Audio Transcript:

Welcome to Missions on Point, the Propempo perspective on church and missions.

Welcome back to Missions on Point, I’m so glad you’ve joined us for episode 241. We are preaching about missions and we are working through each of the prophets. We’ve talked about all of them except the last three. So today we are talking about the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The most important interpretive feature, as we have mentioned before, when it comes to interpreting the prophets is to place them in their correct historical context. These three prophets are distinct from the others because they are not warning the pre-exilic Israelites about an impending judgment coming because of their sins. That judgment has come in the exile. They are not even helping the exiled remnant to remain faithful and to understand their sufferings, because they have returned from exile. Instead, the main thrust of these three prophets is addressed to the Jewish people who have returned from exile and are trying to figure out what their life looks like now. How can they rebuild? What does worship look like when Solomon’s temple has been destroyed? There is a lot of future hope, shifting our eyes away from the nostalgia of the past, and looking ultimately to the Messiah for salvation. Israel’s relationship with the nations is still a primary focus. And for churches looking for guidance in obeying the Great Commission today, there is a surprising amount of motivation to take up the call and go into all the world, because we are no longer waiting for the coming Messiah to save us. He has already come. He has already raised a new temple in his body, the church.

First up today we have Haggai, written as a series of 4 messages to the people who had become quite content in not rebuilding the temple. Their houses were finely decorated and paneled while the temple was in ruins. They had neglected the house of worship. The main idea is that God calls the nation to repent of their apathy and finish rebuilding the temple.

Message 1 in this book is found in the 15 verses of chapter 1. God’s message is for the returned exiles to “Consider your ways.” The Lord has a complaint against the people who say that “the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” Essentially, they had a problem with their priorities. They took care of their own houses, but not God’s house. The point here is that God is worthy, so we shouldn’t get distracted. God is our priority, so we should put him first. We should build his house before we are concerned with our own comfort. Our comfort is one of the number one deterrents from doing the hard work that God has called us to. Interestingly, in response to Haggai’s message, the people obeyed his words and feared the Lord, and they worked diligently on the temple because the Lord had stirred up their spirits. Yet, in response to seeing the new temple, those who had seen the first temple said that it looked like nothing in comparison to the old one. The rebuilding of the temple is analogous to the hard work that God calls Christians to today of building his church in all nations. We must not let our comfort distract us from the call to build up the church all over the globe.

Message 2 in Haggai is in verses 1-9 of chapter 2. God focuses us on a future coming glory. God promised to them a house of peace where the treasures of the nations would come into the temple. He promised that the latter glory would be greater than the glory of Solomon’s temple, and it would be marked by the Lord’s presence and peace. We, of course, know the One who is greater than Solomon who has come with a greater glory. And the Lord’s presence should be our motivation as well. The wealth of the nations will come in to God’s presence as churches all over the world worship God in Spirit and in Truth and make God’s presence known through the gathered church.

Message 3, in verses 10-19, tells the Israelites to consider holiness. God wants holy laborers. He wants our hearts more than our bricks. So, the priority of our work is to remain undefiled. Israel’s purity laws teach us about the nature of our sin. And the primary function of our worship is to exalt the purification we receive from the saving work of Jesus on the cross for us. The world is unholy and impure, yet as we go into it, we must remain vigilant in being unstained and in bringing the cleansing work of Christ to needy sinners.

Message 4 is the last 4 verses of the book, once again focusing on the coming hope of God’s chosen servant. They are encouraged to not grow disillusioned with their current circumstances, being confident that God was coming again to them. A future judgement of the world is guaranteed, and proof for that is past judgments, like with Sodom and Gomorrah and the Canaanites. Zerubbabel was God’s signet ring in the line of the Davidic king. Yet, the future hope here is clearly set on Christ, the true fulfillment of David’s line and king over all.

Next we have Zechariah, and for a minor prophet, it’s one of the bigger books. Again, he is nearly 20 years after exiles return and the people are discouraged from opposition that hindered the building of the temple and Jerusalem. The book is in two halves with the first half giving a series of 8 visions in a chiastic structure that is focused on Joshua, the high priest, and Zerubbabel, the royal descendant of David who led the rebuilding efforts. The second half looks forward to the coming Messiah and the future restored Jerusalem. And the main idea, very similar to Haggai is that the promised Messiah comes to bring cleansing and peace.

The 8 visions are very apocalyptic, like in Ezekiel and Daniel. There’s a man on a red horse, 4 horns and 4 craftsmen, a man with a measuring line, Joshua and the branch, the lampstand and olive trees, a flying scroll, a woman carried away in a basket, four wagons, and the crowning of Joshua. Zechariah talks to an angel who helps to interpret the meaning of these highly symbolic visions. And in this series, God revealed to Zechariah an overview of his redemptive plan beginning in the present day and moving to the distant future. Here’s a basic summary. A mediator, like the man on the horse, must come to reverse the fortunes of God’s people. The nation that is in ruins would one day prosper. God has the power to conquer his enemies as seen in the 4 horns and 4 craftsmen. The man with the measuring line would not be able to mark the borders of Jerusalem because the city has no limits. Next, Joshua the high priest is accused by Satan, yet God the judge gives him clean white robes. The free grace of justification is wonderfully pictured here. The vision of the lampstand and olive trees communicates the removal of every obstacle to the advance of the kingdom by the work of the Holy Spirit. Next, a huge flying scroll, the size of the holy place has God’s divine standards written on it, exposing our sin. God’s justice will be served and sinners will be dealt with. The woman carried away in a basket shows how God will deal with sin, removing it forever. The four wagons return to the imagery of the first vision, with angels reporting that vengeance has been executed. All enemies are finally defeated and the kingdom is advanced as the temple is rebuilt. In all these visions, God is working to accomplish every promise of redemption he has made. And one more final bonus vision tops them all off, Joshua, the priest, is crowned. Our hope rests in the one who would hold the office of both priest and king, who can bring both peace from war and cleansing from sin.

The last half of the book has oracles of blessing. The return of the king is famously prophesied, coming riding on a donkey. He would shepherd his people rightly and judge the wicked shepherds. This king would speak peace to the nations and his rule would be over the whole earth. The Lord would protect his people, and they would not reject him forever. God would pour out a spirit of grace and answers their pleas for mercy. In the day of the Lord, a fountain would be opened to cleanse God’s people from their sin and uncleanness. And that fountain would come because the shepherd would be struck. The Lord would take a stand for his people as God’s justice would confront the evil among the nations. And finally in the last chapter, we have hope that the whole earth would worship the Lord. A stream of living water will flow out of Jerusalem and the wealth of all the nations will be brought in. If you don’t get lost in the imagery, it’s not too hard to see in Zechariah that the hope of Israel is the hope of all the world, Jesus, the priest-king, who brings peace and cleansing to all nations.

Finally, we consider Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. His name means “messenger”, and that could be his name, his title, and an important theme in his book that a messenger like Elijah would precede the Messiah. The book is laid out as a series of six disputes between God and his people. And the main idea of the book is a wake-up call to renewed covenant fidelity.  He calls us to not forget God’s love, his Law, or the coming Day of the Lord. The six disputes are laid out as a chiasm, emphasizing the content in the middle. The first and sixth disputes with God emphasize that God makes a distinction between the good and the wicked, and this is based on his elective love and his judgment of sin. The people complain that God doesn’t love them, but that is not true because God had chosen Jacob and his descendants. The people did not appreciate God’s love and the spoke ill of him by saying it is vain to serve God. In the second and fifth disputes God condemns Israel’s begrudging offerings. God claims that the people have despised his name and polluted his altar by presenting lame and sick sacrifices. They robbed God in their tithes and offerings. And God responds saying, “From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations. But you say, ‘What a weariness this is!’ For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.” In the third and fourth disputes, God is a witness against their idolatry and their adultery. And God does not accept their offerings because they have been faithless. And the climactic center of the book focuses on God’s promise to decisively deal with evil, by coming into his temple as a messenger of the covenant. I cannot help but picture Jesus cleansing the temple. The people are called to remember God’s law, while God promised to send Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and children to their fathers. And this is the task of all of the prophets, to prepare the way for the Messiah. All prophets lead us to our need for Christ. And the salvation we find in him brings him glory to the ends of the earth. And missionaries are today’s messengers. They bring God’s law and gospel. They announce the judgment on sin and the salvation found in Christ alone. This is what the right worship of God demands. God’s glory is worth every effort we take to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. Praise God for Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of every promise is yes and amen in him. And may God grant us the boldness of the prophets to preach the gospel to all people everywhere.  

Thanks for joining us today on Missions on Point. We trust that you'll find more help and resources on our websites at Propempo.com and missioserve.org. We are so thankful for those who support us,enabling us to produce this podcast. Now to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen.