I have been studying the minor prophet books in the Old Testament. I’ve never really studied them in depth before. The thing that was really interesting about the timing of it was that a friend and I were talking about what our purpose in life is, or has been, or could be, or should be. That very evening, I started reading the book of Haggai. In this book, God tells His people exactly what their purpose for that day and time was. You just have to love God’s timing.
The phrase that stuck out to me in chapter one, (which I have not gotten past yet,) is, “Consider your ways.” You know when someone tells you something twice, they generally mean it. When God says something twice, you can know for certain that He means it! In the Old Testament Book of Haggai, chapter one, verse five, God tells His people, “Consider your ways.” In verse six, He goes on to tell them, pretty much, that they were not doing very well, that they were actually… well, irresponsible. Then, in verse seven, God again says, “Consider your ways.” Then He goes on to wear them out because they are living in “cieled houses,” meaning houses that were secured with roofs, while the Temple, God’s dwelling place at that time, was in ruins. He sternly requested that they repair the Temple. He told them that the dew would cease, and the harvest would be stopped until they repaired the Temple. Consider your ways!
Fast forward to today. God still has people. We are blessed enough, because of Christ’s sacrifice, to be God’s people, if we choose to be. The Temple, His dwelling place, is different now. As a child of God, we are indwelled by His Spirit. His glory no longer resides in a man-made structure. He resides in a God-made structure, us! We are the Temple, the Church Body. And from where I sit, it looks like God’s Temple needs repairing in our day and time also. What kinds of “cieled houses” are we living in that are keeping us from becoming God’s Temple? Seems like there is a lot of considering our ways that needs to be done in our lives to keep the harvest from being halted.
In God’s message to Haggai, He told them, two times, to consider their ways. Then, He did not just leave them hanging. He gave them three commandments, “Go.”, “Bring.” and “Build.”
He told them to go. He even told them where to go, up to the mountain.
He told them specifically to bring the wood down. You can guarantee that if God told them to go gather wood, the wood would be there.
Then He instructed them to build the “house” or the Temple. From the time of Moses, God had gifted His people as craftsmen to be able to complete the task of repairing/rebuilding the Temple.
God does not leave us hanging either, wondering what we need to be doing. His message is still the same today, “Go.”, “Bring.” and “Build.” We see this all throughout the New Testament. The early Church was all about going, bringing and building.
Consider your ways. He tells us in scripture to “go.” He even told tells us where to go — to our neighbor, to our towns, to the whole world. Our first act of “going” should be to tell those around us about Jesus, like the woman at the well in John 4:7-42. She went to tell everyone that she knew about Jesus. Next should be the neighborhoods, towns and cities where we live, like when Jesus sent His disciples out to their surrounding towns to tell the Good News. (Luke 10; Matthew 10) Finally, Jesus instructed us to preach His Gospel to the whole world, just as He bid the disciples and His followers in Mark 16:15, Luke 14:23, Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:7-8.
Consider your ways. There is still “wood” to bring. Our wood is people, the people, souls, that need to hear about Jesus. We need to bring them in to hear about Him, to hear about the sacrifice that He made to bring us eternal life. There is absolutely no shortage of “wood” out there. There are many millions walking in darkness that Jesus wants us to bring to the Light.
Consider your ways. Ah, now, the “building” part. We have complicated “building the Temple” so very much. The Temple, in our time, is the Church Body, the Body of Christ, those followers of Christ grouped together. The Temple, or the Church is not a grand, magnificent structure, although some church buildings are. Those buildings are nothing but dead wood, artfully pieced together. These structures are just boxes where the actual Church can gather together to share in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Temple-building gifts are different now also. Just as God gave precise gifts in Moses’ day to build the original Temple, He has given all believers gifts to be used in building up the Church Body. This is Biblical. Ephesians 4:7 tells us, “However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.” Each one means everyone. You may need to pray about what your gift may be; but pray, search the Scriptures and look inside yourself to see what you are passionate about. If you do these three things, you will most likely find your gift.
Yes, God used the prophet Haggai to speak directly to His people over two thousand years ago. In the Old Testament Book of Haggai, God is still using Haggai to speak to us today. Will we listen? Will we consider our ways? Observe the world around you. There are multiple opportunities to “go,” “bring,” and build” still today.
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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 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.
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.
9 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.
10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
11 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.” (Haggai 1:3-11 KJV)
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What is your relationship to the all-knowing God of the universe, the God that gives precise instructions and tells us where to find materials and how to complete the task? Do you know Jesus? Do you know the peace that can come only from an intimate relationship with Him? You can know Him. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, born into human flesh, sinless, crucified and giving His life freely, buried, arisen on the third day, will come into your life and change the outcome of your eternity. You just have to be willing to believe and accept His truth.
Here is an excellent website that can give you additional information about making your decision for Jesus Christ! PeaceWithGod.net
Restricted Vision, Unburdened Sight 