On Monday my ESV Bible reading plan brought me to Haggai, the obscured, two chapter, minor prophet whose words can often go by unnoticed to the comon Christian. I was actually jolted a bit as I read this scripture wondering if it was just simply for me, or does the Lord have a word for everyone else in this passage. Well, what does any good blogger (I use this loosely of course) do, he blogs about it anyway!
I am currently in a search and find mission in regards to needing answers for my life, my family, and my church and so I am always extra cautious to read into a certain passage, especially from a book of a prophet. The following verse is Haggai 1:1-11:
1In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2"Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD." 3Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4"Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 6You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
7"Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 8Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors."
I really was shaken to the core for a number of reasons, some personal, and others more corporate as haivng to do with the Body of Christ. I will mostly comment on the corporate reasons for being jolted by this specific passage:
- Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?
We can read just about any Christian magaizine and/or survey and realize the church is in major decline. Each denomination or movement is striving to muster some strategy to stop churches from closing, open new churches, stop the moral decline of leadership, and create a godly reputation for the church as a whole once again. People of God is it time for us to really sit back and store up for ourselves our own gain, our own protection, our own success while the house of God is in shambles. God was not implying that somehow His very being or nature was effected by the Israelites complacency or selfishness… No, God was bringing a message of hope and salvation to a people who were broken by captivity, past sin, and perceived abandonment!
We have a natural tendency as humans, and especially as Americans, to go into store mode once we have been hurt, broken, or downright suffering. I believe the Lord wants to show Himself soveriegn through His church, but we are too busy building our methods of growth, reading other books, copying the roads to success that other ministries and people have trecked. It is time to leave our paneled homes… to leave the very security of what makes us comfortable; the barriers, both invisible and visible, to be broken down. As Christians and especially in the United States, we take for granted our religious freedom and the rights of speech and we side ourselves with complacency.
What I feel like God is saying here is that we need to wake up and tend to the things of the Lord; come out of captivity and spread the light of Christ like never before. We should reevaluate the methods of our marketing, our services, and mission as churches. We should reevaluate our motives, our serving, and our relationship with Christ as individual believers. Our love and fear of the Holy One should drive us to mirror or bring good refelction upon Him, rather than just say we are Christians!
- You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
I probably need not comment on the passage above, but I simply cannot help myself. Tithing is another subject for another post, but if we sow our money, time, and effort into things that do not edify the Body of Christ we may find ourselves victim to the meaning of this passage. During such economic chaos, this verse rang out loud and clear! As a nation we are slowly but surely pulling away from God, removing His essence from all matters of education, government, and daily public life. The ACLU and other organizations are either bored or what seems to be on a mission to remove the inclusion of God in anything seen in public. We wonder why we carry such debt, the USD is falling in value, and churches and non-profits are closing their doors!
-
7"Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 8Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors."
WOW! The church should be rising up, teaching sound doctrine, equipping believers, reaching to the needy and brokenhearted, and seeking those who are lost. We find most of the nation declaring thelselves Christians, but having no problem with issues like abortion, sexual immorality, homosexuality, and many other issues. The Christians of America are the insult of the underground church in China and throughout the Eastern world becuase we compromise! Muslims and devout religions around the world believe that America itself is Christian and so the faulty morality they witness in our movies, our literature, and recreation they assume is just fine with the doctrine of God's Holy Word.
We must wake up and realize it is time to build up the things of God and to put our trust in Him! I pray that the Lord would have mercy on us as a nation, a church body, and as an individual believer.
The gospel of Matthew emphasizes the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament in the person of Jesus Christ and would be what I consider the prevailing theme. Matthew refers to the Old Testament at least sixty times, and the book is written with many of Jesus’ discourses and instructions to both crowds and to His disciples. Matthew amplifies for the reader that Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but fulfill it (5:17), and that Jesus’ required a righteousness that came from the inside of each individual and not the outward man. This book would have reached out to the religious Jew and forced the reader to make a decision about Jesus. The gospel of Matthew brings the law of the Old Testament and the good news of Jesus Christ side by side
