Join us as we delve into the Old Testament book of Haggai, exploring the powerful message of prioritizing the Lord over personal gains. Through decades of journaling, our host Allen J. Huth reflects on this prophet’s call to the Jewish people to rebuild the Lord’s house. Are you finding yourself busy but unfulfilled? Learn what Haggai reveals about putting God first and the transformative effect it can have on your life.
Welcome to ADDBIBLE, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today we begin the book of Haggai. Haggai was an Old Testament prophet, and most scholars agree, was the author of the book that bears his name. He was a prophet when Persian ruler Cyrus permitted the Jews in captivity in Babylon to return to Jerusalem. His book coincides with the books of Nehemiah and Ezra, the reoccupation of Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the wall and the temple in the sixth century. Haggai’s theme is the restoration of the Lord’s house. The phrase, Lord of hosts, occurs 14 times in the 38 verses of this short book. Haggai is the only book in the Bible with two chapters. It is the second shortest book in the Old Testament. Only Obadiah is shorter. The only time Haggai is quoted in the New Testament is Hebrews 12, verse 26, which says, At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised… Quoting Haggai, yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens. We’ll take the book of Haggai in two parts. The first part, chapter 1, which is 15 verses, and the second part, which is chapter 2, the other 23 verses. As we work through the book of Haggai, I’m going to use three of my personal Bible reading journals. These journals are dated 1991, 2001, which of course is 10 years later, and 2011, another 10 years. So 10 year gaps between these journals, 1991, 2001, and 2011. Since the mid-80s, I’ve read the book of Haggai 13 times. So I’ve selected one journal from the 90s, one from the 2000s, and one from the 2000 teens. And I was 36 years old in 1991. That will be one perspective. And then, of course, 10 years later, 46 years old in 2001. and 56 years old in 2011. So, decades of difference in my reading of the book of Haggai. So, let’s begin our journey through the book of Haggai, the two chapters, with chapter 1 today, the 15 verses, being read by Faith Comes by Hearing.
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Haggai, Haggai 1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
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Thus says the Lord of hosts, These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.
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Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,
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Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins? Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You have sown much and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.” Thus says the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. Go up to the hills, and bring wood, and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it, and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. 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 hosts, because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.
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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 Lord. Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message.
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I am with you, declares the Lord.
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And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
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Let’s start with my journal in 1991, 36 years old. When I read Haggai, I wrote, The word of the Lord says, Consider your ways. You have sown much, but harvested little. You eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied. You drink, but there is not enough to become drunk. You put on clothing, but no one is warm enough. And he who earns, earns wages to put into purses with holes. You look for much, but behold, it comes to little. When you bring it home, I blow it away. Why? Because of my house, which is desolate, while each of you runs to your own house. Ten years later, in 2001, I wrote, This is a great little book. It’s different than other minor prophets. It has a very direct message. You put your own priorities over God’s, so you are not fulfilled. Put God first, build his house in this case, and he will turn on the blessings again. And then I quoted that same verse I quoted in my journal in 1991, verse 6. You have sown much and bring in little. You eat, but you 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. Consider your ways. Ten years after that, in 2011, I wrote Priorities. We focus on our lives, our well-being, while neglecting God and His priorities. Consider your ways. We work but never have enough to satisfy ourselves because we are neglecting God. God tries to get our attention with economic woes, but we don’t get it. The change is when we decide to obey the voice of the Lord. Then God responds by being with us and stirring our spirits. Pretty powerful lessons in the first chapter of the book of Haggai. So very relevant today that we focus on ourselves, our own priorities, our own well-being, and yet we’re unfulfilled. Let’s go back to that verse 6 where it says, You have sown much and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them in a bag with holes. And verse 9 continues, You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? Do you feel this way? Do you feel like you’re living paycheck to paycheck? You can’t keep up. No matter what you do, you never have enough. Are you overwhelmed and under-fulfilled? Does your life reflect these verses in this opening chapter of Haggai? If so, consider your priorities. That’s exactly what Haggai is saying to the Jewish people that are moving back into Jerusalem. They have taken care of themselves. They got themselves a home. They got themselves a job. They got themselves food and clothing. And they have neglected rebuilding the temple of God. A guy tells him, why do you feel unfulfilled? Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. Oh, isn’t that true today? We are so busy with our own homes, our own lives, our own families, that very few of us even have time to spend a little bit of time in God’s Word each and every day. The number one reason that Christians say they don’t read the Bible is because they’re too busy. Busyness with life is exactly the theme of Haggai chapter 1. Look at what happens when we don’t put God first. Let’s look at verse 10 and 11. The Word says, In other words, it gets tough economically for us in our households because God has withheld His blessings from us when we don’t put Him first in our lives. But there’s hope. There’s hope for you. There was hope for the Jewish people when we put God first. Here’s what can happen. Verse 13. Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message. I am with you, declares the Lord. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shittil, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. Yes, the Lord will be with you. He will stir up your spirit when you put him first in your life. The result was the people got back to work on the temple. They set their own homes, their own priorities aside, and put the Lord’s priorities first. Maybe that is the exact application that you need from this chapter today. If you’re struggling financially, there may be a direct relationship with where your priorities are. Father, thank you for the wake-up call in chapter 1 of the book of Haggai. It’s pretty clear that you do not appreciate being neglected. Forgive us, Lord, for our own busyness with our own lives, sometimes too busy even for you. Lord, may your Holy Spirit convict us right now and to say we need to rethink our priorities. Stir our spirits to put you back on the throne of our own lives. Lord Jesus, help us. In your name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening to ADDBIBLE today. Artificial intelligence is man’s attempt to imitate God’s special gift to man. He created us. Only the human race is in his image, not birds, fish, plants, or animals. His image includes intelligence. I tackle the subject of artificial intelligence in a teaching called A.I., capital A, small i. It is an insightful message on the first discovery of AI out of the book of Joshua and the battle for the small town called AI after the walls of Jericho fell down. This was the second conquest in the promised land. I offer a better alternative than artificial intelligence. I know you’re going to like it and want to share it with others.
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