Consider Your Ways

Haggai 1:1–15 ESV

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.” 12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.” 14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

The book of Haggai is somewhat unusual among the prophetic writings, as it is often seen as having had a positive impact on those who received it. In a sea of prophetic books that warn people of the consequences of disobedience, Haggai stands out as an encouraging example of what can happen when God's people consider God's words delivered through God's prophet and experience His blessing.

When our future seems bright, we are ought to reflect where our priority is placed.

The book of Haggai tells us the story of God's people who were living in their own selfishness and yet were not prospering. Their repentance and obedience affirms God's presence among them, which leads to blessing.

1. Procrastinating obedience to God is a common trait of the sinful human heart.

Haggai 1:2 ESV

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.”

The prophet Haggai was concerned with the Israelite people. They had returned to their home more than 16 years earlier, but had not made much progress on rebuilding the temple. The initial return of a Jewish people to Israel caused great excitement, and this excitement led many Jews to eagerly rebuild the temple. Ezra tells us that they quickly actioned in rebuilding the foundation. The response to the building of the foundation was to throw a party, and at that party many of the older Jews cried and the rest jubilant.

However, the Jewish people were pressured to abandon their task by their fellow Jews. The Samaritans feared a resurgence of the power of the Israelites, and so compelled them to abandon their temple rebuilding project. This pressure from their neighbour's was successful, and the controlling government gave in. They not only stopped, they stopped for more than 16 years. In the meantime, they continued to rebuild the rest of the city. They built homes, businesses, and other things. They rebuilt the city and established it again. It is not hard to imagine that the city was bustling with activity again, as business and pleasure intersected on its streets.

In the midst of the life we ​​live, we typically forget the most important thing - worshiping God.

Verse 2. This is not new for the Israelites of Haggai’s time, nor is it foreign in our day. Overlooking the things of God in favor of our own things is fairly commonplace. It is the same thing that we see in play in Genesis 3 when the serpent convinces Eve to disregard God’s words and believe that her own wisdom is sufficient.

This willingness to postpone obedience or disregard it altogether has been the marker of the human race ever since Adam and Eve’s initial transgression. At the root of this sin is the nastiness of pride: the belief that our wisdom and preferences are greater than His.

It appears we could see a parallel for many Christians who got super excited, joyful at the moment they accepted Jesus Christ, many couldn’t simply stop talking about Jesus. But when doubts and trials gets in the way of our faithfulness to God, we begin to tell ourselves “I’ll get back to you later God”, we begin to operate in our own wisdom again and put off God’s wisdom.

What Haggai wanted for the people of Israel was a change of heart that would lead to changed behavior. He wanted them to place God's commands first and foremost in their lives. This is what Jesus was trying to remind Martha when she was so busy working for Him that she forgot to worship Him. Luke 10:41–42

Luke 10:41–42 ESV

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

This passage reminds us that God's greatest desire for us is to honor Him and obey His command. But we often find ourselves struggling to stick to our needs, in an effort to put off obedience.

2. Choosing comfort over obedience to God is a sign of misplaced priority.

Haggai 1:3–4 ESV

Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

Haggai continues by offering a striking accusation to his people (at this point they were fairly established after their return from exile). They had built homes and businesses and settled in their normal daily lives. Despite this, they abandoned their commitment to the temple of God. However, Haggai disagrees with this.

While Haggai is not condemning their comfortable living, he is condemning this living at the expense of obedience to God’s commands. He specifically contrasts their “paneled houses” with the temple, which “lies in ruins.” They were living in comfort while God’s house remained unbuilt and God’s will remained undone. Comfort is a good thing, but it should never come before obeying God.

The chief objection to obeying God’s commands was the cost involved in doing so. Jesus clarifies for us that the cost of following Him is significant Luke 9:23

Luke 9:23 ESV

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Although the Israelites had a problem of obedience, Haggai understood that it was a matter of heart. If their hearts are warmed to God, their actions will follow. They disobeyed because they chose to love themselves more than God. Ultimately, this is an example of idolatry centered on themselves.

For the Israelites, the real danger wasn't that they had stopped working on the temple, but that they had stopped trusting in God. Their comfort was more important, their fear of the Samaritans was greater than their fear of God, and they gave in to the pressure of self-preservation. Unfortunately, as Haggai pointed out, their attempts at self-preservation or prosperity backfired. What they thought would make them more comfortable actually had the opposite effect. They wanted to flourish, but they were failing because they had rejected God as their primary focus.

How many of us have given in to the pressures of the world to live comfortably (societal pressure, material needs, fear of rejection, fear of embarrassment, happiness) but at the cost of putting our trust in God in 2nd or 3rd place? Many of us find ourselves in this vicious cycle of “how can I get more comfortable?” “How do I progress further?” (in the expense of forsaking my participation in God’s kingdom)? James 4:13-15

James 4:13–15 ESV

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

Finally, in verses 9 through 11, Haggai points out that they still have the opportunity to reject repentance. They may decide to continue walking as they have already walked, but if they do, they will continue to see God working against them, keeping them from prospering. The choice is pretty clear, then. They can repent and follow God's way, or they can reject repentance and risk His wrath.

God spoke through Haggai, and the people heard His voice and responded accordingly. In verse 12, we see that the high priest was the first to respond. As the high priest answered, so did the people reply. All of this happened after one significant event: the proclamation of God’s words.

3. Proclamation of God’s Word points to repentant obedience.

Haggai 1:12 ESV

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.

Hebrews 4:12 reminds us...

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

God’s Words are designed (by God) to effectively cut through the clutter and the chaos in our hearts and simply to define His will for us in a manner that compels us to obey.

Not only do the Israelite people respond to God’s voice, but they respond to Haggai’s voice, because he spoke as a representative of the Lord, sent by God.

God’s words are powerful, but God has ordained the preaching of His Word by faithful preachers (one who proclaims a theological message) as the primary means in which His message is to be delivered to the world. Paul felt so compelled to challenge his son in the faith, Timothy, about the importance of preaching God’s Word 1 Timothy 4:1–2 .

1 Timothy 4:1–2 ESV

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,

Romans 10:14–15 ESV

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

God’s words are authoritative, but God’s chosen method for delivering His words is most often through faithful followers of Christ.

It is very interesting the high priest, their spiritual leader, first showed repentance. Leadership is based on example, humility, and obedience to the words of God. It's hard to overstate how important this is. Significantly, in response to the high priest’s obedience, the “whole” remnant of Israel repented.

Verse 7-8, as Haggai called them to “consider your ways” and “build the house”, was a call to repentance; first internal and heart-focused ("consider your ways”), and second external and hands-focused (“build the house”). Our repentant obedience must be the same, first heart-focused then second, hands-focused second. Haggai understands that rebuilding the temple is a heart issue. He desires to see their behavior change, but he understands that behavior follows desire. Sadly, we often find it easy to admit mistakes and hope we can get our way out of it. This is sad because to those around us it may seem like this is working. We can adjust our behavior in order to please those around us, but that will just us further away from God. Our hearts must be the basis of our behavior or our actions are essentially meaningless.

4. God promises His presence to His people to stir them to obedience.

People of God often find themselves in difficult or lonely situations, and the desire is often to complain or be angry with God for the circumstances. God's promise to us is that He will never leave us, and that promise should compel us to be strong and faithful (Deut 31:6). However, even though we see this pattern transmitted by God to His people over and over again throughout the Bible, we still see God's people forget it and try to abandon God.

Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

As we go through life today, we should not assume that we will be different. Like Peter in the courtyard when Jesus was being judged, we will be tempted to believe that God is not who we thought He was and that He is unable to do what He promised. Then our natural response will be to reject the image of God that had captured our attention in the past, and to turn to ourselves as our source of hope.

Haggai 1:13 ESV

Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.”

This declaration from the Lord is different, it actually carries the weight of a legal transaction. It's a promise from God that He still has a plan for His repentant people.

What is this promise that God felt so compelled to declare to His people? Simply put, He promises that He is with them. This is no small thing. This promise indicates a change in tone from the Lord. The people were disobedient, so He compelled them to obey. Then they turned from their sin and embraced righteousness, so God immediately began to affirm them and His presence among them. He is with them, and He will be with them.

When God said that He is with the Israelites is not just a statement of presence or just a declaration of victory. God’s presence is the blessing to receive! It is, maybe most breathtakingly, a declaration of love. It is a message that points us forward to the message of Jesus, taught to us by the apostle Paul Romans 5:8

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The repentance of these people is a sign that God will also forgive us. They believed God's word, turned from their sin, and God affirmed His presence among them. It's a reminder of God's love for us, even in the face of our own mistakes. 1 Timothy 1:15

1 Timothy 1:15 ESV

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

And the house that God wants us to build is no longer made of hands. Therefore it is not something we can even complete but instead, God intends to indwell people who puts their faith in Jesus Christ. We are his new temple, raised by God’s hand himself...

Ephesians 2:4–7 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 6:16 ESV

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

As God’s Spirit indwells us, it is not for novelty’s sake. The Spirit of God empowers us to live for Christ, to bear God’s image because He knows that we are incapable of complete obedience when left on our own strength.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

CONCLUSION

2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

In our present day where we are still picking up the pieces of the effects of the pandemic, we are rushing to do the things we missed out in the last couple years but God’s message in Haggai compels us to reflect on our priorities in view of our present lack of flourishing, not for gains sake, but to trust and honour God, prioritise our faithfulness to Jesus Christ because He is our blessing!

Ephesians 3:14–19 ESV

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

While we may be unfaithful, unforgiving, and unloving, God is always faithful, loving, and grateful. God is ready to welcome us into His family through the redemption offered by Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, all because of His fully sufficient grace.