Haggai 1
COMMENTARY:
: 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.
: 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.
: 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?
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