“Consider Your Ways”
With the study of Haggai, we are jumping forward in the timeline of the Bible now to after the captivity of Judah and the remnant has returned to Jerusalem. Haggai was a contemporary of Zechariah and Ezra. The remnant returned after the decree of Cyrus in 538 BC and although they initially had been zealous and eager to rebuild, soon they became discouraged and distracted by their day-to-day lives. 18 years have now passed, and Haggai begins to prophesy in 520 BC.
Chapter 1 specifically calls out the fact that the temple had not been completed. The question God asks through Haggai is “Is it time for you yourselves to live in paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” (Hag. 1:4) Ouch! He then goes on to say – “Consider your ways” (Hag. 1:5). These people were clearly working to rebuild their personal lives and communities, but they were ignoring the heart of the community – the temple. In fact, God reminds them that their harvests have been poor, and their returns have been meager. He has been trying to get their attention, but they have ignored the one who could bring them real peace and stability. The message works and the people get to work – the building of the temple restarts.
For context around chapter 2, we find out in the book of Ezra that when the people laid the foundation, the older members of the community who had seen the original template wept (Ezra 3:12). Why were they weeping? This rebuilt version is a mere shadow of the former temple. Solomon’s temple was grand and impressive – this one is simple and humble. Perhaps it is this disappointment paired with the opposition from adversaries that leads to the abandonment of the work. However, when the temple work restarts, God tells the people through Haggai that although this building pales in comparison to the original, He will fill it with glory and that this latter glory will be greater than the former. I do not believe this is necessarily referring to a physical version (such as Herod’s temple), but rather to Jesus – the temple that would be destroyed and rebuilt in three days.
The third message from Haggai deals with the transferring of uncleanliness and the inability to transfer what is clean. The people understand from the Levitical law that it is easy to transfer uncleanliness after touching a dead body or dealing with diseases, however, it is impossible to transfer cleanliness. God is making it clear that their sinful ways will transfer to this new temple rebuilding project if they aren’t careful.
The book ends with a Messianic promise through Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel is a descendant of David and God is going to restore the Davidic kingdom – just not in the way the people are anticipating. Zerubbabel is in fact, found in the genealogies of Jesus and a beautiful picture of the redemptive power of God as a rebuilder of this temple.
What can we learn from Haggai? Honestly, I so often become caught up in my day-to-day life while my spiritual life is not in order. I have to consider my ways – evaluate my priorities. My mother-in-law shared a beautiful story about her father that demonstrated this consideration. Her father obeyed the gospel as an adult and one of the things he felt he had to consider was how he should spend his leisure time. He determined if, as Christians, we are to give preference to each other (Rom. 12:10), he should always choose to be with his fellow Christians if that was an option for his time. He considered his ways and determined this was his way of “repairing the ruins”. To put it bluntly – if you have spent time and money to build your life but are not actually contributing to the work of the Lord in any meaningful way, then you need to consider your ways.
The second thing we can learn is that we cannot use human measurements to determine worth. Samuel fell prey to this temptation when looking for the future king among Jesse’s sons. In fact, God almost consistently flips our human standards upside down when thinking about value – the youngest will rule, the weak are strong, and the meek will inherit the earth. We must look to God to bring the glory.
We also need to do our best to refrain from spreading our uncleanliness and instead look to Jesus to transfer His cleanliness to us. He was the only priest who had the ability to make what was unclean, clean. We are blessed to be living under the rule of Zerubbabel’s heir. He is the one who can help us repair the ruins of our spiritual lives and present our lives as a clean offering to God.
