Introduction

Admittedly, we do not know a great deal about the prophet Haggai. And, sadly, many people allow this to cause them not to give the book much thought. However, there are some great lessons here if we study and find them. Let’s take a look at what we do know and see what we can learn, shall we?

I. Some general information about Haggai

a. He was the first prophet sent to Israel after their return to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity. (Ezra 5:1- “Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.”)

i. He was most likely born in Babylon during the captivity and returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel.

b. His main message centered on God’s command to Israel to rebuild the temple.

II. What can we learn from his message?

a. There were a couple of different parts of Haggai’s message. However, I want to focus on what I consider to be the main parts.

i. The people of Israel were making excuses as to why they weren’t rebuilding the temple. (Haggai 1:2- “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD' house should be built.”)

ii. Their problem was that they were self-centered. They were putting all their energy and resources into making sure they had nice, extravagant stuff. They weren’t giving God a second thought. (Haggai 1:3-4 – “³Then 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?”)

1. Consider that, for 70 years, they had prayed for and looked for God’s deliverance from captivity. Now that they were free, they had “put God back on the shelf”.

iii. They weren’t being blessed, however, because of their selfishness. (Haggai 1:5-11 – “⁵Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. ⁶Ye 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. ⁷Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. ⁸Go 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. ⁹Ye 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. ¹⁰Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. ¹¹And 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.”)

iv. The people of Israel responded to Haggai’s message by putting aside their selfishness and beginning to work on the house of God. God was pleased with this and blessed them for it. (Haggai 1:12-15 – “¹²Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, 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 did fear before the LORD. ¹³Then spake Haggai the LORD' messenger in the LORD' message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD. ¹⁴And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, ¹⁵In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.”) (Ezra 6:14- “And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it , according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.”)

b. Now, compare the situation that Haggai was addressing to the situation in the hearts and lives of Christians today. Very similar, isn’t it?

i. People make all kinds of excuses as to why they can’t or won’t obey God’s commands.

ii. The root cause of these excuses is that they’re not putting God first. Instead, they are putting themselves before God. They’ll pray for help when they face difficulties, but once the difficulty is over they “put God back on the shelf”.

iii. Do you ever wonder how much more God could bless you, your family, or your church?

iv. The people of Israel responded correctly by putting aside their selfishness and putting God back in first place in their lives. Think deeply for a minute, and then write down in the space below what is keeping you from putting aside your selfishness and putting God in first place in your life.

c. In closing, I want you to take a look at the key verse of this book- Haggai 2:4. (“Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:”) Some people think that what they are doing for God isn’t as good as what someone else is doing or has done. Sometimes they don’t think it’s as good as what they themselves have done for God in the past. This causes them to get discouraged, just as remembering the glory of the original temple caused some discouragement when people of Israel compared it to the one they were building. However, God reminds us that anything we do in obedience to Him will please Him and will be blessed of Him.

Conclusion

Haggai was a “minor prophet” with only 2 chapters in his book, but his message was timeless. Take it to heart the same way that the people of Israel did. This is how you can please God and experience His blessings.