CHAPTER 1
Consider Your Ways
Haggai 1: 2-11
The date was around August 520 B.C. The children ofIsrael had been delivered from Babylonian captivity for almostsome twenty years. The rebuilding process had gone prettywell. They were working on rebuilding a nation from scratch.As the years passed, slowly but surely, Jerusalem came back tolife again. Homes were built, stores were opened, commerceestablished, fields planted, crops harvested and life began toresemble something of a normal pattern. There was really onlyone major problem. According to this passage, the economiccondition was tough! People were working hard but still notgetting ahead. They were in better positions and had morepossessions than they did during the period of exile but yetsomething was still missing. In the context of this passage,you will discover that the people were experiencing perpetualfrustration and discontentment. They were freed frombondage, they had possessions and positions, but yet, theywere still looking for satisfaction. They were still searching forcontentment.
It is this group of people that Haggai is speaking to in thispassage. He is directly addressing their lack of commitmentand their mixed up priorities. Let me make sure that I am clearbecause I don't want you to get the wrong idea. The peopleof Jerusalem were committed and they had priorities butthey were committed to the wrong things and their prioritieswere way out of line! This is the very reason why Haggai theprophet of God shows up and says, "Consider your ways!" Heis challenging them to consider their ways because they werecommitted to rebuilding and reconstructing everything exceptthe temple of God.
History tells us that the temple had been destroyed andthe wall had been knocked down by the Babaloylians. Thereturnees immediately set out to rebuild the temple in about356 B.C. Ezra Chapter 3 gives details of a great celebrationthat takes place during the laying of the foundation.
The only problem was, this laying of the foundation causedtoo much of a celebration for the enemies of the children ofIsrael, the Samaritans. They quickly became the oppositionto them rebuilding the temple and, with persistence the Jewsfinally stopped the building process and never got startedagain. That is, at least not the building of the temple of God.They did, however, start rebuilding their own homes! It is nowsome 16 years later and the temple of God is still not rebuilt,but the people of God are now living in lavish plush homes.
It is with this in mind that Haggai, the prophet of theLord, comes on the scene and he begins to preach the first offive sermons. He is clearly challenging the people to reconsidertheir level of commitment, and to reorder their priorities! Pleasemake note that these were not anti-prosperity sermons. Thesewere not sermons against the people having a plush house, andlavish furnishings. They were, however, sermons to call thepeople to a consecrated conscience about their commitmentsand their priorities to the God that enabled them to have thosenice and paneled homes in the first place.
Thus the real tension of this passage is not about the actualbuilding of the temple. That is really just a surface symptom.That is only an external sign of the real internal problem. Thereal tension of this passage is about a nation of people that havebeen blessed by God, but have forgotten about the God whohas blessed them! It is about a people who are more concernedabout what they have been blessed with than they are with theGod who has blessed them!
Their lack of commitment and poor priority placementbecomes evident as a result of the fact that the temple of Godhas not yet been completed. I think that I need to suggest thatthis issue of neglect is a monumental issue to God. We mustnot think that we can neglect the things of God and get awaywith it. God is not pleased when we neglect Him or the thingsthat represent Him!
There are a couple of things that you must remember aswe approach this passage. First of all, you must remember thatin the Old Testament the temple represents the place whereGod dwells with His people. It represented God's presence onearth. Their lack of commitment and priority to the templewould suggest that the Jews really didn't care much about theirGod. This would also send a message to the Jewish generationsto come that God really didn't matter! What they were teachingthe generation to come is that it is okay for you to place otherthings in front of God, especially your own concerns, your ownaspirations and dreams! Haggai the prophet is saying to thepeople of Israel that they better be careful with their attitudeand their actions, and that they need to "consider their ways"!
Secondly, we must understand that God takes covenantrelationships very serious. You must realize that to be incovenant relationship with God is not just about the benefitsand the blessings of the relationship. It is also about making surethat you are in compliance with the covenant agreement, for ifyou are not in compliance then there will be consequences!
I am often amazed at how many of us want to hold Godaccountable for what He has promised to do for us, but notmany of us want to be held accountable, not even from GodHimself, about what we have promised to do for Him! If wewant God to be accountable and hold up His end of the deal,then we must also be accountable and keep our end of thecovenant!
This is exactly what the prophet is telling the people herein this text. He is reminding them that they are covenantpeople, and they cannot just act any kind of way. The reasonthat they are in the current situation that they are in is becauseGod will do whatever He has to do to get His people backon track, and back into His will. According to the passage wewill discover later on that God is the source of their problem.Because they have not given God His rightful place, He hascaused this economic downturn in their lives. Again, pleasehear me! God will do whatever He has to do to get His peopleto turn back to Him! This is exactly what is going on in thispassage! God is doing what needs to be done in order to getHis covenant people back into right relationship with Him,and as He is doing it, He sends the prophet Haggai to help thepeople understand what is taking place.
The first warning for the people comes in chapter 1verse 2.He is warning the people against the sin of procrastination.
Procrastination
Haggai 1:2 (KJV) Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts,saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time thatthe LORD'S house should be built. (MsgB) A Message fromGOD-of-the-Angel-Armies: "The people procrastinate. They saythis isn't the right time to rebuild my Temple, the Temple of GOD."
Now please understand this is not the first year or thesecond one; it is now year fifteen and the temple is still inruins! The foundation has been laid, but the temple has notbeen completed. When we read the history we discover thatthere was some "light" opposition from the Samaritans, butit was not enough opposition apparently for them to stopbuilding their own homes! Yet they say some fifteen years afterthe start of the temple building project that now this is not thetime to build the temple.
It is interesting to note that when they were delivered theywere delivered so that they could go back to Jerusalem andrebuild the walls and the temple. Now that they have beendelivered, they just don't have the time to do what they havebeen delivered to do! Isn't that just like us? When we were inbondage we made all those promises; "Lord, if you just get meout of this and if you would just get me out of that ..." Andnow that we have been delivered, we have yet to make goodon the promise because now we have too much other stuff thatneeds to be done! We have allowed other things in life to takepriority in our lives, and the very God who has delivered ushas been shifted to a lower place on the priority list.
Let me say in their defense; these were not sinful andungodly people. Early on in my life and ministry I used tothink that people who didn't fully support the ministrythrough their time, talent and treasure were just people whodidn't love the Lord! And that may be true on some accounts,but not on all accounts. Since then, I have discovered thatmany of the people who don't support the ministry throughtheir time, talents and treasure, many of them do love theLord, they just love themselves more! They are just like thepeople in the text. It's not that they don't think that the templeneeds to be built, but there are just some other things in theirown lives that need to be taken care of first. If we are honest wewill declare that this is just like many of us. We say that we willjust put the work of the Lord off until we can get everythingelse together!
One of the things that I think that needs to be madeclear in the life of the believer is this simple fact; anything oranybody that keeps you from doing the will of the Lord is asin! Joyce Baldwin, in her commentary on Haggai, speaks ofthe moral paralysis that keeps us from obeying God. She states,"Because we know what God wants us to do and because wedon't want to do it, our lives are stuck in a kind of permanentspiritual neutral where we don't go forward or backward!"(Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, Tyndale Old TestamentCommentaries, Joyce G. Baldwin, 2009) Can I suggest that itis because of this type of paralysis and this procrastination thatwe began to make excuses for why we cannot do what we havebeen called to do! Here is an undeniable truth, you know thatyou are procrastinating when you began to make excuses forwhy you cannot do what you have been called to do!
The first sign of procrastination: you began togive excuses as to why you cannot do what youhave been commanded to do!
Isn't it amazing that all good procrastinators know how tomake good excuses? Billy Sunday used to say that an excuseis "the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie". Benjamin Franklinwrote, "I never knew a man who was good at making excuseswho was good at anything else!" It has been said that excusesare tools of the incompetent, used to build bridges to nowhereand monuments of nothingness.
The people in the text began to make excuses in order torationalize their disobedience! They began to say stuff like "thework is too hard and we are facing opposition, so this must bea sign that it is not time for us to rebuild the temple!" This wasthe excuse and the complaint of the people.
This sounds just like some of the people that I know! Theysay stuff like, "It's too hard and to difficult so therefore it mustnot be what God wants us to do at this time." I would reallylike to ask those persons, when have you ever done anythingfor God that was easy? I'm not talking about having peacein the midst of doing something for God; I'm talking aboutsomething that took no struggle or strain. As I look backthrough the faith hall of fame and the biblical halls of historyall I see is people who have gone through difficult times andcircumstances!
I think many times we forget the words of Jesus in whatI like to call the Christian Orientation Package. It's found inMatthew 8:20 "And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes,and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath notwhere to lay his head." Matthew 16:24 "Then said Jesus unto hisdisciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,and take up his cross, and follow me." Creature comforts are notpromised but divine company is. Matthew 28:20 "Teachingthem to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.Amen."
If we are not careful, our excuses will keep us from beingobedient to the Lord! Can I ask you what's your excuse? Whyhaven't you done what the Lord told you to do? Why are younot being obedient to the commands of the Lord? Maybe,you are like the people in the text. Maybe you feel as if youdon't have enough evidence that it's time to start, or enoughevidence that God will sustain you once you have started! CanI suggest that if we look close enough we will discover thatthere is plenty of evidence for the people to move forward.
Evidence.
The real question that I want to raise is, "what moreevidence do they need?" God has already provided in the past;now it's time to get to work and get it done! If you understandtheir history, you will know that God has provided plentyevidence. While they were in captivity, God raised up a leaderby the name of Cyrus who freed the exiles and commissionedthem to return to Jerusalem. Not only that, King Cyrus gavethem money to finance the project. The Lord protected themas they traveled with the temple treasure down the dangerouspath between Babylon to Judah! They had the Word of theLord for the prophet declared in Isaiah 44:28, "Who says ofCyrus, `He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure,Saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," And to the temple, "Yourfoundation shall be laid." Isaiah 45:13, "`I have raised him upin righteousness, And I will direct all his ways; He shall build Mycity And let My exiles go free, Not for price nor reward', Says theLORD of hosts."
When you examine the evidence, the evidence certainlypoints to the fact that it is time for you to do what God hascalled you to do. If you look back over your life you willdiscover that the Lord has brought you thus far, and if He isable to do it in your past, God is able to do it in your presentand your future! There is overwhelming evidence that Godhas been with you. Here is the question, what more evidencedo you need? There are too many people praying Lord showme a sign. I would suggest that the sign has been shown!Unmistakably, it was the Lord that has brought you this far!He has kept you this long! The problem is that you are givingexcuses and asking for evidence, but truth is you are reallytrying to evade what you have been commanded to do!
Evasion
In this text there is a horrible sense of inconsistency. Thepeople of God say that there was too much opposition to buildthe Lord's house but interestingly enough it was not too muchopposition to build their own houses. It was not time to buildthe Lord's house but it was however, time to build their ownhouses, with plush amenities might I add! The bottom lineis that in this text what is very clear is that the very people ofGod took care of what mattered most to them! Please hearme. I'm not saying that the temple didn't matter, but it wasapparently not what mattered the most! In their defense theyhad not heard Jesus in Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first thekingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shallbe added unto you".
But can I ask, since we have heard the voice of Jesus,what's our excuse? What evidence are we looking for? Theydidn't know Matthew 6:33 but they had been taught that Godwas to be the top priority in their lives. One of the things theywould have discovered about God is that if you take care ofGod's business God will take care of your business!
Haggai deals with their procrastination, and then heexposes their mixed up priorities.
Mixed up priorities!
Notice in the passage verse 4 "Is it time for you yourselvesto dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?"Haggai raises the question, how is it that you live in paneledhouses? That is lavish housing, housing that is fit for a king,and the Lords house is in ruins? Really the major issue in thepassage is the issue of priorities of the people of God! I believeI tried to say it earlier but let me restate it again. The problemwith the people in this passage is not that they don't love theLord; it's just that on their priority list, God is not first! Theyhave put themselves first! I think that it is important thatwe as believers must be careful about ordering our priorities!Because, when we have our priorities out of order it moves usoutside of the will of the Lord and that's dangerous territory!It's dangerous because when God is not our top priority, wemove out of the realm of God's provision and protection!That's a dangerous place for anybody to be in and especiallyfor the child of God. Take my advice, if you will; that's oneplace that you don't want to stay in!
