WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary
For Sunday June 1, 2014
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OBEY THE LORD
(First things first)
(Haggai 1:1-11)
The prophet Haggai was the first of three post-exilic prophets and
a contemporary of the prophet Zechariah. He was sent by GOD to preach to the
restored Israelite community that was established after the Jews were allowed
to return to their homeland. He delivers a total of five prophesies during the
first two years of the reign of the Persian king, Darius. His carefully dated
sermons are focused on a four-month period in the year 520 B.C.
Haggai’s brief messages have nothing in
common with the pre-exilic prophets who GOD used to warn Israel prior to the
Babylonian invasions that culminated in the destruction of Judah in 586 B.C., in
fact, he says nothing of injustice, idolatry, or violence at all. Instead, he
is sent by GOD to simply encourage and urge the people to complete the work on
the temple, and to put HIM first in their lives by celebrating and worshiping
HIS holy name in that temple, which would be HIS house.
In Haggai chapter 1, the prophet delivers
his first message from GOD to Zerubbabel, the appointed governor of Judah, and
Jeshua, the high priest of Judah, saying;
“This
is what the LORD Almighty says: “Why are you living in luxurious houses while
MY house lies in ruin? Consider how things are going for you! You have planted
much but harvested little. You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up.
You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have
clothing to wear, but not enough to keep you warm. Your wages disappear as
though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!
This is
what the LORD Almighty says: “Consider how things are going for you! Now go up
to the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild MY house. Then I will take
pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. You hoped for rich harvests, but
they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it all away. Why?
Because MY house lies in ruins, says the LORD Almighty, while you are all busy
building your own fine houses. That is why the heavens have withheld the dew
and the earth has withheld its crops. I have called for a drought on your fields
and hills, a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olives and all your
other crops, a drought to starve both you and your cattle and to ruin
everything you have worked so hard to get”.
When we become too pre-occupied with our
own worldly desires and affairs, then, in the eyes of the LORD, we have indeed
become too pre-occupied. It is significant in this passage that Judah’s two
most influential leaders at that time, Zerubbabel and Jeshua, responded so
quickly and positively to Haggai’s message. Whenever leaders respond quickly
and positively to GOD, it becomes much easier for the Christian community to
follow up, and thus, maximize the blessings that a faithful GOD holds for us
for being obedient.
In the short time the people of Judah had
been back in their homeland, they had already become too busy with their own personal
agenda to consider the will of GOD, and the impact that GOD has on their
everyday lives. Instead of investing a portion of their time, talents, and
treasures into building up the kingdom of GOD here on earth (HIS temple), they
were too busy investing in their own personal agendas.
When we have to borrow money from luciferic
lenders in order to build our Christian Churches, we’ve already put ourselves at
the mercy of satan. That is why today’s churches look so much like the world
that they should be trying to convert. It is, in effect, because they are being
built by satan himself, literally.
We
must begin to build our churches (the physical edifices) by first, considering
and then following the advice of JESUS who says, in effect, that, “Only a fool
would begin to build a building before he has enough money to totally finish
the project” “(Luke 14:28-29). Don’t borrow money to build Christian churches,
because the rule of GOD still applies, “The borrower is slave to the lender” (Proverbs
22:7).
If GOD is not a part of our personal
agenda, eventually, HE is going to show us what life without HIM is all about. The
harder we try to work without GOD, the farther behind we get. We develop holes
in our pockets and are unable to progress for any significant amount of time.
GOD is the ONE WHO makes all of our efforts bear fruit, however, we must put
HIM first and keep HIM first at all times.
GOD’s involvement in the life of HIS people
and HIS desire that we take spiritual matters seriously is the basic motif of
the book of Haggai. The people had stopped work on the temple for over twenty
years, turning instead to their own personal agenda, much like we’ve done
today. GOD wants us to put HIM first, and to realize and understand that a
place for HIS worship must be provided for the good of the whole nation. Stay
tuned.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official
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