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Haggai Chapter 1:1-9

The Background- Haggai prophesied to the Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon during sixth century B.C. 

The Message- Haggai’s purpose was to urge the reconstruction of the temple of the Lord, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians nearly 70 years earlier.

The Problem Then- Haggai has instructed the Jews to rebuild the Temple but they believed that the time had not yet come. “Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, ‘Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins?’” (Hag. 1:4)

You see, the people of God were so preoccupied with building their own houses that they failed to obey God’s command to build His house. They were so focused on their own needs, they couldn’t see past what they wanted for themselves. They were more “inwardly” focused and less “God-wardly”

The Cost- Disobedience always comes with a price. And although these were God’s chosen people, they were by no means an exception.  “Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvest little. You eat but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You cloth yourself, but no one is warm.  And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.” (Hag. 1:6)  The Lord then goes on to say “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 host. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.” (Hag. 1:9)

As we can see, God frustrated their plans as a result of their disobedience.  He took everything they had been working for away from them because they were neglecting the very One who had given it to them.

The Problem Now- Are we any different than these Jews to whom Haggai was prophesying?  I would venture to say we are not at all. We also neglect the Lord in order to take care of our own houses. How often do we stay up late to clean the kitchen or fold laundry and, all the while, we are neglecting the very One who gave us that food on those plates and the clothes in the dryer?  How often do we lay our heads on our pillows at night with the satisfaction of a clean house yet, on the inside, His temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17), is a mess.

The Consequences- Here we are constantly neglecting the Lord, yet we wonder why He frustrates our plans. We wonder why things aren’t going the way they should … like “putting our wages into a bag with holes”? (Hag. 1:6) And I know what some of you may be thinking…“Were under the New Covenant! That was the Old Testament!”  Well, I’m here to tell you that God is the same yesterday as He is today and He doesn’t change. He can frustrate our plans now just as he did in the 6th century B.C.

The Solution- We as wives and mothers need to stop neglecting the Lord in order to have this “Better Homes and Gardens” type house. Now does this mean that we can rightly stand before the Lord being lazy and neglecting our homes? No.  What this means is that our number one priority must be time spent with our Lord. Does this take sacrifice? Yes! What are you willing to sacrifice for Him... your sleep….your TV…? What are you willing to sacrifice so that you will not be guilty of idolizing your home the same way that the Jews during Haggai’s ministry?

A magazine cover should not be the ideal! Instead, our relationship with God should be central to our lives that we might have…. “Better Homes of Godliness”.