Haggai - Part 4

I think Jill mentioned to you in one of her talks that I went to a conference in the Philippines a couple of years ago that was profoundly significant to me. I really didn't have time to go to this conference. It was Holy Week, the week before Easter, which is always a very busy time for a pastor. But I was prevailed upon to go to this conference, and I'm glad that I did. And at that conference I learned that it is estimated that there are two million pastor leaders in the church around the world, but no more than 100,000 of them have formal theological training. By formal theological training, that was defined as training up to a bachelor's degree. What that means is that 95 percent of those who are in leadership in the church around the world have no formal theological training. Now we're well aware of the fact that for many years there's been a very healthy emphasis on church growth, that there has not necessarily been a balancing emphasis on church health. We know enough about the church to know that the health of the church is very often directly related to the quality of the leadership. Now we're not suggesting for a moment that the quality of the leadership is determined by their academic training, but what we do know is that in many parts of the world there is a burgeoning church where there is totally inadequate leadership. And the result is that we're getting huge numbers of people coming into the church, but they're getting off into all kinds of syncretism, they're getting off into rank heresy, they are moving off into things that are flatly contradictory to the gospel of Christ. And this is a major concern. And this conference that I went to brought together about 300 people from every segment of the church concerned about this and asking, what can we do in order that we might establish a network of non-formal training for people in leadership of the church? And I was so moved by this that I decided that probably I should be doing something about it. The church that I have been the senior pastor of for the last 30 years has 23 pastors on staff. I went from our church to Zambia and ministered to a denomination there where they had 20 pastors for the whole of the denomination, none of whom had any formal theological training at all. It seemed to me that there was a decided imbalance here. And so Jill and I have felt a new calling at this advanced age to move into a new direction. And our church strongly affirmed us in it and said, All right, if you won't be our senior pastor anymore, you will be our ministers at large. So we continue on the staff. My former senior associate was immediately given the responsibility to be the senior pastor, and Jill and I are now members of his staff. And our concern is that we might be as good members of his staff as he was of ours. Where are we going? Well, on Sunday we head for Siberia, and then from Siberia we'll be going to other areas of Russia. Then we'll be back in another difficult part of the world, Northern Ireland. And then from there I go to India, and then from India back to Canada, and then from Canada to the Czech Republic, and from the Czech Republic to Ecuador, and from Ecuador to the United States of America, and from the United States of America to Dubai, and from Dubai to Jordan, and then I'm going to collapse into bed. Well, most of us would have collapsed long before the end of that. Let's stand as we pray together. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. Lord, we thank you that throughout the world you, the creator and sustainer, are at work to build your kingdom through your church. And we thank you for those whom you call to engage in this ministry, not only to see the church grow, but to see it become healthy. And Father, for this ministry that you've called Stuart and Jill into, we pray your gracious hand of blessing upon them, for the power of your spirit to enable them physically and spiritually to carry out this ministry with effectiveness and with great result. Father, thank you for allowing them to be here with us. Thank you for this convention time. Thank you for each other. Thank you for the fellowship that we've shared. Send us out to continue to serve you in this world. We pray in the name of Christ our Lord, amen. And so we sing a song of vision, a song which looks to the future and seeks God's grace as we journey on. Be thou my vision. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Naught be all else to me, save that thou art in the day and in the sleep. And be thou my light, thou my soul's shelter, and all my life's hour. Through the world's grace, through all my days, thy treasure come on. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Please be seated and Anna Ratliff will bring the scripture reading and Stuart will bring the exposition. We continue our readings from Haggai chapter 2 and from verse 20 to the end of the chapter. Haggai chapter 2 and verse 20. The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the 24th day of the month. Tell Sarababel, governor of Judah, that I will shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers. Horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother. On that day, declares the Lord Almighty, I will take you, my servant Sarababel, son of Sheatiel, declares the Lord. And I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord Almighty. Amen. Good morning once again. Thank you for coming and thank you radio listeners for tuning in. At least that is a by faith statement. We trust that you tuned in. Now we come to our fourth and final time of study in the prophecy of Haggai. We have noticed that Haggai is commissioned by the Lord Almighty to give four messages to the returned exiles whose task it is to rebuild the temple in devastated Jerusalem after the 70 years of exile. First of all, we noticed in chapter 1 there was a message of challenge. Then secondly, we noticed there was a message of encouragement. Yesterday we noted there was a message of instruction. And today we look at the fourth and final message, the message of assurance. You will notice that this message is specifically directed to Sarababel. Sarababel had been given the responsibility of overseeing, along with Joshua the high priest, the reconstruction project. He was in a position of leadership. The other messages seem to be more general, addressed to all the people. This one is particularly focused on the one who is in leadership. Sometimes we expect a lot of our leaders and don't always recognize how much they need our support and encouragement. One of my favorite expressions is, That's Proverbs 32, verse 1. One of my favorite Proverbs. And it's good to see that the Lord is particularly concerned about the well-being of Sarababel. One has to wonder if at this time, with all the ups and downs that they've been going through, one has to wonder if Sarababel sometimes, when he went home in the evening, sat down and thought to himself, Am I really doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Is there really any point to all this? It's such a struggle. There are so many ups and downs. We seem to take one step forward and two steps back. Is it really worth it? I was a banker. I started out as a banker and then I found myself in the ministry. And there have been occasional days in the ministry that I've gone home in the evening and asked those kind of questions and wondered whether I wouldn't have been better off in the bank, earning an honest living. I mean, by now, I would have been retired with a pension, living in a little whitewash cottage on the south coast, pruning roses. How boring. Am I glad I was rescued from that. But I can empathize with the Christian leader who sometimes is discouraged, sometimes wonders if he is on the right track. And I rather suspect that that was the case with Zerubbabel here. Why? You will notice that there were two occasions on the same day in which Haggai was instructed to bring a message. The first message, of course, we looked at yesterday on December the 18th at 5.20. That came at 8 o'clock in the morning, but at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, this is the revised version, 3 o'clock in the afternoon, another message comes, and this time we'll note it is for Zerubbabel. Now, it's a message of assurance. Yes, Zerubbabel, you are on the right track. Yes, Zerubbabel, what you're doing is worthwhile. Yes, Zerubbabel, keep on keeping on. That's the essence of the message. Now, I want you to see how this message of reassurance falls out in three different ways. I want you to see, first of all, how the message of reassurance that comes through Haggai from the Lord to Zerubbabel is a reassuring message regarding the immediate future. But as we look into this message, I think it becomes very, very obvious very quickly that the Lord is saying more than just appears on the surface concerning the immediate future of Zerubbabel. When you look into the prophetic statements, you'll often find an immediate fulfillment, but then there is hidden in this immediate fulfillment a sense of an ultimate fulfillment. And sometimes, in between those two, we get a feel for what I would call, for want of a better term, an intermediate fulfillment. And so here are your three points for this morning. A reassuring message regarding the immediate future, a reassuring message regarding the intermediate future, and a reassuring message regarding the ultimate future. Now, I want to cheat a little bit now and move you into Zechariah. Zechariah is the first on the right from Haggai. Very easy to find. The reason that we're going to move into Zechariah is if you look in chapter 1, verse 1, you will read the following words. In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, etc., etc. Now notice the date there. We are looking in Haggai at a message that came a second time on the 24th day of the ninth month. What does that tell us? It tells us that Zechariah and Haggai were contemporaries. Isn't it interesting that God had sent two prophets there at the same time? And they are working in tandem. There's good teamwork going on here. And so, round about the time that Haggai is giving his message from the Lord to Zerubbabel, in chapter 4 of Zechariah, we see that Zechariah is bringing a message from the Lord to Zerubbabel too. And you'll notice that their styles are very different. By the way, perhaps the classic definition of preaching is that preaching is the communication of truth through personality. Now, both those things are important. Clearly, the truth is of prime importance, but the personality is not unimportant. It is the truth that is significant, but the personality is not insignificant. And therefore, we need to allow for the fact that as long as the truth is coming through clearly, it is perfectly possible for it to be presented in a wide variety of ways, because God made us, fortunately, all different. Just a little word of encouragement here. Because sometimes we tend to compare preachers. Well, I like him, but I don't like him. Well, she this, but her that. When in actual fact, we should be looking for the truth and allowing for the truth to come through a variety of personalities. Now, you'll see immediately what I mean when I read to you from Zechariah chapter 4. For Zechariah is one of these creative people. He is, in the fullest sense of the word, a visionary. And if Haggai is pretty straightforward, well, relatively straightforward in what he says, Zechariah is much more complex. And we really struggle at times to understand what he is saying. Let me speak to you then about the vision that Zechariah has, which he is instructed to give to Zerubbabel. This is what he said. The angel who talked with me returned and wakened me as a man is wakened from his sleep. He asked me, What do you see? I answered, I see a gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it with seven channels to the lights. Also, there are two olive trees by it on the right of the bowl and the other on its left. I asked the angel who talked with me, What are these, my Lord? And he answered, Do you not know what these are? No, my Lord, I replied. So he said to me, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord Almighty. What are you, almighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of God bless it, God bless it. Then the word of the Lord came to me. The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple. His hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These seven are the eyes of the Lord which reigns throughout the earth. Then I asked the angel, What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand? Again I asked him, What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil? He replied, Don't you know? And I said, No, I don't. And I told you that a few verses earlier. So he said, These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth. All right, there's the vision. And you'll notice that this vision is causing some consternation to Zechariah. And the angel is not very forthcoming in explaining it to him. But it is very obvious that this vision in some way is to be directed as a message to our friend Zerubbabel round about the time that Haggai is bringing his fourth message to Zerubbabel. Notice that the message comes in the form of a vision about a lampstand. It is a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top, seven lights on it with seven channels to the lights. All right. First of all, the lampstand. This figures largely in the history of Israel. This idea of the lampstand. When the tabernacle was built a prominent feature was the lampstand. When Solomon's temple was built the prominent features, plural, were the lampstands. And now we see the tremendous emphasis on the lampstand in John's vision in the book of Revelation. What does this speak about? It speaks in the tabernacle and the temple and in John's great vision in the book of Revelation of the presence and the glory of God. What is resting heavily on the heart of Zerubbabel at this time? Rebuilding the temple in order that in a ritualistic and symbolic way the glory of the Lord might return to Jerusalem. If you like, the lampstand will once again blaze brightly and the presence and the glory of the Lord will be seen. He knows that that is what it is all about. He knows in his heart that that is the task before him. You've heard the story of the old gentleman who walked past a building site. And as he walked past the building site he said to one of the workmen there, What exactly are you doing? He said, Well, what does it look as if I'm doing? I've got a pile of stones here. I'm shoveling them into my wheelbarrow and I'm pushing them a hundred feet and I'm dumping them over there. That's what I'm doing. And he went to the second man and he said, What are you doing here? He said, I'm earning a living, aren't I? I'm putting clothes on my children's back and I'm putting a roof over their head and I'm putting food on the table. And he went to the third man on the same building site and he said, What are you doing? And he said, I'm building a cathedral. And they're all doing exactly the same thing but they all have an entirely different vision. And as far as the rubble is concerned he probably went home at night thinking how in the world am I going to get that labor force working together? Or perhaps he was thinking to himself, I'm short of bricks right now. How in the world am I going to get enough to do the job? But what the Lord is saying to him is the rubble, we're interested in the glory of the Lord being restored, aren't we? We're building a temple here, aren't we? But we're not just putting up an edifice. We are doing something here for the glory of God. The lampstand, the glory is what it's all about. Now, we have a little problem here understanding exactly what this lampstand looked like. There are those who say it had seven lamps on it. There are those who say it had seven, seven lamps on it. That is not 77, that is 49 lamps on it. And some people would probably form denominations on this. They have been formed on less on occasion. We will leave that because this is an interesting interdenominational event. Now, notice, secondly, alongside this lampstand are two olive trees. As far as the olive tree go, it's not of particular significance to us in our culture at this time. In ancient Israel, the olive tree was of prime significance. There's a story that Jotham told, recorded for us in Judge chapter 9. It's a not very complimentary story about the kings that they've got at that particular time. And because it's not very complimentary, he puts it in sort of parabolic form. And this is the story that Jotham tells. He says that the trees of the forest wanted a king. So they went to the olive tree, number one choice, and he said no. So they went to the fig tree, and he said no. So they went to the vine, and he said no. So they finished up with a thorn bush. And that's his comment on the king they've got at that particular time. And they probably, if anybody interpreted it properly, they'd have had his head for it. The point, is this. In the thinking of Israel, what was number one tree? Answer? Olive. Why was the very root and the very core of their existence, the very root and the core of their resources? They used the olive for cooking oil. They used it for cosmetics. They used it for fuel. They used it for perfume. They used it as a means of commerce. They used it in their religious ritual. They bathed their sacrifices in it. And in paramount importance, when people were set aside by the Lord, they were anointed with the oil. If you wanted to understand Israel culture in those days, wherever you looked, you would see that the olive tree was the key. It was the resource. Now, here's your vision. If the glory of the Lord is going to be restored here, and that's what it's all about, Zerubbabel, you're going to need resources. And there are two resources here, one on each side. And from these two resources, we are going to discover that there is a mighty flow of oil, which will be the key to the blazing of the lamp and the glory of the Lord being restored. Question now, and this is what Zechariah is trying to figure out, and this is what the angel apparently is not very quick to interpret for him. Who are these olive trees? Well, verse 14, eventually the angel gets around to saying, these are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth. Now, the word anointed there could be translated the well-oiled ones. So there is a, and that could be misunderstood, but particularly in contemporary English, but we will not explore that right now. The point, however, is this, that when it says that they are the well-oiled ones, this is a reference to the use of the oil in the anointing of those whom God has set apart for himself. So this is what the vision is saying. The glory of the Lord will shine forth. It's going to happen. And two of the keys to it happening are two anointed people whom God has established in this particular place. And the fact that they have become powerful resources in the outworking of God's purposes here is directly attributable to the fact that they are anointed ones. The oil has been poured on them, symbolizing, first of all, that they have been set apart by the Lord for himself, and, secondly, symbolizing the fact that in the pouring on of the oil, there is the empowering of the spirit. When we talk about the anointing of the oil, or the anointing of the spirit, we're talking about being set apart for his service, and empowered by the spirit for the service. It would be pointless empowering people by the spirit if they weren't set apart for service. It would be useless setting them apart for service if they were not empowered by the spirit. The two are incorporated in these two well-oiled people. Now, because these anointed ones stand alongside the blazing torch, the blazing lamp, the oil is flowing through them, the golden oil. This is not a lovely expression. The golden oil is flowing through them. What is that? That is the overflow of the spirit that has been given to them. You say, gee, you have to be pretty fanciful to interpret this, haven't you? You need a vivid imagination. Well, to some extent you do, but you'll notice that in the middle of this vision there are some oracles of God. And when we look at the oracles of God, they give us quite clearly the key to the vision that has been addressed to Zerubbabel. Verse six. So he said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord almighty. Where in the world did we get the idea that the oil is speaking of the spirit? Well, from this statement here. The oracle that is included in the vision. What is the message that is coming through loudly and clearly? It is this. The glory of the Lord will shine. The work will be completed, Zerubbabel. And God has anointed two people to give the lead to this. There are going to be great resources for this happening. The key to them being resources is the anointing that they have from the Lord. They've been set apart. They have been empowered. And guess who these two are? Well, Zerubbabel, we'll let you guess who the other one is, but one of them is you. You, Zerubbabel, are the anointed of the Lord. You, Zerubbabel, are the one on whom the Spirit rests, through whom the Spirit works, and it is not by might, and it is not by power, but it is by my Spirit that the work will be done. So, Zerubbabel has gone back home at night and he's thinking to himself, boy, we've got a labor problem here. Oh, dear, I don't know what to do. We're short of resources here. Oh, I don't know. I wish we could get a new program over there. Oh, if only I could get some people to help me out. Oh, know to do. don't Oh, what to do. Oh, what to do. Oh, to do. Oh, you." What a word of encouragement, what a word of assurance for dear old Zerubbabel. But read on. Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. What are you, almighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. What is that saying to Zerubbabel? Got any mountainous problems in front of you? Oh, have I got problems. Got any insurmountable situations looming over you? Oh, are they looming? Well, I want you to know something. Listen to this. This is what the Lord says. I will move any mountain that stands in the way of the accomplishing of my eternal purposes. You can spend your time concentrating on the mountains, Zerubbabel, and you can spend your time worrying about how you're going to shift this mountain. And it does not mean for a minute that you should not be responsible in dealing with the issues confronting you, but the simple fact of the matter is this. In the end, it isn't by might and it isn't by power, it's by my Spirit, and in the end you aren't the earth mover. The Lord himself will level the mountains and you will begin to discover the path of His moving in the timing of His choice. Do you need a word of assurance, Zerubbabel? Well, there you are. You've got it. But read on. What are you, almighty mountain? Because, Zerubbabel, you will become level ground. Then He, that is Zerubbabel, will bring out the capstone to shout, God bless it, God bless it. And the word of the Lord came to me, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple. His hands will also complete it. Zerubbabel, I want you to know something. I use people just like you. The capstone will be in place one day, and guess what? You will be the one who puts it there. You started the job, you will finish the job. It's not by might, it's not by power, it's by my Spirit. The mountains are there, you won't move them, I'll move them. I anointed you, I appointed you, you started it, you're going to finish it. Got it, Zerubbabel? A word of assurance about the immediate future. Then we come up with this wonderful little statement, verse 10. Who despises the day of small things, Zerubbabel? Zerubbabel says, just about everybody around here. Oh Lord, you should just listen to them. I don't know if you've been listening in at night. As they sit around the campfire, all the old timers are saying, they're called at the temple when I was a boy. They go on and on, and the younger people are rolling their eyes in the back of their heads and they're saying, oh these old grumps, and they're all arguing among themselves, and they're just saying, this won't amount to anything, we'll never get this thing done, we've tried it and it didn't work before, they built a temple and they knocked it down, they'll knock this thing down if we ever get it up. Just your normal British evangelical. And the Lord says, Zerubbabel, well whatever you do, don't join those old miseries. Whatever you do, don't settle for those down in the mouth people who despise the day of small things, and I'll tell you why the Lord wants to get that message across to His people in all ages. Do you know why He wants to get it across? Because everything big that God has done, He started out small. Everything big that God has ever done, He started out small. If I had time, and I don't have time, I could give you lots and lots and lots of stories of things that started in the most insignificant and promising way that under God, under His anointing, as His Spirit worked, have grown and grown and grown. Never, never despise the small things if God's Spirit is at work in them. Do you need a word of assurance, Zerubbabel? Well, you've got it. Oh, by the way, there's another word I want for you here, Zerubbabel, at the end of verse 10. Now, in the New International Version, this sentence is in parentheses, and the reason for that is, they didn't know what to do with it. And it's very difficult to know how it fits. But this is what it says, these seven are the eyes of the Lord which reigns throughout the earth. Which seven? Well, the only seven that we've got are these seven channels and these seven lamps. And so it's difficult to understand what is meant by this, except there is a very, very clear statement, and it is this, that the Lord is keeping His eye on His work. He is thoroughly acquainted with what needs to be done. He knows exactly what the shortages are. He is fully conversant with the problems. He knows exactly what He's going to do. And He is supervising the work. The eyes of the Lord are ranging throughout the earth. Zerubbabel, He has got you in His sight. Zerubbabel, get up man, go to work, and get a sense that you're not just hauling bricks, and you're not just earning a living, you're building a cathedral. And you are part of something great and grand and glorious, and rejoice in it, and be assured that you're on the right track. Do you think some of you could go back and take that message to the vicar? Do you think it might help him? Do you think you could go back to some of your elders who sometimes wonder what's the point? Trying so hard to make ends meet, trying just to keep the doors open, can't fix that reeky loof. Did you hear what I said then? We can't fix that reeky loof. Good thing I was listening, isn't it? And let me tell you something, you get a reeky loof, you have got a major problem. There's the reassuring message regarding the immediate future for Zechariah. Now let's go to Haggai. Now we look at a further message of reassurance as far as Haggai is concerned. You'll notice that Haggai says to Zerubbabel that the day is coming when the Lord will shake the heavens and the earth. Royal thrones are going to be overthrown. The power of foreign kingdoms will be thrown. There's going to be all kinds of conflict and all kinds of tremendous upheaval—political, military, international upheaval. Now some people tried to look for specific events that happened round about this time as far as Assyria, as far as Babylon, as far as Persia, and eventually as far as Greece was concerned for this great Persian empire eventually was overthrown by Alexander the Great. And then Alexander the Great got his comeuppance by the Romans. And then of course the Romans got their comeuppance by the Huns and the Goths. And then they got their comeuppance and eventually we've got one superpower after the other. There was one called the Soviet Union not long ago and they got their comeuppance. And do you get a pattern here? Do you get an idea here that superpower follows superpower and now it's the United States or America and looming on the horizon is what? China. China. And nobody knows what's going to happen except the word of the Lord keeps coming through and it is this. There will be the great overthrow of kingdoms. There will be the great overthrow of empires. There will be the great overthrow of one nation after another. But I will have my day, says the Lord. What's going to happen on your day, Lord? Verse 23. On that day, declares the Lord Almighty, I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord Almighty. Now I want to suggest to you that this clearly is a message of assurance for Zerubbabel for the immediate future, but clearly it goes beyond—well, clearly to me anyway—it goes beyond that into what I would call the intermediate future. In other words, the time after Zerubbabel's immediate future before the ultimate consummation of all things. I guess like where we're living right now. What's this about the signet ring? Well, I'm glad you asked. The significance of the signet ring here. The signet ring is mentioned on a number of occasions in the Old Testament. When you want to understand something in the Old Testament, you compare Scripture with Scripture. That's one of the ways in which we understand what is going on. You remember Ahab and his wife Jezebel. You remember Jezebel cast covetous eyes on a little piece of real estate. They'd got an enormous amount of real estate, but there was a little piece they didn't have. It belonged to a gentleman called Naboth, and he had a vineyard there, and she wanted that vineyard. And she decided to use all kinds of suit of furies to get it, and she signed an edict that purported to come from the king. It didn't come from the king. Why did people think it came from the king? And the answer is, she got his signet ring, and she impressed the seal of his signet ring on this statement that was broadcast, which finished up with her getting Naboth's vineyard. And the point of the signet ring was, it symbolized the king's authority. It symbolized the king's authority. You remember when Daniel got into trouble with the king, and his trouble was thrown into the lion's den, and they sealed the lion's den so that nobody could let him out on pain of death? How did they know that? They sealed it with the king's signet ring. You remember Esther, the beauty queen, who did a wonderful thing and basically saved her nation? And the king was so taken with her that he issued an edict that could not be revoked concerning the protection and the well-being of the Jews. It's a wonderful story. How did everybody know that this was from the king? He sealed it with his signet ring. Do you get the picture here? The signet ring is the symbol of the king's authority. Now, Zerubbabel, I will make you like my signet ring. You, Zerubbabel, are actually a member of a royal line. You wouldn't think so, because right now you're overseeing a building project in a podunk little place that's just burned and desolate and just a disaster area. Do you know what podunk is? No, it's an Americanism, and it slipped out, and I'm forgetting which language I'm speaking. I don't know what it means either, so let's move right on. Here he is. He's a member of the royal line. But you see, something terrible has happened to the royal line. You remember the promise that God had made to David? The promise that God had made to David was that he was going to establish his throne forever. You remember that when the announcement of Jesus' birth was given, that part of the announcement was that he would sit on the throne of his father, David? If you want to have some light summer reading sometime, read the genealogies in Matthew and Luke. You know, so-and-so begat so-and-so, begat so-and-so, begat so-and-so, and wonder at all the begatting that was going on in those days. I love the King James Version, the Authorized Version. One little part of it says, Salmon begat booze. That's where the expression, to drink like a fish, originated. If you read, if you read carefully through those genealogies, you know what you'll discover? You will discover the rubber bell is there in the genealogy of Jesus. What is happening here? This is what was happening. Jeremiah spoke the word of the Lord to King Jehoiakim at the overthrow of Jerusalem. And he said, I have removed your signet ring. This great kingly dynasty from David that is supposed to be an eternal kingdom is disrupted with Jehoiakim. It looks as if all the plans of God have come screeching to a halt. But now the word of the Lord comes back to Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel, I will make you like my signet ring. This kingdom will be restored. I don't know if you're interested in this, but I find this fascinating. In a very convoluted way, Zerubbabel was the grandson of Jehoiakim. Convoluted? Yes. I'll tell you how convoluted it was. Jehoiakim had five sons. Oh, that looks good to keep the kingly line going. Just one minor problem. They were all eunuchs. Well, that's a problem. The line of David is now threatened. However, he adopted seven sons of Neri. His eldest son was Shealtiel. Shealtiel was childless. Oh, shucks. But he died. Oh, that's even worse. So everything is coming screeching to another halt. But according to the law of levirate marriage, which meant that if a husband dies, the brother has children in the name of the husband by the widow. You remember? Sounds a bit odd to us. Well, along comes Podiah. And Podiah, through a levirate marriage, with the wife of Shealtiel, who died childless, who was the adopted son because the real sons were all eunuchs, guess who that is? Zerubbabel. So God will work out His purposes. It might be a little complicated. We might get into a bit of a tangle on the way, but the good news is this. You are my signet ring. What's the point of all this? The point of all this is simply that God has promised in the intermediate future that His kingdom will go on. And the king came. And when the king came, he started to announce. He came preaching. He was a preaching king. He was a kingly preacher. And do you know how he started out his first message? Repent for the kingdom. And then he gave his sermon on the mount. And he said, blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom. And his men said to him, would you teach us to pray? And he said, sure. When you pray, pray, thy kingdom come. And when he cast out some demons and showed that he was more powerful than all the kingdom of the darkness, he said, you see what I just did? The kingdom has come. And Paul picks up on this theme. And he looks into the ultimate future. And he says the day is coming when everything will be subjected to Christ. And Christ will be seen to be King of kings and Lord of lords. And when everything is subjected to Him, He will then turn and subject Himself to the Father and He will deliver the kingdom to the Father. What are we talking about here? We're talking about a kingdom that was established in the mind of God before eternity, came to fruition in David. In the seed of David, our Lord Jesus, the spiritual kingdom was established. And into this kingdom, men and women and boys and girls are being gathered from out of every kindred and tongue and tribe and nation. And His kingdom will come. And now we're moving through the intermediate future into the ultimate future. For we know the end of the story. And as we know the end of the story, we say to ourselves, gee, when do you look back through these ancient prophecies, you can begin to see how it wasn't an accident that God was at work, moving relentlessly, inexorably towards the consummation of His great and glorious purposes. And what does that produce in your heart? A sense of, tell me, assurance. A sense of assurance. Why? A sense of assurance that God is in control. Now it's time to stop. I want you to notice some other things here. This is your homework, if it rains this afternoon. I want you to notice other things here that we haven't even had time to touch, or we probably had the time and I didn't use it properly. This is what I want you to notice, that when God talks to Zerubbabel, He not only calls him My signet ring, He calls him My servant, and He calls him My chosen one. Now take that idea of the signet, that idea of the chosen, that idea of the servant, relate it to what the prophet Isaiah had been saying, that these exiles had been feeding on. Look at what is happening in the mind of Isaiah as he looks down through the century, not only to the one who is the king of kings, but who is the chosen one and the servant, and what do you get? You get a picture from one angle after the other of the great Messiah who will come and build His kingdom. Not only that, you get this picture of the lampstand that is talking about the temple of God and the glory of God. And as you look at what Paul has to say, do you know what you discover? That He is now telling us that you and I are the temple, that the Spirit of God reigns in us in order that the brilliance of the glory might be seen. In other words, you could go on and on and on and on. What a shame it is that the Keswick Convection only lasts one week. Let's pray. So Lord, we started out a few days ago looking into the book of Haggai, and some of us were saying, Haggai who? And some of us were saying, why are we spending time looking at a failed building project 2,500 years ago? And I trust that now we know why we looked into it, because in it we found a message of challenge. Why are you saying it isn't time to do the Lord's work when you have lots of time to look after the minute details of your own lives? And there was a message of encouragement for us there, a message of encouragement that you are with us. And there was a message of instruction for us there too, Lord, an instruction that holiness is not contagious, but defilement is, and it is possible for us externally to be involved in the work of the Lord and internally to have hearts that are far from you, and we have a defiling effect on what is being done. Then there is a message of assurance for us, that simple, basic, fundamental message of assurance is this, that by your Spirit you will take the small things, by your power you will remove the mountains, and when you start something, you finish it, and you use very ordinary people anointed with an extraordinary Spirit, and that your purposes were ordained before the foundation of the world and will find their consummation in the eternity to come. They are all centered in Jesus, and we know the story, and we rejoice in it, and we would like to go out and be that lampstand shining brightly in the darkest places for your great glory and for other people's greater good. So Lord, take the message of Haggai to our hearts. Make it make sense. In Jesus' name, amen.