I’m going to throw a curve at you this New Year’s Day of 2023. I never thought I’d hit 2023 – did you? I’m going to ask you to turn in your Bibles to Haggai chapter 1. Now, if you have to turn to the front of your Bibles and look at the Table of Contents, don’t feel bad. I had to do the same thing. Haggai comes directly after Zephaniah, and directly before Zechariah. That didn’t help, did it? Use your Table of Contents.

In Haggai our God is speaking to His people Israel. The nation has fallen prey to first the Philistines, then to the Babylonians, and finally to the Medo-Persians. God allowed Israel to go into a 70 year captivity because – as His people – they ignored God and His direction. God does not force anyone to follow Him. He is longsuffering and merciful. But God knows what is best, and calls us to follow Him. God speaks to His people. Let’s read:

Haggai 1:1-7 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built. 3 Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled {sāp̄an, roofed} houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

Regardless Of Testament, God Wants To Be First In Our Lives

Most Christians are confused when they come to the Old Testament. They think that the Old Testament has only to do with Israel and the Jews, and the New Testament only deals with the Church. The reality is that both Old and New Testaments are very similar. When Jesus was asked the question:

Matthew 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

The one asking was referencing the Old Testament Law and wanted to know what the number one commandment was. Jesus did not hesitate, but replied:

Matthew 22:37-38 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.

The TOP commandment in the Law is that we who believe in God are to love Him with our ALL. We know this because Jesus said it. We know it because God gave it to Moses on Mount Sinai. The first three of the Ten Commandments are:

Exodus 20:3 You shall have NO OTHER GODS before Me. (that’s #1)

Exodus 20:4 You shall not make anything to bow down to or serve. Serve only God (that’s #2)

Exodus 20:7 You shall not take My name in vain (that’s #3)

This is Old Testament. God is to be number one in your life if you believe in Him. Does this only apply to the Jews? No!

John told the Church:

1 John 5:2-5 (ESV) Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

We are commanded to LOVE GOD. Now we need to understand what God means by LOVE. When we speak of LOVE in the world, we are generally referring to EMOTION and PASSION. When we speak of LOVE, it starts with a warm, fuzzy feeling, and moves outward from there. This is not how the Bible defines love. John told us:

this is the love of God, that we
keep his commandments

To LOVE GOD is to DO what He says. We are commanded to love God with our all, whether in the Old or New Testaments. Loving God means DOING what He says. John goes on to say:

And his commandments are not burdensome

That’s absolutely true. You see, God is the Creator. When we do what God tells us to do, then we are doing what’s best FOR OURSELVES. When we OBEY God, His commands are not those of some Heavenly Tyrant. God knows the end from the beginning, and everything in between. When we OBEY God, we are actually – selfishly – doing what’s best for us.

Israel has disobeyed God. They have not loved God with their all, but have made God second, third, or even last place in their lives. They have put themselves FIRST. When God gave Israel the command to let the land rest every 7 years (the Sabbatical Year), God was doing this to bless His people. The land needs to rest. But Israel ignored the Word of God, and ignored His commands.

When we ignore God’s commands, we put ourselves at risk!

God Sent Israel Back To The Land For A Purpose

As Israel drifted from God, she suffered under the Philistines, then under Babylon, and at this writing under Persia. And yet, God in His Grace is merciful. God allows Israel to return to Jerusalem under the decree of Cyrus, King of Persia. God raised up Zerubbabel, a descendant of the line of King David, to the position of Governor of Israel. Again, this was unheard of. The Persians rarely allowed the conquered any freedom of government. Yet God in His Grace was still blessing His people, though they had wandered far away from Him. God will make a way.

When Israel returns to Jerusalem, they come to the Temple and rebuild the altar, while they begin to once more offer sacrifices. Two years pass and Israel lays the foundation to rebuild the Temple. But then trials happen.

Trials happen to all of us. When Jesus spoke of trials, He said:

Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV) “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

If you love Jesus, you do what Jesus says. If you love God, you do what God says. Jesus is God the Son. He said, “If you love Me and do as I say, when the storms of life come your house will not fall”. The wind and the rains come to every life, whether saved or unsaved.

Salvation is by faith in Christ, but blessing ALWAYS
comes by loving God, putting God first.

When you walk with God in love, He will bless you, even in the trying times. He promises those who love Him:

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he [it is] that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

And again,

Deuteronomy 7:9 … the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments

Deuteronomy 30:16 … I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land

Israel works on the Temple for a while, but when trials come they get off course. They back away from obeying God. Their reason for being in the Promised Land is to rebuild the Temple. But 14 years pass and, as nothing happens, people get used to the nothing. So God raises up Haggai AND Zechariah the Prophets. This is recorded in

Ezra 5:1 Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.

What does God tell His people?

Haggai 1:2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.

Let’s break the Prophecy down. God loves His people. God loves you. I hope you know that. But notice how God addresses His people. He does not address them as Shepherd:

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my SHEPHERD, I shall not want

Nor does He address them as Father nor even as the Potter:

Isaiah 64:8 O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our Potter …

But God addresses Israel as “Lord of hosts”, the Commander of the Armies of Heaven. As Commander of the Armies, God can protect, or He can chastise. He speaks to the people,

This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built

The entire reason that Israel has returned to the land is to rebuild God’s Temple. But they have put the Lord’s work on the back burner. Charles Feinberg wrote in his book The Minor Prophets:

“Give God the supreme place in your life”.

This applies to us as God’s people today. Jesus watched how unbelievers lived their lives, struggling and chasing after the pleasures and goods of this world. In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus said:

Matthew 6:31-34 … do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the {unbelieving} Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

We are to put God first even when – or should I say especially when things are not optimum in our lives. When we go through the harsh trials we do not give up and walk away, nor do we turn our backs on Him Who loves us so. What did Jesus say? Was it,

When you feel like it, come follow Me?, or
Lay back in your recliner, and follow Me?

No, but Jesus said:

Matthew 16:24 … If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Three things. We DENY OURSELVES, or put our lives on the back burner. We TAKE UP OUR CROSS. The Cross is full of suffering. But we are not alone. We FOLLOW HIM. We love our God, and cling to Him with all our might. Israel did not do this. God told them:

Haggai 1:3-5Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled {sāp̄an, roofed} houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

Now, God does not need a Temple to live in. When the Apostle stood at Mars Hill he said:

Acts 17:24-25 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

Furthermore, God is not really interested in the sacrifices that Israel would bring to the Temple. God told His people through the Prophet:

Hosea 6:6 I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

God does not need our “stuff”. He does not need our Temples, our Churches, our offerings. What God wants is our HEARTS. When we put our stuff above what we give to God, then our STUFF becomes our GODS.

When God Is Second, We Always Lose Out

Haggai 1:5-7 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

Word Study: Verses 5-7 can be looked at like an Oreo cookie. Verse 5 and 7 is the sweet cookie part, and verse 6 the white filling. God tells Israel – and us – to “consider your ways”. This is the Hebrew Qal Imperative śûm derek, which means

Lay hold of YOUR way of life. Pick it up, and examine it. Insure you are on the right path. Insure you are walking with God.

When we walk in love with God, God walks in love with us. Jesus told us:

John 14:15, 21, 23 If ye love me, keep my commandments. … 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 23 … If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

When God is put first, when you love Him with ALL your heart as Jesus commanded (see Matthew 22:36 … Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind), then God is a very real Presence in your life. Israel blossomed while they kept their eyes – and their hearts – on God. Yet at some point Israel began to forget their love for God their Savior. They forgot God’s warning:

Job 8:11-15 Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water? 12 While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant. 13 Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish. 14 His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider’s web. 15 He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.

A “house” without God cannot stand. A “Israel” without the Spirit of God
becomes weak and powerless.
A “church” or a “Christian” without Christ loses all blessing.
The power of God is in the Presence of God.

Haggai 1:6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages [to put it] into a bag with holes.

Illustrate: I had a young man come to me the other day because of problems he had in his life. As we talked about his problems, I shared how – in my life – I had come through similar situations. What worked in my life was when I stopped striving in my own power, and began to do the things God said do. That’s how you love God. You do the things God said do. The natural desire of the fallen human is to seek out our own solutions, to be “self made”, to suck it up and power on. God told His people “You’re working hard at fixing what ails you, but you’re getting no where. You know why? Because you’ve cut ME out of the process”.

Humanism does thing in human power. Christianity relies on Christ.

Illustrate: I was watching a recording that “CBS Sunday Morning” made this past Sunday. In December 1772 John Newton wrote the song “Amazing Grace”. This past Sunday the song turned 250 years old. As I watched the broadcast, I at first was amazed that CBS would pay tribute to John Newton, much less “Amazing Grace”. But as I watched the broadcast I realized something else.

At NO POINT did the 6 ½ minute broadcast mention “God” or “Jesus” or “Christ”. The writers at CBS sanitized God and Jesus completely out of the tribute. CBS made no mention as to how Jesus transformed the life of John Newton, and turned a slave trader into an abolitionist.

It is NOT “Amazing Grace” if you cut out the love of God.
It is NOT “Amazing Grace” if it is divorced from the Gospel.
It is NOT “Amazing Grace” if it is self help and humanist.

Our God – throughout the Old Testament – by Grace transformed people, blessing their lives when they followed Him.

Abraham went from sterile, to the Father of a Nation.
Moses went from murderer to greatest prophet.
David went from the sheep’s pasture to the throne.
Jacob went from thief to prince of God.
Joseph went from slave to vice-king of Egypt.
Elizabeth went from barren to mother of John the Baptist.
And Mary went from virgin to mother of the Messiah.

Throughout the Gospels Jesus came to the least and the less. God is willing to save any by Grace. But once saved by Grace, we are to follow Him.

Consider Your Ways. Are You Following Jesus?

Jesus told Israel:

Haggai 1:7-8 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. (8) Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.

If you are saved by Grace, you are saved on purpose. You are not here for nothing, but are here for God. Love Him. Serve Him. Put Him first. At the end of his life King Solomon said:

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

If you want to have a better year this year than you did last year, put the Lord first. Follow Him with all your heart. God will bless you when you heed His Word. God will bless our nation when we – His people – live for Him. Let us make 2023 a great year in following the Lord. Amen and Amen.