5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD
of hosts; Consider your ways.
Haggai tells
the people that ADONAI wants them to stop with their self-absorbed lives and
think about how they are currently living their lives and what they were
released from exile for.
6 Ye have sown much, and bring in
little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with
drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth
wages to put it into a bag with holes.
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts;
Consider your ways.
The point is
made that their toil has increased while their blessings and prosperity have
stopped. Why? Because they were toiling for YHWH and because of empty threats
they began toiling for themselves instead and as a result they fell behind
instead of moving ahead.
8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood,
and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,
saith the LORD.
Get off your
tuchas’ and get back to work, bring wood to the Temple Mount instead of your
own property.
Build THE
HOUSE, not YOUR HOUSE.
You want
blessing and prosperity again? Ask whose House are YOU building anyway: Yours
or God’s?
9 Ye looked for much, and, lo it came
to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD
of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his
own house.
Want to know why you’re not getting
ahead, always feeling like your taking one step forward and two steps back?
Because it’s ME who is bringing all your toil to naught. Why would I do this?
Because you have given up building My house, I have given up helping you build
yours.
The Stones
Tanak says the “blowing” that this verse mentions is crop failure by their
grain being scorched by hot winds.
10 Therefore the heaven over you is
stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
God even
sets nature against us when we are out of His divine will. If everything is
going wrong in your life, check and see if you have stepped out of His will. If
so, step back in. If not, it’s satanic oppression, simply press on and expect a
break through just around the corner.
11 And I called for a drought upon
the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and
upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and
upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
Even within
exile (for though they were free to rebuild, they were still under control of
Persia), punishment laid out in Deut. 27-28 can still come. Here in this verse
we see G-d explaining that because of their disobedience and not continuing to
build the Temple that punishment ensues.
I can see God
throwing up His hands and saying, “You cried for an opportunity to do this and
once I give it to you, you shrink at the first bout with antagonizers and end
up building your own houses instead!”
Perkei Avot
2:21 says, Rabbi Tarfon) He would also say: It is not incumbent upon you to
finish the task, but neither are you free to absolve yourself from it.
Heb. 11:13 These all died in faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were
persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth.
John 8:56 Your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Luke 9:62 And Jesus (YESHUA) said
unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit
for the kingdom of God.
Much of what
we do in life we will never see the end result, for it is really for the ones
who come after us. Like the oak tree you planted a few years back; you may
never see it as the mighty oak it will be 50 years, but your children and
grandchildren will. Much of what we do here and now paves the way for the
coming generations. It’s the whole “Olympic passing the torch” thing; run like
you are the one who will/must finish it.
Thus we
should not get discouraged or overwhelmed if the task seems too large.
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of
Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, 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 did fear
before the LORD.
Message
received, the leaders and the people get the point and see the error of their
ways and resume the work on the Temple.
Job 28:28 And unto man he said,
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom; and to depart from evil [is]
understanding.
Psa. 111:10 The fear of the LORD [is]
the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do [his
commandments]: his praise endureth for ever.
Prov. 1:7 The fear of the LORD [is]
the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Prov. 9:10 The fear of the LORD [is]
the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy [is] understanding.
Prov. 15:33 The fear of the LORD [is]
the instruction of wisdom; and before honour [is] humility.
“Haggai’s
first message is a stirring challenge to the people through their political and
spiritual leaders, Zerubbabel and Joshua. The people looked in the decoration
of their own houses (v.4) while doing nothing for God’s “house.” Haggai twice
says “consider” your ways (vv.5, 7). This literally means them that their
neglect of the Temple has resulted in His Judgment on them (vv.6-9); their self
centered efforts cannot be satisfied because God is not blessing. Their first
priority should have been that God would be glorified, and this fact should be
evident in the life of believers today (v.8 cf. John 15:8; Eph. 1:6).” – Key
Word Study Bible.
13 Then spake Haggai the LORD's
messenger in the LORD's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith
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 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,
15 In the four and twentieth
day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
When we
strep out and obey in faith and not feelings, God provides the motivation
(feelings) and the strength we need to continue and complete the task.
Zech. 4:6 Then he answered and spake
unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by
might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
This is an
important and applicable lesson that we believers need to be reminded of today.
Matt. 28:20 Teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even
unto the end of the world. Amen.
