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Renewing a Neglected Work
Consider Your Ways “Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith Jehovah” (Haggai 1:7,8). Rick Evans A new Beginning in life comes when one decides to serve God. It is a journey that requires one to leave the old ways behind and put God’s work as the priority in one’s life. The opening chapter of Haggai provides an example New Beginning’s people are admonished to “Consider your ways.” A New Beginning for the people of God started with their departure from Babylon. An account of this is in 2 Chronicles 36:22,23 and Ezra 1:1-3. There, Cyrus, king of Persia, proclaimed that the Israelites could return to Jerusalem to build a house to Jehovah. Yet, as seen in Ezra chapter two, only a remnant responded and made the trip back to a land desolate for seventy years (2 Chronicles 36:21). The hardship of their travel may have been lessened by the thrill of knowing that each day brought them closer to the promised land. Other joyous thoughts may have focused on building the house for Jehovah and living again in the land. However, this New Beginning would be accompanied with old lessons. The Book of Haggai describes some of these lessons. One is found in the first chapter of Haggai. It involves setting priorities. Returning to build the house of Jehovah, the remnant had to learn that service to God came before anything else in their lives. This lesson went back to the Exodus where the children of Israel wanted the perceived comforts of Egypt before they served God in the wilderness (Exodus 16:2,3; Numbers 11:4,5). Their priorities were first to take care of self and then Jehovah. David shows that dwelling in the house of Jehovah was his first priority: “One thing have I desired of Jehovah, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to enquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). This is what the returning remnant had to learn. Jehovah’s House Not Completed “Then came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts; Consider your ways” (Haggai 1:3-5). Here, we see that the returned Israelites were living in cieled houses. The word “cieled” is from Strongs #5603 and means to cover as with beams or rafters, to floor, to cover with boards. In 1 Kings 6:9-11,15,16, the model of a cieled house is described using the house of Jehovah: “So he built the house, and finished it; and covered [#5603] the house with beams and boards of cedar” (1 Kings 6:9). One of the priorities the remnant had when they returned was providing cieled houses for themselves (Haggai 1:4). Building homes would be important for we know that most of Jerusalem had been burned (2 Kings 25:9; 2 Chronicles 36:19; Jeremiah 52:13). Housing would be needed. So why would God say, “Consider your ways”? In the Interlinear Bible Hebrew/English (Green) the phrase “Consider your ways” is translated as “Set your heart on your ways.” The word “consider” is a compound word composed of Strongs #7760, meaning to set or consider, and Strongs #3824, which refers to the inner man, mind, or heart. The word translated “ways” is Strongs #1870, that means way, journey, or manner. God is asking the returned remnant to reflect on their priorities. This statement takes them back to the very reason why they journeyed out of Babylon, which was to build the house of Jehovah. In the context of Haggai, it takes us back to verse two: “Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that Jehovah’s house should be built” (Haggai 1:2). This verse has presented a problem for translators. They disagree about whether the word “time” is repeated in the verse and there is confusion as to what it means. Many feel that this verse indicates that the work on the house of Jehovah had stopped. This is incorrect, as seen in the following Scriptures: “Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia” (Ezra 4:4,5). Note: it does not say that they stopped the building on the house of God, Jerusalem or its walls. “Then came the same Sheshbazzar [Zerubbabel], and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished” (Ezra 5:16). “Then ceased [Strongs #989, hindered] the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased [Strongs #1934, #989, became a hindrance] unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia” (Ezra 4:24). The work on the house of God had been continuous (Ezra 5:5,8; 6:8) since the building of its foundation (Ezra 3:10,12) during the time of Zerubbabel (Sheshbazzar) and Jeshua. Even though their hands were weakened and hindered, the work did not cease. Therefore, Haggai 1:2 cannot refer to stopping the work on the house of Jehovah. To clarify the reason for the phrase “Consider your ways,” definitions of key words in verses two and four will help. The word translated “waste,” Strongs #2720, is found in Haggai 1:4 and repeated in verse nine. This word has the meaning to dry up, lay waste or desolate. The word “waste” implies that the house of God was not in use. It was laying waste because of disuse. It was not inhabited. (This perspective is found in Jeremiah 33: 10,12 and Ezekiel 36:38.) At this time, in Haggai, the house of God was not cieled and finished. Next, the word translated “time” in Haggai 1:2 is Strongs #6256. It means a fit or proper time. In this verse, “time” is repeated twice to show emphasis. It compares what the people say in verse two to what God said in verse four where “time” is found again. Finally, the word translated “come” in Haggai 1:2 is Strongs #935 and means to enter in or to go in. God is telling this remnant to enter into the house of Jehovah and do the work required inside. This is reinforced in Haggai 1:14. “And Jehovah 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 [Strongs #935] and did work in the house of Jehovah of hosts, their God.” To understand verses two and four correctly, we know that the work on the house of God was continuous. In verse four, God shows that the remnant had cieled their houses — not just built them, but cieled them. The cieling of a house means it is finished on the interior. This is God’s point. The remnant went inside their houses and cieled them. But they had not gone inside the house of God to complete the same work. Just as they had finished their houses and inhabited them, God wanted his house to be finished and inhabited. God sent Haggai to tell them that it is time to go in and finish the work in the house of Jehovah. They must consider their ways. “Consider Your Ways” Understanding verses two and four explains why the phrase “Consider your ways” appears a second time in Haggai 1:7. Here, Haggai explains why the people should consider their ways. He tells the people what the problem is, how the problem is hurting them, and how they can resolve the situation. “Thus saith Jehovah of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith Jehovah. Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith Jehovah of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house” (Haggai 1:7-9). Again, wood is found in the context of the phrase “Consider your ways.” A grant was made by Cyrus, king of Persia, to ensure that cedar trees from Lebanon were provided for building the house of God: “They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia” (Ezra 3:7). The acquisition of wood was not the problem. What was done with the wood was the problem. In Haggai verse eight, the word translated “bring” is Strongs #935. This is the same word “come” used in verse two, meaning to enter in or go in. The word translated “mountain” (in verse 8) is Strongs #2202. In the Hebrew, it is singular and has the definite article “the.” This refers to a specific mountain; the mountain where the house of Jehovah is located. The people are to go up to the mountain and enter in with wood to build the house of God. The point here is not that they should be going to the mountains to cut down wood, but they should be bringing the wood they have already acquired. At this time, the wood is in their homes. God is not denying them homes to live in. The problem is how they are using the materials intended for building the house of God. He is helping them understand that their personal desires have become more important than the primary reason for their leaving Babylon, namely, to rebuild God’s house. The Lamsa Bible translation makes this idea very plain in verse nine: “Why should these things happen? says Jehovah. Because of my house that is waste, and you hasten every man to take care of his own house.” The word “waste” is the same word found in verse four, Strongs #2720. The house of God is in disuse and uninhabited.
In these verses of Haggai, God prompted reflective thinking in the people. This is evident in verses five and seven, where he tells them to consider their ways (what truly is motivating them), and look into their hearts. In verse eight, God gives them specific instructions to continue the building of his house. But, in verses nine through eleven, he shows what he has done because the people have not finished the work. God is teaching them that with the decision they made to leave Babylon and to build the house of Jehovah comes the responsibility of seeing that this job is completed. Verse six shows that their hardships have come from their failure to complete God’s work and this should prompt them to re-examine their ways and their motivations to see what the problem is. God is trying to get the people to look into their hearts to find the answer for their difficulties. They had not made God their priority. They were running to their homes, rather than the house of Jehovah and their efforts were not being rewarded. Correction Never Easy To teach the remnant the importance of their relationship with God, he sent the prophet Haggai to urge them to consider their ways. This is not an easy correction for anyone. Just as this remnant had to differentiate between needs and wants, so must we. Every day the world seeks to influence us just as it did the remnant that left Babylon. Just as the remnant needed to be reminded why they left Babylon, so do we. They were given a commission to do the work of God. So are we. Daily, we have to consider our ways, our priorities, making sure the Lord’s work is being accomplished in our lives, using what we are given. Jesus gave a wonderful example on how to set our priorities as we consider our ways in God’s work: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:24-34). The lesson for the remnant that left Babylon was first to do God’s work and have faith that he would provide all they needed to accomplish that work. They had to learn that God knew what their needs were and would provide for those needs. This principle is no different for any who want to serve God. The Apostle Paul said it best: Focus on the work you need to accomplish and leave the rest to God. “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you” (Philippians 3:13-15. |
