Minor Prophets Study: Haggai Study 6, from Haggai 2:10-18
The book of Acts tells the story of a couple, Ananias and Sapphira, who are a part of the movement within the early church. Such was the moving of the Holy Spirit at this time that Acts records that, in spite of the massive, typical economic disparities of the time period, “there was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need” (Acts 4:34-35). So Ananias and Sapphira also sell a portion of land belonging to them, to share some of the proceeds. At first glance, it appears a selfless act in accordance with what was going on in the early church at the time: there was no coercion to need to sell or give anything. It was simply the LORD’s Spirit moving in the hearts of His people to show forth His boundless mercy and grace to those around them. The problem with Ananias and Sapphira was that, in being deceptive about their giving, it is clear that their hearts are not right. They are more concerned about appearance; perhaps just bringing a *portion* of the proceeds will look generous, and give them a good reputation among the other church members, without having to be too generous. But the LORD, who looks on the heart, knows that their hearts are not in it; and the consequences are severe (see Acts 5:1-11).
As we come to the second part of Haggai 2, the returned exiles are at risk of sinking into behavior similar to that of Ananias and Sapphira, as the work continues on rebuilding the Temple. Though the LORD has used Haggai to consider their ways and encourage them to return to the work of rebuilding (after 16 years of losing focus), though they have responded in obedience, and the LORD has encouraged them (more than once!) with HIS presence and HIS greater fulfillment, the labor is still hard. As the days and weeks go on, and as the reality of a less-than-splendid rebuilding emerges before their eyes, the temptation is to just hurry ahead to get it done, to finish the work with lack of enthusiasm; to forget that this work is an act of worship and service to the LORD, not merely about completing a task. The temptation is to offer obedience without heart; labor with the wrong attitude.
If we are honest, we can all relate in different categories: we go to work, but we convince ourselves that our bosses are unfair, and our shoddy efforts are all they deserve. We serve at home, but we grow tired of the ordinary tasks of taking out the trash, cleaning up after others, and we drop the laundry basket just a bit too noisily in front of our spouse, or replace the garbage bag a little too aggressively, wondering if anyone will pay attention to the work. We paint a smile on our faces to show up to Sunday worship, feeling proud we made it, but our minds are more concerned with the business deal we’re hoping to make the next day, or the game we’re going to watch at home. But as we will see in Haggai, the LORD is not content to leave us in our half-hearted service; He sees not just the work, but the heart. He speaks through Haggai a third time, to call out half-hearted service, and to help the people to once more consider their hearts, their service, and the greatness and mercy of the One whom they are serving.
A New Problem: Half-hearted Service (Hag 2:10-14)
Once again, the LORD’s address in Haggai is at a specific time, and it is timely. The LORD speaks again “On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, “in the second year of Darius” (Hag 2:10). This date (December 18th, 520BC, by Western calendars) marks exactly three months after the work of rebuilding began (Hag 1:15), and just over two months since the last address of encouragement (Hag 2:1). During this time, any excitement of rebuilding has worn off. The task ahead still looms large: the work of rebuilding would take more than four years, to be completed “on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king” (Ezra 6:15). In spite of the LORD’s commands to “be strong and work, for I am with you,” and promises of greater fulfillment, the reality of the long, hard, and slow labor ahead has set in.
Moreover, even as these returnees work on the Temple, daily life and daily needs continue. There are crops to tend to, and mouths to feed. And the crops this year are all the more important, owing to the poor yield of the previous years, which had come as the LORD’s judgement for their abandoning His Temple (see Hag 1:9-11). At the end of this ninth month in the Jewish calendar (the month of Kislev, and in the middle of winter), the people would have just finished sowing the seeds in anticipation of the next year’s harvest. There was as yet, no harvest, and no more work to be done at present; now they had to wait and see what their labors would yield. Even as they labored on the Temple, they must have hoped that their obedience in working on the building would be enough for the LORD to once again bless the harvest.
Yes, the work is moving forward, but the LORD knows their hearts, and He wants their hearts, not just begrudging labor. And so the LORD speaks again through Haggai, and this time directly to the priests, as the spiritual leaders of this half-hearted force. Haggai addresses the priests with another rhetorical question: “‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” (Hag 2:12). Out of context, this seems like an odd question. But the priests’ job was to be familiar with the Levitical law, and they immediately know the answer: “no!” (Hag 2:12). According to Leviticus, the flesh of a sin offering was sacred and holy to the LORD, and anything that came into contact with that offering was also made holy (see Lev 6:27 & context; see also Lev 10:10-11). But the transfer of holiness did not go further. So no, a priestly garment carrying a holy sacrifice could not make something else holy by touch or association. The priests in Haggai knew the absurdity of this question. Holiness is hard to obtain!
On the other hand, Haggai asks a second question that is equally obvious to the priests: “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” (Hag 2:13). Without hesitation, the priests respond that “It does become unclean” (2:13). While holiness and perfection is hard to attain, the reality is that sin and uncleanness are quickly caught! It is like a deadly poison that quickly ruins all it touches. For the priests, these questions seem obvious. But their application hits home.
Seeing their understanding, the LORD responds through Haggai: “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean” (Hag 2:14). These exiles have been hoping that the mere work of building the LORD’s Temple will be enough to satisfy Him, enough to earn His good pleasure. But they have neglected to think about their hearts, and the continued, sinful and self-seeking attitudes that they bring to the work.
Consider: Is it enough for the LORD? (Hag 2:15-17)
And so it is that the LORD again comes to the people through Haggai with a familiar command: “Now then, consider from this day onward” the LORD says (Hag 2:15). The LORD had called the people to “consider your ways” back in Haggai 1:5: they were living in panelled houses, seeking their own fulfillment, and yet, they came up wanting. They were unsatisfied. They had grown frustrated with the LORD’s work, and lost focus, working for their own pleasure instead; yet it was not enough. The crops were insufficient; their food did not satisfy; the money kept running out too quickly (cf. Hag 1:6).
Therefore, the LORD had called them to “consider your ways” even as they were going up into the hills to start re-gathering wood and supplies for the work of rebuilding the Temple. He wanted them to be considering and working simultaneously: could service to the LORD be what was lacking in the years of dissatisfaction? And as they were considering, the LORD was reminding them that it was indeed HE who had prevented them from being satisfied apart from Him. It was HE who had withheld the rain and the dew, and not allowed their crops to prosper: all because He wanted them to find their fullest satisfaction in Him, and His faithfulness, and His presence (cf. Hag 1:7-11).
After three months of rebuilding, it is indeed time to consider yet again! Yes, the people did consider; they did hear the LORD’s calling; He had moved again in their spirits and encouraged them to return to the neglected work of rebuilding. But the human propensity towards weariness and discouragement, as we see in these returnees, needs to be addressed not just once, but time and time again. No, they had not abandoned the work this time, but they had abandoned an attitude of service to the LORD and joy in doing His calling. And this, the LORD reminds them, is just as serious. Performing for the LORD is not enough; He is not interested in the act of burnt offerings, but in capturing His peoples’ hearts and affections (cf. Hosea 6:6; also Psalm 40:6-8; 51:16, among other passages).
While “this people” (Hag 2:14) hopes that their half-hearted efforts will be enough for the LORD to reverse their unsuccessful harvests, the LORD graciously reminds them to
“consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the LORD, how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD.” (Hag 2:15-17)
The LORD invites them to remember that it was He who hampered their success when they had abandoned the Temple, and it is He who sees the hearts that are attempting to earn His favor and blessing with their half-hearted actions. Yet as the LORD speaks to them, the people needed to also remember that the LORD’s work to which He was calling them was not in fact for HIM, but for them! As we have seen throughout Haggai (and throughout Scripture), the LORD did not need this Temple in order to dwell among His people, or to show forth His glory. He had called them to rebuild this Temple, as imperfect as it might appear, to give them a tangible picture of His presence and His redemptive purposes. He had called them to labor on the Temple not to weary them, but in order that they might better know His grace and His constant presence, as they saw Him blessing the work of their hands. He had called them to be a part of the rebuilding in order that He might use them also as vessels of His grace to forth His glory to the nations through them!
So no, their half-hearted attempts, though perhaps a step in the right direction, would not be enough for the LORD, or to satisfy their weary, discouraged hearts! Only in seeking Him first, in looking past the hand-cut stones and local timber to HIS glorious promise of fulfillment and peace, could they find deep, lasting satisfaction. Only in truly seeking first His glory, would they come to know the depths of His grace and mercy, allowing the work of willing, laymen’s hands to accomplish a greater purpose for His Kingdom. “Now then consider”: is our lip-service enough? Are we finding satisfaction in just trying to perform for the LORD? Or are we perpetuating the feelings of weariness and dissatisfaction because we have forgotten that our work for Him is a picture of His grace for us?
Consider & Consider: Is the LORD enough? (Hag 2:18-19)
But the LORD has yet another matter for the people to consider. As He continues speaking to the people through Haggai, He asks them to “consider” and “consider” again the reality of His unfailing promises and unending grace:
Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider: Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you. (Hag 2:18-19)
Verse 18 is in fact bookended with the word “consider,” and the point is clear: just as the LORD has reminded them to consider again after three months of building, so they will need to continue to remember to consider “from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month” and onward, again, and again, and again. Constantly consider: is the LORD enough? Is His grace sufficient to continue moving forward in His work, in His calling, long and hard as it may feel? Perhaps, as the LORD called them again to consider in the work of rebuilding, the returned exiles were reminded of one of the old Song of Ascents that the people would have sung together prior to exile, walking up towards Jerusalem at the time of the festivals:
“Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)
This was not their work, but HIS. Only in crying out to the LORD for HIS help, for HIS stamina, for HIS blessing, could this building prosper. Rebuilding the Temple was not simply about getting the stones laid one upon the next. It was about remembering that the same God who had brought them out of Egypt so long ago, who had brought them through the wilderness to Canaan, and even moved in the heart of Cyrus to bring them back to Jerusalem after exile, was the same God with them now, reminding them of His presence as they rebuilt the picture of His redemption among them.
Later in the New Testament, Paul writes to the Corinthians that “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth;” yet even so, by His grace, “we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building” (I Cor 3:7,9). The LORD is the One who prospers the work, who fills His house with glory; but He allows His people to be a part of His work, to experience and show forth His grace as His fellow workers, His visible building. For the returned exiles, they could point one another and others to the rebuilt (if imperfect) Temple, and use it to speak of God’s faithfulness, and His promises, even as they brought sacrifices once again, and waited for His fulfillment. As the church today, we get to function as the tangible (if imperfect) picture of Christ’s Bride, and speak of His grace and mercy as we point others back to His perfect sacrifice, and forward to HIS return.
Consider and consider again: is the LORD enough? But the LORD, even in His overflowing grace, even as He calls the people to continue considering and remembering, promises His blessing. Unless the LORD builds the house, the work is in vain; but He promises that He will not only be present, but bless His people in the process, weak as their faith may be. The seed has been sown, and now the people are waiting to see if the harvest will be plentiful. Though they again lost steam, and have been laboring in half-hearted service, the LORD promises that He will bless their labors: “Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you” (Hag 2:19). His grace precedes their satisfied hearts. Even as He calls them to consider and work wholeheartedly for Him, He promises that they will indeed find everything in Him. Though they have become weary in His work and selfish in their obedience, the LORD will bless their work, to show them that He indeed alone can satisfy!
The LORD has still one final promise to encourage His people onward in the work (as we will see next time in the final verses of Haggai), but even now, before the Temple is complete, He will allow them to experience some of the joy and blessing of His Work. What is incredible in this promise of blessing is that the LORD does not wait for His people to understand fully, or to come to Him with perfectly purified hearts. Rather, He allows them to taste and see (in this case, quite literally) His goodness and blessing, even as He invites them to continue considering His goodness and His grace; even as He reminds them to consider the focus of their hearts. As we consider the work to which the LORD has called us, may we also, along with Haggai’s audience, “taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8). May we learn not just to perform His calling out of a sense of perfunctory duty, but because in His service, we find the true joy, satisfaction, worth, and blessing that comes from Him alone. Amen.
Questions for Reflection and Prayer
(Suggested: Either individually, or in a study group, Read through the Scripture passages referenced in this article, and discuss or reflect on what you have read. Reflect on these questions, and then bring your thoughts before the Lord in prayer).
Are there places where you feel like you are “doing enough” to satisfy the LORD, or to earn His favor? Where are you hoping that your good efforts are enough to earn something from the LORD? Or, if you are honest with yourself, in what areas is your performance or service half-hearted? Consider: how is such service detrimental to your understanding and experience of God’s grace? How is it detrimental to the witness of the Church? In what particular areas do you need to consider (and consider again) the LORD’s grace, provision, and presence in your life? Where have you perhaps forgotten that He is present, and that He is at work? How does it change your perspective to see that God uses our work (even in all its imperfections) for His glory, and to show us His grace? Where do you desire to grow in learning to see and experience His grace and blessing in the places where you feel discouraged?
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