Haggai Introduction
The book of Haggai is focused on evaluating the priorities of the people. The Jews had finally returned from many years in exile and Jerusalem was in ruins. Haggai had a message and a mission for the people. The message was that they needed to think carefully about their ways. They had forgotten about God and decided to go their own way. The mission was to rebuild the Temple. The priorities of the people were twisted, and they became blinded by their own projects and possessions instead being obedient to what the Lord called them to do. They were living in paneled houses while the Lord’s house was in ruins.
God’s Temple served as a visible sign of their obedience to Him and their decision to put Him first. The outline of the book is the challenge to the people and the response to the challenge. Haggai reminded them of their need to be faithful to complete the building of the Temple. The people actually listened! They began working on the Temple once again. Haggai called the exiled generation to covenant faithfulness as they looked to the promise of the future coming of God’s Kingdom and the hope that the Messiah will come through the line of Zerubbabel. This book is a great reminder for us to consider our ways. Are we seeking to build God’s kingdom or seeking to build our own? What is the Lord calling us to reprioritize in our lives? Consider these questions and more as we journey through Haggai together!
If you’re interested in watching The Bible Project’s overview of Haggai, click here!
Read Haggai 1
A Call to Build the House of the Lord
1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest:
2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”
3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.
13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. 14 So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnantof the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LordAlmighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
The Promised Glory of the New House
In the second year of King Darius,
Go Deeper
The book of Haggai was written around 520 B.C. At that time, Jerusalem had been taken over by the Babylonians and has laid in ruins since 587 B.C., making the Israelites exiles of Babylon for almost 70 years. However, the prophets of the Old Testament have been giving messages of hope, promising a New Jerusalem where a remnant of Israelites would reside in reconciliation with God. In 520 BC, Persia took over Babylon and allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding. So, the Israelites are thinking that the prophesied New Jerusalem and remnant of God’s people is ready to be rebuilt. Haggai, hearing from the Lord, has other thoughts. Which is where we begin in Haggai 1.
As we read, we see that the first order of business after being freed is restoring the luxuries the Israelites previously had. They focus on harvesting olive oil and paneling their new homes, with their new clothes and wages that they haven’t had in years. Everything seems great, except God hasn’t been a part of any of it. They’ve neglected to rebuild His temple and give thanks for being delivered from exile. While we aren’t in a situation where we’re being delivered from exile, our actions can often line up with the Israelites today. How easy it can be to focus on working overtime or enjoying our material lives instead of honoring God with our time.
The book of Ecclesiastes explores this same issue. King Solomon, one of the richest people to ever walk the earth, talks of all the things he tries to do to make himself happy, but how it’s meaningless without God. Ecclesiastes 2:11-12 says “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” We have the ability to take pleasure in this world and the things in it, but the only lasting joy will be joy found in honoring God!
Questions
- What stuck out most to you about the passage? Why?
- In what ways are you prioritizing your own enjoyment over God’s?
- How can you honor God with your day today?
Pray This
Father God,
Thank you for speaking to me through your word and for the life you have blessed me with. Help me to remember all good things come from you and that my joy can only be found in you. Show me ways I can honor you at work, at home and everywhere I go. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
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2 thoughts on “Haggai 1 + Introduction”
I immediately thought of Christ’s words in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19–21). We can fully trust in God to meet our needs as we prioritize obedience to what he asks of us. It truly is a heart matter that will dictate what we treasure most, the temporal or eternal. We are all building our lives on something, let it be on the unchanging principles of God’s word that will prevail to the end and propel us to love and follow Jesus throughout our ever changing circumstances. The reward of heaven awaits and will last forever! “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).
I am reminded of the parable of the rich fool. His rich harvest and his grain barns were never enough – and when he died, he was a pauper, because he had not valued his soul, his most precious and only eternal asset. May we see our lives through God’s eyes. I read this week that there is only one verse in the Bible that describes God as rich in something, namely Ephesians 2:4:” But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Thank you, LORD, for your mercy, which is so abundant towards us, especially in our failings. May we daily turn (back) to you!