Chart, Message and Outline of Haggai

Message of Haggai

If you make your relationship with God, commitment to God’s work, and pursuit of God's Holiness, your highest priority, God will come to you, encourage you, fill your work with glory, and give you blessing.

Theological Outline of Haggai

Renew your commitment to God and to His work.   (Rebuild the Temple!) 1:1-15

• The people’s problem was that they valued their own interests above God’s. 1:2-3, 9b
• Your actions and the way you spend your time show what you really love.
• God disciplined them by removing what was coming between them and God (prosperity) 6a, 9-11
• We need to constantly evaluate our lives and actions to see if they are pleasing God. 1:5,7
• “Set your heart” Give careful consideration to your priorities and actions.
• You should do everything you do to please and honor God.  7
• God desires complete and active obedience.  12, 14-15
• Basis: They feared God. They had respect and honor for God and His Word.
• They heard the Word, respected and then acted quickly and actively. James 1:22-25
• God responded to their commitment by coming to them and stirring them up for action 14 
• We are God’s temple. We rebuild the temple today when we renew commitment to worship and serve God. We need to build our own relationship with God and help others to build their own relationships with God.

Renew your courage by focusing on God’s promises, not present circumstances. 2:1-9

• The people are disappointed and discouraged as they look at themselves and what they have done. 3
• “Remnant” They are an insignificant people under the thumb of the mighty Persian empire.  2
• The temple they have built is small and ugly compared to Solomon’s.
• We become courageous when we honestly face our problems, but draw our strength from God. 4-9
• God’s presence with us guarantees our success and blessing. 4
• God’s promises and Spirit guarantee deliverance and salvation. 5
• God is going to judge and destroy the powers and problems we fear. 6
• God’s presence in our lives fills our insignificant works with power, meaning and glory.
• Their insignificant temple would be the one that Messiah was to enter and minister in.
• God evaluates our works on a different standard (Faithfulness, not results) 8
• The purpose of everything we have is that it be used to bring glory to God. 8
• God gives seemingly insignificant acts eternal glory and significance.
• Courage comes from knowing God and gaining the Divine perspective.

Renew your cleanliness. Service must come from clean heart.  2:10-19

• Holy work does not make an unclean person clean.  12
• An unclean person makes a holy work unclean. 13
• God does not accept work or sacrifice that comes from impure people.  14
• Solution:  Holiness only can be gained from relationship with God. 15-19
• He brings discipline to alert us to sin in our lives. 15-17
• God offers forgiveness and blessing when we commit to relationship with Him.
• Our holiness never comes from a person or act. It can only be given by God.

Renew your Confidence. God is in control of the future.  2:20-23

• God is in control of nature and will use it for His purposes. 21
• God is in control of nations and will use them to bring about his purposes. 22
• When we become “God’s servant” the power of God is behind us. 23
• Zerubbabel will be the signet ring. He was a Son of David and God will fulfil all his promises to David through Zerubbabel, overcome the curse (Jeremiah 22:24-25) and rule together forever.
• Imagine what you could do as a “ring on God’s hand.”