Assignment for April 18th

1. Review "Assignment for April 11th."
     Note: I have not added the notes from our last class yet. Please check on Sunday.
2.  Read the book of Haggai.
3.  See how many dots you can connect with the book of Ezra.
4.  The work of building the temple stopped by royal decree. (4:23-24) What were some of the things the people were doing during the 16 years that the work on the temple ceased? 

Discoveries from the 4/25/2018 class:

1.  What had they been doing for 16 years? Building their own houses. Not just log cabins but beautiful homes. 1:4 refers to "paneled houses." This type of paneling was used by royalty. They not only turned from building the house of the Lord, they "over did it" on building theirs- selfishness. How do we "overdo it" on ourselves?
2.  So, they had nice homes but what else happened? Their were no blessings in their lives at all. 1:5-6- their crops were meager, there was not enough food or clothes and the money they did make "fell through their pockets." BUT, they had really nice houses! Was it worth it? Look at 1:7-11- Their disobedience opened the floodgates for ruin.
3.  We noted a repeated phrase (always take note of repeated phrases) in 1:5, 7, 2:15, 18. "Give careful thought..." They hadn't "given careful thought" or they would have realized the pattern of bad fruit in their lives for the past 16 years. 
4.  We need to do the same thing. Take time on a regular basis to "give careful thought" to the fruit that has been occurring in our lives. As we look back, what do we see? It can be good fruit or bad or a mixture of both. Ask the Lord what changes He may want you to make so good fruit can come in the future.
5.  The key to the turnaround in the Israelite's life was repentance. To repent means to turnaround. Godly fear brings repentance. They had lived for themselves for so long that they had developed very hard hearts. Hosea 10:12 was a verse that helped us understand what needed to take place for repentance to occur: “Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.” Their hearts were like hard ground that needed to be chisel plowed. Once they submitted to the process, things began to change quickly.
6. Repentance needs to be a regular part of the believers life. Keep short accounts with God. Ask Him daily if there is anything you need to repent of. If yes, do so. If not, move on.
6.  By doing some math from Haggai 1:1 and 1:15 we realized that it only took 23 days of "encouragement toward repentance" from Haggai (and Zechariah) to turn the nation around. (And this after a 16 year lull in building the temple.)  Repentance brought change on a national level, in just 23 days.
7.  Further math from Hosea 1:1 and Ezra 6:15 showed us that it took four more years to complete the temple. As a reunited nation they completed their mission. True, they could have finished it long ago. However, God, who is merciful always, gave them another chance. He is the God of second chances to everyone (and third and fourth chances, etc.)!! Whatever has happened in the past, God wants us to look ahead to see what He can do, in a short time, in our lives. The enemy wants us to live in the past, God wants us to look ahead. Our best days are always ahead of us.