Our author again refers us to the former and latter rain, discussed at length in the beginning of Ch. 8. He established that Pentecost reflected the former rain. (Peter settled this by his quote of Joel 2:) Many in the church today talk as though they are currently experiencing the great outpouring of God's Holy Spirit today, the latter rain.
(1) From an American stand point it is hard to contemplate the time frames of the autumn and spring rains. The autumn rain is the rain by which the seed-planting for the winter wheat begins. It brings moisture to the ground and germination to the seed. The Spring rains bring fullness to the fruit just before harvest. That area of the world sees little rain between March and October. Joel 2:23 So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the Lord your God; For He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before.
The autumn rains then would be the _____________ rains and the spring rains would correspond to the ___________ rains.
(2) Joel makes it clear that there is a spiritual application to the rains when he states "He has given you the early rain for your _________________."
(3) What happened at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came? Were the believers vindicated-justified, pardoned and absolved of their old nature? ________
The physical purpose of the former rain (autumn) is to cause germination of the seed. It was during the former rain that Christianity was germinated. Not created, not something brand new, but rather a new plant from the stock of Judaism, without all of the dead tissue of the mother plant.
Hosea 6:3 "So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth."
(1) The spring rain is the latter rain. It's function is to swell the fruit just prior to harvest, enabling it to be palatable, usable and viable. How would this analogy apply to the Christians of the latter rain? ____________________________________________
Mr Bevere points out that some in the church today see this time period, with its sign and wonders, as the latter rain. Our author states that if they are willing to settle for this they are settling for far less than God intends.
John 4:47-50 When he [a royal official] heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him, and was requesting Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 Jesus therefore said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe." 49 The royal official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." 50 Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off.
(1) When a person sees a sign or a miracle, what are they putting their faith in? ______ _____________________________________________________________
(2) Did Jesus offer to go with this official? ___________________
(3) Jesus said "Go your way, your son lives." What are the choices of this official? ___________________________ __________________________________________
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(4) By not going with the official Jesus forced him to mature and put his _________ in Jesus instead of signs and wonders..
(5)Those who chase after miracles today instead of Jesus are putting their faith in those signs and wonders. Is this pleasing to the Lord or demonstrating the maturity that Jesus is expecting of us? ____ " "Unless you people see _______ and ________ you simply will not believe."
We must keep in mind that man is the only creature on planet earth created to be indwelt by his creator. Since the fall, God has been at work perfecting the temple of man for his habitation. Ephes. 2:22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
(1) Is this an ongoing process or do we come pre-assembled? ______________________
1 Peter 2:5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
(1) God calls us _________ stones who are being built into a _______ ________, to be a holy ____________, offering spiritual sacrifices ___________ to God through what ___________ has done.
.Paul tells us that it is proper to review events in the Old Testament for application to our present situations and conditions. Speaking of Israel in 1 Cor. 10:11 Paul writes: "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come".
(1) For whom are these examples and warnings written? ___________________
In that context our author asks us to examine some passages in the book of Haggai,, an Old Testament prophet who confronted the remnant of Israel and rebuilt the temple destroyed during the Babylonian diaspora. After the initial enthusiasm and excitement wore off, their vision dulled. The remnant began to focus on their own dwellings at the expense of God's temple. Haggai confronted the Israelites with this question
Haggai 1:4 "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?"
Haggai 1:2-5 2"Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'This people says, "The time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt." ' " 3 Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying, 4"Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?" 5 Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, "Consider your ways!
(1) According to verse 2, was the first priority of the people to rebuild the temple of the Lord? _____________ __________________________________________________________________________________
(2) Does that have application to our lives today? Don't many "Christians"make the building of the New Testament temple a low priority? _____________________________________________________
(3) When these folks returned to the holy land, their focus was on God, and the restoration of Levitical worship. What happened? ________________________
(4) When we are first born from above our hunger for the Word and love for God is intense. What happens to those who fall by the wayside? _____________________
Whenever our pursuit is for "blessings" instead of for the Lord He will remove or withhold so that we will cry out for Him again. (p)
Haggai 1:9-10 "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the Lord of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. 10"Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.
(1) Why did God withhold his blessing from the remnant?_______________________________________
(2) If these things are examples to us, why would God ever withhold blessings from us? _______________ ____________________________________________________________
Acts 3:21 [Jesus] He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.
(1) While Jesus remains in heaven, the church, and more specifically we who are the temple, are in the process of _________________? Like the Israelites of Haggai's period.
(2) What can we expect from God if we give the majority of our attention to our careers, comforts and pleasure? _________________________________________________________________________________
Again God sent the prophet Malachi to confront Israel.
Malachi 1:6 " 'A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?' says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, 'How have we despised Thy name?'
(1) The Lord is illustrative here; you tell me I am your father, where is the _____________ due a father. You say that I am your master then where is the ________________ due the master. The Lord say's of the priest, you have "_______________" my name.
Malachi 1:7 "You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, 'How have we defiled Thee?' In that you say, 'The table of the Lord is to be despised.'"
(1) They were offering second best to God. An applicable question for our day would be, "How do we offer second best to the Lord? Do we give Him the best or first part of our ____________, _____________, ___________?
Malachi 1:8 "But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?" says the Lord of hosts.
(1) God creatively gives us a yard stick by which we can measure our gifts and offerings.
Of course you could argue that our employers and the poor are not God. Jesus said " ". . . 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"Matthew 25:40
Haggai 1:9 "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.
(1) Until divine order is established in our families and in our assemblies, God says that "You expected______, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I ______ away." God withholds His blessing.
Again we can find a parallel time in the Old Testament.
Jeremiah 5:30-31 "An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?
(1) In this segment of Jewish history, the prophets who speak for God do so _________. The priest devise ways to control people, rather than encourage disciples to rely on the Holy Spirit and love for God as a motivator. God says they do so on their ___________ authority, but by far the worst of it is the_________willingly accept and encourage them to do so.
2 Tim. 4:2-4 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.
(1) Paul says that a time will come when people will not endure ________ _______.
(2) Their preferred teachers will be those who teach in _____________ to their own _______________.
(3) Those who would study God's word will turn away from the________ and will accept ________ in it's place.
Haggai 2:3 'Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison?
(1) God is asking if any can remember the glory of the former temple, the temple of Solomon. How does God think their temple compares? ____________________________________________________________________
(2) If we think back to the book of Acts and the power and glory of God evident in the human temples of that day, how do we compare? _________________________________________________________________
Haggai 2:9 'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the Lord of hosts, 'and in this place I shall give peace,' declares the Lord of hosts."
(1) The ________ glory of this house will be _________ than the former.
Wine in the New Testament is a picture of the on going work of Christ. (1) Jesus said as He instituted the communion supper: "This cup [of wine] is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 1 Cor. 11:25 It begins at the wedding feast in Canaan.
John 2:6-11 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." 11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
(1) While there are many discussion points established, here the one that most relates to the subject at hand is the wine. The master of the banquet said "You have saved the ________ for ________ or last.
Eccles. 7:8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning; . . .
(1) If that has application to this, can we not expect the end of the church age to be better than it's beginning at Pentecost? __________ Will not the latter wine be better than the former? _______ Is not where we are going better than where we have been? __________
If you have questions or comments please Email Greg at deans@interpath.com
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