warm – Praying Pint

Will Graham – Devotion

Haggai 1:6-7 “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!

Priorities and idols can be a constant struggle. Though we call on Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we tend to let the things of this world assume an exaggerated level of importance that crowds out our focus on Him.

It could be our jobs, our hobbies, our comfort, or even our children’s sports teams. We would rather skip church than miss the first five plays of an NFL game. We prefer sleeping in over gathering for worship.

Haggai may be one of those Old Testament books that gets quickly skipped over, but the whole account of Haggai is incredibly practical for the 21st century. One may even think that it was intended just for us living in this post-modern era, though it was written in 520 B.C.

In the first chapter, we see that the people had begun putting themselves before the Lord, focusing on building their own houses while neglecting the temple. In the years since returning from exile in Babylon, they had disregarded the house of God.

In verse 4, God–through His prophet Haggai–says, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?”

This question tells us that the Israelites were doing the work required to build a certain level of luxury for themselves. Rather than having walls of mud or stone, their homes were overlaid (paneled) in wood. Conversely, no one was working on the temple. It laid in ruins.

The Israelites to whom Haggai was speaking were putting themselves before the Lord. The sin was not living in luxury or “paneled” homes, per se, but it was the idea of satisfying themselves instead of working on the things of God.

There are consequences to sin, and this was no exception. In fact, Haggai declares in verse 6 that many of the hardships that Israel was encountering were a direct result of their disobedience:

“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.”

(This sounds a lot like our modern age, doesn’t it?)

In other words, the farmers would work hard on their crops every year, but the harvest would be inadequate. There was food, but children and adults alike would still be hungry at the end of the day. Those who could afford new clothes in order to stay warm were still cold. In essence, God showed them that if they try to meet their own needs, they would never be satisfied.

However, in verse 8, God gives a prescription for renewal with three imperatives: “Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified.”

Go, bring, and build. These were immediate marching orders. God demanded obedience now, not later.

The Israelites responded, reordered their priorities, and rebuilt the temple for His glory. In doing so, they grew spiritually as they returned God to His place of Lordship in their lives.

Let me ask you this: Has God given you direction, but you are waiting because you think it is not the right time? Are you avoiding your God-ordained calling because the work is too hard? Are you giving God the scraps while putting the majority of your focus into your own pursuits?

Or perhaps you’re accumulating all of the “toys” (your own version of “paneled walls”) you can get while neglecting your church.

I don’t ask these questions to make you feel guilty, but to encourage you to follow God’s prescription in the first chapter of Haggai. If you take a fair assessment of your spiritual life and realize that you’ve elevated other items or comforts above God, it’s time to go, bring, and build.

Go get the idols in your life–your education, your job, your hobbies, your addictions, your comforts. Bring them to God and lay them at His feet, repenting of your disordered priorities.

In their place, build your relationship with God by obeying His commands, through prayer, and studying His Word. Just as the Israelites grew spiritually as they turned back to God, you will find a new and deeper fulfillment in Him.

“Consider your ways!”

Haggai 1:5-7. 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!

Reflect seriously upon this affair, whether it is consistent with the reason of things, or whether you have even promoted your own happiness by it as you thought to do. For as you have neglected him, so hath he withdrawn his blessing from you; the consequence of which has been, that nothing has prospered with you. (Benson)

Many good works have been intended, but not done, because men supposed the proper time was not come. Thus believers let slip opportunities of usefulness, and sinners delay the concerns of their souls, till too late. (Henry)

Consider your ways; their sinful ways, and repent of them, and forsake them, particularly their ingratitude before observed; and their civil ways, their common ways of life; their labour, work, and business, they were continually employed in; and observe the event of them; what success they had, what these issued in; whether there were not some visible tokens of the divine displeasure on them, which rendered all their attempts to support and enrich themselves and families vain, and of no effect (Gill)

Haggai described a double curse. Instead of much, little was reaped; and the little that was brought home melted away without doing any good (earns wages to put into a bag with holes). “I do not know of any passage in the Bible that better describes the feverish yet ineffective activity of our own age.” (Boice)

If our priorities are wrong, nothing will satisfy us. Each accomplishment soon reveals that there must be something more, something that can really satisfy. Nothing fills the God-shaped void in our lives except putting Him first. (Guzik)

Neglecting God’s Word and giving little to no thought to things of God will certainly leave a void where the heart and soul and mind are constantly looking for that which will satisfy. The problem is there is no thought given to the condition of their commitment to things of God. It is so easy in our time, where things of God are but a passing thought if at all. Do you want joy, peace, and rest in your minds? Do you want to find purpose and satisfaction for your souls? Make proper note of this: Things of this world and the ways of this world will never bring about a filling of the void in your hearts, minds, and souls. Every day that begins and ends without a thought of bringing honor and glory to Jesus Christ in all thoughts, words, and actions is a day that the things of this world you have chosen to follow after are more important.

12.z. Haggai

Haggai 1:1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’” Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.

In the difficult years of the return from exile God spoke to His people through the prophet Haggai. Haggai is also mentioned twice in the Book of Ezra, the priest who oversaw the work of rebuilding the temple. We learn that the prophecy began in September, 520 B.C.This makes Haggai the first among the post-exilic Minor Prophets. Of the 12 Minor Prophets, the first 9 spoke before Judah was carried away captive, exiled to Babylon. The last 3 Minor Prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi) each spoke to those who returned from the 70-year exile. “Gone was the glory of the former kingdom and temple. Gone was the great population. All that was left was the rubble of Jerusalem, the remnant of the people, and the task of restoration.” In 538 B.C. Cyrus King of Persia allowed the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem after 70 years in captivity. Two years later (536 B.C.) construction on the temple began, led by Zerubbabel. The work stopped after two years (534 B.C.). After 14 years of neglect, work on the temple resumed in 520 B.C. and was finished four years later in 516 B.C. (Enduring Word)