WEBVTT

00:00:01.960 --> 00:00:05.400
This is your daily reminder. God has not run

00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:09.199
out of mercy, not for you, not today. Welcome

00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:12.259
to the New Mercies Podcast. Welcome back, February

00:00:12.259 --> 00:00:16.420
the 27th. Today is Haggai 2, the last time we're

00:00:16.420 --> 00:00:18.940
going to talk about Haggai 2 this week. We are

00:00:18.940 --> 00:00:22.079
talking about it on Sunday morning. Our church

00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:24.839
family is hosting a Fill the House Sunday. We

00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:27.660
are going to share the gospel very clearly through

00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:31.320
Haggai 2. That's right. Now, you may read it

00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:32.939
today. I encourage you to read the chapter today.

00:00:33.020 --> 00:00:35.079
You are not even ready for the episode that you're

00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:38.100
about to get. I am so excited about what I want

00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:41.480
to share with you about Haggai 2 today. Now,

00:00:41.480 --> 00:00:43.700
some of this you may hear in the sermon, but

00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:45.679
not all of it. Again, my sermons, I don't have

00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:48.159
enough time to share everything that is within

00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:50.560
the Scripture. And even today, I'm going to share

00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:52.820
with you something that may or may not make it

00:00:52.820 --> 00:00:56.479
into the final message. But it is interesting

00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:58.200
and beautiful and incredible, and I wanted to

00:00:58.200 --> 00:01:01.359
give you some encouragement today. So I want

00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:03.780
to read Haggai 2 just a couple places. We're

00:01:03.780 --> 00:01:05.359
going to look towards the end of the chapter

00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:10.400
today. But the chapter begins with dating. prophecy,

00:01:10.500 --> 00:01:13.379
right? So I want to read the first verse of chapter

00:01:13.379 --> 00:01:17.140
2. If you listened in or read Haggai 2 already

00:01:17.140 --> 00:01:19.420
this week, I shared a little bit about this,

00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:21.500
but I didn't share much because I wanted to fit

00:01:21.500 --> 00:01:26.719
the timeline today for us. In Haggai 2, specifically

00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:30.560
at verse number 1, it says, in the seventh month

00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:33.640
on the 21st day of the month, the word of the

00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:35.719
Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet.

00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:39.340
Now, if you go back in Scripture to the book

00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:42.260
of Leviticus, you will see in the book of Leviticus,

00:01:42.260 --> 00:01:45.599
it gives some explanation on times and dates

00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:49.859
of festivals. There is a festival that this aligns

00:01:49.859 --> 00:01:54.640
with. This is the seventh day of the festival

00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:58.819
of tabernacles or the feast of tabernacles, which

00:01:58.819 --> 00:02:03.069
is an incredible feast. I'm probably going to

00:02:03.069 --> 00:02:06.269
eventually branch out on the podcast and start

00:02:06.269 --> 00:02:08.689
talking about each of the feasts in the Old Testament,

00:02:08.789 --> 00:02:10.930
what they meant, what they symbolized, and then

00:02:10.930 --> 00:02:13.409
you're going to see how it pointed to Jesus the

00:02:13.409 --> 00:02:15.930
whole time. But the Feast of Tabernacles was

00:02:15.930 --> 00:02:18.090
really important, and it was super valuable.

00:02:18.210 --> 00:02:22.550
It was about God's presence tabernacling with

00:02:22.550 --> 00:02:26.349
the people. So tabernacle meant to reside. So

00:02:26.349 --> 00:02:28.990
this was God residing with his people. So here's

00:02:28.990 --> 00:02:32.949
what happens. If you listened this week already

00:02:32.949 --> 00:02:35.530
to Haggai 2, we talked about there was some discouragement

00:02:35.530 --> 00:02:37.949
that creeped in because people were saying, we've

00:02:37.949 --> 00:02:39.889
started to rebuild the temple and it's not as

00:02:39.889 --> 00:02:43.110
pretty as Solomon's. It's not the good old days.

00:02:43.349 --> 00:02:45.569
And you may say, well, that seems like an odd

00:02:45.569 --> 00:02:49.750
thing to do while you're building. And most likely,

00:02:49.810 --> 00:02:51.330
if you're building something, if you're carrying

00:02:51.330 --> 00:02:54.930
bricks and carrying blocks and you're putting

00:02:54.930 --> 00:02:57.030
it together and you're sweating, you're working.

00:02:57.710 --> 00:02:59.530
You're probably not saying to the guy next to

00:02:59.530 --> 00:03:01.449
you, man, that doesn't look as good as Solomon's,

00:03:01.449 --> 00:03:03.789
right? Why would they be saying this? Well, this

00:03:03.789 --> 00:03:07.330
is at the last day, last feast of the Feast of

00:03:07.330 --> 00:03:10.669
Tabernacles. They are reminiscing, right? They're

00:03:10.669 --> 00:03:13.590
supposed to be celebrating what God is doing.

00:03:13.770 --> 00:03:16.229
And so they start talking about as they're eating

00:03:16.229 --> 00:03:18.650
and as they're enjoying company, as they're enjoying

00:03:18.650 --> 00:03:21.969
celebrating what God is doing, they are saying,

00:03:22.150 --> 00:03:25.629
yeah, but it was really great back then. Yeah,

00:03:25.669 --> 00:03:27.810
but back then it was really good. But this encounter

00:03:27.810 --> 00:03:30.569
I had with God a long time ago was really, really

00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:32.710
good. I've said it before and I'll say it again.

00:03:32.789 --> 00:03:36.870
We rely a lot on former experiences over fresh

00:03:36.870 --> 00:03:40.310
encounters. We rely on something that's happened

00:03:40.310 --> 00:03:42.810
in the past, a big faith moment. We keep going

00:03:42.810 --> 00:03:44.889
back to that faith moment. Well, God may be trying

00:03:44.889 --> 00:03:47.629
to build faith moments right now today, but we're

00:03:47.629 --> 00:03:50.430
too busy sitting around reminiscing about the

00:03:50.430 --> 00:03:53.210
days of old. And again, it is not bad to remember.

00:03:53.349 --> 00:03:56.050
I think we need to remember. even more. But we

00:03:56.050 --> 00:03:58.289
also need to focus in on what God's doing today.

00:03:58.750 --> 00:04:01.889
We looked at the first nine verses of Haggai

00:04:01.889 --> 00:04:05.250
2 this past week, and I want to jump in on the

00:04:05.250 --> 00:04:07.150
next verse after it because he gives another

00:04:07.150 --> 00:04:10.509
date. He shares something else that happens.

00:04:10.590 --> 00:04:12.550
There's another prophecy that comes. In fact,

00:04:12.550 --> 00:04:15.599
that prophecy... After they talk about the good

00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.480
old days, after they talk about something new

00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:20.139
is happening today, and in verse number 9, he

00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:23.879
points to the idea that the latter is going to

00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:25.819
be greater than the former. This next step of

00:04:25.819 --> 00:04:28.360
what I'm doing is going to be even greater than

00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:32.459
the days before. Yes, the materials were great,

00:04:32.540 --> 00:04:35.220
but the temple doesn't need great bricks. The

00:04:35.220 --> 00:04:37.459
temple needs the presence of God, and I'm telling

00:04:37.459 --> 00:04:39.939
you, I'm sending the presence of God. Why is

00:04:39.939 --> 00:04:41.240
he talking about the presence of God so much?

00:04:41.339 --> 00:04:43.639
Because it's the Feast of Tabernacles. about

00:04:43.639 --> 00:04:46.120
the presence of God. This is incredible. How

00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:47.959
in the world did he know the right day, the right

00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:49.779
time, the right place? They've just been talking

00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:51.779
about what tabernacling is. They've just been

00:04:51.779 --> 00:04:54.319
talking about celebrating with the Feast of Tabernacles.

00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:56.959
They've been celebrating how God has been with

00:04:56.959 --> 00:04:59.959
them. Then they start complaining about this

00:04:59.959 --> 00:05:02.779
temple isn't as pretty as the last one. And God

00:05:02.779 --> 00:05:04.839
says, he reminds them at the end in verse number

00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:07.560
nine, he says, this house shall be greater than

00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:10.939
the former, says the Lord. And in this place,

00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:13.560
I will give peace, declares the Lord. I'll be

00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:16.879
with you. Hey, this is all about my presence,

00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:21.019
right? The tabernacle, the temple, your life

00:05:21.019 --> 00:05:23.920
doesn't need nicer bricks, nicer materials. It

00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:26.399
needs the presence of the Lord. Now, what happens

00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:28.939
as I turn the page in my Bible and go to verse

00:05:28.939 --> 00:05:33.339
number 10? The Bible says this. On the 24th day

00:05:33.339 --> 00:05:36.540
of the ninth month in the second year of Darius,

00:05:36.620 --> 00:05:38.980
the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet.

00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:42.079
I want to stop right there. This is now nine

00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:45.910
weeks later. Okay, nine weeks. Work's been going

00:05:45.910 --> 00:05:48.930
on. The prophet gets another word from God nine

00:05:48.930 --> 00:05:51.670
weeks later. It is important for us to know this.

00:05:51.910 --> 00:05:55.589
Nine weeks is not a long time. It's just a little

00:05:55.589 --> 00:05:58.550
over a couple months, and there's been work still

00:05:58.550 --> 00:06:02.009
happening. The work continued. It kept going,

00:06:02.069 --> 00:06:03.949
kept going, kept going. And here's what he says

00:06:03.949 --> 00:06:06.689
in this text. I'm not going to read it. I want

00:06:06.689 --> 00:06:08.310
you to read it on your own, but I'm going to

00:06:08.310 --> 00:06:14.290
sum it up for you in a nutshell. cannot make

00:06:14.290 --> 00:06:18.750
unholy things holy, okay? So just because something

00:06:18.750 --> 00:06:21.050
is holy doesn't mean you can put it with an unholy

00:06:21.050 --> 00:06:24.089
thing and change the unholy thing, right? Not

00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:27.350
going to happen. On the contrary, unholy things

00:06:27.350 --> 00:06:32.230
can make holy things unholy, right? It's kind

00:06:32.230 --> 00:06:34.589
of like if you've got a clear glass of water

00:06:34.589 --> 00:06:37.509
and a muddy glass of water, right? If I pour

00:06:37.509 --> 00:06:39.550
the clear glass of water into the muddy glass

00:06:39.550 --> 00:06:43.120
and it fills it up, it's not clean. right? It's

00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:45.540
just maybe diluted a little bit, but it's still

00:06:45.540 --> 00:06:48.439
dirty water. Yet, if I have the two glasses and

00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:51.800
I pour the muddy water into the clean water,

00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:54.279
guess what? The clean water is no longer clean,

00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:57.800
right? That's the simple explanation. If you

00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:00.019
read it, and I encourage you to read it, it gets

00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:01.959
a little bit, you know, it seems a little back

00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:03.339
and forth, but that's what he's talking about.

00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:06.319
In a nutshell, holy things can't make unholy

00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:10.279
things holy. but unholy things can make holy

00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:13.079
things unholy, okay? I hope you maybe caught

00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:16.339
on to that. And so ultimately, it's easier to

00:07:16.339 --> 00:07:18.120
tear something down than to build it up, right?

00:07:18.259 --> 00:07:20.500
They're talking about building and the temple.

00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:23.720
Demo day is way easier than reconstruction day,

00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:26.339
right? I'll run a sledgehammer through a wall

00:07:26.339 --> 00:07:29.939
all day, make a big mess. That's easy to do,

00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:34.060
whereas building the wall back... You got to

00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:36.199
frame it. You got to sheetrock it. You got to

00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:38.660
screw it in. You got to mud it. You got to finish

00:07:38.660 --> 00:07:40.420
it. You got to scrape it, sand it. Then you got

00:07:40.420 --> 00:07:42.259
to paint it. That's a lot more work than taking

00:07:42.259 --> 00:07:44.139
a sledgehammer through a wall, right? He says

00:07:44.139 --> 00:07:46.600
you can tear things down much easier than you

00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:50.240
can build them up. And he's reminding them, you

00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:53.500
neglected my house. That was unholy. You neglected

00:07:53.500 --> 00:07:55.959
my house and you built your own house, which

00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:59.240
shows your heart. You look to your own interests

00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:04.879
and not God's. You're unclean. You are unclean.

00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:07.699
Then he does something amazing. He keeps going.

00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:11.959
Verses 20 through 23, he begins to explain. This

00:08:11.959 --> 00:08:14.519
is the same day of that prophecy, a little bit

00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:16.560
later in the day. So it's a little bit later.

00:08:17.019 --> 00:08:19.300
It comes with a double dose of encouragement.

00:08:19.420 --> 00:08:22.000
The first encouragement is his power. He does

00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:25.379
not lose. So verses 20 through 23, he again explains,

00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:28.120
I don't lose a battle. Let me encourage you.

00:08:28.139 --> 00:08:30.620
I'm with you, and I don't lose. That is great

00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:34.159
encouragement. But then he does something absolutely

00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:38.039
incredible in the last verse. Listen to verse

00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:42.059
23. On that day, declares the Lord of hosts,

00:08:42.179 --> 00:08:44.919
I will take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the

00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:47.940
son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make

00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:51.220
you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you,

00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:55.600
declares the Lord of hosts. Here is something

00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:59.580
absolutely incredible. We will read over this

00:08:59.580 --> 00:09:02.980
and we will miss it nine times out of ten. So

00:09:02.980 --> 00:09:06.100
there's a guy named Jeremiah that wrote a book

00:09:06.100 --> 00:09:10.139
in the Old Testament. Jeremiah listed a man who

00:09:10.139 --> 00:09:15.019
was cursed by God, Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim was one

00:09:15.019 --> 00:09:18.519
of the kings who was rejected by God. In fact,

00:09:18.539 --> 00:09:21.440
God tells him, if you were a signet ring, I would

00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:25.429
throw you away. Now, here's what's... wild. So

00:09:25.429 --> 00:09:28.429
you can go look that up in Jeremiah 22. He mentions

00:09:28.429 --> 00:09:32.210
this. Well, Jehoiakim has a son named Shealtiel.

00:09:32.909 --> 00:09:35.450
Okay. So here's, and I think you know, baby,

00:09:35.470 --> 00:09:38.570
where this is going. Shealtiel has a son named

00:09:38.570 --> 00:09:41.750
Zerubbabel. Now, when he talked about Jehoiakim,

00:09:41.809 --> 00:09:45.450
he was cursing him, saying, I'm taking away your

00:09:45.450 --> 00:09:47.590
power. You're cursed. I would throw you away.

00:09:47.649 --> 00:09:50.870
You are no good to me, as God would say. You're

00:09:50.870 --> 00:09:52.710
no good to me. I'm taking this away. Talks about

00:09:52.710 --> 00:09:54.590
a signet ring. What a signet ring is, by the

00:09:54.590 --> 00:09:58.750
way, is an Eastern monarch would use their signet

00:09:58.750 --> 00:10:02.429
ring, and if they wanted to bestow power on somebody

00:10:02.429 --> 00:10:06.429
to use for a season to make decisions and to

00:10:06.429 --> 00:10:09.009
take the lead on something, he would give that

00:10:09.009 --> 00:10:14.340
signet ring to someone else. to use for a season

00:10:14.340 --> 00:10:17.139
or a time temporarily. And so what they would

00:10:17.139 --> 00:10:19.519
do is if somebody else needed to make a decision,

00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:23.740
if the king was off on vacation, gone away, whatever,

00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:26.360
not available, sick, couldn't make a decision,

00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:28.580
he would give the signet ring to that person.

00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:31.399
They would then be able to have authority. They

00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:34.639
would be able to be useful in those places. So

00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:37.659
here's what God says to Zerubbabel, who, by the

00:10:37.659 --> 00:10:41.600
way, his lineage is cursed. right? Jehoiakim

00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:44.639
was cursed. His lineage was cursed because of

00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:48.620
Zerubbabel's obedience. There's nothing else

00:10:48.620 --> 00:10:50.980
in this. It's because of Zerubbabel's obedience.

00:10:51.340 --> 00:10:54.909
He began rebuilding the temple. He could have

00:10:54.909 --> 00:10:57.509
continued to say, no, it'll be later. No, I won't

00:10:57.509 --> 00:10:59.470
do it. No, I won't do it. It's not an easy task.

00:10:59.730 --> 00:11:02.929
He was called out, called up, and now called

00:11:02.929 --> 00:11:05.529
to do something about it, called to work. He

00:11:05.529 --> 00:11:08.350
began to rebuild. And as he began to rebuild,

00:11:08.629 --> 00:11:11.309
God said to him, I'm going to make you a signet

00:11:11.309 --> 00:11:17.509
ring. Do you realize Zerubbabel is in both genealogies

00:11:17.509 --> 00:11:20.830
of the person of Jesus, both in Matthew and in

00:11:20.830 --> 00:11:24.799
Luke? He is in the legal line of Jesus as the

00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:28.500
true Messiah and in the natural line of Jesus

00:11:28.500 --> 00:11:33.720
as the Messiah. Why? Because he was obedient.

00:11:33.940 --> 00:11:38.559
God worked something together for good, even

00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:42.179
though the generations had been cursed before

00:11:42.179 --> 00:11:45.539
him. We talk about generational curses in our

00:11:45.539 --> 00:11:48.019
culture today. This man actually came from a

00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:50.639
line of generational curse. And yet because he

00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:53.179
was obedient to the Lord, the Lord broke that

00:11:53.179 --> 00:11:57.340
curse and then gave him a beautiful signet ring

00:11:57.340 --> 00:12:00.679
to say, I'm going to use you in a way that is

00:12:00.679 --> 00:12:05.240
going to affect history. I cannot believe why

00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:09.279
in the world do we not follow in obedience to

00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:12.039
God? Well, I've got just this generational curse

00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:15.480
on my family. So did Zerubbabel. Yeah, but that

00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:17.779
was different. All he had to do was build the

00:12:17.779 --> 00:12:21.279
temple. That's not an easy task. It took years.

00:12:21.419 --> 00:12:23.960
It took time. It took effort. It took resources.

00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:27.100
And he was scolded because he didn't do it. He

00:12:27.100 --> 00:12:29.759
had to rally troops around. His spirit was stirred.

00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:31.299
There was revival that broke out. And because

00:12:31.299 --> 00:12:33.559
he was obedient and revival broke out in his

00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:36.179
time, he was able to be used by God to bring

00:12:36.179 --> 00:12:40.299
through the lineage of the Messiah. I am telling

00:12:40.299 --> 00:12:42.860
you this. When you say, well, God can't use me.

00:12:43.460 --> 00:12:46.120
Well, you know what? Be obedient and give it

00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.279
a shot and see if he does. Because I am telling

00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:51.419
you this, based out of Scripture, it requires

00:12:51.419 --> 00:12:55.600
this thing called faith. That's all the requirement

00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:58.559
is on our part. I believe God can do something

00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:02.340
in my life. What is it? I don't know. But I'm

00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:03.990
going to trust him. And I'm going to let him

00:13:03.990 --> 00:13:06.529
do it. I hope and pray you read Haggai 2 today.

00:13:06.590 --> 00:13:10.190
Fresh ears, fresh eyes. See it. Listen to it.

00:13:10.230 --> 00:13:13.090
Set in it. Allow the Lord to speak to you today.

00:13:13.289 --> 00:13:16.029
Don't just take my word for it. Jump into Haggai

00:13:16.029 --> 00:13:16.470
2 today.