Haggai 1:1 says, 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, Haggai identifies himself as a prophet. Matthew Henry says the Jews while captive in Babylon had complained that the was no prophet, but now that they had returned, Haggai said that he was one. He went to the leaders of Israel, both the governor of Judah and the chief priest. Even if people feel that they are without anyone to proclaim God's word today, He will always have people who are doing so. Verse two adds, 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. The people of Judah had returned to their land, but they were in no hurry to rebuild the temple, God's house, saying the time was not right. Too many times today, Christians fail to do what they believe God wants them to do because they feel that the timing is not right. Verse three continues, Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, The proof that Haggai was a prophet came by the fact that God's word came to Him. If we are followers of Christ today, we need to make sure that what we proclaim to be God's word truly comes from Him. Verse four concludes, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? God asked the people of Judah a question, and that was if they thought it was right for them to live in nice houses while God's house was still in ruins. God may ask us today if we think it is okay to use so much of what He has blessed us with as followers of Christ on the things of the world and so little on advancing His kingdom. Verse five declares, Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. God through Haggai called on them to consider their ways. We may not have a prophet today, though we do have preachers, and more importantly we have the Holy Spirit, Who I believe will continually ask us to consider our ways. We cannot allow the things of the world to become more important than the things of God if we are to be effective in our relationship to God. Verse six adds, 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. God said that all their hard work was not resulting in much reward. They still found themselves in need. If we begin to put all our efforts into gaining riches in this world, even if we are successful, as Christians we will always be in need spiritually. Verse seven continues, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. God again called on the people of Judah to consider their ways, and I believe that we as Christians should always consider our ways. We should make sure that whatever we are doing is being done to bring honor to God. Verse eight says, 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. God told them to go and gather what was needed and build His house. He did not just miraculously place what was needed in their hands, but required them to choose to go and do what needed to be done in order to rebuild His house. Verse nine adds, Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. God told them that the reason that their work seemed to come to so little was because they were putting all there work into personal success while ignoring the work of God. We must never allow all our efforts to be invested in the things of this world while ignoring the things of God. Verse ten continues, Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. Verse eleven concludes, And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands. God said because of their failure to rebuild His house that He was withholding the dew that was needed for their crops. God really didn't need a house, but the people needed it to show that the things of God came first with them. God doesn't need anything from us today except our obedience in putting Him first if we are followers of Christ.
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