Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your
ways! “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 no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Consider your ways! Haggai 1:5-7 NKJV
Although
Haggai is considered to be one of the minor prophets, there is certainly
nothing “minor” about his prophecy to the nation of Israel. Haggai was the first prophet to appear after
the end of the Babylonian captivity and when the Jewish people were again
living in the land of Israel. His
prophecy towards the people was one of judgment from God because of their
neglect to rebuild the Temple, something they had been given permission to do
when they were released from their captivity.
This prophecy was given because fifteen years had passed and the people
still had not finished the rebuilding, but rather had turned their attention to
selfish personal ambitions.
Although
the book of Haggai is just two chapters long, the word “consider” is used five
different times by Haggai as God commands the people to examine their actions
and the motivations behind them. The
word for consider in the Hebrew is suwm which
is translated to put, make, set, lay, ordain,
to bring to pass. I found it
interesting that nowhere does it say “think about it”, which would probably be our
answer to the meaning of “consider”, but rather God is saying “do something” or
“change” your ways because they are wrong.
Because
they had chosen to ignore His instruction to rebuild the temple, God chose to
remove His blessings from them in order to show His displeasure at their
actions. Haggai tells us that although
the people were working very hard for personal gain, God decided to take it all
away as a sign to them that no matter how hard they might work, if following
God’s instructions were not their priority, nothing they did would bear
fruit.
“You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you
brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the LORD of hosts. “Because of My
house that is in ruins, while
every one of you runs to his own house.
Haggai 1:9 NKJV
For
the past few weeks we have been looking at warnings of what to expect as the
end draws near written by those who founded the Church as we know it. What we found
is an explicit warning that the very foundation of the Church, the Gospel of Christ,
will be in danger because false teachers and false believers will infiltrate and
attempt to change the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. As I thought about the message from Haggai, I
immediately began to wonder if we too, at this time, find ourselves facing the
same sort of situation as found in Haggai.
The
people who God had charged with the responsibility to rebuild the Temple were
instead focused on their own lives, looking for personal comfort and gain. Rather than making obedience to God’s
instructions their priority, they were instead putting all their efforts into
trying to improve their own situation by working for themselves. As a result, God tells them to consider their
ways. In the situation we find ourselves
in today in regards to the Church, and understanding the lateness of the hour,
should we too listen to the admonition from God to consider our ways?
“No
one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and mammon.
“Therefore I say to you, do not
worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your
body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than
clothing? Matthew 6:24-25 NKJV
Now
I am sure most of us work very hard at our jobs, knowing that the work we do
brings us the means to provide for ourselves and our families. There is certainly nothing wrong with that,
especially if you consider that it is God who arranged for us to obtain the
work that we have. Yet if you look
closely at the message from Haggai, it is obvious that what God is displeased with
is the fact that the people focused all their efforts towards personal gain
while ignoring their service to God.
When Haggai tells the people the message from God is to “consider their
ways”, he is telling them to make their service to God the priority in their
lives.
“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. Matthew 6:31-33 NKJV
The
questions we must ask ourselves today is are we focused on serving God, or are
we making the same mistake that the people did in Haggai? Our trust should be in God to provide for our
needs, and focus our efforts to protect the message of the Gospel. A few weeks ago we looked at the message Paul
gave Timothy and I believe if we are to consider our own ways, we should look
at it again.
I
charge you therefore before God
and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His
appearing and His kingdom:
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke,
exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
2 Timothy 4:1-2 NKJV
As
believers, our charge is the same as given to Timothy. Our focus, our time, our efforts, should all be
to make it our priority to spend time in the Word and be prepared to defend the
faith. If not, don’t be surprised to
find God bring all our efforts to nothing just as He did in Haggai.
All
Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV
This
week may we all “consider” our ways.
Now
may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great
Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make
you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well
pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21 NKJV
Keep
watching.
