jesus.
If we expect prophecy, or for that manner, the written Word of God, to be full of soft, sweet words; then we don't know the God we serve, nor do we know the work He is trying to complete in us. It is impossible to bring about a transformation by telling people they are great the way they are. To bring about change, it is necessary to admonish them for the errors in their lives, and show them a better way to be. This third prophecy of Haggai does exactly that. He deals with a situation that God saw in the hearts and attitudes of the people, showing them from Scripture where they have missed the mark. At the same time, he shows them that the work they are doing isn't accomplishing what they think it is. God was using the prophet to bring about a needed correction in the people. It wasn't a correction that dealt so much with their actions, as with their attitudes. God is always more interested in the inward condition of our hearts than our outward actions. The prophecy in and of itself starts out with a couple of very piercing questions. They may not seam so to us, but to the Jewish people, who were very concerned with their offerings to the Lord, and keeping holy things holy, they were important. With these questions, the Lord showed them their error. Let's take a look at what the first question of this prophecy says:
First of all, we need to understand why God asked this question of the priests, instead of asking it of all the people. If we look at the Aaronic priesthood, one of the responsibilities we encounter for the priests is the interpretation of the law. Even though the whole law contains 613 commandments, God did not include everything possible in the law. There are always situations that can occur in which the law has to be interpreted. In the New Testament church, this responsibility of interpreting the law falls to the apostles. We see this very clearly in the council of Jerusalem (Acts ch 15) when the apostles had to deal with false teaching about the need to be circumcised. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they made an interpretation of the whole of the law, through the completed work of the cross. The result of this interpretation was a short letter, telling the believers in Antioch, and the surrounding area, what parts of the law they should focus on obeying. In addition to this, the priests had the responsibility of teaching the law. So, if God wanted to ask a question about the law, the best people to ask were the priests. Not only did they have to interpret it, but they had to know it thoroughly. Remember, God is always much more interested in His people's obedience to the Spirit of the law than He is to their obedience to the letter of the law. When we focus on the letter of the law, we become legalistic. But, when we focus on the spirit of the law, we focus on God's plan and desire, that will lead us to a life of true holiness, instead of the "mask of holiness" that legalism brings.
Now that we've dealt with that, let's look at this first question:
To understand this question, we must first talk about what "holy flesh" means. That term can equally be translated as "consecrated flesh." It literally refers to the flesh of an offering given to God, whether it is the part that is burnt as the offering, or the part that is given to the priest for his family to eat. The word "consecrated" isn't a word that we use much in the church today, but it is a word that was very important in the Old Testament law. It refers to something that is set aside for the use of the Lord. These things were not to be used in any way for "common" or "earthly" purposes, but instead were reserved exclusively for the religious service of the Lord. In Old Testament times, there were many things were consecrated to the Lord.
Consecrated people were also reserved for God's purposes. In the literal meaning of the word, that would mean that the firstborn male of every family would be required to serve God in the priesthood. God took care of this by separating the tribe of Levi to himself, to serve in the place of all the firstborn of Israel. However, to make sure that the people did not lose the awareness of the tribe of Levi taking the place of the firstborn, the parents had to make a special offering to the Lord, "redeeming" (or, buying back) their son from God.
What made something holy, or consecrated to God was its purpose. The altar was holy because it was used to make offerings unto God. As an altar, it couldn't be used for any other purpose. An offering placed upon that altar became holy because it was given to God as an offering. What came in contact with that offering also became holy, because it was involved in that process of sacrifice. Therefore, it was important to limit what came into contact with the offering. God didn't allow just anyone to give an offering. The individual had to bring his offering to the priests, and they were to give the offering to God, in behalf of the person. The only person who had contact with the offering was the priest. There was one exception to this rule; that was in the case of peace offerings. A peace offering, also known as a fellowship offering, was given by an individual who desired to have fellowship with God. However, they could not give this offering until they had fulfilled the requirements of all the other lesser levels of offerings. Then, and only then, could they give the peace offering. The peace offering was still given to God by the priests. But, what made it so different from the other offerings was that the person giving the offering would then eat of that offering. This is the only type of offering that the individual was allowed to eat of. Why could the individual eat of the peace offering, and not the others? It was because by making the effort of completing all the other offerings, then wanting to make a peace offering to God, they were setting themselves aside for God. Not that they were forever after separated unto God, but for that brief time, they had consecrated their lives unto God, and were in fellowship with Him. As we read, whatever the offering touched became holy. However, God didn't want this concept to be misused. There are those who will avoid being holy, and expect to receive their holiness from another source. That is why God commanded the priests to change their clothes before going out to the people. Otherwise, some would try and become "accidentally consecrated" to God, without any effort on their part. In other words, they would feel that their contact with the priest had made them holy, as opposed to having their attitude and actions make them holy. The priests answered "no" to the question because one cannot become "accidentally consecrated" although throughout history there have been those who would try. These are people who desire holiness, so that they will look good in the eyes of the people, but at the same time don't want to pay the price of holiness in their lives. This is an important point. Nothing becomes holy by being associated with holy things; even less by associating with things that associate with holy things. We are made holy by our relationship with Jesus Christ. Why? Because He gives us His holiness in exchange for our sins. But, that is a personal interchange. Just hanging around Christians, or just going to church doesn't make one holy. One has to have that personal interchange with Jesus. Jesus clearly understood the importance of consecration and holiness. He also understood the importance of the altar in this process. At one point, he chastised the Pharisees for their understanding of the holiness of the altar and the sacrifice.
What is the great difference? It's simple. An animal burnt upon the altar is made holy by the altar, and given to God as an offering. The same animal that is burnt in another place is just a poorly overcooked barbecue. As such it isn't holy, isn't consecrated; in fact; it isn't anything.
Let's go on to the second question. These two questions are two sides of the same coin; showing the two sides of the same principle.
Okay, once again we need to define what we are talking about. The word "unclean" doesn't mean dirty; nor does it mean sinful, even though many believers think of it as being a synonym with sin. This term is talking only about being ceremonially unclean for use in the temple. The word literally means "that which is common," or "that which is for common use." Just as there are things which can be reserved for the use of God, there are things that are used for the common, everyday life. Basically, the Old Testament understanding is that the two are not the same, nor should they be interchanged. There are a couple of verses in Paul's second letter to Timothy that help explain this concept:
Let's start with the second verse I wrote there (verse 20). It talks about a man purging, or cleansing himself from something, which will then make that man a vessel of honor, that the Lord can use. But, what things is the man to cleanse himself of? I don't see anything there that looks like a problem. After all, not everyone can have all gold and silver dishes in their house.
Here's a little secret for bible interpretation. When something is not
understandable just as it is written, that means there's a symbolic understanding
we are to look for. In this case, the symbolism is in the four materials
mentioned in verse 20. Those four materials carry the following meanings:
If we read those four materials in that passage with the symbolism I just showed, it becomes obvious what a man needs to cleanse himself of: the carnal flesh nature and the world's system. The carnal nature of man is in enmity with God (Rom 8:7). Likewise, the world's system is in enmity with God. As long as we allow those things to have control of our lives, God can't have control. We will never be a consecrated vessel with the flesh nature, or allowing ourselves to be controlled by this world. According to the Old Testament law, various things would make a person ceremonial unclean. The Jewish people had 10 different levels of "unclean" that they understood from the law. The worst of these was contact with a dead person. Each level required different ceremonial cleansings, and different amounts of time before one was able to participate in the cleansing ceremony. Remember, being "unclean" means "for common use." People, or things which were unclean couldn't enter into the temple (or tabernacle); nor could they be involved in any ceremonial worship until they were consecrated to God again. When we give something to the church, dedicating it for the work of the Lord, we consecrate it. That thing now belongs to the Lord, and is separated for His purposes. But, what happens if we go back to the church to "borrow" that same thing? Let's take for example a stereo system. A church member buys it as a gift for the Lord and brings it to the church, placing it in the hands of the pastor. That action consecrates the stereo for the work of the Lord. That stereo no longer belongs to the person, nor does it belong to the pastor, it belongs to God. Two months later, the same person is having a birthday party for one of his children, and goes to the church to ask the pastor if he can borrow the stereo for the party. Is a birthday party something holy? Is God glorified there? No! So, the person has taken something that he consecrated to God, and making it "unclean" by using it for something common. How do you think God feels about that? Or, how would you feel if someone gave you a gift, then came back to use it for something that wasn't necessarily in agreement with your beliefs? You wouldn't like it, right? Well, why should God like it? Why should He be happy with people who give things to Him, then take those things from the church to use them for "common" uses? Why should He bless those people? How much worse is it when we take our own lives, which we have consecrated to God, and use our bodies for things that are against God's will? How can we expect God's blessing on us, when we take the bodies that we've offered as living sacrifices (Rom 21:1) to God, and we fill those bodies with cigarette smoke, or alcohol, or use those bodies for sexual immorality? How can we expect anything from God but His judgment? However, this isn't the principle that the question asks about. What God questioned, through the prophet Haggai was whether contact with something that was unclean "contaminated" something that was consecrated to God, and made it unclean as well. The priests answered that question in the affirmative; contact with something "unclean," or common would make something holy "unclean" as well. There is ample evidence in the law to support their answer. For example:
This also demonstrates a great principle of life, and relationships to us:
Taking this verse, together with what I said earlier about what "unclean" means, we can clearly see the effect that contact with the world has on us; it makes us contaminated. If you don't think this is true, just take a look at the world around you. It is impossible to walk in this world without being touched by it in some way or other. Unfortunately, many of those ways will try and cause us to have temptation to sin. How about television for example? The programs that the world puts on television aren't full of godly people doing good things, they are full of ungodly people living sinful lives. The only reason that the woman on television aren't naked is that it's against the law for them to be. So, instead of being naked, they wear as little clothing as possible, showing as much of their bodies as possible. Oh, and by the way, the clothes they wear may as well be painted on. Any man who says that seeing these women, the same women who are almost naked on the covers of the magazines in the supermarket, without it affecting them, is either dead, neutered, or blind. Just seeing that can distract us from God's purpose, and steal of us our consecration. It appears, by looking at these two questions together, that the people of Jerusalem thought that whatever they did was automatically consecrated to God, because they were working on the reconstruction of the temple. It didn't matter what they did, or if they were in sin, their work for the Lord was enough to cover up their sin. Likewise, we can extract from these questions the idea that they thought their offerings to God were sanctified, no matter where they came from, or whether they were giving their best to Him. God isn't interested in whatever type of offering one gives, He wants our best. If we don't give Him that, we are telling Him that He isn't worth it. God doesn't automatically accept whatever we do, or whatever we give, and call it good, holy, and consecrated unto Him. If He did, He would have been just as happy with Cain's offering as He was with Abel's. Doing something for God doesn't automatically make one good and holy. If so, all the big drug traffickers would be considered great people. Many of them are known for being generous people who do good things for their communities. So, if their good work makes them good people, their drug trafficking doesn't matter. Obviously, this isn't true. Nor is it true that a believer who does something good for God is automatically made good. Our works don't make us good, our works are to show the world that God has made us good. Our good works should come out of what God has placed in our hearts, to show His love to this world. Otherwise, they don't mean anything.
Now that God has laid the trap for His prophecy with the two questions that the priests answered, He springs the trap:
Here they were, the people of God, thinking they were doing a great work for God, and God tells them, "Hey people, you think you are a people set apart, but you're not. You think you're holy people, but you're not. You think you're doing a holy work for me, but it isn't. You think I am made happy by what you are doing, but I'm not." That message would have to have been a real shock to the people of Jerusalem. What was it about the people of Jerusalem, in that time, that made God give them such a message, while they were in the middle of reconstructing the temple? I don't see anywhere in the book of Ezra, or here in the book of Haggai, where the people took time out to repent for their sins, sanctify themselves, consecrate the work that they were doing, or separate themselves in any way from the world they had left. All they did was make an offering, and start the work. They forgot about the spiritual preparation that is necessary to make the worker, and his work acceptable to God. How would it seem to you if someone who had been living in the world came into the church, and immediately started preaching in the church? Would you have confidence in them? Would you think they belong in that place? Or, would you think that there is no way that a person who had just left the world behind could possibly do proper work for the Lord? There is always a need to consecrate ourselves to the work of the Lord; that hasn't stopped with the coming of the New Covenant. The original twelve disciples had a time of consecration, both in the time they spent walking with the Lord, and the time they spent waiting for Pentecost. Likewise, Paul had a time of consecration; the three days he spent blind, waiting for Ananias to come and lay hands on him (Acts 9:8-18). Many great ministers have talked about times of consecration in their lives. Not just the time of consecration before entering into the ministry, but the hours they spend in prayer, preparing themselves to be God's messengers, before preaching a message. On the other hand, there are many believers who think they can do anything for the Lord, without preparation, repentance, consecration, or even obedience, and He will be happy with them. Where did they get that idea from? I guarantee you, it's not in the bible. God is making a very strong statement in this prophecy. That statement is: If you haven't taken the time out to repent and consecrate yourself for my work, whatever you do is invalid." That may sound a little rough, but remember, we aren't saved by our works, but by His grace. The works we do aren't to gain God's favor, but to show our love for Him. They are acts of obedience, done as part of our responsibility of extending His kingdom throughout the earth.
It is very clear in these verse that God is saying to His people, "The lack and the problems you had, and still were caused by me. I did it for a purpose. You need to consider your lives, and determine where you have gone wrong, so that these problems will go away." Just building the temple wasn't enough. If they weren't building their spiritual lives, the temple wasn't going to do them any good. He wanted to bless them, but because of the conditions of their hearts, He had to hold back their blessing. God had the prophet return to this theme, which he had given in the first prophecy, in order to straighten out the people's hearts. That was, and is, God's first concern. He wanted them to learn the lesson, so that they could get out of their problems, and into His blessings. That way, both the people, and the work of the Lord could be blessed. Some would say, that God never does anything to hurt us, but that depends. If those people mean that whatever He does is for our benefit, I'd have to agree. But, if they are trying to say that God never allows a little pain in our lives, in order to correct us, I'd have to say that they are wrong. God is an expert in using the rod of correction; He says so here. Sin always has consequences. God is a God of blessing, but all of His blessings are conditional. If we want to receive His blessings, we must walk in righteouseness, seeking Him first, and leaving the things of the world behind. Obedience in and of itself doesn't erase sins, it only keeps us from further sin. Living right doesn't erase sins either. Nor does doing the work of the Lord and His Kingdom. Repentance is the only thing that will allow the blood of Jesus to erase our sins. |
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Go to Previous Teaching in Series Copyright © 2007 by Richard A. Murphy, Maranatha Life. All rights reserved. |
