Haggai 1:7 Do what God wants not what the world dictates

Haggai 1:7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord.

Haggai begins with the Words of the Lord: 

2 “Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.”’”

3 Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses, and this temple[a] to lie in ruins?” 5 Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!

6 

“You have sown much, and bring in little;

You eat, but do not have enough;

You drink, but you are not filled with drink;

You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;

And he who earns wages,

Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord.

The people of Israel have spent their efforts fortifying and building their own houses but have neglected the building of the temple of God. This can be read about here. 

Now God commands His people to begin constructing the temple. Verse 12 tells us of the people's obedience to God's command as they begin to turn their efforts towards constructing the temple: 12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the Lord. 

Reading through Haggai 1 we can see how the people had neglected God and made themselves the priority. After being reprimanded by God they came back to obeying the Lord and building his temple. However, by looking at the background we can see that this was not as straight forward as it seems. 

Haggai was a prophet during the time of the exodus from Babylon after the Israelites 70 year Babylonian exile. Ezra 5:1 states Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.

The book of Ezra shows how during the Israelites captivity, King Cyrus made a decree to allow the Israelites back to Jerusalem to construct the temple. However, after King Cyrus' reign had finished the decree was buried and the Israelites came against fierce opposition to their return and their construction of the temple. 

The kings succeeding King Cyrus listened to the people who were against the Israelites and ensured that the temple was not constructed. It was during this time of oppression that the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah were prophesying. (Haggai 1:1 In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying...)

To us with the benefit of hindsight we are able to read Haggai chapter 1 and see how the people's attention was not directed toward God and then following the word of the Lord they turned back to Him and began constructing the temple. However, in reality, this was not the whole story. 

Haggai had brought the command of the Lord. The command was the very thing that they had experienced extreme oppression and pressure for trying to do. God wanted the Israelites to build the temple, but the world did not and the circumstances certainly did not allow it. 

God instructs us to be His witnesses in this sinful world, however there will soon come a time when the world will not allow it. There will be times when the world will dictate that you act in a certain way that is contrary to the Word of the Lord. However, we must be encouraged and sure to do what God wants and not what the world dictates, for only through God can we receive blessing and fulfilment. The worlds way will amount to nothing.

Haggai 1:13 promises us 13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you, 

God had asked what may have seemed impossible at the time, however God is bigger than this world and it is in Him whom we should trust. We go on to read in Ezra 6:12 that following petition from the Israelites to the reigning king, ...I Darius issue a decree; let it be done diligently.

Even were something may seem impossible, God will make provision for those who have accepted Christ (Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"). 

Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

We must trust in the power of God and not our own strength. Even when the world dictates something contrary to what God wants, we must be assured that God will provide a way for it to be accomplished. Never be dismayed by the worlds oppression. 

We go on to read in Ezra 7:6 how Ezra, a scribe of the Law of Moses was raised up to lead the Israelites. Following the decree to allow the Israelites to construct the temple,  King Artaxerxes continues to bless the Israelites: 

Ezra 7:18-20 And whatever seems good to you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do it according to the will of your God. 19 Also the articles that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. 20 And whatever more may be needed for the house of your God, which you may have occasion to provide, pay for it from the king’s treasury.

At the time Haggai first brought the command of the Lord to the people of Israel, they may have been sceptical. However by trusting in God we can see how they were blessed and able to complete what God wanted. For God could see the bigger picture and was able to provide a way.

The decision of the Israelites to follow the word of God and turn their efforts towards building the temple was not an easy one, yet through their faith and trust in God they succeeded, for they knew the words in Haggai 1:13 ran true: "I am with you". 

Deuteronomy 31:8  "And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

-BAChristian