Redeeming the Time–the Book of Haggai
We all have pressures, demands, tasks, and expectations that we face each day. Do this! Go there! Finish that! Family, friends, employer, school, and church can all want something from us. So, we can rush through life dealing with the urgent, the immediate, and the necessary. But the important things can easily be left in the dust. The problem is our values–what is truly important.
Our values and priorities are reflected in how we use our resources–money, time, strength, and talent.
Twenty-five centuries ago, a voice was heard, calling men and women to the right priorities. The prophet Haggai knew what was important and what had to be done, and he challenged God’s people to respond.
Haggai clearly tells them: The time has come. Let’s get moving.
The Backstory
The armies of Babylon had destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem–God’s house, the symbol of His presence. In 538 B.C. King Cyrus decreed the Jews could return to their beloved city and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. They traveled to Jerusalem and began the work. But then they forgot their purpose and lost their priorities, as opposition and apathy brought the work to a standstill.
Haggai spoke, calling them back to God’s values:
“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Haggai 1:4 (NIV)
“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 (NIV)
The book of Haggai is short, but it is filled with challenge and promise, reminding us of God’s claim on our lives and our priorities. Today we need to listen to God’s word speaking to each of us, urging us to reorder our lives and priorities in accordance with God’s will.
What has God told you to do? Put everything else aside and obey Him.
Three Ways That Haggai Showed How God Was Still With Them:
1.Haggai reassures the people that God was still their God.
“Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: ‘I am with you,’ declares the Lord.” Haggai 1:13 (NIV)
“But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And My Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’” Haggai 2:4-5 (NIV)
2. Haggai lets them know that the reason there had been a famine.
It was not because they had moved back into the land but that they had delayed rebuilding the Temple.
“‘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.’” Haggai 1:9-10 (NIV)
“Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.” Haggai 2:19 (NIV)
3. Haggai addresses the issue of whether or not God was strong even though they had been defeated in battle and the temple destroyed.
“I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.” Hagai 2:22 (NIV)
“‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” Haggai 2:9 (NIV)
The magnificence of the building is not where the significance lies. Instead, it is the Glory that dwells within it.
Haggai assures the people that if they will persevere in the project that God has for them, they will find everything they truly need in Him.
The message of Haggai is another prophet that continues to speak to us today. Living in the Holy Land did not make them Holy. God, through Haggai, speaks to us about priorities and whether or not we happen to become more concerned with our own agendas than with God’s. He speaks to us about what truly matters: Our Bible knowledge? Our credentials? God is able to dwell in the humblest of temples.
In fact, He seems to prefer it.
My Prayer For You
Lord, help each of us to look at our own priorities and determine whether we are more concerned with our agendas rather than Your agenda. Forgive us for what we make more important than You. Help us to be humble before You. Amen.