Reflections — Pastor’s Blog

You may postpone something for good reason. But postponement can also be due to procrastination. In Haggai 1 the prophet summons God’s people to reexamine their priorities and to stop procrastinating.

Don’t procrastinate! Listen to God’s prophet. Haggai prophesied during the restoration from exile. Haggai’s name means “festival.” He may have been born during one of the great feast times. He functioned along with Zechariah, during the time that Israel had returned after captivity. The first day of the sixth month of the second year of King Darius was August 29, 520 BC. Although the first returning exiles had started rebuilding the temple, the work had been interrupted. Haggai and Zechariah were instrumental in its resumption, Ezra 5:1, 2; 6:14. If Haggai 2:3 implies that the prophet had seen Solomon’s temple, he must have been in his 70’s at this time. Israel in Haggai’s day resembles the church today. God’s people were few and faced overwhelming opposition.

Haggai 1:1, 2 are directed to the leaders, Zerubbabel, the governor, grandson of King Johiachin, and Joshua, the high priest. This message summarizes the attitude of the people. It uses language that assumes the people are not present. Haggai 1:3, 4 addresses the people themselves. The message concerns the attitude which had been summarized in verse 2. Haggai served as a spokesman for the Lord. He conveyed God’s message to his people (whether addressing the rulers or the people at large). The Spirit who inspired Haggai intended his words for the church of all ages, and thus this little collection of his prophecies was included in Scripture. It is the Word of the Lord addressed to you as much as it was to Israelites in 520 BC. The Lord is identified here as the Lord of Hosts, often translated, the Lord Almighty. It is a reference to the sovereign power of God who commands.

Get your priorities straight. There seemed to be good reasons for delay in rebuilding the temple. The people had made a good start on rebuilding the temple, which had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezer. When Cyrus issued his decree returning the people to the land in 538 BC, one of his purposes was that they might rebuild the temple, Ezra 1. The people made a good start, Ezra 3:7–13, but the work had ground to a halt. Surrounding enemies raised political opposition, Ezra 4:1–5, 24. For 15 years the temple stood, apparently only as a restored foundation. The people had intentions of returning to the task, but believed the time was not appropriate, Haggai 1:2. Royal opposition had arisen, and they may have shared the idea of their neighbors that temple-building was a kingly activity. Their own numbers were few. They had their own houses to work on. (Verse 4 may refer to richly paneled ceilings — a sign of wealth, or may simply be talking about putting roofs on their homes.) In any case, they had decided that they could be active about building and restoring their own homes, but the house of the Lord was something that could wait. Some may have been waiting for the Messiah to come and rebuild the temple. theirs was not an age of glory. It can be easy to look upon serving the Lord as something you will do when you are better prepared, have had more training, have read one more book, etc. The prophet summons you to prompt obedience. Now is the time to focus on the presence of the Lord. Haggai’s message could be summarized, if you’re not willing to make the Lord a priority now, you never will. This prophecy is not primarily a plea for offerings for building funds. To treat it that way is to blunt it’s edge. Rather, the prophet summons you to recognize that serving God has to dominate all of your life. You cannot postpone that.

Think! Focus on your covenant God. Give careful thought to your ways. The Lord himself is speaking to you. Israel never had quite enough. Recognize that something is drastically wrong with this world. See God’s hand in your afflictions. God’s action lies behind the frustration. Pay attention to what the Lord requires. Recognize that not all suffering is the direct result of particular sin, John 9:1–3, but all suffering grows out of sin and its curse, and ought to point us to the hope of restoration, Romans 8:20, 21. Israel’s problems recall the covenant curse. The blessings the Lord has promised for covenantal obedience contrast with the current situation of Israel, Deuteronomy 7:13–15. The afflictions through which the people were going should have recalled the stern warnings of Deuteronomy 28:15–24. More recently the covenant curse had been reiterated by the prophets, Jeremiah 7:20.

Honor God in his house. Drought has its origin in the temple ruin. The Lord had specifically commanded Israel to worship at the place he would choose, Deuteronomy 12:17–19. The feasting at the temple would be a sign of God’s covenantal blessing on his people. Adverse circumstances are not an excuse for disobedience, but rather a reason to obey. Focus on the Lord’s house. Haggai summoned Israel to renew the work of building the temple. God calls you to keep him and his worship central. Rejoice in God’s glory. God actually takes pleasure in his house. Yes, the curses of the covenant had come upon Israel. But the very temple, which they were delaying to rebuild, contained the way of dealing with that curse. The altar of the temple was where, symbolically, the curse on sin was transferred to the animal, whose life was then offered on the altar. God is honored in your worshiping him. God makes his glory known. The Tabernacle first, and then the Temple, were places where God made his presence visible. This is where he causes his name to dwell. It is a theophany. Those building have now, according to 1 Peter 2, been replaced with something made of living stones. You are God’s temple.

“When Solomon dedicated this temple, it was filled with ‘the glory of the Lord,’ which was none other than God making manifest that this was the place where he had chosen to dwell (1 Kings 8:10–12). Later, Solomon interpreted this sacred space of God’s glorious dwelling to be the ‘house’ that is ‘called by your Name’ and was ‘build for our Name’ (1 Kings 8:41–45). Thus, God’s glorious presence and name in the temple are virtually the same, which is a natural equation, since it is common in the OT that the name off a person represented that person’s essential character, and thus notion is particularly applicable to God’s name.

“God says that the exile and promised restoration were for ‘the sake of My name,’ and ‘For My own sake… my glory I will not give to another’ (Isa. 48:9–11). Part of the restoration was the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, which, again, was to glorify God: ‘Rebuild the temple that I may be… glorified” Hag. 1:8).”

G. K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, pp. 959–60

Obey! Obey the voice of your God. The Lord stirs your heart. What had changed? Circumstances looked no more favorable for the task of reconstructing the temple than they had a month earlier. The Lord stirred up the spirit of the leaders and of the whole remnant. Their obedience grew out of the Lord’s sovereign work in their hearts. Note the parallel to Ezra 1:5. By nature you are dead in sin. Change comes, not from within you, but from the resurrecting power of God that changes your heart and spirit, Ephesians 2:1–10. The stirring that you need comes only from the Spirit, whom Christ, as the triumphant remnant, poured out upon the church. Notice that God requires what he alone can provide. And he does provide it! Philippians 2:12,13.

“God does not form new souls in us when he draws us to his service, but changes what is wrong in us; for we should never be attentive to his word, were he not to open our ears, and there would be no inclination to obey, were he not to turn our hearts; in a word, both will and effort would immediately fail in us, were he not to add his gift of perseverance.”

John Calvin, Commentary on Haggai

Work in God’s presence. The term “remnant” includes all who survived to be the true people of God. These are the people who do not ignore the voice of the Lord, but rather obey it. They acknowledged their own sinfulness. These are the people who fear the Lord. This is a holy awe, even terror, a recognition that you are a sinner in the presence of a holy God, Deuteronomy 5:5. The people recognized that the drought and other problems were due to God’s judgment. They had withheld the honor due God. As you look at the remnant, recognize that Christ is the true remnant. The nation had become a remnant. The process of narrowing would continue, for even the remnant would prove less than faithful. Ultimately Israel would reject the Stone, would cast out the Son. In the last analysis, it is only the Messiah who is truly faithful, only he who renders perfect obedience. But he, as the true remnant, acted as your representative. He obeyed in your behalf. In him the remnant again broadens to include all who live in covenant fellowship with their God. The people obeyed because God was with them, Haggai 1:13. This is Emmanuel, God with us!

Consider your ways, particularly the frustrations and problems in your life. Check for specific areas in which you may need to repent. But see all of the suffering and futility of life as a call to renewed covenant fellowship with your God.

Paul ends his letter to the saints at Ephesus, as he does many of his letters, with a blessing, Ephesians 6:21–24. That blessing echoes the blessing that Aaron pronounced on God’s people and points us to how to end our worship service.

Be encouraged by the fellowship of the saints. Appreciate the need for communication and fellowship. The blessing is not merely words. Paul sends Tychicus. Tychicus had been Paul’s missionary companion, Acts 20:4; 2 Timothy 4:12. He had carried other letters, Colossians 4:16. Personal greetings are important. Tychicus will explain how Paul is doing — that may be a basic motivation for sending the letter. Remember that the epistles are not systematic theology handbooks. Tychicus might also explain things in the letter that the Ephesians struggled with. In our electronic age and with the growth of AI, the community God set up, the church, offers something much more real and personal. We worship in the presence of the triune God, and we do so as a body, together with other believers.

Encourage one another. The ultimate source of encouragement is the Paraclete, the Encourager. But one of the way he works is through God’s people, and Paul knows that Tychicus is equipped for that task. Paul’s reference to the encouragement that Tychicus provides challenges you to ask whom you can encourage. The ascended Christ gave gifts to men, Ephesians 4:7. Don’t simply do a self-analysis to see if you have “the gift of encouragement.” Rather, look around you, notice those who need encouragement, and do something about it!

God’s grace comes to you. Experience peace and love with faith. Look back to the blessing of the greeting in Ephesians 1:1–2. Notice how that is unpacked in the verses that follow. Don’t overlook the doxology of Ephesians 3:20–21. Grace and peace had been given you from God the Father and Jesus Christ. These were blessings that came by faith, Ephesians 1:15. Look back to Psalm 67, and before it, to the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6. Notice what actually happens, and who, according to Numbers 6, is active. God places his name and blessing on you as you conclude your corporate worship today. Now at the end Paul pronounces peace and love. These are accompanied by faith and come through faith. But this faith (while it is you who believes) is from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul uses the full title.

“The benediction at the end of the Christian worship service is its absolute high point…. I challenge you… to see the concluding benediction as the crown jewel of our corporate worship with the Lord every week. Its origin at the end of the worship service is the apostolic benedictions at the end of the epistles. Its meaning goes back to the Israelite high priest’s solemn covenant function: to put God’s name on his people so that he can bless them. The benediction in our service is not a pious wish of the minister. What makes it so special is what God is doing. He puts his name on us and blesses us with his smile and with his peace….”

S. M. Baugh, Ephesians, p. 577

Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus. Grace, the blessing of God’s unmerited favor, is yours. It belongs not just to you as an individual, but to all–all who love the Lord Jesus Christ. The closing, building on the rest of the book, focuses on your union with Christ. It is a union by faith. It is a union that involves love for Christ, not just a temporary love, not a daisy of “he loves me, he loves me not,” but a rich, uncorrupted, undying love. It doesn’t simply lose inertia and die away. You have begun to live as part of Christ’s new creation.

“The last verse reminds the church of their status as an ‘incorruptible’ new creation in Christ: ‘Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption‘ (6:24); our translation). Paul’s final word encourages the saints to identify with the incorruptible new eternal cosmos. When Christ returns, believers will experience the incorruptible physical resurrection in all its fullness.”

G. K. Beale and Benjamin L. Gladd, The Story Retold: A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament, p. 289

This is a relationship that springs from being raised with Christ. It is expressed in the (seemingly) little acts of obedience that it takes for a wife to submit to her husband, for a husband to really love his wife, for parents and children to interact with love and respect instead of waging WW III. Focus on what it means, throughout this little letter, to be in Christ. Even the blessing at the end is a call to persevere in the rich blessings that you have received in Christ.

Listen to Paul’s benediction. Live in the light of God’s smile. Live in the Lord Jesus Christ. Love him with an undying love.

Paul concludes, not only the armor you need to put on in order to stand, but also the exhortations to obedience (Ephesians 4–6), with a call to prayer.

Live a life of prayer. Always keep praying with all kinds of prayers. Paul makes his point by piling up language. All kinds of things are included in prayer, all occasions. Nehimiah prayed a more composed prayer in Nehemiah 1, but that was followed by a quick silent prayer when the king asked what was troubling him. Although this includes specific times of prayer, it is a call to live a life of prayer. Pray for all the saints. We are a body. We need one another. We need the prayers of one another.

Pray in the Spirit. You not only use the sword of the Spirit, but you pray in the Spirit. This is not prayer in tongues, or in some unintelligible way. Paul is not contrasting praying in the Spirit with praying some other way. Rather, prayer, like the Christian life, if it is real, if it is genuine, is in the Spirit. It is lived under his control. It grows out of the Word, which is the sword of the Spirit. It is prayer which is in tune with the Spirit, lived in his strength. It is communication– communication that is sometimes so close that words are not needed. The Spirit intercedes for us, Romans 8:26–27. His intercession is needed when we don’t have the words to express our guilt and our desire to repent. His intercession communicates when we are so aware of God’s glory and blessedness, that we just can’t express it as we should. He intercedes with groans that words cannot express. (Think of a couple, who communicate far more with a glance, a sound, than you could contain in an essay.)

Continue reading “Pray in the Spirit!”

What do you think of when you hear the expression “spiritual warfare”? Be cautious about an over-reaction to abuses that leaves you unprepared for Satan’s attacks. But the focus in Ephesians 6:10–18 is not on our technique, but on God’s power.

Do battle against the enemy. You are in Christ, but still doing battle. Paul has written of Christ’s victorious exaltation, and of your having been raised with Christ and seated with him in the heavenlies. The Ephesians are in Christ, but they are also still in Ephesus. You are in Christ, but you are still in Newberg, in Oregon, in a life where temptation is very real. The crucial battle has been won, the outcome of the war is not in doubt–but the conflict goes on. Don’t become a casualty! Christ faced an hour of darkness, Luke 22:53. The evil day may refer to a time of future persecution and suffering, but if so, there are anticipations of it in your life. Recognize that Christ is beyond Satan’s reach, but you are still in the danger zone. You have a Trojan horse—sin still exists in your life, and Satan will do all he can to drive a wedge between you and your Lord. See Revelation 12. Paul is not questioning the perseverance of the saints, but it is precisely in the standing firm in the face of Satan’s attacks that you do persevere.

Continue reading “Spiritual Warfare”

We read Paul’s instructions to husbands and wives, and perhaps wonder how that fits into our contemporary culture. Similarly, God’s Word in Ephesians 6:5–9 to slaves and masters may seem out of place today. Yet this is God’s Word—for us as well as first century Ephesus.

Serve the Lord, not men. God turns the expectations of the world upside down. Don’t use this passage as a justification for the institution of slavery. Old Testament law regulated the practice. For fellow Israelites it amounted to temporary servitude. It was allowed in the case of foreigners captured in war. Kidnaping was a capital offense. Exodus 21:16; Deuteronomy 24:7. The practice of slavery was pervasive in the Roman world, and while slave revolts were not unheard of, that is not the direction Paul moves. Not only are there practical reasons (replacing evil without dealing with root causes tends to result in different evils [all animals are equal, bt some are more equal than others]), but Paul deals with the heart issues, and the practice works itself out (as seemed to happen in a relatively short period of time). Keep the context in view. Paul is elaborating on what it means to submit to one another in the Lord. He has applied that to husbands and wives, to parents and children, and now to slaves and masters (or today, employers and employees). We tend to think in terms of opposites — do o you favor labor or management? Pick one side or the other. But the Bible looks at authority very differently than the world does. We tend to ask, who is in charge of whom? Who has to submit to whom? But in Matthew 20 Jesus describes that attitude as pagan. He, the Son of Man, the one with ultimate authority, came, not to be served but to serve. Your standing before God depends on what Christ has done and is doing on your behalf. That is the model for the husband’s loving authority in Ephesians 5. Parents have real authority, but you spend your time, not directing your children, but with 2:00 a.m. feedings, etc. The Beatitudes turn the standards and expectations of the world upside down. The ethics and attitude of the kingdom of God turn upside down the antagonism and abuses between employers and employees. Where the attitude of the kingdom of God prevails, the contradictory character of owning someone who is made in God’s image becomes evident.

Obey with respect and fear. Apparently many in the early church were slaves–and some were masters. Your situation in Christ is more important than any other issue, 1 Corinthians 7:22. Paul gives a surprisingly sweeping command to slaves — to obey with respect and fear (honor). If the principle applied within the institution of slavery, it’s not too hard to see that Paul would call us to guard our attitudes towards those for whom we work for 40 hours a week.

Paul underlines what he said: Live as a slave of Christ. Obey as you would obey Christ. In fact, render your service to your Lord, and not just to an earthly master. A boss may not see you, but the Lord does. A boss may not read your attitude, but Christ does. In fact you are serving Christ. Notice how Paul appropriates the title slave for himself, Philippians 1:1. Obey wholeheartedly. Imagine the impact on a master, particularly a harsh one, to suddenly find his slaves working willingly and cheerfully. Imagine the impact on a business and those running it to find Christians suddenly working hard and cheerfully. Entrust yourself to God’s hands, knowing that he rewards his people regardless of their social and economic standing. Your service as a slave, as an employee, is part of what it means to walk in love, Ephesians 5:1,2.

“The New Testament lays peculiar stress on the God-oriented motivation and direction of all our toil…. When labour involves drudgery, when the hardship is oppressive, when the conditions imposed upon us are not those which mercy and justice would dictate, when we are tempted to individual or organized revolt, when we are ready to recompense evil on the part of our master with the evil of careless work on our part, it is just then that we need to be reminded, ‘whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance. Ye serve the Lord Christ’ (Colossians 3:23, 24).”

John Murray, Principles of Conduct, p. 87)

Paul speaks to masters as well. Serve your Master in heaven. Be just. If Paul’s command to slaves is sweeping, his instructions to masters are not less so. “All of the above” applies to them as well. Remember that God’s eye is on you. Do the will of God from the heart. Avoid threatening. If Paul’s words to slaves speak to us as employees, his words to masters speak to those of us who oversee, administer, and benefit from the work of others. Paul’s command undercuts the way that much contemporary business (shortsightedly) treats workers as merely another production cost, as an asset whose productivity is to be increased as much as possible as cheaply as possible. You may not think of yourself as a manager. But don’t you have people working for you, at least for short periods of time, checking out your groceries, filling your car with gas, seeping the floor across which you walk. How do you treat these people? Or are they “invisible”? Avoid threatening, be equitable. What impact should this have on the life of the church? Martyn Lloyd Jones has remarked that coal mining regions have rejected the gospel — because of the conduct of employer/managers in church life.

“This is a unique view of life. One lesson it teaches us is how muddleheaded it is to regard work and witness as two different realities for the Christian. We witness in the work we do, by the way we do it – as if we were doing it to the Lord Christ. If we are his, we are.”

Sinclair B. Ferguson, Let’s Study Ephesians, pp. 170–1

Live in the presence of your Master in heaven. No less than the Christian slave, you are serving the Master in heaven. This Master is the one whose life and death were the ultimate in humble, servant leadership. As you look at both slaves and masters, recognize that the power of the gospel works anywhere: on your job, in your school, among your neighbors.

The question is not whether the gospel fits into your work situation. Rather, the question is, how can you live–in that area of your life–to the glory and honor of God?