Preacher: Nate Hosler

Scripture: Haggai 2:1-9, Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21

When you read the tasting notes of high-quality (or perhaps pretentious) coffee or cheese, the taster will make observations that are often hard for the untrained person (like myself) to fully appreciate. Hints of this chocolate. Smokey. Fruity-forward. 

I grew up in a Bible-forward family. In addition to being active at church, we were all part of helping to lead. Sunday school, Bible school, eventually my dad was called as one of the pastors. We lived on a few acres of Pennsylvania woodland and for a few years had a “Bible-trail.” This was a trail that had little stations along it that modeled on or had some sort of visual representation for different Bible-stories. After a year and a half with Eastern Mennonite Missions where I read my Bible straight through several times, I went to a Bible college that was like a longer undergraduate version of seminary. 

Today’s passage is from Haggai. Though I have spent quite a lot of time in Bible-land I must admit that I was pretty fuzzy on the book. I knew some of the big characteristics but overall couldn’t say much about it without some study.  I suspect that many of us are in the same boat, so I’ll give a bit of background.

Haggai is a “minor-prophet.” In this case minor does not mean insignificant or refer to musical tone, rather, it relates to the relative length. In my Bible it doesn’t fill 2 pages. This term “minor prophet” first appears in St Augustine’s City of God which was written in the early 5^th century. Before then it was considered part of the Book of the Twelve. These 12 short prophetic works are counted as one of the 24 books of the Tanak in Judaism. In our Bible, Haggie is one of 12 prophets which are part of the 39 books in our Old Testament. (“Twelve, Book of the,” Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets, 788). In short, it is a short book, prophetic, and part of a cluster of other relatively short books of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. 

Haggai is set with the return of the people. The people had returned from exile.

Early in the 6^th Century BC, Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed and part of the Judean population was exiled to Babylon. A small group had returned during the rule of Cyrus (558-530BC). However, work on the Temple did not start until the rule of Darius I which was from 522-486 BC. (Haggai, Book of, DOTP, 302-303)

The destruction of the Temple and exile greatly impacted the sense of identity. As center of religious life and community identity, this was more than material or logistical challenge—though the material challenge was significant in and of itself. It wasn’t only a matter of precuring stones or wood. It was a deep blow to community identity and hope. 

Into this context, the prophet Haggai speaks and rebukes the people but also offers hope. The book is made of a series of oracles. The first was on August 29^th   520 BC (or 2,502 years before my birthday 😊) The second was shortly on September 21^st, then October 17, and finally December 18^th of the same year.,

The brief book of Haggai is parallel to that of Ezra. The people have returned and largely rebuilt their homes. However, the Temple, the dwelling place of God remained uncompleted.  Commentator, Kenneth Ngwa, notes that in 2^nd Samuel, the prophet Nathan “argued that God did not want to be ‘housed’” …and the prophets in exile (called “the exilic prophets) “saw visions of God as a mobile deity.” In contrast, in Haggai, we see the audience challenged with the “image of a God in need of a house.” (Ngaw, 204)

The prophet contrasts the people (at least the more well-off) having reconstructed their homes while the temple sits in ruins. These homes are “paneled”—indicating a degree of luxury beyond mere shelter. 

To recap, the exiled people return and begin to rebuild. Rebuilding is hard enough. Not only did they need to rebuild for shelter, but the center of their religious and cultural identity was in ruins. Haggai’s critique implies that they could have gotten around to rebuilding the temple. However, one wonders about the barriers—mental, emotional, material, or trauma. It is possible that their priorities were misaligned—that they were focused on personal gain and safety rather than worship or community. One can also sympathize that there are times when it is simply just difficult to do what you know you should do. 

Let’s read an extended portion of this short book. 

—-

1 In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest: ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.” ³ Then the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: ⁴ “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? ⁵ Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. ⁶ You have sown much and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.

⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. ⁸ Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. ⁹ You have looked for much, but it came to little, and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses. ¹⁰ Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. ¹¹ And I have called for a drought^[a] on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on humans and animals, and on all their labors.”

¹² Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people feared the Lord. ¹³ Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, saying, “I am with you, says the Lord.” ¹⁴ And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, ¹⁵ on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.

In the second year of King Darius, 2 ¹ in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: ² “Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say: ³ Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? ⁴ Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, ⁵ according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. ⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, ⁷ and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. ⁸ The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. ⁹ The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts, and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.”

——

Our lectionary text is the first 9 verses of chapter 2. I’ll note three observations which relate to our current context. 

1. Don’t focus on yesterday but on tomorrow. ³ Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? 

The takeaway shouldn’t be that we should simply aim to “rebuild the Temple.” Even beyond the physical structure, there is a risk, for the church, that we want to get back to days of seeming greater vibrancy and vitality—larger churches with more programs. Some of us or the larger church may want to go back to the “good old days.” Some American Christians like to remember the time when the church was more central to society or we remember (or imagine) that those in power really listened to what the church said. Some folks in the church want to go back to the previous days or prominence.

However, some folks may remember and even still regularly experience exclusion and harm from the church. For these, going back to some former version is not desirable. 

So while the promise of restoration may translate, it takes some finesse to determine how and in what ways we can read this promise of restoration forward into our much different situation. God will restore but towards a new future. One of flourishing in a new way in a new day. 

2. The prophet while challenging, also aims to stir up/encourage. We read, “take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, ⁵ according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear”

While the prophet critiques, it is not the end. The prophet challenges but judgement is not the end.  A turn is needed but this is towards a positive future, not merely a challenge or judgement. God’s spirit abides with us—we don’t need to fear. 

3. God brings transformation. ⁸ The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. ⁹ The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts, and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.”

The poetry of this caught my fancy. This isn’t, however, a version of scrouge McDuck diving into a vault of all the gold. It isn’t the realization of our desire for evermore wealth, it is picture of God’s providence and provision. It should not be read through a lens of perpetual accumulation. One scholar states it nicely, 

“And in the days to come, God’s presence will be marked not by mere prosperity as it is translated in […], but by shalom—peace, well-being, security, wholeness, and restoration.” (Prof Wil Gafney, Working Preacher)

The prophet speaks a word of future vision, encouragement in the moment towards that future, and God’s promise and invitation is a transforming movement of wholeness, justice, peace in our community.