Haggai 1
Message to the leaders from the LORD verse 1
In the second year of Darius the king – in the sixth month
in the first day of the month
came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet
to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel – governor of Judah
and to Joshua the son of Josedech
the high priest
saying
Thoughts of the people regarding the Temple verse 2
Thus speaks the LORD of hosts saying
This people say – the time is not come
the time that the LORD’S house should be built
LORD has question for the people verse 3- 4
THEN came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet – saying
Is it time for you – O you – to dwell in your ceiled houses
and this house lie waste?
People told to examine their present
circumstances verse 5- 6
NOW therefore thus says the LORD of hosts
CONSIDER YOUR WAYS
You have sown much – and bring in little
you eat – but you have not enough
you drink – but you are not filled with drink
you clothe you – but there is none warm
AND he that earns wages earns wages to put it into a bag with holes
LORD states it is time to build the Temple verse 7- 8
Thus says the LORD of hosts
CONSIDER YOUR WAYS
Go up to the mountain – and bring wood – and build the house
and I will take pleasure in it – and I will be glorified
says the LORD
LORD gives reason for their present circumstances verse 9- 11
You looked for much – and lo it came to little
and when you brought it home – I did blow upon it
WHY? – says the LORD of hosts
BECAUSE of MINE house that is waste
and you run every man unto his own house
THEREFORE the heaven over you is stayed from dew
and the earth is stayed from her fruit
and I called for a drought upon the land – mountains – corn
new wine – oil – that which the ground brings forth
and upon men – cattle – all the labor of the hands
Leaders ready to build Temple verse 12- 13
THEN Zerubbabel – the son of Shealtiel
and Joshua the son of Josedech – 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 did fear before the LORD
THEN spoke Haggai the LORD’S messenger
in the LORD’S message unto the people
saying – I am with you – says the LORD
Work begins again on the Temple verse 14- 15
AND the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel
governor of Judah
and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech – the high priest
and the spirit of all the remnant of the people
AND they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts
their God
IN the four and twentieth day of the sixth month
IN the second year of Darius the king
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 2 Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built. (6256 “time” [‘eth] means season, when, occasion, a suitable moment, an opportunity, point in time, or occurrence.)
DEVOTION: Time is a measurement that we need to understand. We have a limited amount of time to live. We have a limited amount of energy each day. We should plan what we are going to do with the amount of energy we can use each day.
Many people try to put too many things on their list for a day or a week or even a month. Sometimes we expect the impossible to get done. Sometimes others expect the impossible for us to get done. There is always the tension between what is done and what can be done.
Some people think other people are lazy because they can get twice as much done in a day than others. Sometimes this is a matter of giftedness. Some people are gifted with their hands and others are gifted with their mind. Some have common sense and others don’t. No two people are alike. It is said that we should walk a mile in someone else’s shoes before we condemn them as lazy.
The LORD knows how much we can accomplish in a day, week or lifetime. HE doesn’t expect us to accomplish more than we can handle. HE is here informing the children of Israel that they can handle getting the work done on the Temple. They were only thinking of themselves.
We need to hit a balance in our life. Our time is spread out between family, Christian service and work. If any of them are not being accomplished we need to re-examine our life. Some people put too much time into their work. Some people can put too much time into their Christian service. Some people put too much time into their family.
CHALLENGE: Ask the LORD to give you a balance to accomplish what HE wants in all three areas. Don’t leave any area out.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 5 Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
(3824 “Consider” [lebab] means set the mind, set the heart, possession of my mind, inner man, inclination, resolution, determination of will, seat of courage, or mode of thinking and acting.
DEVOTION: How often do your plan your week? How often do you plan your month? How often do you plan a year ahead of time? We are supposed to have a long range plan for our household, church and job. Too often we don’t think through what we want to do a year from now or five years from now.
Some people have debt that will last for five, six, seven years away to be paid off. Some people want to remodel their homes in stages and so they have a five year plan or longer.
The children of Israel had returned from captivity and should have been in a hurry to please the LORD. However, they started and quit because of circumstances. The problem was that during this down time they were preoccupied with their own home and forgot the house of God. They thought it wasn’t the right time.
Now the LORD has sent a prophet to inform that that it was time. The LORD has sent circumstances that made it plain that HE was not pleased with their actions.
They were living in well remodeled homes and let the Temple lie in waste. It was wrong. Too often we follow their example. We give the church our leftovers. Our old furniture that we can’t sell on Craig’s list we think the church needs because it will cost us something to get rid of it.
God wants us think about our actions regarding HIS house. Our first priority should be to honor the LORD with our finances. Once we honor HIM we should make sure that our house is in order. Then we need to help others as the LORD provides. Living for ourselves alone is not what the LORD wants and HE will deal with us as HE dealt with the children of Israel. HE has a way to get our attention.
CHALLENGE: If we don’t want the LORD to get our attention we should think first of HIM.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 6 You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but you have not enough; ye drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earns wages earns wages to put it into a bag with holes. (7654 “enough” [sob‘ah] means satisfy, full, satiety, the contentment one feels when one has fulfilled a desire, need, or expectation, fullness, abundance, glutted condition, or plenty.)
DEVOTION: Our present circumstances need to be examined on a regular basis. The LORD is telling the children of Israel to look at their present circumstances. HE wants them to see that they are being unproductive presently. HE wants them to realize that there is a reason for their lack of advancement.
The children of Israel were doing things without the help of the LORD. They were doing things on their own. They had left God out of their life. They were not praying to ask the LORD wisdom regarding what they should do each day. They thought they could get along without HIS counsel.
What was happening? They were planting a lot of seed in their fields with a little harvest. They were eating food but were always still hungry. They were drinking but were always still thirsty. They were dressing for the weather but never warm. Finally, they were working hard and putting their money into bags with holes in them. Or to put it another way their money was being spent like water with nothing to show for it.
They were scratching their heads because it seemed that they were going backwards instead of forward financially. Their children were not feed, clothed or warm. Their bank accounts were always empty. They had more bills at the end of the month than money to pay them. They were headed for bankruptcy.
Those of us who don’t seek the wisdom of the LORD with our finances will see this happen to us. Our first priority is our giving to the LORD. If our tithe and service are in line the LORD can bless us. If they are not there will be problems.
___________________________________________________________
: 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 Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God. (5782 “stirred up” [‘uwr] means to rouse to activity, open the eyes, awake, incite, or raise.)
DEVOTION: This book is dealing with the children of Israel that returned from captivity. They had returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel. The high priest at the time was Joshua. Ezra was a leader at this time as well.
The work on the Temple had stopped because of persecution from those around Jerusalem. The people had settled in to a life of ease. They were busy building their own houses instead of the house of the LORD. They were self-centered. They were only interested in what could advance their lives. They were indifferent to the LORD and the Temple HE wanted built.
They were supposed to build a new temple to the LORD. Instead they were building expensive houses for themselves. The LORD asked them some questions regarding their clothing, food, drink, and crops, etc. HIS point was that they were not getting what they were expecting. HE gave the reason – their sin of not taking care of HIS house. They were being disobedient to the LORD’S command. They were living in spiritual lethargy and apathy regarding the LORD.
Hence, the LORD sent Haggai with a message. In the message HE told them that HE had sent no rain, given no fruit to their fruit trees, and called for a drought on everything else. They were not receiving the message. They didn’t get HIS point.
This verse informs us that the LORD incited them to get to work on the HIS house. Everyone wanted to work. It is not just the leaders that needed to be awakened. It was the people as well. Nothing is going to be done unless both the leaders and the people work together toward a goal.
The key word is OBEYED. Not only did they obey but they FEARED the LORD. That means they returned to a state of reverencing the LORD before anything or anyone else.
The message of Haggai reached them in their inner being. They judged themselves disobedient and did something about it. The apathy was gone. We are made up of body, soul and spirit. Our body is physical. Our soul is our self consciousness or our personality. Our spirit is our God consciousness. The Holy Spirit works on the spirit of those who are followers of the LORD. Those who are not followers of the LORD have a dead spirit or God consciousness.
There are churches today that are more concerned with the appearance of their building than reaching their neighborhood for the LORD. There are leaders who are more concerned with making money than with reaching people for the LORD. There are people in the pews who are more concerned about gaining wealth than in reaching people for the LORD. They are willing to give an offering in a plate when it is passed but as far as hitting the streets themselves – they think it is the pastor’s job.
The work of the LORD cannot move forward unless the whole body is working together to reach their world for Christ. If the leaders are not doing it – it will fail. If the people are doing it and the leaders are not – it will fail. It is teamwork that is necessary.
We all need the Spirit of the LORD to get rid of our apathy and encourage us to get out and reach people for the LORD. We are to build HIS church until HE comes.
HIS church is only those churches that preach the whole Word of God with power and honor the Word by obedience to HIS command. Are we occupying our neighborhood for the LORD now?? Are we more concerned with our own personal wealth than for the house of the LORD? Remember that the LORD withheld HIS blessing because they were not obedient to HIS command.
Could HE be withholding blessing from us because we are self-centered individuals. Does it seem like we work hard to earn money to put into bags that have holes in them?
CHALLENGE: Revival is when God’s people are stirred by the Spirit of God to do the work of God with enthusiasm. What will it take to rouse us to serve the LORD better?
______________________________________________________________
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
LORD’s house verse 2, 9
House of the LORD of hosts verse 14
_______________________________________________________________
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of the LORD verse 1, 3
Thus speaks the LORD of hosts verse 2, 5, 7
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1, 2, 5, 7- 9, 12- 14
Word of the LORD verse 1, 3
LORD of hosts verse 2, 5, 7, 9, 14
LORD’S house verse 2
Glorified verse 8
Voice of the LORD their God verse 12
LORD’S messenger verse 13
LORD’S message verse 13
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Spirit verse 14
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign, Plural name) verse 12, 14
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Darius verse 1, 15
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Living in ceiled house while Temple waste verse 4, 9
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Prophet verse 1, 3, 12
Consider your ways verse 5, 7
Pleasing the LORD verse 8
Glorifying the LORD verse 8
Obeyed the LORD verse 12
Fear of the LORD verse 12
Presence of the LORD verse 13
Presence of the Holy Spirit verse 14
Work verse 14
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Haggai the prophet verse 1, 3, 12, 13
Zerubbabel (son of Josedech) verse 1, 12
Governor of Judah verse 1
Joshua –son of Josedech the High priest verse 1, 12, 14
Remnant of the people verse 12
Spirit of Zerubbabel verse 14
Spirit of Joshua verse 14
Spirit of the remnant verse 14
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
_______________________________________________________________
DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org. Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you.
______________________________________________________________
QUOTES regarding passage
A. Noun.
˓et (עֵת, 6256), “time; period of time; appointed time; proper time; season.” This word also appears in Phoenician, post-biblical Hebrew, Arabic (where the same radicals constitute a verb signifying “to appear”), and Akkadian (where these radicals form an adverb signifying “at the time when”). ˓Et appears about 290 times in the Bible and in all periods.
Basically this noun connotes “time” conceived as an opportunity or season. First, the word signifies an appointed, fixed, and set time or period. This is what astrologers claimed to discern: “Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times …” (Esth. 1:13). God alone, however, knows and reveals such “appointed times”: “… In the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord” (Jer. 8:12).
This noun also is used of the concept “proper or appropriate time.” This nuance is applied to the “time” God has appointed for one to die: “Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?” (Eccl. 7:17). It is used of the “appropriate or suitable time” for a given activity in life: “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time …” (Eccl. 3:11; cf. Ps. 104:27). Finally, the “appropriate time” for divine judgment is represented by ˓et: “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law” (Ps. 119:126).
A third use connotes “season,” or a regular fixed period of time such as springtime: “And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son” (Gen. 18:10). Similarly, the word is used of the rainy “season” (Ezra 10:13), the harvest “time” (Jer. 50:16), the migratory “period” (Jer. 8:7), and the mating “season” (Gen. 31:10).
This noun also is applied to differing “extensions of time.” In its first biblical appearance, for example, ˓et represents the “time” (period of the day) when the sun is setting: “And the dove came in to him in the evening [literally, time of the evening] …” (Gen. 8:11). The word is used of special occasions such as the birth of a child (Mic. 5:3) and of periods during which certain conditions persist (Exod. 18:22; Dan. 12:11). (Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Vol. 1, p. 263). Nashville, TN: T. Nelson.)
___________________________________________________________
FROM MY READING:
You may be asking, “What if all this praise goes to my spouse’s head? Won’t he become prideful?” There’s a difference between truthful praise and flattery. Flattery gratifies a person’s vanity, but praise is based on a person’s character and deeds. When you truthfully praise and applaud your spouse’s choices, you reinforce the value of building godly character. (Master Builders by Barbara Rainey)
__________________________________________________________
Spurgeon writes: Another idea is prominent—it is that of security. Oh! how sure and safe is the inner life of the believer! If all the powers of earth and hell could combine against it, that immortal principle must still exist, for he who gave it pledged his life for its preservation. And who “is he that shall harm you,” when God is your protector?
_________________________________________________________
OLD TESTAMENT WORDS for Today by Warren W. Wiersbe
The well-known British preacher and author F. B. Meyer told a friend, “I do hope my Father will let the river of my life go flowing fully to the finish. I don’t want it to end in a swamp.” That has also been my prayer, I want to be fresh, fruitful, and flourishing! Now in my eighties, I can’t do all the things I used to do, but by God’s grace I want to keep doing the things he lets me do. (p. 81)
___________________________________________________________
Joel 2
Judgment is coming for the sins of the people, but after repentance, they will be restored.
INSIGHT
Joel predicts a locust plague to come upon the land of Judah, which is both primary and secondary as a prophetic warning. The primary meaning is a literal locust plague. But the things Joel says about the locusts gradually transcend what could be true of mere bugs and could only be true of an invading army. In this way, the locust plague becomes symbolic of an invading army swarming over the land of Judah, stripping it of everything that has life. The warning of the plague comes because Judah is failing to serve the Lord. Joel holds out an escape: “Turn to Me with all your heart . . . rend your heart and not your garments” (vv. 12-13). Judah ignores the warning and the judgment eventually falls. Sin always has its consequences. (Quiet Walk)
_______________________________________________________
From Disobedience to Obedience
“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance.” (1 Peter 1:14)
A graphic figure of speech often used in the Bible is the attribution of character traits to parental inheritance.
In our text, those who honor God’s laws are called “obedient children”—a term conveying the same sort of message as “children of light, and the children of the day” (1 Thessalonians 5:5), as well as “children of the kingdom” (Matthew 13:38). In contrast, note Ephesians 5:6: “Because of these things [that is, the sinful practices listed in Ephesians 5:3-5] cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.” A definitive passage is 1 John 3:10: “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”
Those who are “by nature the children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) can, of course, become children of God by the new birth. This becomes the greatest of all incentives toward a godly life. The biblical terms “regeneration” and “born again” are widely misused today, but they represent wonderful, life-changing realities: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).
Therefore, as in our text, we must no longer “fashion” ourselves according to our former lusts but according to our new life. “Be not conformed [same Greek word as ‘fashioned’] to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). No longer in darkness and ignorance, we now “have light” as the “children of light” (John 12:36) and the “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16) as children of wisdom (Matthew 11:19). We now have the very highest of all callings, as children of God, and we must “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Ephesians 4:1).
(HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
___________________________________________________________
ANGELIC REVELATIONS
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Hebrews 1:14
Another function of the angels is to reveal God’s purposes. It was through angels that God revealed to Abraham His purpose with regard to Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18), and He revealed His will to Jacob more than once in the same way. Gideon also was told God’s purpose for him through an angel, and in the New Testament Zacharias was told about the birth of his son, who became known as John the Baptist, through an angel that appeared to him when he was in the Temple. It was an angel who told Joseph that he need not worry about the condition of his espoused wife Mary. It was an angel also who told him to flee to Egypt, and an angel who told him to come out of Egypt.
But I would say that the most comforting and the most wonderful aspect of this teaching is what we are told in the Scriptures of the way in which God uses angels to bless and to care for His own people: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14). What is the greatest function of the angels? It is to minister to you and to me–to minister to the “heirs of salvation.”
It seems to me from this biblical teaching that I am entitled to say that the angels are used by God with respect to us and to our salvation. For example, in the account of the conversion of Cornelius in Acts 10, we are told that as Cornelius was praying one day an angel suddenly appeared to him and began to give him a preview, as it were, of his own salvation and to tell him what he should do in order that his salvation might be realized.
A Thought to Ponder: God uses angels to bless and to care for His own people.
(From God the Father, God the Son, p. 111, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
_________________________________________________________
Third., he is honest with God in his devotional life. It’s bad enough for the stagnant servant to lie to others, but when he starts lying to God in his praying and meditating, he’s really in trouble. We must accept what God says in HIS Word, apply it first to ourselves and then talk honestly to God about what he wants us to do. Openness and honesty with God in the secret place will deliver us from deception and evasion in the marketplace.
Honesty with God ought to result in honesty with ourselves, and that means measuring ourselves accurately. Do we know what areas of life and ministry need to be strengthened? Are we willing to turn to others for help and admit that we need it? Can we make plans for actions that will improve our skills and then stick with those plans? (p.96-97, 10 Power Principles for Christian Service by Warren W. & David W. Wiersbe)
_____________________________________________________________
We now have a Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.