ADVENT IN HAGGAI
Haggai 2:20-23
Part Four- “Advent is a Time to Shake Things Up”
HOPE is sometimes hard to find in life. Even as we go to the Bible, some verses offer more hope than others. As we look at Haggai 2:20-23 today, you might think it would be like squeezing juice out of a banana to find a wellspring of hope in this text. But you would be dead wrong. In fact, it is the opposite.
There is a whole lot of hope here. Why? Because God is setting forth His promises. And whenever God says HE WILL do something, you can take it to the bank. This includes good or bad. But here we are talking about the promise of God’s blessings in your life.
Christmas, and the Advent of our Savior into the world is fundamentally held together by the fulfillment of God’s promises. BECAUSE GOD WILLS, WE ARE SAVED. He promises to send a Savior, and He came. The Promise to Zerubbabel points to the Christ and His coming again; both at Advent and His Second Coming.
Matthew 1:21; Matthew 2:6; Isa.9:7; Luke 1:52; Luke 1:69
As Christians we can still struggle with believing that God is going to do what He has promised to do in our world and in our lives. Sometimes it is simply that we are misunderstanding the purposes of God and at other times we simply lose heart because time itself has slowly gone by and still no change, no deliverance or relief.
Daniel 10:10-14- Here is why I am late
Phil. 1:6- He finishes what He starts
Matthew 1:21 She WILL bring forth, He WILL save
Romans 5:6 At just the right time, Christ appeared.
Some of the greatest promises in scripture only come after centuries of SILENCE. One seems to think God may have forgotten. But the truth is, He is always working out His plan for each of us in His time (Eccl.3:1-11). What we see, as we come to this little book of Haggai is God directing His people through their leaders to greater blessings. Those returning from captivity will receive the promised blessings in the land of their inheritance.
THE HEAVENLY SHAKEDOWN
Mary’s Song in Luke 1:46-55 is a humble submission to the reality that God is going to shake the earth and everything else, and this young handmaiden, sings, “Let it shake”.
In Haggai 2:6,20-22, the shaking was to remind them that their present circumstances would change. But as Haggai closes this prophecy we are thrust into the future. Zerubbabel would be exalted, and he would be a picture of the coming Savior who would shake the heavens and the earth. He would destroy all principalities by His coming, both in heaven and on earth, and restore peace on earth and goodwill towards men.
Haggai 2:23 In that day…. “I will TAKE you” and “I will MAKE you” Isa.14:27; Job 42:2
1. v. 49- We ought to fear God and not man, recognizing God laughs at the impotent arrogance of non-Christian thought. Mary laughed along with God at the defeat of those proud hearts that exalt themselves above God.
2. v. 49- We ought to unashamedly bow before the Lord of Glory. Mary had the posture not of a mother before her successful Son, but a servant before her conquering King. In our polarized world of politics, we need to remember the allegiance we have to Jesus Christ.
3. v. 49- We ought to believe our own prayers. God has indeed hallowed His name throughout the world, as He promised: I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10; Matthew 6:10
4. v. 50- We ought to remember the generational power of mercy- Mary understood that mercy is transferred from generation to generation. There is always hope.
5. v. 51-54- We should trust the ever-present antithesis. Mary exalted in the implications of the present antithesis. He has scattered, He has put down, He has exalted, He has filled, He has sent away, He has helped. Psalm 23:1-3
6 v. 55- We ought to live in unhesitating confidence that Christ has conquered the enemy, having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (the cross that is) Col. 2:15
7. v. 55 We ought to see the reality of the New Covenant being fulfilled. Indeed, through the birth of Christ the King has come, God has remembered to be merciful to us. Mary looks to the faithfulness of God to her forefathers and gets in line.
8. How does a soul magnify God? Mary means she is verbalizing a silent prayer. I think she means that at this moment her soul feels the greatness and holiness and mercy of God. And the feeling is primarily one of joy. "My spirit rejoices in God!" Psalm 69:30, "I will magnify God with thanksgiving." We learn the truth that we also magnify God by rejoicing in him.