INTRODUCTION
Starting a project is one thing, and finishing it is another. For this reason, the wise preacher said that the end of a thing is better than its beginning (Ecclesiastes 7:8).
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Haggai 1:1-15
At the decree of Cyrus, 50,000 exiles returned to Jerusalem in 539 B.C. They quickly got to work laying the foundation of the temple and the altar. But the work slowed as the people began to mind their own affairs. Darius I came to rule the Persian Empire. And in his second year, 520 B.C., some nineteen years after the exiles returned, God spoke to His people in Jerusalem by the prophet Haggai. The Lord spoke particularly to Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the high priest, noting that the people said the time had not come that the LORD’s house should be built (v. 2).
To this sentiment, the LORD asked if it was time for His people to live in paneled houses while the temple lay in waste (v. 4). He told them to consider their ways for they had sown plenty but reaped little. They ate and drank but were not full. They clothed themselves but remained cold. And they earned money only to have it fall through the hole in their wallets (v. 6). Again, He tells them to consider their ways (v. 7). If they would haul down the wood from the mountain and build the LORD’s house, then He would take pleasure in it and be glorified (v. 8). That would fix the problem they faced, which was God blowing away all of their profit to the wind (v. 9). Why would God do such a thing? Because they left His house in waste while they each ran off to see to their own house instead (v. 9). They had bitten the hand that feeds, and the result was no rain, no corn, no wine, no oil, no milk, no steak (v. 11).
The governor, priest, and all of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD and feared Him (v. 12). God replied by saying that He was with them (v. 13). Then, the LORD stirred them and twenty-three days after the LORD’s rebuke, you could hear the sound of construction on the temple mount in Jerusalem (v. 14).
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
This is an age-old story of unfinished business. The man started well, but something went awry. Ah, the lot of being temporal creatures. We must start, endure, and finish. The Galatians stumbled in the same way these returned exiles did—”Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” (Galatians 5:7).
In the case of the exiles, you have to remember what they had accomplished. They had come a long way out of Babylon. Then, of course, they had established the foundational thing, the temple foundation itself. And they had the most essential thing. The altar, from which the seraphim, like our Lord, cleanse the lips of men. These were not exactly prodigal sons rolling around with the pigs. They had given to the building campaign. But they had grown slack and distracted.
PROPHETIC MERCY
God interrupted them. And it is the kindness of the Lord to be so deep into our business. There they were, neglecting the Lord, painting the house, carrying on with their weekly routine, and up walks Haggai with all of his questions, “Hey, why do you work so hard only to lose your money?” The quicker you call Nathan’s feet blessed when he walks up to you to remind you about your Bathsheba, the better off you will be. The welcomed rebuke is distinctly Christian. The only people who can do it are those who have had their sins forgiven and know it.
WHY NO STEAK?
The LORD asks the question and answers it. After telling them they have toiled and reaped no fruit, He asks, “Why?” The answer is because His house lies waste (v. 9). Here is a central truth: This is God’s world and He brings the growth. More to the point is the word from Solomon, “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10).
Honor comes from the heart. The text does not say, “Slip the Lord a twenty and you will receive twenty-five in return.” You will get nowhere pulling the Lord’s lever like some divinity slot machine. The point is that you must honor Him top to bottom, lips and pocketbook, children and business, from Dan to Beersheba. When you do, the Lord sends the blessing rain. When you don’t, He turns off the faucet.
GOD’S METHOD OF OPERATION
Our passage displays a clear method for God’s operation. He delivered His Word of correction (v. 1-11). The people obeyed in fear (v. 12). The LORD assured them of His presence (v. 13). He stirred them to work (v. 14). His way is: Word, Obedient Fear, Presence for Blessing, Work. There are multiple ways to jumble things, but one major error is to look at joyful and flourishing saints and seek to emulate their good works apart from obedient fear. Do that and you will end up in just the situation in which the returned exiles found themselves. You will neglect the LORD, His kingdom, and His Christ for the sake of your own affairs. The reason those saints are so joyful and productive is that they hear the Word and obey in fear.
That fear is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the glorious one. Away from Him is darkness, obscurity, lack, the bottomless void. But, look to Him and it is transformation, from one degree of glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18).