Day 737: Haggai 1- Consider Your Ways

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.”
The People Obey the Lord
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.
 
Meditation
God’s grace awakens us to consider our ways. NOW is the time to seek Christ’s Kingdom. The gospel stirs us to serve Christ wherever we are and in whatever we are doing.
 
Haggai was God’s mouthpiece to move God’s people into action. Preaching in about 520 BC, the prophet challenged project leaders appointed to rebuild the temple. The problem? The temple laid devastated for sixty-six years, including almost two decades after Israel had been sent home and commissioned to rebuild the temple (1). They had been stalling, saying “The time has not yet come to build…” (2). God says, “It is time… consider your ways” (4-5).
The temple served as a place of sacrifice and a house for God’s glory to dwell (8). Israel dwelled in paneled houses rather than building God’s house (5-6). Haggai called them to consider their ways, recognize the ruin resulting from rejecting God’s direction, and return to the Lord (ironically, they had gotten the opposite of what they were hoping for- 7-11). The people obeyed the Lord (12-13) and the Lord stirred their hearts to serve (14-15).
 
Like the original audience, we can prioritize personal prosperity at the expense of participation in God’s work. Yet God’s grace continues to call and compel us to consider our ways. The Spirit of Jesus stirs our hearts to “seek first the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). The gospel compels us to give all we have to build Christ’s Kingdom rather than, like the people Haggai was speaking to, make comfort and security our top priority.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you about this chapter? Why?
 
-Where do you need to consider your ways, evaluating whether you are seeking after your own prosperity or participating in God’s work of redemptive restoration?
 
-Jesus saves us by grace and calls us to participate in His work of redemptive restoration. Where (specifically) can you seek Christ’s kingdom in your labor, life, and love?
 
Key Verse
5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.