Return from Exile: Haggai (1)

Pray Psalm 126.1, 2.
When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”

Sing Psalm 126.1, 2.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
When God restored our fortunes all, we were like those who sweetly dream.
Our mouths with joy and laughter filled, made Him our constant song and theme.

Read and meditate on Haggai 1.1-11.

Preparation
1. Why did God send Haggai to the people of Jerusalem and Judah?

2. What did he call the people to do?

Meditation
Darius the Mede overthrew the Babylonian Empire and “received the kingdom” there under Cyrus the Great (Dan. 5.31). Daniel served under both rulers (Dan. 6.28). Darius I succeeded Cyrus (he was the first Darius to rule the combined Medo-Persian Empire), by whose decree the work of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem had begun. The work dragged on during the days of Cyrus, and “in the second year of King Darius” God considered that the people in Jerusalem needed a friendly reminder of their mission (Hag. 1.1, 2).

So He called and commissioned Haggai, sending him to Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua (Jeshua), the high priest (Hag. 1.2). He had a message from God for the people of Jerusalem and Judah that would stab like a dagger (v. 2; cf. Jdgs. 3.20, 21).

Now we discover why it was taking so long to build the temple. The people were distracted by their own selfish interests. They would finish the Lord’s work when they got around to it; first things first, you know (v. 2). They were also frustrated, as we can imagine, that their crops weren’t doing all that well, there never seemed to be enough water, and they were always running short of money (v. 6). Hmmm.

“Consider your ways”, cried Haggai (vv. 5, 7). God was resisting them, for the people were too busy seeking their own comfort to devote themselves to the hard work of glorifying Him (v. 8). He blew away their seed (v. 9), kept back the rain (v. 10), and caused the crops to fail (v. 10). He determined to throw sludge into the economy and keep the people from prospering until they rediscovered their proper first things and finished the work for which He had delivered them.

Their work on the temple—the solemn work appointed them by the Lord—was piddling, while they devoted themselves to seeking wealth and comfort. Haggai’s word to them is a word to our own generation, ensconced in our comforts and conveniences and slack in our efforts to glorify God in all things (1 Cor. 10.31): “Consider your ways!”

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.
Let’s do a compare and contrast with Haggai 1.10, 11 and Malachi 3.10 just for fun.

“Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor or your hands.”

“‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this’, says the LORD of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’”

The former is God’s reaction to disobedience, the latter His pleasure in our obedience.

Giving away a tenth of everything we own seems counterintuitive to our wellbeing. However, it doesn’t work that way in God’s Kingdom economy. “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Lk. 6.38).

I did not say this. God did. He is the One Who said, “Test Me in this and see” (Mal. 3.10 NIV). “I have been young, and now am old; yet have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful and lends; and his descendants are blessed” (Ps. 37.25).

And yes, I know that hardships fall on God’s people. And there is hunger and sorrow, and everything doesn’t always come up roses. But perhaps if God’s people were more obedient to all His commandments, and truly standing against evil, our obedience would allay a lot of the suffering we are considering now.

Imagine for a moment, if the Church was functioning as the Church, and God’s people were all living according to His Laws. All of them. All the people keeping all the Laws. The kingdom of God on earth would look very much different from the way it looks today. Just saying.

We all need to take a hard look at our ways and “Consider” them.

“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them. Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you…” (Deut. 7.9-13).

Consider that.

For reflection
1. What does it mean for you to “consider your ways”?

2. Why is it important that we do this day by day?

3. If we don’t keep a close watch on our ways, what can happen?

They neglected the building of God’s house, that they might have more time and money for worldly affairs. That the punishment might answer to the sin, the poverty they thought to prevent by not building the temple, God brought upon them for not building it. Many good works have been intended, but not done, because men supposed the proper time was not come. Thus believers let slip opportunities of usefulness, and sinners delay the concerns of their souls, till too late. If we labor only for the meat that perishes, as the Jews here, we are in danger of losing our labor; but we are sure it shall not be in vain in the Lord, if we labor for the meat which lasts to eternal life. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Haggai 1.1-11

Pray Psalm 126.2-6.
Ask the Lord to search your soul and life. Whatever is standing in the way of seeking Him and His glory, confess and repent of it at once. Weep for what you have lost if you have piddled away the work of the Lord to pursue your own selfish interests. Cry out to God to restore you and strengthen you for the work of this day.

Sing Psalm 126.2-6.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
Then the astonished nations said, “The Lord has done great things for them!”
Indeed, great things our God has done, whose Name we praise, Amen, Amen!

Restore our fortunes, Lord our King! Let grace like flowing streams prevail.
All they with tears of joy shall sing who sow while yet they weep and wail.

They who in tears of sorrow sow and cast their seed on every hand,
with joy shall reach their heav’nly home, and bring the harvest of their land.

T. M. and Susie Moore

Two books can help us understand our own captivity and lead us to seek revival and renewal in the Lord. The Church Captive asks us to consider the ways the Church today has become captive to the world. And Revived! can help us find the way to renewal. Learn more and order your free copies by clicking here and here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available free by clicking here.