Christ Current

The last post introduced the scene before Haggai delivered his first message. The stage was set with the unfinished temple, a discouraged people, and a neglected calling. Into this moment, God sent His prophet Haggai, not merely to rebuke His people, but to awaken them from their spiritual sluggishness. 

The Comfortable Excuse

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.’” 
—Haggai 1:1-2

Haggai brings this message first to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and Joshua, the high priest, the two primary leaders of the returned exiles who led the rebuilding of the temple. Remember, it was King Cyrus who had originally issued the decree allowing the Jews to return and rebuild the temple, but so much time had passed that it was now ruled by King Darius. 

Already, in these opening verses, we hear the excuse of the people. “The time has not yet come.” Fifteen years had passed since the foundation of the temple had been laid. The work had stalled, yet the people had become comfortable with the delay. There are definite seasons and times when God calls His people to wait, but waiting can also become a spiritual excuse or justification. We can easily convince ourselves that the timing is wrong or the circumstances aren’t right when, in reality, God is calling us to take the next single step in faith. 

How often do we say, “I’ll do that when life settles down a bit,” or “I’ll start that project when I have more time,” or “I’ll read my Bible when I have a bit more energy,” or “I’ll forgive that person when they…”? But what is really beneath this?

God Exposes the Underlying Issue

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.” 
—Haggai 1:3-6

The problem was not that the people had stopped believing in Him. It was that they stopped keeping Him central. They lost the zealous diligence of the Lord’s priority over their own. They got caught up in the world. While God’s house remained in ruins, they invested their time, energy, and resources into building comfortable lives for themselves. These paneled houses were very nice and what you might consider luxurious, as at the time, Scripture tells us these panels were only used in the royal palace and the temple (1 Ki 6:9, 7:3).

Their priorities shifted, and comfort replaced calling. They weren’t satisfied. They planted much but harvested little. They ate but remained hungry. They drank but were never filled. They earned wages only to watch them disappear. It was never enough. 

Outwardly, they appeared successful. Inwardly, they were empty. They had everything according to worldly standards and yet, were still not satisfied. Maybe you can attest to this in your personal testimony, trying to satisfy yourself with the things of this world which they could never do. Or trying to find comfort and peace in this world but it was always fleeting and leaving you emptier. And sometimes, we return to these things and need a stirring within us just like the people of Israel did. 

They gained the whole world, yet had empty souls. Let us remember Jesus’ words:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” 
—Luke 9:23-25

And again,

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
—Matthew 6:19-21

What good is earthly success at the expense of our souls? What good is it if we prosper materially but are empty spiritually? Have we invested more time building our earthly lives than cultivating our relationship with Christ? Do we have an outward appearance of godliness while our hearts are far from Him? Are we storing up treasures that will perish while neglecting treasures that last forever? Have we invested more time and energy into earthly success rather than eternal growth and the kingdom of God? 

Today’s Temple

The temple in Haggai’s day represented God’s dwelling among His people. Today, under the New Covenant, believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God is no longer asking His people to construct a building of stone. He is building a people, who are living stones, in Christ. 

Individually and collectively, God is shaping His Church where His Presence dwells. The Holy Spirit is continually forming us into the likeness of Christ, preparing His bride for the return of her Bridegroom. Paul reminds us that God Himself is committed to completing this work:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.  
—Philippians 1:6

The question is whether we are yielding to the Builder or not. What distractions have become more important than Christ? What work is the Holy Spirit calling you to resume? Or, perhaps, what work has been exalted above intimacy with Christ? Has performance replaced His presence?

A Mirror in Revelation

The same spiritual condition appears centuries later in the church of Laodicea. 

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 
—Revelation 3:15-17

Again, we see the following spiritual state: rich outwardly, poor inwardly. Laodicea was famous for its wealth, textile industry, banking industry, and medical school that produced an eye salve. Notice the descriptors the Spirit declared despite all their outward prosperity. He says they were spiritually poor, blind and naked. Poor despite the banking industry, blind despite the healing eye salve, and naked despite the clothing industry.

Like the people in Haggai’s day, they believed they had everything while lacking the One who is everything. This is the representation of lukewarm Christianity today: religious activity without genuine intimacy with Christ. The outside may appear impressive while the heart is distant from God. 

The Lord’s concern has always been inward transformation, not merely outward appearance. 

“The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 
—1 Samuel 16:7 

God’s Call

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. 
—Haggai 1:7-8

For the second time God says, “Give careful thought to your ways.” Whenever God repeats Himself, we should pay close attention. The people of God spent years analyzing their circumstances, which led them to the conclusion that it was still not yet time to rebuild the temple. Instead, they sought immediate comfort which we see produced a mismatch of outward wealth and inward poverty.

The literal translation for “give careful thought to your ways” is “set your heart upon your ways.” God was calling them to examine their hearts. Their hearts were set on worldly things and they needed a wakeup call. We are called to do the same. 

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
—Colossians 3:1-2

First, God again tells them to examine their hearts. Then, comes the command to essentially pick up their tools and go “Build My house,” a command that would bring blessing.

God invites them to consider what has taken precedence in their hearts. “Where are your priorities? What are your motives? Who holds the supremacy in your heart? Are there idols?” Let us give careful thought to our ways by examining our hearts. What are they set on? Better yet, who are they set on?

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 
—Psalm 139:23-24

Now consider it was not just the work that was not being done but a great span of time that had passed, living as if they had all the time in the world! Two verses in Psalm 90 speak to this.

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 
—Psalm 90:12

May the favor of the LORD our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands. 
—Psalm 90:17

Our lives are but a mist (Jas 4:14). The people of Israel let nearly two decades pass while neglecting their calling. They spent that time pursuing immediate comforts and worldly desires, leaving them poorer for it. It is not just gifts that God entrusts us with but also time. We should heed the lesson to ask His Spirit to teach us and give us a heart of wisdom. May He establish the work of our hands—a work resulting from the work of holiness in our hearts.

Every believer has a role in God’s work. Remember, this is not work that saves you, but work that flows from His grace and is evidence of a genuine faith. Paul compares the Church to a body in which every member has a purpose (1 Co 12:12-14). Peter calls us “living stones” being built up into a spiritual house (1 Pe 2:4-5). Paul encourages us to continue being “rooted and built up in Him” (Col 2:6-7).

You may feel so insignificant, but no member of Christ’s Body is insignificant. Every believer has a role in building up the Body. Is there a gift or talent God has given you that you have neglected or tucked away? Have you not been walking in your new identity in Christ and so have hid your lamp under a table? Has opposition, discouragement, doubt or fear caused you to stop participating in the building like the people in Haggai’s time? The Holy Spirit calls each of us to participate in strengthening His Church while allowing Him to continue building us.

The root of Israel’s problem was their heart, and the same is true for us today. God calls us to examine our hearts, set them on things above, and faithfully walk in truth, do the truth, and build what He has called us to build.

Where is the Harvest?

Sometimes God truly calls His people into the waiting. Other times, we call it waiting when God has called us to take the next step. Israel had waited fifteen years while God’s house remained unfinished. God explains why their efforts had been fruitless:

“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.” 
—Haggai 1:9-11

The people were working hard and expecting their labor to produce much but they continued to come up with little. Their problem was not a lack of effort. They were busy and productive, but their priorities had become centered on themselves. They were trying so hard to get ahead but were not getting ahead. Why? What God was exposing to them still hits us hard today. He was showing them that we can work harder and harder, pursue more and more, and still find ourselves coming up empty when we put our own comfort and desires before Him.

Paul gives us a similar warning in Galatians.

The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap corruption; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 
—Galatians 6:8

We can invest our time, energy and gifts pursuing what pleases the flesh, yet discover that all our efforts leave us spiritually empty. But when our lives are surrendered to God and our labor is directed by His Spirit, what we sow has an eternal purpose and fruit that this world cannot produce. The flesh leaves us in a drought we cannot overcome by our own striving, but the Spirit falls like rain on the barren places of our souls. 

Let us consider what God may be bringing to the surface of our hearts through the circumstances of our lives. If our labor is not producing what we expected, like the people of Haggai’s day, do we consider if God may be revealing something in us before we are able to receive His blessing? Is there something in our lives that is displeasing to Him and needs to be addressed? Peter reminds us that judgment begins with the house of God (1 Pe 4:17).

God withheld blessing because He was lovingly exposing hearts whose priorities had drifted. He is a loving Father who never gives up on us. His discipline was not an act of rejection but a loving invitation to return. In His grace, He revealed that they could not be satisfied by the things of this world in order that they would seek what truly satisfies: His presence. 

How often does God lovingly do the same in our lives? Sometimes He allows us to venture off in order to learn that worldly things can never fill us. He allows us to strive ourselves into weariness in order to realize we were trying to earn our way again. He allows us to discover that the things we have chased apart from Him never truly satisfy. It is because He loves us so much that He does not want us to settle for lesser substitutes. His discipline is the evidence that we are His children (Heb 12:6), and it is His kindness that leads us to repentance (Ro 2:4).

No matter how long we have delayed, or how far we have drifted, our Father is always calling us back. Haggai’s message is not, “You have failed, so I have rejected you; do not return!” It is, “Come back. Return to Me with your heart. And from that heart, use the talents and gifts I have given you to do My will. I am not finished with you yet.” Isn’t this such a beautiful picture of God’s grace? That even after nearly two decades of neglect from the people, He pursued them, spoke to them, and invited them to begin again. 

Reflection

Just as Haggai called God’s people to awaken from spiritual complacency and put His house first, so the Church today is called to be awake, watchful, and ready for the return of Christ. As we await our Bridegroom, we too must give careful thought to our ways, examining our hearts and participating with the Spirit to put our spiritual house in order. The question is not simply, “Am I saved?” but, “Am I maturing as He desires for me? Am I resisting or am I yielding to the Spirit’s good work in me? Am I abiding in Him?” 

As we await the imminent return of Christ, may we not neglect the work He desires to accomplish within us and through us. Let us not be caught thinking we have more time than we have. May we yield to His Spirit as He builds His Church and prepares His bride, putting our spiritual house in order for the day we see Him face to face.

May we also have the heart of Haggai toward the Church today. Rather than picking up stones to throw at one another, may we encourage one another in order to be built up in Christ. May we lovingly correct where it is needed. May we warn those who have fallen into a spiritual slumber. May we remind one another of God’s promises, spurring one another on in the fervent pursuit of Him who gives us strength for the race set before us (Heb 12:1-2). 

May we continually yield to Him, the Master Builder, the Potter, allowing Him to shape and transform us—His clay—from glory to glory into His image, trusting that He who began the good work in us is faithful to carry it onto completion so that when our Bridegroom comes, He will find a people watching, ready, and eagerly longing for His appearing (Heb 3:4, Isa 64:8, 2 Co 3:18, Php 1:6).

The beautiful truth is that God’s correction is never the end of the story. His grace always invites His people back to Himself. In the next study, we’ll see how the people responded to Haggai’s call and the blessing that followed their response.

Haggai Study Series to Date: