Sermon - October 26, 2014 - The Story Week 21- Rebuilding the Walls

On June 1^st we started our journey through the Bible, using The Story to do it. Twenty-one weeks later we are now reaching the end of the Old Testament. It is hard to believe that with today’s message we have wrapped up roughly 75-80% of the pages in the Bible. I have really been enjoying our journey through the Bible. I have met some old friends again and have been inspired by how God’s love has been seen in every aspect of human history. I pray you have enjoyed our journey so far as much as I have.

A few weeks back we were reading about how Haggai was called by God to get the people back on track. They had laid the foundation of the temple but things stopped there. The house of God sat for 16 years with no progress what-so-ever. Haggai spoke the Word of the Lord.

Haggai 1:5

“⁵ Now, the Lord of Hosts says this: “Think carefully about your ways:”

God was telling His people to think about their priorities. They had stopped lining up their priorities with God’s priorities; instead they were focused on themselves and their needs. Haggai called to attention the error of their ways, and we need to make sure to take time to examine our priorities and make sure we are living our lives in a way that honors God.

This week we read about a revival that took place in Jerusalem among the Jews who had returned from captivity. Haggai spoke to the first group of exiles to return and they rebuilt the temple. Roughly 80 years later the second group of exiles returned home under the leadership of Ezra, as was granted by king Xerxes who had married Esther.

Ezra 7:6

“ came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he requested because the hand of Yahweh his God was on him.”

When Ezra and the second group of exiles returned it was not what they were expecting. They had figured that the people of Jerusalem would have started putting things back together and would be honoring God with their lives. Things were so bad that Ezra not only ripped his garments as a sign of great sadness, he also ripped out his hair and his beard. He pleaded with God and humbled himself.

Ezra 9:6

“And I said: ‘My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face toward You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads and our guilt is as high as the heavens.”

Hearing how far they had fallen and Ezra’s crying to the Lord, led the people of Israel to repent. As God’s people repented and turned back to Him, His blessings began to fall on them once again.

This should be a great reminder to us of how GREAT God’s grace is. Generation after generation of the Israelites had turned their back on God; the people never seemed to learn from what their fathers and grandfathers endured. Time after time they turned their back on God, yet He still loved them. God believes in second, third, fourth, fifth, and even hundredth chances. He was never once soft on sin, but He is soft on His creation. He does not give us what we deserve. He loves us so much that when we return to Him and repentant for our sins, He welcomes us with open arms.

Thirteen years after the return of the second group of exiles we find some messengers from Jerusalem have come back to Persia and were talking to Nehemiah. He was very curious about those who had returned and the state of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 1:3

“³ They said to me, “The remnant in the province, who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned down.”

This was horrible news. Back then the walls around the city were all that protected it from those who wanted to raid and pillage. Jerusalem was in bad shape and was at great risk of getting worse.

Nehemiah 1:4-7

“⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. ⁵ I said, Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him and keep His commands, ⁶ let Your eyes be open and Your ears be attentive to hear Your servant’s prayer that I now pray to You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷ We have acted corruptly toward You and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances You gave Your servant Moses.”

The final group of exiles returned with Nehemiah with the blessing and provision of the king of Persia. From start to finish, regardless of all the obstacles they faced, the walls were completed in 52 days. They had people stirring up trouble trying to get them to not follow Nehemiah, they had to physically fight off people, and the people struggled to stay focused. Regardless of all that, the wall was complete in a whopping 52 days. Pretty amazing, sounds like they had help from the Man Upstairs.

As the wall was being rebuilt and seeing God work in their lives, the people began to see that they needed God. It has been one hundred and forty years since God’s people had assembled as a nation. Maybe it was a feeling that God was working with them, maybe it was having the sacrificial system in place again, maybe it was worshipping in the rebuilt temple, or maybe it was being reunited as a nation, whatever it was the people of God were seeking Him. They were primed, they were ready, and they asked Ezra to read from God’s Word.

Nehemiah 8:1-12

“¹ all the people gathered together at the square in front of the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses that the Lord had given Israel. ² On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding. ³ While he was facing the square in front of the Water Gate, he read out of it from daybreak until noon before the men, the women, and those who could understand. All the people listened attentively to the book of the law. ⁴ Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform made for this purpose. Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah stood beside him on his right; to his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. ⁵ Ezra opened the book in full view of all the people, since he was elevated above everyone. As he opened it, all the people stood up. ⁶ Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and with their hands uplifted all the people said, “Amen, Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

⁷ Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah, who were Levites, explained the law to the people as they stood in their places. ⁸ They read out of the book of the law of God, translating and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read. ⁹ Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.” ¹¹ And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.” ¹² Then all the people began to eat and drink, send portions, and have a great celebration, because they had understood the words that were explained to them.”

Ezra read the scriptures, the Levites interpreted them, and the people understood and obeyed. After all these years and all the struggles, the people of God had returned to their King. Several things had to happen for the return or revival to take place.

The people of Israel had to come to a point where they wanted to hear God’s Word. To experience revival in our own hearts so that we can spread it we need to first and foremost remember that the Bible is not just a book. It is the Word of the Almighty God! Understanding that this book is filled with God’s words should drive us to respect it. That respect is what motivates us to read the Bible and to live by its teachings.

2 Timothy 3:16

“¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,”

NIV reads ‘All Scripture is God-breathed’

NKJV reads ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God’

Whichever translation you prefer, it is clear that the Bible is God’s book. If we are to experience a revival which must start in our own hearts, we need to treat God’s Word accordingly. We need to respect the Bible and listen to its teachings. We need to read it and live by it!

In our reading from Nehemiah we see the Levites translating what Ezra was reading to the people. See for the most part Hebrew people no longer spoke or understood the Hebrew language. After being in exile for so long, much of their language was lost. Hearing the words spoken was nice, but they had to understand it for revival to take place. The same can be said for us. If we want a revival here in Clark it needs to start with us understanding what the Bible teaches. I mean it is a great start if we can quote this verse or that verse, but knowing what it means changes lives. The people of Jerusalem needed to understand the law so they could see how far they had drifted from it. We need to understand the Bible so we can know where we have fallen short, but also so that we know just how much grace we have been given. They had the Book of Law, we have the entire Old Testament and New Testament. We have the ability to Understand what has happened and what is going to happen. It is through this understanding that leads to action.

So we need to respect the Bible as God breathed Words, we need to understand the Bible, and we need to Obey the Bible.

As the people of Jerusalem was listening to Ezra read the Book of Law they learned that they should be celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. This was to remember the 40 years spent wandering in the wilderness.

Nehemiah 8:13-18

“¹³ On the second day, the family leaders of all the people, along with the priests and Levites, assembled before Ezra the scribe to study the words of the law. ¹⁴ They found written in the law how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should dwell in booths during the festival of the seventh month. ¹⁵ So they proclaimed and spread this news throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hill country and bring back branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, just as it is written.” ¹⁶ The people went out, brought back branches, and made booths for themselves on each of their rooftops, and courtyards, the court of the house of God, the square by the Water Gate, and the square by the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷ The whole community that had returned from exile made booths and lived in them. They had not celebrated like this from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day. And there was tremendous joy. ¹⁸ Ezra read out of the book of the law of God every day, from the first day to the last. The Israelites celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day there was an assembly, according to the ordinance.”

When they read about the feat and understood what they were supposed to do they obeyed God and celebrated it. It is not enough to hear the Word of God, it must be obeyed.

James 1:22

“But be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

The people of Jerusalem understood that God’s Word called them to do something, to obey. That same message is clearly laid out to us repeatedly in the Old and New Testaments. It is not enough to come to church on Sunday and hear God’s Word. Hopefully you are reading your Bible regularly, but that too is not enough. We need to be ‘doers of the Word.’ It needs to lead to action.

How can you Obey the Word and let it drive you to action?

Respect the Word as God Breathed!

Understand the Word and let it Move You!

Obey the Bible and let it lead to Action!

Respect, Understand, and Obey.


Thank You for Reading!

Our journey through the Old Testament has been wonderful!

Blessings,

Robert

Sermon - October 19, 2014 - The Story Week 20 -The Queen of Beauty and Courage

A saying in Las Vegas is ‘my life is all wrapped up in the roll of the dice.’ In Vegas you can roll lucky sevens, or snakes eyes, or boxcars (double sixes). You can also lose it all. You can win a massive windfall or experience colossal disaster. It all seems like coincidence, just roll the dice. In the Book of Esther, it seems like the destiny of the Jews is subject to ‘the roll of the dice,’ but we discover that God is working behind the scenes to fulfill his grand, saving purpose. The Book of Esther presents one of the most intriguing episodes in The Story.

Last week we looked at roughly 50,000 of the exiles who returned home. That would mean the majority of the Jewish people were still in Persia. Xerxes the son of Darius I is the king of Persia. It was interesting to read that Persia under king Xerxes was divided into 127 provinces and he was more powerful than any other king of his time, and ruled over most of the known world.
 

The powerful king held a party.

Esther 1:1-4

“1 These events took place during the days of Ahasuerus, who ruled 127 provinces from India to Cush. ² In those days King Ahasuerus reigned from his royal throne in the fortress at Susa. ³ He held a feast in the third year of his reign for all his officials and staff, the army of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the officials from the provinces. ⁴ He displayed the glorious wealth of his kingdom and the magnificent splendor of his greatness for a total of 180 days.”

King Xerxes in our reading and Ahasuerus is the same person, Xerxes is his name in Greek. Now Xerxes was throwing the ultimate party that lasted 6 months. Can you imagine partying for that long; don’t these people have responsibilities that they need to attend to? Anyways, Xerxes was basically trying to impress all the leaders and elders in the provinces of his nation. He wanted to ensure they saw him as king and would support the upcoming invasion of Greece.

After this 6 month party, Xerxes wanted more and had another party.

Esther 1:5

“⁵ At the end of this time, the king held a week-long banquet in the garden courtyard of the royal palace for all the people, from the greatest to the least, who were present in the fortress of Susa.”

One party led to another, probably an important lesson there somewhere but we will leave that one for another day. During this ‘after’ party king Xerxes summoned his queen Vashti and she refused to join him. In Persia at this time, the queen had no rights, and was at the beck and call of the king.  

Esther 1:11

“¹¹ to bring Queen Vashti before him with her royal crown. He wanted to show off her beauty to the people and the officials, because she was very beautiful.”

It is believed that Queen Vashti was summoned to show up and parade in front of Xerxes and his guests in nothing but her crown. He was treating his queen very poorly and she fully knowing the consequences bravely stood up for what was right. She stood up for herself and it cost her severely.

What do we learn from this? Take a stand for what is right no matter the consequences. The right thing to do is the right thing to do, even if you endure pain in the end. Vashti, as well as Esther and Mordecai do just that throughout our lesson today.

Vashti is banished, a few years have passed, and Xerxes is looking for a new queen. That is when Esther enters the picture. Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah, AKA Esther. She was a beautiful young lady and was noticed by those searching for the next queen. She was taken to the castle and given a spa year. Not a day, or week, but a full year of spa treatments before she could enter the presence of the king. To make a long story short Esther impressed the king and everyone else around.

Esther 2:17

“¹⁷ The king loved Esther more than all the other women. She won more favor and approval from him than did any of the other young women. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.”

Esther becomes the queen, luck or something else?

While all this was going on Mordecai does what he can to keep tabs on his cousin Esther and catches wind of something and lets the queen know.

Esther 2:21-23

“²¹ During those days while Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two eunuchs who guarded the king’s entrance, became infuriated and planned to assassinate King Ahasuerus. ²² When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she told the king on Mordecai’s behalf. ²³ When the report was investigated and verified, both men were hanged on the gallows. This event was recorded in the Historical Record in the king’s presence.”

Mordecai is hanging around when he hears a couple of guys trying to figure out how to take out the king. He gets Esther involved and when the king investigates it, he has the men hung till dead. Mordecai and Esther have earned some credibility with the king, which will help out later. Was Mordecai hearing this luck or was someone at work?

In chapter 3 we are introduced to Haman.

Esther 3:5-6

“⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing down or paying him homage, he was filled with rage. ⁶ And when he learned of Mordecai’s ethnic identity, Haman decided not to do away with Mordecai alone. He planned to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout Ahasuerus’s kingdom.”

Haman had it out for the Jews and more specifically Mordecai. Haman is an Amalekite, Saul the first King of Israel failed to wipe out the Amelekites. From what we can discern it appears that all these years later Haman still held a grudge against the Jews. He had also been given a high position of authority in the Persian Empire with direct contact with the king.

Haman had the lot cast, or dice rolled, to determine a day that he could have the Jews wiped out. Once he had that day determine he went to the king and pleaded his case.

Esther 3:8

“⁸ Then Haman informed King Ahasuerus, “There is one ethnic group, scattered throughout the peoples in every province of your kingdom, yet living in isolation. Their laws are different from everyone else’s and they do not obey the king’s laws. It is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.”

The king agreed that some 8 or 9 months later the Jewish people were to be exterminated. 8 or 9 months down the road, whose luck won out on that date or is someone influencing the results?

As the news spreads all the Jewish people in Persia weep, fast, pray, and Mordecai rips his clothes and puts on sackcloth and ashes. Esther hears of this and Mordecai pleads with her to appeal to the king, but she is afraid. If she goes to the king and is not summoned her life is forfeit. She eventually agrees to go before the king, knowing that her life could end today or with the rest of her people. She rolled the dice.

Esther 5:1-2

“5 On the third day, Esther dressed up in her royal clothing and stood in the inner courtyard of the palace facing it. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the royal courtroom, facing its entrance. ² As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, she won his approval. The king extended the gold scepter in his hand toward Esther, and she approached and touched the tip of the scepter.”

The king offers Esther anything even up to half of his kingdom; she simply invites the king and Haman to a dinner she has prepared. The king and Haman enjoyed the banquet and Esther asked them to come back the next day.

Haman was on top of the world, he was promoted, he had a dinner with the king and queen, and then he saw Mordecai hanging outside the palace. His mood soured and Haman wanted Mordecai gone now. So he set plans in motion to get the king to approve of hanging Mordecai the following morning.

The king has a hard time sleeping that night and figures he might as well do something productive. He has the book recording the daily events read to him. When they read about how Mordecai helped foil the assassination plot against the king, the king realizes that nothing was done to honor Mordecai for his actions.

The next morning the king asks Haman what would be the best way to honor a hero and Haman thinking that he was going to be honored went all out.

Esther 6:7-9

“⁷ Haman told the king, “For the man the king wants to honor: ⁸ Have them bring a royal garment that the king himself has worn and a horse the king himself has ridden, which has a royal diadem on its head. ⁹ Put the garment and the horse under the charge of one of the king’s most noble officials. Have them clothe the man the king wants to honor, parade him on the horse through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king wants to honor.’”

Haman was expecting to be honored but was horrified when he was ordered to clothe Mordecai accordingly and parade him through the capital. Haman thought he was going to rid himself of Mordecai that day, but instead had to honor him. Was it luck that saved Mordecai?

That night Haman has dinner with the king and queen again, and Esther pleases the king and once again her offers her anything.

Esther 7:3-4

“³ Queen Esther answered, “If I have obtained your approval, my king, and if the king is pleased, spare my life—this is my request; and spare my people—this is my desire. ⁴ For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and extermination. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept silent. Indeed, the trouble wouldn’t be worth burdening the king.”

The king is angered and Haman is hung on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. Mordecai was honored and given Haman’s place as an official in the Persian Empire.

Now this is all and good, but the threat still remains against all the Jewish people in Persia. As we have seen over the last couple of weeks a Persian king’s edict cannot be overturned. So a new decree is written and sent out that the Jews can defend themselves against anyone who is hostile towards them. The Jews in Persia prevailed against their enemies.

Seems like the Jewish people got lucky that Esther was beautiful, that Mordecai caught on to the assignation plot, and that the king read about Mordecai the night before he would have more than likely been killed.

Proverbs 16:33

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”

God controls the roll of the dice. God’s name is not mentioned in the book of Esther, but His presence is seen. It is not luck that saved the Jews, it was God working in the Upper Story making sure things happened according to His plans.

Name your fears… illness, aging, not enough money, loss of a job, loss of home, family breakdown, being alone, wayward children, depression, death, whatever.

Take a courageous stand, like Esther and Mordecai, knowing that life may look like things happen by luck but in reality it is God. How can you be Courageous for God?

Romans 8:28

“²⁸ We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.”

God Loves us so much that He is working all things out for our good!

God Bless,

Robert

Sermon - October 12, 2014 - The Story Week 19 - The Return Home

Sometimes life is about pig slop and fish guts. This was true for the prodigal son and for Jonah. The prodigal son blew his inheritance and ended up eating pig slop. Jonah ran from God and rebelled against His command to preach in Nineveh and ended up in the guts of a big fish. In The Story we will see the Jews and an abandoned temple of God. The big question for us is this: What does God do when we make his big thing our small thing? The Story tells us that three generations have passed in exile in Babylon and God raises up Cyrus, a pagan king, who releases God’s people to return to Jerusalem and build their temple.

Ezra 1:1-4

“1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The Lord put it into the mind of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:

² This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build Him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. ³ Whoever is among His people, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ Let every survivor, wherever he lives, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

Who would have thought that a pagan king, who himself knew very little about the God of Judah would have allowed them to rebuild their temple let alone decree that it should be done. Not entirely sure if this would have been out of character for a Persian king or not. One thing I read this week mentioned where the Babylonians believed in moving people when they conquered kingdoms the Persians only cared that they paid a tribute and remained loyal. It also came in response to a prophecy from Isaiah that was given some 150 years prior.

Isaiah 44:28

“who says to Cyrus, “My shepherd, he will fulfill all My pleasure” and says to Jerusalem, “She will be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Its foundation will be laid.”

Regardless of whether it was in character or not, prophecy foretold it and God turned the heart of the Persian king Cyrus. In doing so God had Cyrus give the Jews freedom to return home, freedom to build the temple, and had those that they were living with give them gold, silver, food, etc… for the trip and for the temple. What a change in tune after being hauled away and in exile away from their home for some 70 years. They Jewish people are heading home with the goal of building the temple and restoring their community.

God using a pagan king was a way for God to remind His people and anyone else paying attention that ‘He will use whatever it takes to finish His plan to build a perfect community where He can be with His people forever, even a sinful pagan king who knows nothing about Him.’

Why did God guide the Persian king Cyrus to build God a temple? Why was this so import to the Almighty God? Why was it such a big deal?

The temple is a sign of God’s passion. If you remember God’s passion, His desire, and the reason He created us was so He could dwell with us. God wants to be in a relationship with each and every person ever created, and the temple is a symbol of that passion.

There is a problem with God’s passion and the state of His chosen nation while in exile. The Jewish people were no longer worshipping at the temple, they were no longer offering sacrifices, they were no longer able to be in His presence. They no longer dwelt with God! Sin was separating God’s people from being with Him. Not having the temple was leading to a major problem, sin was keeping God and His people apart.

In the long run the solution to the sin problem was the coming of Jesus Christ, His Birth, Death, and, Resurrection. That was not going to happen for another 5 centuries or so. Until then the solution to God’s problem was to rebuild the temple and reinstitute the sacrificial system so that people could once again be in the presence of the One True God.

The people were returned home with plans in place, they knew what God wanted. They saw God’s problem as their problem.

Ezra 3:1-3

“3 By the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people gathered together in Jerusalem. ² Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel’s God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. ³ They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples.”

The people of God were following God’s will. The altar was restored the foundation of the temple was being rebuilt, things started off good. If you read this week’s chapter you will recall that the people began good, but lost focus. Life interfered with rebuilding the temple and what was a big problem for God, became more of a nuisance for the people. What happens when something is just a nuisance, it gets ignored. Think about that squeaky screen door, it will squeak for a long time before it gets fixed. A broken water heater on the other hand gets taken care of immediately as not having hot water is a big problem when you are getting ready for church or to go to work.

God’s people no longer saw the building of the temple as a major priority and it sat. Instead of working on the temple that was down the road, they wanted to get their own homes built. For 16 long years the temple sat as homes and communities were built. It was an abandoned construction site in the middle of town, with weeds growing all over. Those 16 years was long enough for every visitor from surrounding nations to look at the temple in Jerusalem and think that the Jewish people did not take their God or His temple very seriously. Think of the message it sends to the kids growing up in Jerusalem. At first they saw their parents and neighbors working hard to build the temple and then they just walked away from it. Not the messages they, we, or God want to be shared.

God loving His people and wanting to be with them raised up a prophet, Haggai, to call His people back to their task of building God’s temple.

Haggai 1:1-6

“1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest: ² “The Lord of Hosts says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” ³ The word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet: ⁴ “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”  ⁵ Now, the Lord of Hosts says this: “Think carefully about your ways: ⁶ You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough to be satisfied. You drink but never have enough to become drunk. You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm. The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it.”

Haggai is reminding the people of God that they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. He is hitting them pretty hard. You have your nice house, you have spent a lot of time and energy trying to build yourselves up. You are working hard, but it never seems to be enough. You harvest little. You never have enough to eat or drink. Your clothes don’t keep you warm and your money does not go far enough. In short they got distracted by their own things and set God’s needs aside. The people in Jerusalem got their priorities all mixed up.

How many of us can relate with our priorities getting out of whack? If I were to list my personal priorities the top couple would be in this order.

1.      My personal relationship with Jesus Christ
2.      My family
3.      Ministry
4.      Work

I would think most people sitting in this room would rank theirs similarly. If you priorities are in this order, does your life always reflect it? I know mine does not. Work has a tendency of interfering with just about everything. Ministry can get easily get in the way of family time. The hustle and bustle of life and how crazy it gets at times can interfere with the time I spend with God, which means things are interfering with my first and most important priority. I am sure most of you can relate.

I have yet to meet someone who loves Jesus who deliberately decided to ignore God. What tends to happen is that people let things get in the way of their top priority and slowly drift away from Him. It was not a decision, but they let things get in the way, the kids, the job, demands from others, stress, and just about anything else thrown their way. It starts slowly and at first efforts are made to keep their top priority number 1, but it can continue to slip until it is no longer on the list. This is exactly what happened to the people in Jerusalem and God got sent Haggai to get their attention and call them back. If we let God slip out of the number one spot He has ways of getting our attention.

Think about it for a moment, can you recall a time in your life when you achieved some goal or accomplished something that you thought would make you happy and it did not? Can you think of a time that you got everything you wanted, but it left you wanting? These feelings could be God’s way or trying to get your attention.

I am not saying that every bad thing in life or period of wanting is punishment by God. Don’t think that every time that something bad happens to you that God is punishing you. Most of the bad we encounter in this world is part of living in a sinful world. The Bible tells us that rain falls on the just and the unjust, but sometimes in life if we seem to be hitting one obstacle after another with no end in sight. It maybe that God is trying to get your attention.

The simple fact is, when we put our priorities over God’s priorities, life becomes empty and meaningless. Putting our priorities above God’s is a sin.

Charles Spurgeon wrote “God doesn’t allow His children to sin successfully.”

God loves us to much to allow us to continue down a path of sin and will do everything He can to get our attention.

God sent Haggai to remind the people of Jerusalem just that. He was telling them, ‘STOP, examine your ways, you need to change your priorities!’ Haggai’s job was to remind the people that their priorities need to match Gods. It was their wake up call. They heard the call and got back on track fulfilling the purpose of God. They put God back as their first priority.

Matthew 6:33-34

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. ³⁴ Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Jesus tells us to seek First His kingdom and God will take care of everything else.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “If we put the first things first, we get the second things thrown in; but if we put the second things first, we lose both the first and second things.”

God needs to be first and foremost in our lives! We need to make sure that we do not let the things of the world, our jobs, our toys, our families, our medical issues, in short our lives, interfere with following God’s priorities. If He has called you to something, you need to do it!

The prodigal son repented and left the pig slop.

Jonah repented and got out of the fish guts.

The Jews repented and finished the temple for God.

Do you need to repent and return to god? Is God speaking to you through a season of testing? Are you being distracted from God’s purpose for your life?

Commit to making God’s priority your priority!


Thanks for reading,

Robert

Sermon - October 5, 2014 - The Story Week 18 - Daniel in Exile

We have been following The Story from the beginning with Adam and Eve and now we have come to the stories of Daniel and his three friends.

The Babylonians conquered Judah and took exiles to Babylon as early as 605 BC. This was one of the ways the Babylonians made sure they had control of the newly conquered land. They would take the wealthy and influential people away from their new land and move some Babylonians or people from other nations they have conquered to live in the new land. The people deemed as having the most to lose or the most influential were moved to Babylon.

The king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar wanted the best of the best to come and serve him.

Daniel 1:3-4

“³ The king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility— ⁴ young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace—and to teach them the Chaldean language and literature.”

Daniel 1:6-7

“⁶ Among them, from the descendants of Judah, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷ The chief official gave them other names: he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.”

Daniel and his friends were teenagers and had been selected to serve their new king. They were strangers in this new land; they did not know the culture, language, geography, and so much more.

1 Chronicles 29:15

“¹⁵ For we live before You as foreigners and temporary residents in Your presence as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.”

Daniel and his buddies were foreigners in Babylon and we as Christians are foreigners in the world we live in.

We are strangers in a foreign land where violence is on the rise. You can’t watch the nightly news without hearing about someone being attacked, murdered, or even beheaded.

We are strangers in a foreign land where greed impacts so much, how business is done, and how people manage their finances.

We are strangers in a foreign land as morals and ethics continue to deteriorate as same sex marriage is becoming more common, people think about how they can get ahead and don’t worry about who they hurt in the process.

We are strangers in a foreign land that looks at results as being more important than people or even how you got those results.

We are strangers in a foreign land where over 1 million babies are murdered each year through abortions.

We are strangers in a foreign land where faith is no longer important, with beliefs that there are many paths to heaven or that we should all co-exist.

These things seem pretty foreign to me.

1 Peter 2:11-12

“¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you. ¹² Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation.”

We are strangers in a foreign land and we need to learn how to live in this foreign land and continue to retain our identity and to be seen as the Children of God. Peter tells us to ‘abstain from fleshly desires’. The reason is two fold, first if we fall to the fleshly desires we will fall into sin which will separate us from God. The second is one of the things we have been talking about for more than a few weeks now. God wants us to be witnesses to the world around us. He wants those trapped in the world to see that we are different, He wants the world to see that God blesses those that Honor Him.

That is what Daniel and his three friends do in Babylon and in doing so give us a wonderful example of what it means to live ‘in’ the world but to not be ‘of’ the world. This morning we are going to look at three examples from Daniel and his friends that show us how to live out God’s agenda in our lives.

Part of the Babylonian strategy to force captured people into their society is to separate them from their people, change their names, and train them in Babylonian culture, history, language, ethics, morals, and religion. We have already seen how they changed their names and how they pulled these four teens aside to train them.

Daniel 1:5

“ The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to serve in the king’s court.”

Part of changing their culture was to give them the best food and wine from the kings table. At first glance it sounds like the king is being a good host. Daniel and his friends believe eating of this food and drinking of the wine would defile their bodies. This was not a political statement or rebellion, they were wanting to stay pure and to honor God.

At first the guard was afraid to allow any deviation from the kings menu out of fear of what would happen to him if they looked malnourished. Daniel proposed to the guard a 10 day trial of them eating only vegetables and drinking only water. After 10 days they would let the guard decide how to proceed after that. God blessed them.

Daniel 1:15-16

“¹⁵ At the end of 10 days they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king’s food. ¹⁶ So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.”

Now this is not the Bible telling us that we should be vegetarians, it is an example of not letting things of the world defile us. See the food and wine from the kings table would have been offered to pagan altars. Daniel and his buddies did not want to eat or drink food or wine that had been offered to idols. To some that is worship and to many it would have been viewed as accepting the idol worship. Daniel and his friends were blessed by God as they continued to live as strangers in Babylon.

Daniel and his friends were concerned about the negative impact of eating food offered to pagan altars would impact their witness. What in our lives can have a negative impact on our witness? Going to a party where people are drinking? Going to a bar to hang out with your friends, even if you are having an iced tea? How about being a gossip, can it have a negative impact on your witness?

There are a lot of things that the culture around us sees as normal that would have a negative impact on our witness. Like Daniel and his buddies we need to avoid these things.

So far God has been blessing Daniel, he interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which led to his promotion to ruler over the province of Babylon and leader over all the other wise men. This has obviously irritated some of the others who may have been around longer or thought they were more deserving. In chapter 3 we find that Nebuchadnezzar builds a 90 foot statue of himself and decrees that all must worship this golden wonder. Some of those who are jealous use this as a chance to attack Daniel’s friends. They remind the king of his decree and point out a few guys who did not bow down.

Daniel 3:11-12

“¹¹ Whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. ¹² There are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men have ignored you, the king; they do not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

Nebuchadnezzar summons Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and gives them a chance to bow down once more but they do not. Instead they speak boldly about the Power of the One True God.

Daniel 3:17-18

“¹⁷ If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. ¹⁸ But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

Talk about having faith! They say plainly that our God can rescue us from the fire and from you Nebuchadnezzar. They had faith that will get you through just about anything that this world can come up with. Think about it for a moment. Do you have enough faith to say that God will deliver you from surgery, financial ruin, relationship problems, cancer, depression, you name it. Do you have enough faith to say that if God does not deliver you from those things that you will be ok? That is faith! They were keeping their eyes on the One True God, we need to keep our sights focused on Jesus Christ.

Daniel’s buddies boldly stood up to the king while having faith that God would protect them. To say the king was angry would be an understatement. He threw the 3 young men into the furnace. The furnace was so hot that those who threw them in were killed in the process.

Daniel 3:24-25

“²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm. He said to his advisers, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound, into the fire?” “Yes, of course, Your Majesty,” they replied to the king. ²⁵ He exclaimed, “Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

The king had 3 thrown in and now they see 4. Every Biblical scholar I have read says this 4^th person was the pre-incarnate of Jesus Christ. This was roughly 600 years before Jesus was born, and here He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. Jesus was with them and they walked out of the fire without a single hair singed.

These guys stood up for their faith and were thrown into the fire, but they were never alone. If you stand up for your faith it can be very hard. You may face ridicule, you may not get invited places, and you may lose friends. Things may seem pretty lonely, but as a child of God you are never alone. Jesus Christ is with you through everything. If you are being treated poorly for your faith in Him, He is with you!

Now that was Daniel’s friends, but we also find in chapter 6 that Daniel had to face a similar situation. The Persians had conquered the Babylonians and Daniel found himself serving a new king. Daniel continues to be blessed by God and is seen as one of the top performers under the new king. This drove the others crazy and they were looking to find a way to trap Daniel. Knowing they would not be able to catch Daniel making a mistake or stealing from the king, they come up with another plan. They came to king Darius and convince him that having all the people pray to him for 30 days would be a wonderful idea. Of course an egocentric king does not take much convincing and he decrees that everyone must pray to him and only him for 30 days or be thrown into the lion’s den.

Daniel knowing that Darius decreed this, still honored the One True God and prayed to God as he always did in front of an open window facing Jerusalem. While the king did not want to do it, he followed the decree and had Daniel thrown in the lion’s den but ran to find out if God protected him at first light.

Daniel 6:20-22

“²⁰ When he reached the den, he cried out in anguish to Daniel. “Daniel, servant of the living God,” the king said, “has your God whom you serve continually been able to rescue you from the lions?” ²¹ Then Daniel spoke with the king: “May the king live forever. ²² My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths. They haven’t hurt me, for I was found innocent before Him. Also, I have not committed a crime against you my king.”

Daniel was faithful to God and God was faithful to Daniel. Daniel and his friends showed the world that being strangers in the world is not a bad thing as long as you have faith in God. We to can live as strangers in the world, with the presence and power of Jesus Christ. With His help we can be ‘in’ the world, but not ‘of’ the world.

Trust God daily to be with you!


Thanks for Reading!

Have Faith like Daniel and his buddies and God will move in your life!

Blessings to All,

Robert