When God Rebuilds... Ezra-Nehemiah Part 13 Haggai 1:1-15 Joining God's Work

 April 21^st, 2024

From The Series: When God Rebuilds…

Part 13 Joining God’s Work

Haggai 1:1-15

Mountain View Evangelical Missionary Church

It was on September 1, 520 BC, that Haggai delivered this message. Haggai was the first prophet that God had raised after the exile. Sixteen years had passed since the laying of the foundation, and the temple lay unfinished. This message was delivered to the two leaders of the nation, Zerubbabel and Joshua, the civil ruler and the religious leader. Haggai does not waste any time; he gets right to the point of his message: “The people are making excuses and neglecting God’s house. But it is time to get to work and finish the house of God.”

If the people of God had had firm confidence in the assistance of God, or if the Jews had taken real pleasure in the continuation of the reconstruction of the Temple, then there would have been little need for the LORD to raise prophets such as Haggai or Zechariah. Over the next three messages that we will go through together, we will examine what God had to say to His people through the words of these two prophets.

Through Haggai, God points out their selfishness: they had built their own houses, but they said it was not time to build God’s house. In other words, they were putting themselves ahead of the Lord. Some of the Jews even had “paneled houses,” which would have been luxuries in that day. This sin is with us today, putting our own desires ahead of the will of the Lord. How easy it is to make excuses for not doing God’s work! The weather is too bad to go visiting or to attend church, but not too bad for a hunting trip or a shopping spree. People will sit through a doubleheader baseball game and never complain, yet they start to fidget if a church service runs five minutes overtime.

Haggai warns us that we actually lose out when we put ourselves ahead of God. In 1:6 he tells us that our earnings vanish and our possessions fail to last when God is left out. God held back the rain (v. 10), and for this reason, the crops failed (v. 11). After all, the Jews knew God’s promise that He would bless their land if they honored Him, but they did not trust His Word, so they lost the blessing. We will examine these promises in a few moments.

The message was received with real conviction (vv. 12–15), and the leaders became stirred to do God’s will. “I am with you,” promised the Lord. “I will be glorified.” We will notice that the whole enterprise was a spiritual venture and not merely a work of the flesh. God’s people rose up and put the Lord first in their lives. A spiritual venture that was successful. After sixteen stalled years, Haggai made this proclamation to the people in 520 BC and approximately five years later, the Temple was completed and dedicated.

The people are making excuses and neglecting God’s house. But it is time to get to work and finish the “house of God”.

READ HAGGAI 1:1-15

PRAY

The title of this morning’s message is “Joining God’s Work”. This is an important concept for us to grasp, “God’s Work”. Our theology and understanding of the Sovereignty of God will determine how we interpret this phrase, “God’s Work”. On the one hand, we can think of this as something that God has determined for us to do. Some orders have come down from on-high to the front-line workers for them to accomplish on their own. A work that was set apart for them to complete for the sake of the Kingdom.

Another way of looking at the phrase, “Joining God’s Work” is to consider that God is at work, that He is the driving factor behind the events, and that the LORD is reaching out to us and giving us the privilege of joining Him at what He is already at work in.

I was interested in listening to some of the conversations that were happening yesterday at the Men’s breakfast. A couple of the guys were sharing their experiences of their parents who were missionaries recalling the fact that their parents were “called” to the mission field. Some people refer to being called to the ministry. Churches use the terminology that they “called” a pastor. I feel that God has called me here to Mountain View Church.

What I am interested in having us consider, when we use the term “called”, are we using that term as in the person was called as in, “hired to do a job set out for them by God”, or are they considering that they are joining God in the tasks that He is already at work in.

Do you understand what I am trying to convey here? Are we called, or hired and then given a set of tasks to complete independently, on our own, apart from God for His Kingdom? Or, do we understand that God is already at work and He is bidding us to come and join Him? God is calling us to come and join Him in the work that He is completing presently.

I want us to look at this passage this morning and consider the three main points that are covered in the passage, but I also want us to note who is doing the actions that are described here. Is it the people described in the passage that are responsible for the work being completed, or, is God the moving force, and He is completing His goals and bidding us to join Him?

Look again at verse 1, as I said in the introduction, we can determine the exact day in history when Haggai first spoke to the people of Jerusalem as a prophet of God. It was on September 1, 520 BC, that Haggai delivered this message. Four times in this first chapter, the author lets us know that Haggai was a prophet of God.

“¹In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest:” Let’s stop here for a moment, in the second year of King Darius, which we can trace to be the year 520 BC and the first day of the sixth month of the Hebrew lunar calendar would, for that year, translate to September 1^st. The word of the LORD, or a prophecy from God came to man through one of His chosen prophets a man known as Haggai.

Little can be confirmed about the life of Haggai. Some extra-biblical sources from the end of the fourth century AD had Haggai listed as an angel who appeared in human form. This incorrect thought stemmed from a mistranslation of Chapter 1 verse 13, where the term “messenger” was incorrectly interpreted by Jerome of Alexandria as “angel”.

Who exactly Haggai was, is not relevant to the fact that he was indeed a prophet of God. We see this prophecy, this warning, this encouragement from God was directed at both the civil and spiritual leadership of Jerusalem. This warning was drawing their attention to the dramatic conflict that was going on in their midst.

Culture and their concern for their personal comfort had taken the eyes of the faithful off of God’s house and they had instead placed their attention on their own homes. Look at verse 4 where God asks’ “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Haggai is referring of course to the temple. The temple had been sitting in incomplete ruin while the people said “The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD’s house”.

As I said earlier, if the people of God had had firm confidence in the assistance of God, or if the Jews had taken real pleasure in the continuation of the reconstruction of the Temple, then there would have been little need for the LORD to raise a prophet such as Haggai. After Haggai delivered his words of warning to those in Jerusalem, two months later, God raised Zechariah to deliver more words of judgment and encouragement to the faithful.

Are we guilty of the same thing as the people of Jerusalem? Are we saying that “the time is not yet right” for us to join God in the work that He is doing in this community? Are we saying, “Not now LORD, I’m busy”? Are we thinking, I have a holiday coming up, or I’ve not yet finished working on my house, or my degree, or working on improving myself before I can join God in His work?

Are we thinking that my plans for this church are not what God has planned, so I’m not going to participate and make His plans a reality? This point of view is the determining difference between joining God at work and being hired to work. There is a difference in the level of commitment and a difference in obedience to God's instructions. Jesus made the comparison between the two in John 10:12-13 when He said…

“¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.”

Look at what Jesus is illustrating here. Using the metaphor of a hired hand versus a Shepherd, when the going gets a little dangerous, or when life suddenly exposes the difficulty in the assigned task, the uncommitted hired hand abandons his post and runs away. The hireling sees a wolf and says, “Later, I’m out of here, I didn’t sign up for this”.

This level of obedience and commitment to God’s instructions are indicators of the level of heart one has for Kingdom work. Don’t misunderstand me here, the Bible is not just referring to those who are paid to do Kingdom work. As a matter of fact, in the passage we just read, Jesus is referring to a hired worker. One who was just in it for the money.

Jesus was not paid for any of the work that He did. Churches and other ministries around the world thrive through the efforts of countless volunteers. There are many ministry leaders in this church here, that are doing valuable unpaid work for God. But, are we recognizing the work that God is also doing among us? Are we recognizing the work that the Holy Spirit is doing among us? I am already seeing God at work in several of you, and I am excited about the changes that some of you are experiencing. I know the Spirit is also at work in the lives of others in the community, and we are actively praying for those people and God’s work in their lives.

We had three new faces at the men’s breakfast yesterday, and two of those were unchurched men. I received a call from one of the men later in the evening thanking me for the invitation and he expressed how the event was nothing like he had expected and that the next time we have a men’s breakfast he plans on returning and bringing a couple of more friends. God is using that breakfast to make connections in the community.

In the passage from John, that I just referred to, Jesus goes on to say that He is the Good Shepherd, and He lays down His life for His sheep. “¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Then, after explaining to the Jews who were present that Jesus was going to include other sheep that were not part of the original flock, (those would be the Gentiles), Jesus carries on and gives this amazing statement:

^“17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.” What is Jesus saying here when He describes Himself as a Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep?

Of course, we now know that Jesus is speaking of the atoning work that He did on the cross for us. The substitutionary atoning work where Jesus paid the sin debt that we owed God the Father, for our rebellion. You know, it is so easy to not accept the responsibility on a personal level for Jesus being on the Cross.

Sometimes we use general terms to deflect the personal aspect of the work that Jesus did on our behalf. We talk about “mankind”, “all the world”, or “once for all” never bringing the responsibility down to a personal level. It was my sin that held Jesus there on the Cross. It was your sin that held Him there. When we avoid the personal aspect of the responsibility for our sin, then we often avoid the personal relationship that Christ calls us to have with Him.

And that is exactly what Jesus is calling us to, is a personal…relationship with Him. The unchurched guy I was speaking with last night, said he wasn’t into religion. I said, great neither am I. I am into a relationship with Jesus. I don’t want to observe rites and rituals in a service, I want to hear from my King and become inspired enough by His Spirit to get involved and join Him in His work.

This is exactly the mindset behind my prayer for God to reveal what He is doing in the lives of others to us and allow us to come alongside those individuals and work with our King to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Are you willing to join your King in this work? Are you willing to spread the Good News to your lost friends, family, and neighbors and tell them about Jesus?

Here is more evidence of God and His Spirit at work in this church. This occurred during prayer time at the men’s group. Without going into too many details, prayers were offered up to God requesting that He give us men in that group the courage and boldness to share the Gospel with the lost. We prayed for opportunities to share with others the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How are you doing with that, men? I will tell you, that Jesus presented me an opportunity with the phone call last night and I shared a little bit of my story and a bit of Marilyn’s testimony as well. We also made plans to get together, the man and his wife, and Marilyn and I to have dinner together and talk some more.

When we are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and we remain sensitive and alert for the opportunities that God will present to us, and if we earnestly pray for God to help, He is faithful and He will give us the opportunity to love others with the Good News.

Speaking of opportunities, you know, in our bi-weekly Bible study that we have with the young adults, we are going through the Gospel of Mark and Jesus makes an interesting promise in the Gospel of Mark.

In Mark 13:11 Jesus makes this promise of assistance from the Spirit to the apostles when they are arrested for doing God’s work, “¹¹ Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” Jesus is referring here specifically to being arrested for the sake of the Gospel. But, you know what, I think the same promise is available to us when we are spreading the Gospel as well. You don’t have to be a biblical scholar to be able to share Jesus with others. All you have to do is share what Jesus is doing in your life. When you genuinely do that, and people can see the peace surrounding you, the Gospel will be very attractive to those who know no peace.

Let’s turn back to Haggai and examine the passage to see where else God was at work in the lives of the faithful living in Jerusalem. After pointing out that they had neglected the work of the temple for the sake of their luxuries. Look at what God is explaining in verses 5 and 6.

“⁵ Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. ⁶ You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” Haggai is making it clear that this warning is coming from the Father. Yahweh is telling them that the pursuit of these comforts apart from God will result in little personal satisfaction. They will harvest little, they will eat but never be full, you will get dressed, but never be warm, and you will earn wages, but you will never be able to save. You will never achieve personal satisfaction apart from God. This is not unique to the Book of Haggai. The entire Book of Ecclesiastes echoes these very same thoughts. As a matter of fact, the Hebrews had an expression for living a life apart from God, it was referred to as “all things that are done under the sun”. Similar warnings about a similar concept here in Haggai.

Look at verse 7, a repeat of the warning identifying the source of this wisdom, “⁷ This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.” No mistaking things here, this is coming directly from Yahweh. “Give careful thoughts to your ways,” God instructs them to go into the mountains and bring down the timbers that are needed to build His house.

But they are still experiencing troubles, and God owns up to being the source of their troubles. Look at verse 9, “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away.” God is claiming responsibility for the troubles that they are experiencing. It wasn’t Satan, or circumstance that caused the problems, it was Yahweh! Yahweh tells them that He is to blame for their troubles. This is what I meant last week when I asked if we were apologizers for God or apologists. God is saying, “Hey, are you unhappy with your present lot? Look to me, I am to blame. I caused it. Unhappy? Come talk to the man in charge”. How many of us are willing to do that today? When we are experiencing troubles, how many of us are willing to be exposed and vulnerable to the Creator God and ask Him “LORD, what am I doing wrong to deserve this?” You may find that you are not doing anything wrong, but that you are going through hardship because of the actions of someone else in your life.

Yahweh challenges the faithful in Jerusalem with this divine challenge. Look at the second half of verse 9, “Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. ¹⁰ Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. ¹¹ I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” Jesus takes responsibility for the natural disaster of drought that is being inflicted on them. Jesus caused the drought, He withheld the rain.

If you come across someone teaching that God is not responsible for the troubles in this world, how do you explain these verses? God is not claiming that Satan is doing these things to His people. He is! God is! God takes responsibility for the actions of what they are experiencing, but Yahweh lays the responsibility for the reason for the actions squarely at the feet of the Israelites.

So, we see God issues a divine challenge to the Israelites to put aside their selfish distractions and come back and finish the work that was started on the temple. Come back to His house and finish it. God issues the divine challenge and we see the Israelites respond. Look at the next few verses where we will see a declaration of a promise.

“¹² Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.

¹³ Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. ¹⁴ So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, ¹⁵ on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.” We see in verse 12 that they obeyed and that they returned to work. The promise they received from the LORD was that He was with them. Yahweh was right there beside them helping them in the work. Why? Because it was God’s work and they were joining Him. It was not their work and God was joining them. The same applies here at Mountain View Church. This is His work and we are joining Him. Are you? Are you joining Him in His work? Or, are you sitting back waiting to see how this will all turn out?

 

Just before we wrap up, I want to point out two words in English that are actually the same Hebrew word and we are going to see what Scripture has to say. Look at verse 12 where God “sent” him and look at verse 14 where it mentions the Lord “stirred up” the spirit of Zerubbabel and Joshua. The root word in Hebrew is עָעַר [ʿuwr /oor/] v.

 

This word is used several times in the Old Testament and it always refers to the actions of God in the situation. Yahweh is the one who is the instigator of the actions.

 

When we hear of stirring, sometimes we can think of a can of paint. The paint needs to be stirred before it is usable again. Particularly if it has been sitting on a shelf for some time. It is important to keep in mind that the Bible refers to God being the one who is doing the stirring.

 

2 Chronicles 5:26 says, “²⁶ So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria), who took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile.”

 

“²³ God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. ²⁴ God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.” Judges 9:23-24.

Isaiah 41:2 says, “² “Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him.” God raises the question of “who stirs the ones from the east and then a few verses later, He answers His own question.

²⁵ “I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes— one from the rising sun who calls on my name. He treads on rulers as if they were mortar, as if he were a potter treading the clay.” Isaiah 41:25

Notice that it is God who is taking responsibility for the actions of stirring things up. God is responsible. God alone. Stop deflecting these things off of God onto Satan. That idea is not found in these passages. That idea is a doctrine that is being read back into the texts to try and find them there, rather than allowing the text to speak plainly for itself.

Our best bet to avoid these issues is with obedience to God. It does not guarantee a smooth life, but it does drastically reduce the chances of hardships in our life.

CONCLUSION

We saw in this passage that there was a dramatic conflict between God and His people. They had forgotten what God had called them to do. They forsake the work of the LORD fo their personal comfort.

We saw that God caused them discomfort to bring their attention back to Him. Aren’t we a funny race of people? When things are going well we are prone to wander and forget all that we owe to the Father.

When they returned, God issued a divine challenge to obedience to His people.

Then He followed it up with a declaration of a promise.

Pastor Paul’s Points:

1) A dramatic conflict.

2) A Divine challenge to obedience.

3) A declaration of a promise.

 

A question to meditate on this week:

·        Are you joining God at His work, or are you expecting God to join you at your work?

 

When God Rebuilds... Ezra-Nehemiah Part 12 Psalm 137 Confronting an Evil World

 April 14, 2024

From The Series: When God Rebuilds…

Part 12 Confronting an Evil World

Psalm 137

Mountain View Evangelical Missionary Church

Good morning. I have titled this morning’s message, “Confronting an Evil World” because I see that we can draw valuable lessons from this scripture on how to deal with the hostile world that we now find ourselves in. Christianity is no longer seen as a positive for society by large numbers of our neighbors. We are seen as intolerant or bigoted for standing up for God’s plan for marriage, sex, and the family unit. We are not just living in a hostile world; we are living in a world where evil is becoming increasingly accepted. We will find a strategy contained within the Psalm on how to deal with the evil that we encounter in our day-to-day lives.

At the same time, you may be asking yourself “How can Psalm 137, be part of the ‘When God Rebuilds…” series? I’m glad you asked, Psalm 137 was written about 570 BC while the Israelites were still in captivity under the Babylonians. This is when the faithful of Jerusalem were at their lowest.

We will see in this Psalm that the Israelites were being tormented by their captors. The Babylonians were calling on their captives to entertain them and sing “their songs” not understanding the sacredness and significance of the music. Not unlike some people today regarding our hymns and worship music.

Five times in this Psalm the words “remembered” and “forget” are used indicating the significance of not forgetting our history. The Israelites did not resign themselves to their fate and just assimilated with the surrounding cultures that had been thrown together in their new surroundings. I mean, some did.

Some of the Israelites inter-married and ignored Yahweh’s teachings on such matters. Some forgot their faith and accepted culture. We see the same thing happening in today’s Christian churches, with the softening of their stances on same-sex marriage, or just look at the number of people who have not come back to church since COVID. Where are the faithful Christians after COVID? I tell you; the faithful Christians are not the ones staying at home on Sunday mornings. The faithful are the ones who are observing the instructions from Hebrews 10:25 about not forsaking the gathering of the saints. The faithful are the ones who gather to share each other’s burdens and worship together and learn together and grow together in the Lord. The faithful are the ones who observe the Great Commission and share their faith with those whom the Lord puts in front of them and in whose hearts, He is at work.

READ PSALM 137

Let’s dive into this passage a little deeper, verse by verse, and try and determine together what God is saying to us. First thing, we are not exactly sure who the author was. If you notice in your Bible, the author of the Psalm is not identified near the title like Psalm 138 is identified as a Psalm “of David”. The Septuagint (which is the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) attributes this Psalm to Jeremiah. It certainly echoes the writings from one of Jeremiah’s other books, Lamentations.

Verse 1, “¹ By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.” A couple of historical notes here: first “the rivers of Babylon” are unnamed here. The Babylonians were also known for constructing canals to divert the waters from the two main rivers in the region; the Euphrates and the Tigris to turn areas of the arid deserts into fertile lands.

It is not clear from the Psalm if the Israelites were forced to make their homes near the river, or if they simply went to the river to remember and lament. It is important to recognize that these were tears of consideration that were being spilled. They were not simply tears of self-pity, but they were contemplating and purposefully remembering where they came from and what they had lost. They were desperately clinging to their heritage and to their identity as a chosen people of God.

Captivity barred them from fully participating in the rituals of atonement that were associated with the Temple, but they were not going to forget the relationship that they had with Yahweh. The term “Zion” came to represent more than just an exact location. Jerusalem is located on top of Mount Zion. Zion referred to the mountain, the city of Jerusalem, the Bible also uses the term to refer to the region, the homeland of the Jewish people as well. The word Zion also referred to the eschatological hope of God once again dwelling with His people. Zion could also refer to the end times when God’s people would finally peacefully dwell with Him for eternity.

The author makes a point of referring to “sitting” by the rivers. The official position of one who was in mourning. Through the reference that they  “sat and wept,” the author is making sure that people recognized that this was an activity of mourning. Of dealing with the loss of their homeland, their temple, and their ability to worship in the manner that they were instructed to worship by God. The Israelites had lost the ability to perform the atoning sacrifices for their sins. Think about what a loss that would have been for them. They would have felt trapped in their sins without forgiveness from God. I’m sure they felt the strain in the relationship with Yahweh over this sin barrier that was between them.

By remembering all these things, they were keeping their focus on God and not on their circumstances. The faithful Israelites were not allowing their present circumstances to interfere with the bond that they had with their God. The captivity was forcing the Israelites to increase their faith in the forgiving attribute of Yahweh.

We know from the teachings of Jesus that the religious leaders had strayed from the original intentions of God for the Law. We saw in the message on Providence and the Law, how the religious leaders of the Hebrews had added such a burden to the people of God through their additions because of their interpretations. Men had warped what God had intended to reveal Himself to His people. By the time of Jesus, a cult had grown up around the Temple sacrifices and the duties associated with it. A cult that was so strong that the religious leaders had failed to recognize the Messiah when He appeared among them.

God’s purpose of the Law was to set His people apart from the surrounding cultures by teaching them a different way of living and worshipping the One True God. Yahweh also used the Law to reveal His attributes to His people so that they could grow closer to Him through worship.

Just like we should be doing today when we come to church. We should be coming to eagerly worship our God, to learn from His Word, to discover His attributes and what He is calling us to do. By doing these things we may grow in our relationship with Him, and we will mature in our walk with Him.

So, the people in captivity remembered Zion, the area, the city, the Temple, the rituals, the promises, but most of all, they remembered their God. Even in this time of sorrow, the remnant maintained their faith. Their faith had to grow. Especially their faith in the forgiving actions of God. This mercy that God exhibits to us is known as Grace.

God exhibits two main types of Grace: there is general Grace and there is specific Grace. General Grace is the grace that we see demonstrated through the perseverance of creation. God gives all general grace through things like rainfall and sunshine. Both are needed for us to grow our food. Specific Grace is demonstrated through the salvation of the lost. We read last week how God shows mercy on whom He chooses to give mercy.

The greatest mercy He could ever give to mankind is the mercy of forgiveness for our sins. An unconditional mercy which is offered to the elect due to the completed work of Jesus Christ on that Roman Cross.

During the time of Christ, the Jews still viewed the temple in Jerusalem as the place where their sins were acknowledged and dealt with and where God revealed his presence to his people in a unique way. Jesus is now where and how we meet with God. This exclusivity is probably the most offensive thing about the Gospel. I mean, it’s one thing to say that I cannot earn my way into the presence of God, but it is a whole other kettle of fish when we tell people that the only way to God is through Jesus Christ.

Our modern-day, multicultural sensibilities are sent into overdrive when we hear that the temple won’t help, that Mohamed won’t help, that not one of the hundreds of Hindu deities will help and that Buddha can't help. Jesus is the only way to the Father. Why is that? Why only Jesus?

1 Timothy 2:5-6a gives us a primary reason, “⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” A mediator is a person who intervenes between opposing parties to help reconcile them. Without a mediator, there’s no hope of the two connecting or being restored.

Most people haven’t spent much time considering their need for a mediator in their relationship with God. That’s because we grossly underestimate the gravity and offensiveness of our sin in light of God’s infinite majesty, holiness, and justice.

Pastor and author C.J. Mahaney put it this way in his book, Living the Cross-Centered Life, “When you tell non-Christians, “God loves you,” they aren’t surprised, they aren’t perplexed, they aren’t stunned. Regrettably, the same is true among most evangelicals, who simply assume this gracious disposition of God—and therefore presume upon it. And we’ll continue to do this until we learn to see our condition more fully from God’s perspective.”

God is gracious, to be sure. But not in the way most of us think. To us, graciousness implies overlooking some petty offense. It means being polite when we could be rude. Maybe we resist slamming on the horn when someone cuts us off in traffic or hold the elevator door open for a frantic businessman. We view graciousness from our perspective—one sinner relating to another.

 

God’s perspective is different. He faces an infinitely more difficult dilemma. How can he forgive those who have defied his good and holy laws without compromising the integrity of his just and righteous character?

 

When we sin against God, and all sin is against God, we aren’t sinning against someone like us. God is perfect. He is all-good, all-powerful, sovereign, and holy. And with each sin, we raise our fists in defiance against him. We assert our authority over his. Because God is holy and just, he must punish sin. He can’t simply “sweep things under the rug” or “forgive and forget.” The entire Bible reveals God’s unflinching commitment to the glory and honor of his name. We make a mockery of it when we sin.

 

For that reason, we need to be saved from God’s justice. We need to be protected from his fierce jealousy for his supreme and unique glory.

 

And what we need has been provided for us in Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus served as our mediator when he willingly endured God’s wrath against our sins at the cross, even though he himself was completely innocent. Jesus served as our mediator when he became our substitute to receive the punishment we deserved, after which the Father raised him from the dead, demonstrating the sufficiency of his sacrifice. Jesus was our mediator when he embraced the torment of separation from God so we could live with God forever.

 

This is the good news of the gospel. 1 Peter 3:18 says, “¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” This is not just “good news”, this is great news. We have been reconciled to the Father because of the mediatorial work of Jesus Christ.

 

May I just say something here? I don’t say these things to be offensive. I don’t mean to be rude or upsetting. But adding to what Pastor Mahaney said in his book, it is not just the evangelicals that are ignoring the wrath of God, it is also the leadership in most evangelical churches, pastors included, who refuse to risk offending someone by telling them the truth. It would be easier for me if I didn’t have to preach that it was this exclusive. I wouldn’t be called names or have quite so many phone calls if I was willing to simply be quiet and preach a nice safe and cuddly Jesus. But I love you too much to keep you comfortable on your way to Hell.

 

If you don’t yet know Jesus in a personal way, if you do not have a loving relationship with Christ, if He is not your Lord and Savior then please come and talk with me. Come and see me after the service, or I am here at the church on Tuesdays now most of the day. If you see my car out front, I’m here. Stop in and I’ll buy you a coffee and we can explore these thoughts further. Don’t wait, be sure.

 

Remembering what Jesus did for us is the primary way in which we can be focused on God. For the Israelites during the Babylonian exile, all that they had to remember and hold fast to was the memory of the splendor of Solomon’s Temple.

 

Look at the next couple of verses of Psalm 137. Starting at verse 2, “² There on the poplars we hung our harps, ³ for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”” Now the NIV interprets the type of tree as “poplar” trees, while other translations interpret the Hebrew as “willow” trees. I think the willow tree is a more poetic translation, especially if we think of a weeping willow. Can you think of a more appropriate metaphor for the suffering and sorrow that the Israelites were feeling at their displacement than the weeping willow?

Notice that the Israelites hung their harps in plain site as a constant reminder. They did not hide their instruments away. Also, pay attention to the language that the Psalmist is using to convey the emotions of those in disbursement. “Captors, tormentors, demanded” these are all strong terms. They are expressing the strong emotions and the shock that they are experiencing at the hands of the Babylonians and those who have been put in charge of the local governments over them. The Israelites are being prodded to sing “one of the songs of Zion!”. This implies that the captors had no idea of the sacredness of these worship songs that were performed in the Temple ceremonies.

The Israelites are holding on to the sacredness of their music by not carelessly sharing it with those who would not understand. The emotions expressed in this Psalm help to explain the reluctance of the leadership in Jerusalem to allow others outside Judaism to participate in the reconstruction of the Temple. If they felt tormented and demanded to share the music, we can see how they could imagine how the outsiders would try to take over the worship and observance of the Temple ceremonies.

The taunting of the tormentors is saying, “Where is your God? Why didn’t He save you?” We see that the Israelites are willing to express their emotions regarding the taunting. I wonder are we, as Christians willing to do the same today? As we watch the steady decline in our culture, are we willing to speak out against it, even if it might mean making some people upset with us?

Are we willing to be aware of the here and now? To pay attention to what is happening in the world and not bury our heads in the sand? What about our government leaders? When was the last time that you let your MP or MLA know your displeasure at the direction that the government is allowing culture to go? Maybe it’s not even a matter of allowing culture, the policies that are being passed are actively promoting ungodliness. I’m not saying that the government can control all these things, but things like legalizing cannabis are not having the results that we were told would happen. The black-market cannabis is even stronger today because of the permissiveness of smoking cannabis in public. What I am saying is that not all of these policies have been beneficial for society. Where were we, as Christians and as members of the public? Did we make our opinions known, or do we think that we have no say in these matters?

You know the old expression, “separation of church and state”? The separation of these powers was originally meant to only go in one direction. The separation of these powers was to protect the church against the tyranny of the government. The secular does not have authority over the sacred realm. But the influence was always meant to have flowed from the church to the state. The Bible is clear that God places the rulers over us, and these same rulers are also governed by the Laws of God.

As Christians, are we willing to share our shock and dismay at the direction that society is going in today? Church leaders need to constantly be speaking biblical truth to the leaders of our communities and nation. Long ago, the church abdicated its responsibility to speak God’s truth to power. Look at the results. I think we need to stop feeling worried about speaking up to the ruling class in this country. We need to bring back more biblical standards and a greater emphasis on the family and protection for the family unit.

Look at verses 4 to 6 of Psalm 137, “⁴ How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? ⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. ⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.” Do we grasp the sacredness and high regard that the Israelites held the worship songs to their God?

I wonder if we are too quick to share our sacred music. Have we lost the sense of sacredness in our worship music today? Are we too quick to share the hymns with non-believers without first explaining the history behind the songs?

We often hear Amazing Grace played or sung at funerals of the Lost, and I often wonder if those listening can even comprehend the marvelousness of the gift that John Newton was writing about. “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear. And grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed”. Do the lost understand what they are to fear? I wonder if they understand that it is the very same Grace of God that causes one to fear the wrath of God that also supplies the peace from that wrath by opening our eyes to what Jesus did for us. It is this same Grace that allows us to rest in the completed work of Jesus. This amazing grace appears at the hour when we first believe. Are we cheapening our worship and the sacredness of the hymns of the faith by singing them too quickly with others?

How many evangelical churches today, are taking the time to share the theological significance of the songs, or are we more concerned with being entertained or having our emotions bumped by a driving bass line and mindless repetition? Are we quick to lose the joy in our worship because we have to learn a new song? Are we too quick to be sour about a song selection because we don’t like it while ignoring the obvious joy that it brings the person sitting across from us? Do we think of the worship leader as a personal DJ?

Do we grumble about the lack of live music all while taking for granted the access to the selection of songs that we have, never mind the freedom that we enjoy gathering and worshiping as openly as we do? We have brothers and sisters in Christ in countries like North Korea, Somalia, Libya, and Sudan who are being persecuted for their faith. Last year there were 4,998 Christians killed around the world for faith-related offenses.

Look at the attitude of the Israelites while in captivity. They claimed that they couldn’t even sing the songs while in a foreign land. They pledged that if they forgot Jerusalem and the sacredness associated with the Holy City they should have their hands forget the skills required to play the instruments. Jerusalem was considered the “City of God”, thus indirectly the name Jerusalem referred to God himself.

They claimed that they would rather have their tongues cling to the roofs of their mouths if they forgot Jerusalem and their God. If they did not consider Yahweh their highest joy. Do you consider Christ your highest joy? Are there other things that you place first before Jesus or church attendance? Do we consider it joy or a chore to gather and worship on the Lord’s Day? Most of society doesn’t even consider Sunday to be the Lord’s Day anymore. It’s their day and their day off.

This last section of the Psalm is the consideration of God’s Justice in the whole matter.

Let’s read verses 7 to 9 of the Psalm. “⁷ Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!” ⁸ Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. ⁹ Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.”

Well, let’s consider who the Edomites were first. The Edomites were the descendants of Issac’s son Esau. The older son who sold his birthright for a plate of stew. Esau married two Canaanite women for wives, so the Edomites were also descendants of the Canaanites.

It is sad to think that the enemies of the Israelites shared common ancestors in Issac and Abraham. The rivalry of Isaac’s two sons was still being played out generations later in the Edomites holding the Israelites captive. And it was a brutal captivity. Verse 7 describes the destruction of the Temple. “Tear it down”, they cried, down to its very foundations! We are talking total destruction of the Temple. That act alone speaks to the level of animosity between the two groups. The Edomites and the Jewish people are still fighting today. This is the struggle that lies behind the war in Gaza and the latest attacks on Israel by Iran. Some of the Arabians in the region can trace their lineage back to another son of Abraham, Ishmael.

Look at what verse 8 says, ⁸ Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,” There is a prophecy located here, did you catch it? “Doomed to destruction”. The phrase “Daughter Babylon” refers to the population, the people of Babylon, and their descendants. We see the fulfillment of the prophecy when the Mede-Persian Empire conquered the Babylonians in 539 BC.

Now, the next section of verses 8 and 9 the NIV translation falls a little short here. They used the word happy to translate the Hebrew word ʾesher, and other English translations use the word “blessed”. Even the word blessed has some translational issues. The use of ʾesher in this instance does not mean “happy”, or “blessed by God”, but rather “morally justified”. Blessed are those who keep justice is what Psalm 106:3 says. The Psalmist is asking for God’s justice to be delivered to the enemies of Israel. The Israelites are asking for divine retribution which is the equal measure of punishment to be carried out. The people of God are asking Yahweh to do to their enemies exactly what was done to them and no further. An “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” measure of justice.

Here is the psalmist’s perspective. God declares Himself through the words of Moses as being in a covenant relationship with His people. Within the terms of the relationship, He will act as Judge and Vindicator to uphold justice. It is because God has promised the vindication of His people that the psalmist cries out. Not as a presumption on his part, but rather it is faithfulness to God’s word that motivates the writer of the psalm. Notice that the Israelites are leaving the deliverance of justice up to God.

Those are hard words to read and hear, the seizing of infants and dashing them against rocks, but that was the brutal time that these people were living in. These were common acts of war. The strategy was to reduce the numbers of the enemy so that the next generation would not grow larger and come back to you seeking revenge.

CONCLUSION

I hope that by reading and studying this Psalm we would grasp a deeper understanding of the mindset of the people as they were returning to Jerusalem and began the rebuilding process. This was why the Israelites were so cautious about accepting outside help. This was why they were guarding against syncretism so closely because they had been tormented while in captivity.

The Israelites struggled mightily to remain faithful to their God, even while being separated from Him and under judgment from Him. Now, what is the application for us in this day? Well, I feel that we are a nation that is under God’s judgment also. We may not be experiencing the ravages of a physical war and a hostile occupation, but it is clear to me that Christian values no longer carry the same level of influence that they once did, and we can see the cost to society for that.

I saw an interesting interview this week with the famous atheist Richard Dawkins. You may be aware that the cultural landscape of England has been shifting over the last several years, primarily due to the massive immigration of people from a Muslim background and countries. As you can imagine, this has caused some cultural shock for the natives, as these new immigrants are no longer coming to a new country hoping to assimilate into the host country’s culture. Rather, they are bringing their culture with them and establishing cultural strongholds in the new country. Immigration is the new method of invasion and colonizing.

Anyway, Dawkins is now claiming that England was a “Culturally Christian” nation and it benefitted from the values that Christianity taught. Dawkins even referred to himself as a “Cultural Christian” even though he would never admit to the existence of God. In the past, I have heard Dawkins and other atheists argue that man does need the existence of God to be true in order to be morally good.

It seems Mr. Dawkins has had a change of heart. Now that he is experiencing a different culture first-hand, Richard is claiming that those Christian-type folks aren’t all that bad after all, and could we please have some more of that? Dawkins is getting a taste of the evil that will exist in the world when we eliminate Jesus Christ from it.

A question to ponder this week is “Does the presence of evil in the World mean that God has abandoned us?” I would say that the biblical example would indicate “No”. Yahweh did not abandon His people while under Babylonian rule, Persian rule, or even Roman rule. As a matter of fact, it was while under Roman rule that the Father sent the Son to deliver the world.

Can we hold the world to biblical standards? The short answer is “yes”. We are starting to see what happens when we, as a society, walk away from the biblical standards. We see the breakdown of the family unit, the emergence of 648 genders, the denial of reality, and we no longer have an arbiter of truth. What’s true for you is true and what’s true for me is true, even if they both say the opposite of each other, they are equally true.

Finally, you may be thinking, “What can we do about it? Shouldn’t we just pray about it?” Well, prayer is certainly the starting point, but I think that we can do much more than just pray. I want to be careful here because it is important how we handle this. We are to speak the truth, but we are to do it with gentleness and respect. We are not to condemn out of anger, for we are never to forget that we were once lost sinners as well. We should never act superior or boast in our position in Christ, for the Bible makes it clear that we have done nothing worthy of boasting.

We live in a democracy, and we are equal citizens with the rest. We have as much right to have our opinions heard and our values respected as anyone else. Even though Jesus makes exclusive claims about the path to the Father, we do not see the Bible instructing us to tear down the structures of other religions. We are to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit to remain sensitive to the work of God in the lives of others and share the Gospel with those that the Father puts in front of us.

Pastor Paul’s Points:

1) Be focused on God.

2) Be willing to express your shock.

3) Be aware of the here and now.

4) Be sure to uphold God’s Justice and Grace.

Questions to meditate on this week:

1.      Does the presence of evil in the world mean that God has abandoned us?

2.      Can we hold the world to biblical standards?

3.      Shouldn’t we just pray about it?