Consider Your Ways (Haggai 1)

King’s Cross Church
Moscow, Idaho
November 3, AD 2024

Introduction

In our community, you most likely have heard the phrase a few times, “the centrality of worship.” Keeping the worship of God at the very center of all that we are and do. We want all of our work, all of our efforts in our homes and in our vocations and community, to be an overflow of our worship of God. While the phrasing may be “trendy” right now in our circles or new to many of you, it is not a new idea. It is an ancient idea, and it is one that originates with God Himself.

We were made to worship God. We were created to bring glory to the Creator. From the very beginning, man offered sacrificial worship to God, as we first see with Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. The first four commandments of the Ten Commandments, which summarize all the law of God, are concerned with the right worship of God. And throughout the whole narrative of the Old Testament, the worship of God was at the center of the life of His people… Or at least it should have been. 

And so what we will see in Haggai 1 today is what happens to a people when they forget the importance of worshiping God rightly, when they no longer keep Him first in their lives. 

Setting the Context

Before we make our way through our text this morning, I think it would be helpful to briefly touch on the context of the Book of Haggai.

The Book of Haggai is part of what we call the Minor Prophets, a list of twelve books in the Old Testament canon. Haggai is one of the post-exilic books, meaning that it takes place after the people have returned to the land from their exile in Babylon. Haggai’s ministry overlaps with that of Zechariah, and they are both featured in the historical book of Ezra. In Ezra 1, we read of the Persian emperor Cyrus, and his decree returning the Jewish exiles back to their land, led by Zerubbabel, in order to rebuild the temple of God. 

As we come to our text this morning, Haggai picks up in the middle of this post-exilic narrative, eighteen years after the Jews had returned to their land. The past eighteen years were filled with international political instability, as Persia cycled through a few different leaders, with the current King Darius the Great establishing relative stability.

Besides King Darius, verse 1 introduces us to three main characters, three leaders among the Jews. The first is Haggai, the prophet. We are given no information regarding his background or lineage. We do not know his age. All we have is his name, which means “festal” or “festive” in Hebrew, possibly indicating he was born during a festival or perhaps in connection to his message concerning the rebuilding of the Temple. Next, we have Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah. He is the civil ruler, most likely appointed by the Persians. Although he was appointed, he did fit in his role, for he was the son of Shealtiel, a descendent of King David. Lastly, we have Joshua the high priest, the son of Jehozadak. He is one of the returnees from among the exiles. 

And so here in Haggai 1, we have the Jews out of exile, restored to their land, and restored to the leadership offices of prophet, priest, and king. But, as we will see in our text this morning, all is not going well. And Haggai has been raised by God to show them why. 

“Not Time” (vv. 1–2)

“Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: This people says, ‘The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be be built'" (v. 2).

Here, we have the first time the Lord has spoken to His people in the land since before their exile. And He begins with what is called a “prophetic disputation.” The Lord states the people’s case, what they are saying amongst themselves as justification for their behavior, and then through his prophet He answers. 

Now note the day that this word from the Lord comes, back in verse 1. All of the events in Haggai take place over a four-month period, and throughout we are given very specific dates. We begin in the second year of Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month. According to the liturgical law, sacrifices were to be offered in the Temple on the first day of each month. As Leviticus 10:10 reads, “…at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God…” And so Haggai takes the opportunity to rebuke the people as they gather at the site of the Temple, where the foundation and altar have been rebuilt, but that is all they have completed in the last eighteen years. Their reasoning? “It is not yet time to rebuild.” 

Note that they are not ignorant of the command and duty to rebuild the Temple reestablish the worship of God. They do not say, “We didn’t know.” Or even, “We forgot." Rather, their excuse for the neglect is to claim it’s simply not time yet. The only problem for them is – the Lord has said no such thing… Rather, the people gave up and turned their focus away from God to themselves over the past nearly two decades. 

You see, they started out strong. Beginning with the decree of Cyrus found in Ezra 1. There it says that God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to send the Jews back to their land to specifically rebuild the Temple. And in response, the people likewise were moved and motivated to return. And they did begin the work. In Ezra 3 they reconstructed the altar and offered sacrifices. Following that, they laid the foundation of the Temple with great fanfare and worship. 

But then something began to happen. Two years in, and the building got hard. It became difficult to obey God’s command. For beginning in Ezra 4, opposition began to mount against them. Other people in the land began to trouble them, disrupting their plans. Those people even wrote to the Persian king at the time, Artaxerxes, requesting that he put an end to the rebuilding of the Jews. 

And he did. He wrote back a decree that the Jews were to cease their building of the whole city, and by the force of arms, the adversaries of the Jews successfully stopped them. And so, rather than push through the opposition, difficulties, and persecution in obedience to God and for the glory of His worship – the Jews tell themselves that it simply must not be time yet.

Now it is quite easy to read this and think how foolish the people were being. But don’t you know what that’s like? To know what God commands of you, but find it difficult to fulfill that command? In those situations, many times it is much easier to reinterpret God’s commands. Sure, that passage says that, but what it really means is this. 

Or we find excuses to delay our obedience. You say… I’ll start leading my family when they become easier to lead… (good luck with that…) I’ll start doing family worship when there’s a bit more peace and stability in the living room… when the littles one can finally sit still. I’ll have that difficult conversation once I find a good time. We’ll start to practice hospitality when we have a bigger house. We’ll tithe when we get our budget on track. I’ll sign up to serve Sunday morning, or make a meal, when I finally have extra time. 

Rather than keeping our priorities right, seeking to do the will of the Lord, we so easily turn to our own ways. And as we will see in the next verses, the Jews were reaping the fruit of living that way – claiming it was not yet time – for the past sixteen years. 

Their Houses + Curses (vv. 3–6)

Here is the Lord’s response in verses 3–4, “Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ‘Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?’” 

You see, the people had put their own needs, their own desires, ahead of the right worship of God and wholehearted obedience to the Lord. They did not have it in them to continue the work on the Temple. They did not persevere through the persecution and the opposition. They grew discouraged in the building and so each turned to the building of their own home, rather than the Lord’s. 

Now note the word translated as “paneled” – they had paneled houses. That Hebrew word appears about six times in the Old Testament, mostly with regards to the Temple. It is an indication of luxury and comfort, they made their houses very nice. God has returned them to the land so that they might repair the ruins and reestablish worship. And instead of paneling God’s house, making His dwelling glorious, they built and paneled ktheir own. 

And so God says in verse 5, “Consider your ways!” Literally meaning, “Set your heart upon your ways.” Take heart. Think seriously. Stop for a moment, and meditate on what you have done. What has their neglect of the Temple accomplished?  “You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but none one is warm; And he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes" (v. 6).

In other words… their work has become futile. They have sought their own good, rather than God, and His blessing is now far from them. They sow their seed far and wide, and the harvest is pitiful. And what they do eat and drink isn’t filling. They have clothes to wear, but they are not comfortable. And their wages do not go far – inflation has risen, and its like their wallets all have holes. They are simply not successful in their endeavors. Their crops didn’t absolutely fail, they were just underwhelming. Their work was largely in vain. 

And as we will see soon, this was the judgment of God. All the way back in Deuteronomy, this is the kind of judgment that God promised His people if they did not follow His ways.  “You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worms shall eat them" (Dt. 28:38–39). These things are part of God’s covenantal curses for disobedience in the land – and they ought to have known this. 

And yet, how did they interpret God’s providence? The judgment they were experiencing in their personal lives and on a national scale was not turning them back to God. They did not consider that perhaps they ought to return to building of the Temple. In fact, with such hardship, they think the Temple is the least of their concerns. And in this, the people were desiring the kindness of God in all their endeavors, without their obedience to God in worship. 

Command + Judgment (vv. 7–11)

And so again, the Lord says, “Consider your ways!” (v. 7). And He now gives the command that will lead them to blessing, clear to hear in verse 8, “Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified.”  Consider – Which way will you go? How has doing it your way gone for you Not well. As the Lord now reveals to them, “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. 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 of your hands" (vv. 9–11).

Why are your lives like this? Why is your nation not prospering? Why is the blessing of God absent from everything you put your hand to? It is the Lord who has done this. He has brought them to their knees in ruin because they had left His house in ruins.

Now it says each “ran” to his own house. The ESV translates this as “busied” themselves in their own homes. The people kept themselves busy in their own homes, for their own good, rather than with the Temple of God. But here’s the thing that they did not understand, and that we so often forget as well. What actually leads you to your own best interest? What is best for you? What is ultimately good for you? Obedience to God. 

Look again at verse 8 – “Go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified.” Why is God so concerned with the rebuilding of the Temple? Why is He frustrating their work because they neglect the right worship of Him? It’s because He is the source of all that is good, and He is for them, and earnestly desires their good. 

When it says there that He will “take pleasure” in the Temple, it’s not just regarding the existence of the building. “Take pleasure” is often an expression used in the Old Testament regarding God’s acceptance of their worship – the acceptance of their sacrifices in which they receive the forgiveness of sins.

That is what glorifies God in the land. Not merely the rebuilding of the Temple but what it represents – His presence in the land among His people. And their hearts completely devoted to Him in the obedience of worship. And so what this means is that God’s glory and your good are not at odds. God’s glory and your good go hand-in-hand. 

When God requires obedience to His law it is not arbitrary and it is not contrary to what is best for you. Sometimes, God withholds His blessing in our own lives when we are not walking in His ways not because He is petty or capricious but because He is good. He has created this world in righteousness, and righteousness goes with the grain. And so He will not let you prosper without first having your heart. He will not let you be satisfied with the work of your hands without you first raising them clean and in sincere worship of Him. And that is for your good.

Obedience + Promise (vv. 12–15)

So how did the people respond to this word from the Lord?  When they heard that it was God Himself who was blowing their meager crops away – did they harden their hearts? No. “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…”  (v. 12).

They recognized the voice of the Lord through His ordained prophet. And if you have read any of the Old Testament before, you know how remarkable this response is. For often, as it was before the people were exiled, the people of God often did not heed their prophets and neglected the Word of the Lord. The prophets decried their sin, warned of coming judgment and exile, pleaded with them to turn – and they refused. But now, having been planted back in the land by the Lord, and having been awoken by their circumstances and the ministry of the prophet Haggai, the people were ready to not just be hearers of the Word, but doers.  

And, of course, it is not just the people under the Old Covenant who are tempted to just hear the Word but not do it. That is your trouble, too. As we read in James 1, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” The remnant in the land did not continue in the work, but became forgetful hearers. And yet now they have been stirred awake, and as doers of the Word, James says that they will be blessed in what they do. 

In this they are a reminder to us. Are there things you know you ought to be doing, you have heard time and again talked about in our teaching or in your reading, that you know you have not actually heeded and implemented? Maybe it’s one of the items I mentioned at the start. Maybe it’s something else. 

Some of you who are new to Moscow have had the experience of reading the Canon Press books on family, or listening to everything on Canon+, and having your eyes really opened. But then you moved here, and slowly discovered although you now knew some of the right things, you had not begun to really do them. Others have been here, or in similar Reformed or CREC churches for many years now. And yet you know you are not living up to God’s standard. You know your heart has grown cold or your faith has grown weak. Or perhaps you know your marriage could be better, or that you really need to overcome that besetting sin of anger or lust. In most cases, you do not lack knowledge, but lack earnest obedience and reliance on the grace of God in all things. You must endeavor to become a doer of the Word, and not a hearer only.

Now let’s return to verse 12 – the people obeyed the Lord, but we also read that at the end of the verse that they “feared the presence of the Lord.” There are different interpretations regarding this statement. Some take it as a straightforward good thing – they had the fear of the Lord, which as Proverbs states, is the beginning of wisdom. That kind of fear is one of due reverence and awe before God. But the expression here is slightly different, and indicates more of a deep dread or fright. 

The people have come under conviction of their sin, they have realized that the Lord has set Himself up against them, causing very real consequences for their families and in the land. And they were terrified of the power of the “Lord of hosts,” as Haggai repeatedly refers to Him. 

Perhaps you know what that is like? When you are convicted of your sin. You have seen its consequences. You have even been moved to confession… but you are afraid to lift up your head. You remain under the weight of that guilt. Well, the good news is that the Lord is kind. For in verse 13 we read, “Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people, saying, ‘I am with you,’ says the Lord.” 

I am with you. Under the Old Covenant, God primarily expressed this covenantal reality through the tabernacle and temple. That was His dwelling place with man. And despite this people’s failure to rebuild that Temple, as they turned back to God, He now turns to them. The Lord whose hand had been previously heavy upon them, frustrating the work of their hands, now promises to be with them in blessing. 

And that is exactly what we must remember in our own lives. We must not remain under the dread of conviction, but move into the freedom of forgiveness, remembering all the promises of God. Under the new and better covenant, we no longer have a temple made of wood, stone, and gold, but rather our Lord Jesus has come in the flesh, and He now dwells with us, as His covenant people. Christ is the cornerstone of this new temple, and we are being fitted together as living stones, a dwelling place for the Spirit of God. And as we will read next time in Haggai 2, this temple is glorious. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, I’d like us to consider the words of our Lord Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:31 we read, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ Or ‘What shall we drink?’ Or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” 

Is the first chapter of Haggai not a vivid illustration of this teaching? The people of God had radically inverted their priorities. They were not seeking first God’s kingdom by rebuilding the temple, but their own petty kingdoms with the adornment of their own homes. 

Note the three things Jesus lists that we become so concerned with and anxious about. Food, drink, and clothing. Jumping back to Haggai, those were three areas of judgment. They ate, but did not have enough. They drank, but were not filled. They were clothed, but were still cold. They were left entirely unfulfilled when their focus was taken off God’s kingdom and His righteousness. And the promise of Christ is that when you place Him first, and not worry yourselves with those things, He will provide all that you need. 

This does not just pertain to outward physical needs or desires, but all areas of life. Do you want God’s peace in your home? Do you want the joy of the Lord in your family? Then Jesus says they must come second to Him and His kingdom. Seek ye first the kingdom – all of these things will be added unto you. Seek first the kingdom, give your heart first of all to God, and then He will be pleased to come in blessing. Then you will be equipped to serve and love those closest to you to the glory of God.

As I teach a class over at Logos for high school boys on biblical masculinity, I have been rereading Mere Christianity and Lewis’ chapters on the virtues. This past week we discussed the virtue of hope, and I came across one of those class Lewis lines. He wrote, “Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘throw in’: aim at the earth and you will get neither.” We rightly have a desire to see God’s blessing in our lives. We want to love and serve our spouse well. We want to see our children growing in the knowledge and joy of God. We want to be able to provide through our vocations for our families. 

But we must learn what our forefathers in the faith learned under the prophet Haggai. We must consider our ways. We must turn to the Lord and seek first the King and His kingdom, with simple obedience and sincerity of heart. And then we will see His hand prospering everything else.