By Mat Mikhail

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Haggai was the first of three ‘post-exilic’ prophets of the Old Testament; that is, he received word from God after Judah’s seventy-years’ exile in Babylon. To understand how we get to Haggai, let’s do a quick re-cap:

Following King Solomon’s death, and the foolish counsel of his son Rehoboam, the unified 12 tribes of the Nation of Israel separated into two kingdoms… Northern and Southern. Over time, due to their constant disobedience to God’s commands, the northern kingdom (10 tribes known as ‘Israel’) came under the judgment of God when it was conquered by the Assyrian Empire. The southern kingdom (2 tribes known as ‘Judah’) at this time remained in place.

However, Judah was warned time and time again that they too would face God’s judgment if they continued to disobey His commands. Eventually, God judged their disobedience—they too were removed into captivity by the next great empire that came to power, the Babylonians. When the Babylonians captured Judah, they not only took the Jews into captivity back to Babylon, but they also destroyed the Temple of God in Jerusalem.

The Jews remained in exile until the rise of the Persian Empire, under King Cyrus. In the last few verses of Second Chronicles, and into the first few verses of Ezra, we read the decree by King Cyrus that any Jew in Babylon who wished to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, could do so. It’s important to note, that many of the Jews decided to remain in Babylon with their families, friends, homes, and businesses. The Jews who chose to return (catalogued in the Book of Ezra) immediately began the work of rebuilding the Temple. However, they soon faced strong opposition from those who had settled in the land during their exile. As a consequence, the Jews stopped rebuilding the Temple for 15 years.

It is at this point we pick-up in Haggai, Chapter 1, where the “once so faithful Jews” who had returned to undertake the important Temple rebuilding work are challenged by God, saying… ‘Consider Your Ways’! In verse 5 we read, “Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.” And again, in verse 7, God doubles-down by saying, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.”

There are three things we can learn from the returned Jews: Their Procrastination, Their Priority, and Their Progress.

Their Procrastination (vv. 2-5)

Firstly, the remnant who had returned with so much zeal to begin the Temple rebuild had become demotivated when faced with opposition and hardship. This loss of motivation led them to procrastinate in their ministry to the point of complete inaction. They made excuses for their procrastination. In verse 2 we read, “…This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.”

How often do we make similar excuses for our procrastination in adhering to God’s word. The time is not come to witness; the time is not come to go to church; the time is not come to read God’s word; the time is not come to pray. Mind you, the returned Jews found time to work on things that benefitted them personally. We read in verse 4 of chapter 1, “Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?” The people had prioritised the building and adorning of their own houses with expensive timber paneling, while the important work of rebuilding God’s house was put on the back burner.
This was not only an issue in Haggai’s time. We read in the Book of John that Jesus faced the same issue concerning those who procrastinated in doing God’s work. Jesus said, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (4:35).

Let us take a moment to think of all the areas in our lives where we are procrastinating and putting-off obedience and service to God’s word, all while we continue to pursue our own personal goals. Haggai says, Consider Your Ways!

Their Priority (verses 6-11)

Next, we see the returned Jews had their priorities mixed-up. We see in verse 6 that instead of using their time to prioritise the re-building of the Temple, they instead focused on the building of their own lives… in farming crops, in eating and drinking, in meeting their physical comforts, in business interests and, in earning wages.

They are told by God that their priorities are all wrong. And for this, we see that all the things mentioned above that had taken precedence in their lives had returned little. They sowed but reaped little. They drank and ate, but still thirsted and were hungry. They we’re clothed but were still cold. And they earned wages, only to see them disappear. Why had their worldly (not necessarily wrong) pursuits failed to return anything of substance? Because God has caused a drought upon the land. Why? Because His House was laid waste.

We see here, as well in many other parts of Scripture (notably Deuteronomy, Chapter 28) that God’s promises of blessing are subject to obedience to His word. Whilst we continue to prioritise ourselves over the word of God and His calling, we will find that our efforts return little. We mustn’t get the above confused with a ‘Prosperity Gospel.’ God does not promise us prosperity in obeying His word (see John the Baptist), but He does promise blessing if we prioritise Him through obedience to His word and putting Him first in our lives.

Is God #1 in your life? Haggai says, Consider Your Ways!

Their Progress (verses 12-14)

We have read that the returned Jews were challenged on two occasions by the Lord to “Consider Your Ways.” But ultimately when the rubber hit the road, they needed to decide whether they would act or not. What did they do? In verse 12, we read, “…all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God…” Remember, the remnant in Jerusalem still faced opposition. They were still under financial hardship, living amid drought with all their savings being wiped out, yet they decided to obey the word of the Lord!

Once you take a moment to Consider Your Ways and decide to obey God’s word and act in serving Him, don’t expect a ‘pat-on-the-back’ from the world. You, like the returned Jews are likely to face opposition, even threats. However, we can rest on the words in verse 13, “… I am with you, saith the Lord.” It is a decision that we all need to make. Once you have taken a moment to Consider Your Ways, what will you do?

Mat Mikhail