Looking Out for Number One

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

“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.”

Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! 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. “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” (Haggai 1:3-11)

People often fail to recognize what is actually in their best interest. Upon returning to Palestine after seventy years of captivity in Babylon, the Israelites came home to find their cities in ruins and their farms overgrown with weeds. They set about repairing them. But despite their best efforts to bring the land back to productivity and order, nothing seemed to be working quite right.

The prophet Haggai identified their problem: just as their ancestors had gotten them into this mess in the first place by ignoring God and not loving him, so they were following in their footsteps. They had focused on themselves and their needs, not really believing that God would take care of them. Once again, the prophet pointed to the treaty and said, “look, if you seek God and his righteousness, all these things will be added unto you.” By rebuilding the Temple, performing the sacrifices, genuinely loving God and loving others, the stuff they wanted and needed—all those the necessities of life, like food and drink, clothing and shelter—would come. If they ignored God and focused on the stuff, then their lives would continue to be unfulfilling.

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