Haggai, the Temple and You

Haggai’s first message to the people was that God was frustrating their lives.  Why? because they were delaying the building of the temple.  The Returnees had come back nearly 20 years before, had stated and stopped because of opposition. In the mean time they had taken care of their own houses.  So the prophet said that God was making it so they were frustrated at every turn.  In the words of Haggai 1:6, they earned wages only to put them in a purse with a hole in it.

The OT covenantal background is found in such passages as Leviticus 26:19-20 and Dt 28:22-24.  The people would be materially blessed or cursed based on their faithfulness.

So that is clear enough.

However, how do we read this from the New Testament point of view?  Should preachers use this to motivate building projects and giving campaigns?  The Health and Wealth preachers speaking of giving to God to get greater wealth back. ( As of the Lord is a sort of E-Trade agent.)

The difference is that the Temple in the NT is sometimes the People of God – I Peter 2:4ff.  And at other times we see that Christ is the fulfillment of the Temple and all that was related to it (book of Hebrews).

So a Christian interpretation of Haggai 1 has to go through those changes.  The temple was a place to meet with God, where the High Priest prayed for the people and offered sacrifices for sin and for fellowship.  It was where the glory fo God resided.    All of those are fulfilled in Christ who is the means by which we come to God, he is the High Priest, he is the Sacrifice, he is the Glory of God revealed.

So how does Haggai 1 preach today?  It seems to me that it is summarized very well by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount – “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these [material] things will be given to you as well.”

Wisdom and Blessing – Mt 5:1-11

The Beatitudes

This week i am attending a workshop for pastors on preaching the Wisdom Literature.  My texts to prepare are Matthew 5:1-11 and Psalm 1.  These share the concept of a Blessing. 

Matthew 5:1-12 –  ESV
    Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
    [2] And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
    [3] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
    [4] “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
    [5] “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
    [6] “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
    [7] “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
    [8] “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
    [9] “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
    [10] “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
    [11] “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 Some see a progression of the individual in the “Beatitudes” of Matthew 5.  Each blessing is seen as a step in the path.  The interpretation has a long history, but it seems weak to me for three reasons.  First of all, there is an “inclusio” the 1st and 8th beatitudes share the same goal “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  So a circle or switch back is happening here.  Second, is the goal of the disciple to be persecuted?  Third, the words are plurals (those who mourn, etc), so the progress of the individual soul appears to be an import.

I have experimented with a chiastic structure.  Verse 1-2 and 11-12 are Intro and Exit (teacher/disciple; prophet as example) then the beatitudes break out in this pattern.  B = Beatitude

A A’  v. 1,2, 11-12      Intro/exit – Teacher/way

B B’   v. 3,10               Poor/Persecute

C C’  v. 4,9                  Mourn/Peacemaker

D D’  v. 5, 8                Meek/Pure

E E’   v. 6,7                 Righteousness/Mercy 

The E/E’ verses at the center might then be the emphasis – and that gives the follower of Jesus the goal to seek Righteousness (or Justice) and to give Mercy.  All of which is an echo of

Micah 6:8
    He has told you, O man, what is good;
        and what does the Lord require of you
    but to do justice, and to love kindness(mercy),
        and to walk humbly with your God?

   I will let you know how this develops.

Sermon On the Mount Outline

Once after a long sermon series a member wondered why there was not a summary at the end.  So this week, at the end of the SOM, here is a summary.  It also fits the final verses of the text which call the reader not only to be aware of the words of Jesus, but to listen to them.

Sermon on the Mount Outline  is here: summary-of-the-sermon-on-the-mount   The texts of the sermons are available at www.bethanyfreechurch.org under “recent sermons”.

What I am now going to work on is a 50day study, suggested by the comments of U. Luz that the Lord’s Prayer is the center of the sermon.  It would see that a study of the 7 parts of the prayer by means of the various parts of the sermon would be a good spiritual exercise.  Stay tuned.  An outline of that idea is here:  lprayerdiagram

Don’t judge dogs?

So we wonder, how do we understand Matthew 7:1, often quoted at someone else who seems overly rigid in their denunciations of others?  “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”  It is memorable and pointed.

Notice in verses 1-6 there are some judgments made – v. 5 says “You hypocrites” and v. 6 says, “Don’t give what is holy to dogs or cast your pearls before pigs.”  So do not “dogs”, “pigs”, “holy” and “pearls” involve judgments?

We think that the structure of the passage is like this

A  – v.1  Proverb

B – v. 2 Judgment is reciprocal

C – v. 3  Start with yourself

C’ – v. 4 Start with yourself

B’ – v.5 Removal is reciprocal

C’ – v. 6 Proverb

If this is fair, then verses 1 and 6 are proverbial sayings that together make a balanced teaching.  Do not judge in the sense of declaring a final condemnation.  but do discern the reality of a situation.  The line between judgment and discernment is a fine one. 

There is a lot that is reciprocal – that is what is good for the other is good for me.  Before I judge others, I should be judged.  When I judge, I will be judged.

Like the Hebrew wisdom teachings these are not Laws but proverbial in nature, require considerable care and wisdom in their application.  A wooden “do not judge in any manner at all” would not capture the teaching.  Since there are situations where judgments need to be made about teachers as is seen in the remainder of chapter 7.

If we follow the chiastic structure to its logical end, the point of the passage is much more about starting with yourself, than it is in not judging at all.

FR

Lord’s Prayer and Sermon on Mount Chart

lprayerdiagram

So here is what FR developed.  The possible connections between the prayer and the units of the SOM are pretty endless.  The Sunday Class found about about 2x as many as we did initially.  Unfortunately someone erased the marker board!

I did not come to abolish – Matt 5:17

“I tell you the truth, Until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” 

 

            There are letters in Hebrew that can be changed by a dot.  Other letters are differentiated by a little mark of the pen.  We have the same in English.  Take a vertical stroke.  If you put a line through it, it becomes a “t”.  If you put a dot over it, it is an “i”.   Remove a line from an “E” and you get and “F”.  Or add a line to the side of an “F” and it can look like an “A”.  This is an old trick for changing report cards.

 

            Jesus’ point is that down to the dots and strokes of letters, every bit of the Old Testament will find its intended fulfillment.  Nothing will be left un done.

            Think of the Old Testament as a grocery list.  When I take a list to the store, I check off the items I have found.  If something is missing from the store, I circle it.  So I can say, “I guess we will change the menu because they were out of Brussels sprouts today.”

            Jesus said that all the Old Testament will be checked off.  Nothing will be circled or erased.

The Wisdom of Jesus – Matthew 5-7

From January to April we will be posting on the “Sermon on the Mount” which is found in Matthew 5-7.  This text contains a number of familiar passages such as the Lord’s Prayer, the Golden Rule, the Beatitudes, and much more that is familiar. 

This will help us put the Fresh in Fresh Read.  Again, our purpose is to read the text freshly, with all the appropriate tools and with care, but ultimately through our own eyes, not through the eyes of previous readers.

So as we begin, pull out the text and read it through.  You will find it a passage worth the time to savor.

FR