Today is our sixth and final sermon in our study of the book of Haggai. A little recap before we look at today’s text. Haggai was a prophet for about three and half months in 520 B.C. Haggai’s message was for the community of Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon about 18 years earlier after the decree of King Cyrus of Persia. The decree was a big deal, a fulfillment of prophecy, and a source of hope and inspiration that God would at last redeem His people, right all the wrongs or world, establishing a new age of peace and justice over the whole earth. The expectation of these people was nothing less than this and yet the reality was far from it. Haggai urges the demoralized people to rebuild the temple but as we learned a few weeks ago, its appearance was far from glorious. Even Haggai calls the temple nothing.

Nevertheless amid this depressing situation Haggai promises that God is present and at work. The people are to be strong and work because God is with them. Though they are a defiled and ruined people after suffering the trauma of defeat, conquest, slavery, and exile, God declares that He will bless them. Haggai’s message is then hope in the face of hopelessness because God is at work and is directing all things to His ultimate purposes. The people then have no reason to fear because their God is still working to bless them.

Our text today takes place on the same day as Haggai’s last message. While all of Haggai’s previous messages were directed to the community as a whole, this message was addressed directly to Zerubbabel. So in order to understand Haggai’s message to Zerubbabel we are going to have to look at a little history so we can learn exactly who Zerubbabel was and his significance to the story of Israel.

What I want to do is giving you some idea of the political situation in the last years before Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon so you know how Zerubbabel fits into the picture. The difficulty for us as we read a text like Haggai is we are not familiar with the context. The people who Haggai addresses though are very familiar and so we are always playing a little catch up in order to understand. So I am going to start with the last years of Israel before the exile.

The kings of Israel had realized the rising power of Babylon and in response began to ally themselves with Egypt. After the death of King Josiah, Egypt installed his son Jehoiakim as a puppet king, believing they could rule through him. Jehoiakim was an oppressive tyrant, who spent lavishly on himself as the people suffered under the taxation required to pay the heavy tribute owed to Egypt. Jehoiakim even attempted to have the prophet,Jeremiah executed when the Jeremiah spoke out against him but was unsuccessful.

After the Babylonians crushed the Egyptian army at the Battle of Carchemish, Jehoiakim formally submitted to the authority of King Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiakim’s policies and practices did not change and Jeremiah condemned him. Jehoiakim responded by having Jeremiah’s prophecies burned after they were read to him. Later though, Jehoiakim sensing a moment of weakness in Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, withheld tribute leading Nebuchadnezzar to place Jerusalem under siege. Jehoiakim died during the siege and after the city was taken, Nebuchadnezzar took the new king Jehoiachin, who was 18 and ruled for about three months, along with much of the nobility to Babylon in chains. This is when Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego were taken to Babylon. Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar.

Eventually Zedekiah would join with Egypt to rebel against Babylon. However, this time Nebuchadnezzar would show no mercy, crushing Jerusalem. Zedekiah’s sons were put to death before his eyes and then Zedekiah was blinded and taken prisoner in Babylon. Meanwhile the king’s palace, the temple, and any other structure of significance was burned and the wall around Jerusalem was torn down. The people were enslaved and many taken to Babylon.

So if you are keeping score at home. Jehoiakim died during the first siege of Jerusalem. His son Jehoiachin and brother Zedekiah are prisoners in Babylon. Zedekiah would die shortly thereafter in Babylon. The family of David has reached a devastating conclusion. God had promised David about five hundred years earlier way back in 2 Samuel 7 that God would raise up David’s seed as kings and God would use these kings to establish God’s kingdom. God says He would build a house for His name and establish the throne of David’s kingdom forever. That promise is not looking so good at this point.

Worse than that though, look at our passage from Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s words are directed to Coniah another name for King Jehoiakim, the 18-year old who ruled for 3 months and was taken in chains to Babylon. God calls Jehoiakim a signet ring on His right hand but tears it off and gives Jehoiakim to the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar. A signet ring was a personalized symbol on a ring that was used to stamp officials documents. It was like a signature used to sign legal documents and so is often used as a metaphor for power and authority. In this case God is saying that He is removing the power and authority He had granted Jehoiakim.

However, the text goes on to say in verse 30, “Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his seed shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.” So not only has God removed the power and authority symbolized by the signet ring from Jehoiakim, but God has said that none of his seed will sit on the throne of David. That is despite the fact that God had promised David that He would establish the throne of David forever.

This is where Zerubbabel fits into the story. Zerubbabel is the grandson of Jehoiakim. We learn in 2 Kings that Jehoiakim was freed from prison by the new king of Babylon, Evil-Merodach, and given a position of honor at the king’s table. This story is contained in the last verses of Kings and it is given as a a picture of hope that the story of Israel is not yet at an end. Zerubabbel then becomes the great hope of Israel and here in Hggai we find Zerubbabel back in Jerusalem. Later we learn in Matthew that Zerubabbel’s line continues and leads directly to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will be the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy to David. Jesus is given all power on heaven and earth and His reign will truly have no end.

So what happened? Why did God tell Jehoiakim that none of his descendants would ever sit on the throne and yet in Haggai we have God declaring that He has chosen Zeubbabel and that He is being made God’s signet ring. Then we learn that Jesus Christ himself is a descendant of Jehoiakim. Did God change His mind?

The answer is not clear cut because we are dealing with God and God and God’s actions and God’s decision cannot be so easily made to fit in our normal language. So I cannot give you a nice, rational explanation for how this works out. Much ink has been spilled and theologians engage in all sorts of mental gymnastics to try to rationalize this - I’m not going to do that, mostly because I find the explanations unsatisfying. However, I do want to make a couple of points that I think give us some idea of the character of God.

The fact is that there are several passages that specifically state that God changes His mind. Let me give you a three examples. In Exodus after the Israelites build the golden calf to worship in place of God, God says that He will consume the people and make a new nation starting with Moses. Moses asks God to remember His own character and the covenant He made with Abraham. We are told that God relented from the disaster He had spoken to His people. In other words, God changes His mind. In Amos twice the Lord declared judgment against Israel and after Amos argues on Israel’s behalf, God relents and says, “It shall not be.” God told King Hezekiah that he would not recover from an illness, but after Hezekiah pleaded with God, God added 15 years to Hezekiah’s life. I could go on - there are plenty more.

However, the point I want to make is that there is a common thread to all of these examples of God changing His mind. Everyone of them has God turning from away from wrath. In each of the examples I just gave you, God’s judgment is turned toward mercy. So God does change his mind and on its face that statement may bother of us. How can we have an inconsistent God? However, God changes in a consistent way completely in accord with God’s character.

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will be no means clear the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” I go back to this statement describing God’s character again and again because it recurs throughout the Old Testament. Notice that the words describing mercy and forgiveness outnumber the words about punishment. Steadfast love abounds for thousands while iniquity lasts only three to four generations.

Both judgment and mercy are there but they are highly asymmetrical. We find other evidence for this in the Old Testament. Psalms 30:5, “His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime.” Isaiah 54, “For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you.” So in a way God is always changing His mind, but the change is always away from wrath and toward His people and His promises. So in today’s text God is turning away from His judgment against Jehoiakim and toward Zerubabbel and the promises He made to David. Far from a problem with God’s sovereignty, this a beautiful picture illustrating to us the character of God - a God who is in a real relationship with His people limiting Himself in order to fulfill His promises. It is why I think the Bible allows this and other obvious contradictions to remain.

I am sure Haggai knew of the prophecy to King Jehoiakim. Jeremiah was a big deal and he and Ezekiel were the last prophets that spoke to Israel. Haggai would have known what was said to Jehoiakim. The signet ring is a prominent image in this passage just as it was in Jeremiah - I think the repetition is supposed to be jarring. I think we are supposed to take note of this. The contradiction is drawn out for us not because of an oversight, but to teach us something about God. There is a mystery to God’s anger and it is this - God may change a word He proclaims. God is greater even then His own decisions and His anger is instrumental, conditional, and also completely subject to His will. God’s anger is never automatic or deterministic because God is not a force but a person and God is a person in relation with His people. The mystery here in God’s changed mind, is that beyond justice and anger lies the mystery of grace and compassion.

Now let us turn our attention to Zerubbabel. We actually do know very little about Zerubbabel. We do know that Zerubbabel never becomes king of Israel. Haggai seem to go out of his way, to let you know this. Zerubbabel is always referred to as governor. On three occasions, Haggai tells us the date and the date given is always with reference to the reign of the Persian King Darius. Despite being a descendent of the royal line of David, Zerubabbel was not a great king. You know who was a great king - Darius. At this time the Persian Empire stretched from Egypt to India. The Persian Empire was one of the greatest empires in history and now it was at its greatest extent and King Darius stood at its head.

Zerubabbel had no real power, he was poor, and he had no army. In the ancient world the qualities that were most admired were wealth, wisdom, and military power. Yet God says this man is going to be part of something great. Again God tells the people that He is going to shake the heavens and the earth. I made the point that this language is used by the prophets to describe the day of the Lord when God would at last return to Israel and restore His kingdom. The whole world would be flipped up side down. It is end time language.

Haggai then speaks of overthrowing the chariots and their riders and the horses and their riders going down. Again this language would have been familiar to Haggai’s audience. It is from Exodus 15, the song of Moses, when Moses composes a song after Pharaoh’s army had been defeated at the Red Sea. Let me read some of that poem, “I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider He has thrown in the sea.” Then a little further on in the song, “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host, He has cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.” This is exciting language, Haggai is intentionally using these phrases to let us know that an event as decisive as the Exodus is coming again.

In Jeremiah right after stating that none of Jehoiakim’s descendants will sit on the throne of David, God promises that He will raise up for David a righteous Branch who would reign. This king would deal wisely and execute justice and righteousness. He will save Judah and Israel will dwell securely. God here anticipates that He is going to change His mind returning the signet ring to Zerubabbel, Jehoiakim’s grandson, who God calls His servant and declares that He has been chosen.

Zerubabbel though is like the temple, pathetic. We could look at him and say the same thing Haggai said of the temple - is he not as nothing. His name means, “seed of Babylon” Babylon the name used throughout the Bible as a metaphor for all that is wrong and evil and unjust and cruel in the world. Zerubbabel’s very name is a reference to the greatest tragedy of Israel. Zerubabbel is the walking embodiment and reminder to everyone of defeat and crushed hope. Yet God honors Zerubbabel with a dignity and majesty that goes beyond his appearance and what he does. He has been given Zerubbabel a new identity and a role to play just as God gives the people a new identity calling them the remnant. I cannot name one great thing Zerubabbel does. He is not a great hero of the Bible.

I think that should be a lesson to us who are also not great heroes. We who are also ones who lack wisdom, wealth, and might or other attributes that our society values. Here is the mystery of God’s plan and something God has been trying to teach us throughout the Old Testament. God uses the exact opposite of those people because God’s kingdom is a different kind of kingdom. Its why God uses scoundrels like Jacob, weaklings like Gideon, a despised, desperate, Moabite woman like Ruth, people like Rahab, women like Deborah and Hannah, David, the youngest, smallest and most insignificant of Jesse’s sons, it is why God is always subverting birth order in Genesis. Many more examples will come to mind when you stop and look back through the Old Testament.

When Jesus stood before Pilate and Pilate asks if Jesus is the king of the Jews, Jesus responds by saying, “My kingdom is not of this world” meaning Jesus kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world. It is not a kingdom characterized by wealth or power. Jesus says, “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.” Christ’s kingdom is a kingdom with a different ethos radically different from the worlds. Its why fishermen like Andrew, Peter, James and John are chosen, tax collectors, and sinners, its why Jesus’ birth is announced to shepherds. Its why the kingdom comes about on the cross in the most humiliating, scandalous form of execution reserved for slaves and other nobodies.

According to Matthew when Jesus dies on the cross defeating sin and death, the forces that had imprisoned humanity since the fall, the earth shook. The cross was the moment when God shook the heavens and the earth and defeated the power behind the thrones and kingdoms of the earth. The greatest and ultimate weapon of tyranny and oppression, death was defeated absolutely.

In a way though its easy to read these verses in Haggai and to be somewhat disappointed. Zerubabbel is told He is the signet ring. As I said earlier the signet ring would have had an image representing the authority and power of the king. As a signet ring, Zerubbabel would have been a picture of God to the world. Zerubabbel is called God’s servant and told that He is the chosen one. Zerubabbel would never live up to this promise. Everyone reading Haggai would have known Zerubabbel never amounted to anything. He was a promise that never seemed to live up to expectation.

Yet in the end as the ancestor of Jesus we see all of this reach fulfillment in a more glorious and greater way than could have possibly been imagined. Hebrews tells us that Christ is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. Its no too much of a stretch to imagine that the author of Hebrews has something like a signet ring in mind when He describes Christ as the exact imprint of God’s nature. All power and authority in heaven and earth was given to Christ. The Jews mocked Jesus at the cross saying, “let Him save Himself if indeed He is the chose one.” Jesus who on the cross takes the role of the suffering servant. It is this image of sacrificial on the cross by which God wanted to be known. Not as great conquering king, but as one who gives Himself for humanity.

It is here at the cross that the prophecy of Zerubabbel is fulfilled. It is here at the cross that Zerubabbel identity as signet ring, chosen one, and servant is fully revealed. Zerubabbel’s identity is changed forever from seed of Babylon, a name reminding everyone of humiliation and defeat. Now Zerubbabel’s identity is fully realized in Christ who suffered humiliation and defeat on the cross. This example of Zeruababbel and his strange importance and non-importance leads me to a few points that I think speak directly to us and to our lives.

First, like Zerubabbel we can only find our identity in Christ. Zerubabbel was an insignificant puppet ruler of an insignificant province of the Persian empire that we know next to nothing about. History is really long and a lot of stuff happens and there are a ton of people in the world and even Zerubabbel will likely outshine our fame and accomplishments. In the book of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher wonders why he has struggled to be so wise, “for of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten.” The fact of the matter is that according any sort of earthly measure, even compared to someone as insignificant as Zerubbabel, we are insignificant. Yet Zerubabbel is given great significance chosen by God, God’s servant because of his relationship to Christ.

As the church, the bride of Christ, and Christ’s followers we identify with Christ, calling ourselves after the name of Christ. Labeling ourselves with the name Christian. In Christ, we are called children of God, sons of God, heirs to God, the body of Christ, God’s special possession. Listen to how Colossians 2 puts it, “For in Christ the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” If we look for any measure of significance in this world we will find nothing but disappointment, “there is no enduring remembrance … all will be long forgotten.” In Christ though we share in the hope of the world to come and the power and authority of the King of all creation.

Second, as I talked about earlier not only was Zerubbabel not someone important, he accomplished very little. Yet Zerubabbel had a role to play in the great drama that God was composing. A few weeks ago I spoke of the how God called the people the remnant and gave them a part to play and made the point that we to have a part to play. It is part of what makes our identity in Christ an important concept. Our identity in Christ means we have an important role to play in God’s drama of redemption

Third, when I read the Bible I know one thing - I am not a hero of the story like Abraham, or Moses, or Joshua. I am not someone who speaks truth to power like the prophets. I do not perform great miracles like Elijah and Elisha. I don’t arrange contests with secular humanists and call fire down from heaven. That’s the great thing about Zerubbabel - neither does he and yet God chooses Zerubbabel. The Bible is filled with people whose name is only mentioned in passing. Many people play a part other than the Peters and the Johns. Yet God uses them and I think this part of the point. Paul tells the Corinthians, “Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not may were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God choose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God choses what is week in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even thing that are not, to bring to nothing thing that are.” Haggai looks at the pathetic temple the people had just built and asks, “is it not nothing?” God says the latter glory of this house shall be great than the former. Christ looks at Zerubbabel and says you are my signet ring.

Fourth, the signet ring is the image of the king. As the church who shares in Christ’s identity who are considered sons and heir along with Christ to the father, we are the image of God. This is the role we play in the drama to show the world what God looks like. Not by our wealth, or wisdom, or power. That is not what the kingdom of God is about, but by sacrificial love for others. As the hands and feet of Christ it our part of identity to show the world the character of God.

So the lesson from Haggai and the lesson of Zerubbabel, is that we have an identity that goes beyond all appearances. An identity that is derived not from our accomplishments, but from Christ and Christ crucified. That identity means that we have a status greater than ourselves. God does not simply love us and have a wonderful plan for our lives. God loves the world and has a wonderful plan for all of creation and we are part of that. It is our role in this plan, to make God known to the world not according the ways and means of this present, evil age that is dying, but that of the very Kingdom of God.

The Intransitive Property of Holiness (Dr. Trey Benfield)

July 16, 2017 Mason Matthews

Scripture Readings:

Mark 5:25-34
Hebrews 10:1-24
Haggai 2:10-19

We are continuing our study of the book of Haggai. A little recap before we start. Haggai was a prophet to a small, but dedicated group of Jews who had returned from Babylon to begin the task of rebuilding Israel. On one hand the return from exile was a momentous occasion. No longer were the people in bondage in a foreign land. There was an opportunity to rebuild what the Babylonians had taken from them. On the other hand, their situation was precarious. The people were few, weak, the harvests were poor, and they were surrounded everywhere by the ruins of their once great civilization. The prophets had promised a glorious future in which God would perform a new act greater even than the Exodus. Yet as they looked around there was no evidence that this was beginning or even a possibility. At the urgings of the prophet Haggai, the people had begun to rebuild the temple, but as we saw last week it was far from what they had hoped. Old men who had seen the first temple cried at seeing this new one and even Haggai declared its appearance was as nothing.

Not only is the temple nothing, we are told in verse 19 that the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. If you will remember in chapter 1, Haggai had declared that the land’s lack of prosperity was a result of the temple not yet being rebuilt. Now as the temple is being rebuilt, the people find that they still are lacking. Prosperity has not returned and once again the people have found their high expectations met with the cold, harsh reality of their present situation. This is not how the plan was supposed to work. The people were no closer to their glorious future and yet unlike their ancestors, they had actually listened to a prophet for once.

Haggai’s message last week was for Zerubbabel, the governor, Joshua, the high priest, and the remnant of the people who had returned to be strong and to get back to work because the Lord was with them. The temple itself was symbolic of the presence of the Lord. Haggai’s central message was that despite all appearances God was indeed present working and acting through them. The Lord of Hosts is pictured as invading army and they the people who returned were the remnant taking up their role as the people who would play their part in the great cosmic drama leading to the day of the Lord when everything would be made right, Israel would fulfill its mission, and the Lord would return to rule at last with true justice instead of the present cruel powers of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia.

So why were the people in such a pathetic state with a pathetic temple and a promise land producing next to nothing? Its a fair question, a great question, and our passage today is Haggai’s answer to this question.

As is typically the case for Haggai, Haggai answers this question with a question. The questions are directed toward the priests asking them to make rulings on issues of holiness and cleanness. First, Haggai asks if a priest is carrying holy meat in his holy robes and then touches any other food item does it become holy? Second, Haggai asks if someone is unclean because of contact with a dead body and touches something holy does it become unclean?

In order to understand this passage, we have to understand a little about the holiness codes contained in the book of Leviticus. If you have ever tried to read Leviticus, you know that it contains a very detailed description of the rules and regulation for how sacrifices were to be offered and also what foods, activities, and conditions were considered holy, clean, and unclean. However, before we look at the rules of the holiness codes it is important to examine the context so we can understand the purpose of the holiness codes.

The first point I want to stress is that the holiness codes are not meant to be universal, moral law. These rules and procedures are introduced at a particular time in the story of Israel and fulfill a specific role in Biblical history and that is why the context is important. In the book of Exodus, the Hebrews had been freed from enslavement by the Egyptians and led to Mount Sinai, where God makes a covenant with them and gives them the ten commandments. God then instructs them to build the tabernacle where God will be present in a special way in their midst. The book of Exodus ends with the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle.

It was this event, the filling of the tabernacle with the glory and presence of the Lord that necessitates the book of Leviticus. The holiness codes contained in Leviticus are not needed if God is not present and dwelling in the midst of the people. That is why the holiness codes are introduced at this particular point in the story of Israel.

Israel must be instructed in how to live when the presence of the living God, the creator of the universe who had redeemed them from slavery and will now use them to redeem all of humanity from sin and death, is near. God’s presence must be respected and feared lest it become familiar and treated lightly. God may be near and in a special relationship, but He is still not of this world. This special set apartness belonging to a higher and more perfect realm is what we call holiness. Israel is told that because a holy God is dwelling in their midst then they must be holy. The holiness code is a way to teach the people about holiness and help the people understand what it means to be in the presence of God.

We learn at the beginning of the book of Hebrews, that long ago at many times and many places God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son. One of the many ways that God spoke with His people was through symbolism. Today this is not the primary way God communicates with us, because we have the teachings of Christ and Christ is the most perfect representative of God the father. So symbolism is not as prevalent for us, but for the Israelites it was a big deal. Maybe this was because literacy was not as widespread. Maybe the culture of the ancient peoples was more receptive to symbolism than our own culture. In any event, a lot of symbolism was built into the ritual the Israelites used as they approached God in worship. This symbolism was the way God communicated to the people what God was like. As the philosopher Paul Ricouer said, “symbolism gives rise to thought.”

The Holiness code then was ritualized symbolism. The symbol itself was chosen to symbolize a truth, but there was nothing right or wrong or good or bad about the symbol itself. Uncleanness was unavoidable in many cases and was not sinful. Uncleanness happens.

Let me give you some examples of how the holiness codes worked. You would not approach the tabernacle after touching a dead body. God’s holiness means life and not death because He is a creator who provides life. Death is associated with sin therefore contact with a dead body made someone unclean. God’s holiness means purity and so Israelites were not to wear clothes made from a mixture of materials. It gets more complicated than that, but that should give you at least some idea of the logic. The important concept to note is that something unclean is not sinful in itself, however it is symbolic of sin.

This leads to the next part of the holiness code. There are three categories under the holiness code: holy, clean, and unclean. Something holy was appropriate for worship, something clean was a neutral state, and something unclean was a negative state. If something holy comes in contact with something unclean it is defiled and no longer appropriate for worship. If something clean comes in contact with something unclean, it then become unclean. The progression goes one way. Certain rites have to be performed to restore a worshipper or an object from a state of uncleanness to one of cleanness. A rite has to be performed to change something from clean to holy. What is unclean must be cleansed to be made clean. What is clean must be sanctified in order to be holy. Again the important thing to note is these categories move in one direction. The categories are not transitive.

The reason this concept is important is that it demonstrates the corrupting influence of sin. Sin is not simply a moral failing or something to be avoided. The Holiness code illustrates the defilement of sin. Sin is like pollution, effecting everything it comes in contact with. A Holy God is the opposite of sin and the pollution of sin creates a barrier between humanity and God. That is why people who are unclean cannot approach the temple to worship. What is communicated is the gravity of sin - it is associated with death, with disorder, with impurity, with chaos and it separates us from God. Its purpose is not to impose a morality but as a teaching tool. The book of Hebrews likens the regulations to a parable and calls them bodily regulations imposed until the time comes to set things right.

With that in mind let us return to our passage and the questions Haggai asks. Haggai directs these two questions to the priests. In Leviticus the priest were charged with protecting and guarding the holiness of God and maintaining the sanctity of the temple. The priests are tasked with “distinguishing between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean.” So it is natural for Haggai to ask the priest for a ruling. Of course they know the answer - they are pretty basic questions, what the Levites would have learned in Priesthood 101. Holy meat does not transfer its holiness. Furthermore, If the holy meat comes in contact with someone unclean, such as someone who comes in contact with a dead body, the holy meat becomes defiled. Uncleanness pollutes because uncleanness is a picture of sin and sin pollutes.

Remember though the question, that Haggai is trying to answer by asking these questions. The people want to know why after following Haggai’s message and rebuilding the temple are they still suffering from poor harvests? Why is Jerusalem still in ruins? Why are they still under the rule of Persia? Why has the restoration still not come? Haggai’s answer that he is leading the people to by asking the questions to the priests is that they are unclean.

The people are unclean and the sacrifices they bring to the temple they have just built are also unclean. Unclean people transmit their uncleanness to holy sacrifices, unclean people are not made holy by the holy sacrifice. As unclean people they cannot approach the temple and offer acceptable worship and since that is the function of the temple, their mission of rebuilding the temple remains unfulfilled at least in practice. This then leads to question - why are the people unclean?

To answer this question, we need to remember that uncleanness is a picture of sin but not sinful of itself. So we can reject the explanation that the people have done something morally wrong. The people’s offense is not an issue of morality but a ritual failure. The example of the dead body provides the clue. Jerusalem had been totally and completely leveled by the Babylonians. The temple had been destroyed and burned down. According to Lamentations, priest and prophet were killed in the sanctuary of the Lord. The people were enslaved and taken to a foreign land by a foreign people who did not know or care for God. They were defiled by defeat, exile, slavey, and death. None of these represent a God who is characterized by victory, freedom, and life. The result of uncleanness, just like the result of sin is that it prevents prosperity. It is true that these people were, for the most part, not responsible for this state, but this was often true of uncleanness. Uncleanness was something that was unavoidable in many cases. This too is true of sin whose effects often spread to those who did not commit the particular sin.

I think this is a point our American individualism has often neglected in our theology. Too often we look at sin as an individual moral failing. Its not that this is wrong, individuals do commit individual sins. However, we often neglect the effects sin has on the community beyond the individual. Sin is bad not just because of what it does to the person but what it does to the community. It corrupts and defiles and even those who are innocent suffer. This is part of what it means to be in a fallen world. The problem of restricting sin to the individual is this causes us to be blind to the people who suffer as a result of sin. We see suffering and there is almost a tacit assumption that the the person is responsible for their own suffering. I see this for example in our thinking about the poor - they obviously did something to end up in this situation. The problem is the entire witness of the Bible seems to argue against this. Often the Bible makes the point that it is the greed or oppressiveness of the wealthy and powerful that places people in situations of suffering and it is their sin of the wealthy and powerful that Bible condemns.

Nevertheless, the people now have a problem. The holiness codes provided a solution for uncleanness. Uncleanness could be cleansed through an appropriate sacrifice. The problem was that as verse 14 states, what they offer is unclean. In other words, the people have reached a point where the holiness code can no longer alleviate their uncleanness. The system has broken down and the people are stuck in their uncleanness.

However, it is hear at this impasse where hope is seemingly nowhere to be found that we encounter the gospel in Haggai. As with Abraham and Sarah who see no chance of have a child and are without hope. As with the Hebrews enslaved by the most powerful empire of the world at that time. As with Jesus who is taken prisoner and crucified by the cruel might of Rome. At all points where the people of God have reached a point where there is no hope, where the powers of violence and oppression and evil have gathered to do their worst and the only certainty is death, God is merely setting the stage from His greatest acts of deliverance.

God had promised Abraham and Sarah a child. God had promised the Hebrews a land of their own where they could live in freedom. God had promised that He would free Israel from the power of Rome and the world from the tyranny even of death. In Haggai, God had promised the Jerusalem community that He would restore Israel to even greater prosperity and God will be faithful despite uncleanness and despite their unfaithfulness. The answer for these people is to turn to Him. Only God can provide a solution and see what God does - its amazing. Look with me at the end of verse 19, God looks at His people and says, “But from this day on I will bless you.”

It is God who says I will veto your unfaithfulness, because God is faithful to His promises despite the fact that His people abandoned Him and despite the power of Babylon and despite exile God looks at His people and says, but from this day on I will bless you.

When we come to the New Testament we have Jesus doing the exact thing. Jesus the pure image of the Father, who tells His followers He who has seen me has seen the Father. I want us now to look at our passage from Mark. This passage is set in a series where Jesus has just healed a man possessed by an unclean spirit who was living in a grave yard next to a herd of pigs. It is the most unclean situation imaginable. Jesus is then asked by a man named Jarius to lay hands on his dead daughter to make her alive. On His way, He is stopped by the woman who is subject of our text. A woman who for 12 years had been afflicted with a discharge of blood. This condition would have made the woman unable to worship in the temple and would have alienated her from the community because contact with her would have made them unable to worship in the temple. She touches Jesus, knowing that her contact would have made Jesus unclean but convinced by her faith that Jesus was something outside the system, of a greater and higher order than the holiness code. In all these instances, Jesus does what God does and what God is always doing, Jesus touches them and result is that from that day on they are blessed.

This is what God does, He is at work taking the ravages that sin and death have wrought on this world, taking a situation that is hopeless and declaring, but from this day on I will bless you. It is what Christ in His death on the cross was sent to this world to do. To undo all the bad things. To wipe aways every tear from their eyes, declaring that death shall be no more, and neither mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

I want to tie all of these thoughts together by looking at our passage from Hebrews. Turn with me now to Hebrews 10. The passage starts by explaining that the holiness codes and the sacrificial system were a shadow, the word in Greek is where we derive our term scheme and it means something like a blueprint or model that was teaching the people what was to be fulfilled ultimately in Christ. A blueprint is a plan that is necessary to build something but it is a means and not at end. A blueprint is lacking in size and dimension and so the holiness codes were lacking. Hebrews explains that the sacrifices were inadequate, they had to repeated. They illustrated the plan, but ultimately it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to solve the problem. Christ though is what the blueprint was pointing to and when He comes, He does away with the first order to establish the second. Christ is the ultimate means by which God will bless His people.

We are all effected by our own sin and by the pollution of the sin of others. The world is broken and tainted by death. Its a bigger problem than something we did wrong. The Greek word for sin is hamartia, and its picture is that of an archer who cannot hit the target. The word literally means “missing the mark.” Like the Jerusalem community in Haggai we have reached a point where we cannot make ourselves clean - we have reached an impasse. God though declares that despite this real, existential fact, from this day on, God will bless us. He sins His son to as the perfect sacrifice that is able to sanctify our uncleanness. As a result of the resurrection, Christ brings life and those of us who are raised up with Him no longer stink of death.

The result of this is in verse 19 of Hebrews 10. Now we can have confidence to enter the holy places. Do you see that, we have been made by the blood of Christ. The impasse has been broken because the God who promised us this is faithful and He has said from this day on I will bless you.. So now like the unclean women we can touch Jesus knowing that we will be made whole. `Nor as this an end of itself because now we are a people with a mission, just as the remnant is one with a mission. We can at last take our part in our true vocation that God has given us as humans, freed from the oppression of sin, freed from the tyranny of death, now we can stir one another up to love and good works knowing that from this day on God will bless us.