21 Days with Haggai – Day 12

Haggai 2:5-6

‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’ “For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land.[1]

The word that the Lord is with us is not a new word, nor is it a new promise. God has been with the Israelites all along their journey, even from the time of their exodus from Egypt. God is with us even as He has been with the Jews of old. He has been abiding with us, watching over us so that there is no need for us to be filled with anxiety. Jesus picked up this promise when He declared that He would be with us to the end of the age Matthew 28:20), and the writer of Hebrews when he wrote that God would never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

This is a consistent promise from God. We never have to worry whether God is with us or will be with us because we have this promise that gets repeated over and over again in scripture. God does not want us to be in fear. He does not want us to be anxious about his presence. We can be confident of His promises because “God is not a man that He should lie or the son of man that He should go back on His word” (Numbers 23:19).

This promise is magnified in its importance because of the immensity of the task that lies before them. How would they accomplish such a seemingly impossible feat as the rebuilding of the temple? Yet God reassured them that He is there with them abiding among them.

They wondered from where the resources would come, but God even has this under control. He says that He is “going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land” (v. 6), meaning He is going to so work for them among the nations around them that they will supply the needed resources. Of course, it is all predicated on their obedience to what He commands. Jesus teaches, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom” (Luke 6:38 – KJV). We don’t have to worry about the resources when we know that God is with us. Everything belongs to Him and He will “shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land” if necessary to ensure that what He commissions is fulfilled, therefore we can rest confident in His promises today, walk in that to which he has called us and leave the rest to Him.

Lord, we confess how difficult it is to trust you for the impossible things in life. We receive Your promises readily, but wonder how they will be fulfilled. We are limited by our finitude. We see things only according to what we ourselves can manifest and consider impossible what we cannot. Help us today to do more than just receive what You have promised. Help us to walk by faith claiming what we cannot see and has not manifested as though it were already done. We ask this by faith in Jesus’ name. Amen.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 2:5–6.

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21 Days with Haggai – Day Ten

Day Ten – Haggai 2:2-3

“Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people saying, ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison?[1]

At the end of the first chapter Haggai has just been successful in motivating the people to begin rebuilding the temple, but now he shifts gears and makes a comparison of this house to that of the one it would replace. Solomon’s Temple, in all its grandeur, was originally built four hundred years before the occasion of this writing. It was so magnificent that it was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was destroyed approximately sixty-six years before the Jews had been charged with its reconstruction. There were likely not many remaining alive that would have remembered the glory of that original house, and those who did would certainly be able to attest to how inadequate this new house they were building was in comparison. In fact, Haggai offers that it “seemed like nothing in comparison.” Why would Haggai seemingly muddy the task with what appears to be an unnecessary comparison? The people already are challenged with the immensity of the task.

History is an interesting thing. The memory of adults can often get embellished over the course of time and once comparison begins the potential for yet another delay, perhaps through melancholy or malaise, is great. The move on Haggai’s part is therefore a shrewd political one. He acknowledges from the start that the two cannot compare. They were not charged with replicating Solomon’s Temple, but rather with building a temple for the Lord their God.

Sometimes the greater purposes of that for which we have been called can get lost in our memories of the past. Note how we tend to romanticize the things from our past while conveniently forgetting the horrors that accompanied them. The people needed to be able to put their task in its proper perspective. We need to do the same. What is past is past. We can never reclaim it nor should we want to. Instead we should see the potential of the future and seek to secure it. Getting stuck fixating on a skewed memory of the past only serves to paralyze. Perhaps that is why the Apostle Paul advises his readers to forget the past and press on to lay hold of the prize that yet lies before them (Philippians 3:12-14). Today determine to forget the past and lay hold of your future.

Dear Lord, thank you for the wonderful memories of the past. Help us to keep them in their proper place as we move into the future You have so graciously prepared for us. Keep us from unnecessary comparisons and open us to the joy of new beginnings. Quiet our minds that remember what we want to remember and cause us to look with great anticipation for what lies ahead trusting that You who do all things well have it well in hand. This we ask in the name of Your Son and our Lord Jesus. Amen.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 2:2–3.

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21 Days with Haggai – Day Nine

Haggai 2:1

On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying,[1]

There does not seem to be very much here from which we can glean a Word from the Lord on the surface, but remember the Apostle Paul’s words to his son in the ministry Timothy, “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16). How does the Word come to those who supposedly speak for Him? How do they come up with their sermons, homilies, messages and/or lesson plans?

It is a question most everyone has asked at one time or another, and it goes to the heart of the challenge in the church today when there is not any longer real authority or influence. The church has become irrelevant in many places to many people; hence the massive decline in attendance. The newscasters, talk show hosts, and even reality stars have more influence than the most prominent preacher. The question is further complicated when one considers the inconsistency with which the Bible is interpreted, taught and applied.

Inspiration comes from multiple sources. God is constantly speaking at all times through many, if not all of those sources; and so, the challenge of the messenger is to hear effectively from Him sifting through and filtering what they hear. Haggai writes that the Word of God came by him or through him at a specific time. In other words, Haggai was merely the conduit through which God deigned to speak. God spoke directly to Him and He still can and does the same today. However, every word that is spoken must conform to what God has already said. It must not contradict what we read in the record we have of what He has already said in the Bible because, “God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should change His mind” (Numbers 23:19).

It occurs to me today that those who proclaim the Word and those who hear the Word should have a much higher opinion of it and of the One who sent it. Why not choose today to transform the manner in which we read and hear the Word so that it might bring us true and lasting transformation.

Dear heavenly Father, we confess to often being callous concerning Your Word. We do not hold it in the esteem we should or give it the authority in our lives it deserves. We receive it as interesting perspectives or viewpoints but give it no more authority than other pieces of literature we may read or hear. Help us today to return to the Bible as hungry and thirsty students of Your Word. Give us the zeal to hear it, read it, study it, memorize it, and meditate upon it. Open our eyes and allow us to see beyond the pages a Word tailor made for us, and having received with joy, motivate us by Your Spirit to act upon it. Amen.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 2:1.

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21 Days with Haggai – Day Eight

Haggai 1:13-15

Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke by the commission of the Lord to the people saying, “ ‘I am with you,’ declares the Lord.” So 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, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.[1]

It is one thing to receive a message from the Lord, but it is another thing entirely to do something after having heard that message. It would be wonderful to believe that people so accepted what they heard from God that they would immediately go to work as a result of having heard it. The truth of the matter is that many people are paralyzed by the fear that they have not heard accurately or that they will fail.

The God we serve does not miss anything, so while we are struggling with how to respond to the messages we have received, God has made provision through two very specific things. First, God reassures the people that they are not alone, but that He is with them. That God is with us is good news especially when you consider all we have to endure. What would we do if we did not have a God to whom to turn or upon whom we could lean, but we do have such a God and such a relationship that we know He will be with us through every test and trial.

Second, Haggai records that God stirred up the spirit of the leaders and the people. If the work were to be accomplished, it would take the combined efforts of those in leadership working in sync with the people. It would also take a level of zeal and enthusiasm that the people had obviously lacked during the multiple years they procrastinated. It may not be intentional but notice that God stirred up the hearts of the leaders first. If the leader(s) is not excited then the excitement of the people will wane. If the leader is stirred up and the people are as well great things can be accomplished for the Lord.

About what are you stirred today? What is it that has you excited? What lies in your spirit that will not let you go? If it is from the Lord that stirring will be accompanied by an assurance that He is with you to get it done. I can hear Richard Smallwood now singing, “I will be with you . . .”

Dear Father, thank You for the marvelous assurance that You will be with us. We confess that we cannot make it by ourselves. We are consumed by fear; the fear of failure; the fear of being labeled; the fear of being ridiculed; and so much more. Thank You for reminding us that You are the One who said that You would never leave us or forsake us, that you would be with us to the very end of the age. Help us to carry that blessed assurance with us today so that we can hold on to the zeal on the inside of us to do what You have commissioned us to do, in Jesus’ precious and mighty name. Amen.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 1:13–15.

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21 Days with Haggai – Day Seven

Day Seven – Haggai 1:12

      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 showed reverence for the Lord.[1]

The result of Haggai’s preaching was immediate, the people obeyed. In a perfect world every proclaimed word from the pulpit would bear immediate fruit, but sadly, such is not the reality. It is clear from scripture that ambivalence to the word is not a new challenge, In the Book of James readers are admonished, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). The immediate reception of Haggai’s message is therefore significant, but it is so because the people recognized that “the Lord their God had sent him.”

It is not often that we hear of modern day prophets universally received as having been sent from God. More often than not we see prognosticators of the gospel just as selfish and self-centered as the people to whom they have been sent. In many places emphasis is placed upon the blessings the people will receive and almost nothing on the curses bound to come their way for their disobedience. Consequently, people with itching ears flock to those who will tell them what they want to hear, and when it does not come to pass the people are left disappointed, angry and scarred (2 Timothy 4:3). Perhaps it is no wonder then that the people would receive their message with ambivalence. These Jews who received the word of the prophet, received it as “the voice of the Lord their God” and immediately obeyed.

When you hear the word of the Lord what is your response? Do you change your mind and alter your behavior? Do you set out to turn things around or is it merely an interesting word that, though true and with which you can agree, is not something that moves you beyond the moment in which you received it? There is no better time than the moment to make a decision to obey the voice of the Lord your God. Moses told the Israelites in the wilderness that blessings follow obedience, but curses disobedience (Deuteronomy 28). Make the bold move today to walk in obedience to the voice of the Lord as you have heard it from the mouth of the ones whom He has sent to deliver it and watch the blessings begin to flow.

Dear Lord, how we wish that the response of the remnant of Your people today would be like that of the people in Haggai’s day. We confess, however, that we are often far from them and more like those who ignored or stoned the prophets. We confess that it is often hard to discern what is a true word from You because of all the noises that surround us. Help us to sift through the various sounds to hear what You have to say to us in this day and hour, and having heard motivate us to take the necessary steps that will transform our very lives and that of our communities. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 1:12.

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21 Days with Haggai – Day Six

Haggai 1:10-11

“Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.”[1]

 

Haggai is very specific; judgment has come upon the people because they did not fulfill the covenantal responsibility they had to rebuild the temple. Unlike many other pronouncements of God’s judgment that is yet to come should behavior not change, Haggai makes it clear that the drought and famine, the lack of productivity is as a result of what they refused to do, and the only way that the conditions they were experiencing could be and would be reversed is by them making the decision to make fulfilling their obligation to rebuild the temple their priority.

We, who preach, often stand in the pulpit and declare the blessings of God that accompany obedience, but neglect to highlight the reverse. Haggai’s pronouncement harkens back to Deuteronomy 28 where Moses makes it clear that blessing does accompany obedience, but curses just assuredly accompany disobedience. If we are to take anything from what these early Jews experienced it is simply how serious God is when He gives instruction. It is simply not wise that we would choose to do what we desire instead of what He commands. The result of such a tragic decision may very well be curses of the magnitude of what Haggai pronounced.

If we find ourselves guilty what recourse is available to us? It is the same as that of these early Jews. There had to first be genuine repentance and a change of heart, an acknowledgement that their choices were out of order and sinful, a proactive plan to take corrective action, and finally a reprioritizing of their commitment to rebuild the temple. Take the opportunity today to review where you are then take the necessary action to change your course.

 

Dear Lord, we are more like these early Jews than we care to admit. We are slow to perform Your will. We are hesitant to walk in obedience. We are often more self-interested than we are interested in You and Your plans for our lives. We love You but constantly subordinate our commitment to You for lesser commitments. We are heartily sorry for our rebellion and we ask that You allow us the opportunity to change our circumstances. Forgive us today our sin, instruct us in what we should do to correct what we have done, and then show us favor in reversing the curses operative in our lives. This we ask in the strong name of Jesus our Christ. Amen.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 1:10-11.

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21 Days with Haggai – Day Five

Day Five – Haggai 1:8-9

“Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord. “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.[1]

 

God still speaks today just as He spoke in Haggai’s day. He speaks through His word. He speaks through dreams, visions and inspiration. He speaks through events, and also through the voices of His appointed representatives; such as He did through Haggai. Sometimes when the Lord speaks His word requires interpretation so that it may be understood. But many times, perhaps even most times, when the Lord speaks it is very clear. These two verses are very clear. The times have been hard for the returning Jews and it was not coincidental. God was behind their hardship because His house, the house He sent the Jews back to rebuild, still remained in ruins. The only remedy to their dilemma was for them to take proactive action to begin again the work they had delayed.

God is not behind every negative thing that we experience. There are some things that happen that are just part of life, and then there are other things that come as consequences for actions we have taken. But then there are times when God will inflict upon His people trouble in order to get their attention. This is not an especially pleasant thought. Why would the people of God wait until bad things begin to happen to walk in obedience? Yet, such is exactly what happens much of the time. Notice how aggressive people become in their prayer lives when they encounter trouble or how many promises are made to do what they are already charged to do if God would rescue them from their situations?

If we are honest, we know well the things we are leaving undone. We know what we are called to do and how we are called to live. Many know the thing(s) we have been called to perform. Haggai tells the Jews living in Jerusalem, building their own houses while neglecting the house of God, to go to the mountains and bring down wood to build the temple. It is a very specific instruction with a very specific result. Let us make a proactive decision today to go back and readdress those things, and in the process of so doing receive a very specific result, God’s glory will once again fill our circumstances.

 

Dear Lord, there are many things we have left unaddressed. We have been slow to perform your good and perfect will and have wondered where You were in our circumstances. Enable us today to look honestly at those circumstances, and seeing where we have neglected to do as we have been instructed, move proactively to change our situations. This we ask in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 1:8–9.

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21 Days with Haggai – Day Four

Haggai 1:6-7

“You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.” Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways![1]

Nothing happens by accident in the economy of God. We live in a time when people want to credit chance for the things that happen around us or to us. But God does not operate by chance. He does not, as Albert Einstein said, “play dice with the universe.” Instead, there is a cause and effect principle with which we all must contend. It is this one simple principle most of use learned in school early on, “for every action there is a corresponding and equal reaction.”

Such was the case with the Jews to whom Haggai wrote. They were enduring very hard times for which their actions, or in this case their inaction, was responsible. They were responsible for the rebuilding of the temple but acquiesced that responsibility and as a consequence were experiencing God’s retribution. Their harvest was not equal to what they had sown. There was not enough food to go around; not enough libations to make them drunk; it was so cold that they could not put on enough clothes to get warm; and, the very ones who paneled their house were suddenly in an economic crisis.

Many people today believe that God is too good to exact such retribution. They look at occurrences like this in the Old Testament and credit the incident to just another example of a vengeful, wrathful God that no longer exists since Jesus rose from the dead. But the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. We should see from the Book of Haggai just how serious God is about the instructions that He gives. The drought, famine, and general economic collapse that the community experienced were a direct consequence of their failure to follow the instructions of the Lord. Should we presume that God no longer moves in this same way or is it possible that we simply do not make the connection to our personal circumstances?

There may be, and likely is, a direct correlation between our disobedience to God and the various crises we encounter. If nothing happens by chance; if, as we discover in Deuteronomy, we are either blessed with a blessing or cursed with a curse instead of operating by luck, then perhaps it is reasonable when we find ourselves in a crisis to do a systems check. What is our obedience level? What directives have we overlooked or ignored? If we are willing to be honest we may discover that Haggai’s last word to the Jews in Jerusalem is a relevant word to us today as well, “Consider your ways!”

Dear Heavenly Father, our earnest desire is to walk in obedience to Your will and way, Yet we confess we are unable and sometimes unwilling to do as You have commanded. We humbly repent of our procrastination and our outright disobedience and ask that you would relent in your retribution. Speak to us again and remind us of those things You have committed to our hands that we might faithfully perform them for Your glory. Amen.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 1:6–7.

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21 Days with Haggai – Day Three

Haggai 1:4-5

 

“Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?” Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways![1]

 

The time in which Haggai wrote was an economically difficult time for the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem. The majority of the people struggled to make ends meet every day, but there was a small few who had put resources aside that enabled them to live extravagant lives. It seems it is to this minority that Haggai was writing because they were much more concerned about their beautifully appointed homes than the house of God. Their demonstrated priorities were especially egregious to Haggai considering the covenantal faithfulness God had bestowed giving them favor with Darius who allowed them to return to Jerusalem for the express purpose of rebuilding the temple.

It is apparent that the more times change the more they remain the same. People are not much different today than they were in Haggai’s day. Many are still pursuing their own agendas exclusive of what God would have them do. If we are honest, we must include ourselves in that number. How often have we thought it much more important to work toward fulfilling our dreams than walking obedient to God’s will and direction for our lives?

Isn’t interesting that our behavior is not a surprise to God? The Psalmist writes, “Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it” (Psalm 37:4). Jesus, our risen Lord and King taught in the Sermon on the Mount, “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). So clearly, God, who knows the end from the beginning, knew our proclivity to put our individual wants and desires before what He requires. Though it is difficult in a society that places great emphasis on personal achievement, our faith in God requires that we trust and believe that He will do for us just what He said He would do. After all, isn’t that what faith is, “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1)? Today, let us endeavor to activate our faith with greater intentionality.

 

Dear Lord, I am guilty of placing my wants and desires before your will for my life. I can sometimes become so fixated with what I want to accomplish that I can neither see nor hear what You have in store for me. Help me today to believe more strongly and completely that You have my best interest in mind and that delight in You will bring me all I desire. But keep me from making You just the bearer of good gifts. Allow me to walk in such obedience that all I desire will be Your good and perfect will for my life. So, today I surrender everything I am and hope to be to You. Mold and fashion me after Your will, in Jesus’ marvelous name I pray. Amen.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 1:4–5.

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21 Days with Haggai – Day Two

Haggai 1:2-3

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” ’ ” Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying,[1]

More than four hundred years after the Babylonians destroyed the magnificent temple of Solomon, Jews began to return to Jerusalem to rebuild it. But by the time Haggai wrote the temple was still lying in ruins. For thirteen years the people procrastinated and God’s temple was not rebuilt. God had given a charge, He had given instructions, but the people decided that it was not time to rebuild the temple, and God was not pleased.

How often have we been guilty of procrastinating, especially when it comes to the things of God? Time, of course, is the default reason for our delay. We are so encumbered by the various responsibilities and obligations of our lives that deciding our priorities prove difficult. We love the Lord and even intend to do what He has said, but there are so many other things that tend to be given higher priority.

There are many directions we could take with this brief word. We could talk about the care of our individual temples. We could make application to the rebuilding of our communities that need to happen. We could even focus on rebuilding, or for that matter building, our collective national righteousness, because that is what exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34). But what is important for us to see is the importance of stepping proactively into the timing of God. Our time is not God’s time. We operate in specific segments of time (chronos), while God operates in His own time (kairos). We make decisions based upon chronos, but God moves when He gets ready because He is the Lord of time. Therefore, when instruction is given and received there is a narrow window for compliance that leaves little room for procrastination.

The Jews who returned to Jerusalem for the purpose of rebuilding the temple were guilty of procrastinating and so incurred the wrath and the judgment of God. Let us be careful to step resolutely into the timing of God trusting that though we may not be able to see for ourselves what He has decreed we will trust and obey anyhow.

Dear Lord, we are guilty like the Jews of Haggai’s day of procrastination. We have heard Your word and have cast it aside for a later time. We acknowledge that our priorities are misaligned and that we place our own pursuits before You. Forgive us and empower us to reorder our priorities so that You get the pre-eminence in all things. This we ask in the name of Jesus our Christ. Amen.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 1:2–3.

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