Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways.
Parallel Translations
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Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways.
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Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
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Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Haggai 1:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Lamentations 3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh.
- 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know about your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
- Haggai 2:15-18 Now, please consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid on a stone in Yahweh’s temple. Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty, there were only twenty. I struck you with blight, mildew, and hail in all the work of your hands; yet you didn’t turn to me,’ says Yahweh. ‘Consider, please, from this day and backward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was laid, consider it.
- Haggai 1:7 This is what Yahweh of Armies says: “Consider your ways.
- Luke 15:17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger!
- Exodus 9:21 Whoever didn’t respect Yahweh’s word left his servants and his livestock in the field.
- Galatians 6:4 But let each man examine his own work, and then he will have reason to boast in himself, and not in someone else.
- Exodus 7:23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart.
- Psalms 48:13 Notice her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that you may tell it to the next generation.
- Ezekiel 18:28 Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die.
- Ezekiel 40:4 The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I will show you; for you have been brought here so that I may show them to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”
- Daniel 6:14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was very displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored until the going down of the sun to rescue him.
- Daniel 10:12 Then he said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel; for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I have come for your words’ sake.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here the Prophet deals with the refractory people according…
Here the Prophet deals with the refractory people according to what their character required; for as to those who are teachable and obedient, a word is enough for them; but they who are perversely addicted to their sins must be more sharply urged, as the Prophet does here; for he brings before the Jews the punishments by which they had been already visited. It is commonly said, that experience is the teacher of fools; and the Prophet has this in view in these words, apply your hearts to your ways; that is, “If the authority of God or a regard for him is of no importance among you, at least consider how God deals with you. How comes it that ye are famished, that both heaven and earth deny food to you? Besides, though ye consume much food, it yet does not satisfy you. In a word, how is it that all things fade away and vanish in your hands? How is this? Ye cannot otherwise account for it, but that God is displeased with you. If then ye will not of your own accord obey God’s word, let these judgements at least induce you to repent.” It was to apply the heart to their ways, when they acknowledged that they were thus famished, not by chance, but that the curse of God urged them, or was suspended over their heads. He therefore bids them to receive instruction from the events themselves, or from what they were experiencing; and by these words the Prophet more sharply teaches them; as though he had said, that they profited nothing by instruction and warning, and that it remained as the last thing, that they were to be drawn by force while the Lord was chastising them.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Hag 1:5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of…
Hag 1:5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
Ver. 5. Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts] Haggai was but a young man, saith Epiphanius: now, therefore, lest any one that heard him should despise his youth, and slight his doctrine, he shows his authority, he comes to them cum privilegio, he delivers not the conceptions of his own brain, but the word and mind of God. For as Chrysostom saith of St Paul, so may we say of all the rest of the penmen of the Holy Scripture, Cor Pauli est cor Christi, The mind of Paul is the mind of Christ, their heart is Christ’s own heart; and their words are to be received, reverenced, and ruminated, not as the words of mortal men, but (as they are indeed) the words of the ever living God, 1Th 2:13. Excellently spake he who called the Scripture cor et animam Dei, the heart and soul of God. It is, every whit of it, divinely inspired, or breathed by God, saith the apostle, and is profitable both for reproof and for instruction in righteousness, 2Ti 3:16. See an instance hereof in this text, together with the prophet’s rhetorical artifice in first chiding, and now directing them: to reprove, and not withal to instruct, is to snuff the lamp, but not pour in oil that may feed it.
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Consider your ways] Heb. set your hearts upon them, diligently recogitate and recognize your evil doings; and so shall ye soon find out the cause of your calamity. Judge yourselves, so shall ye not be judged of the Lord: accept the punishment of your iniquity, so iniquity shall not be your ruin; your ruth (repentance), but not your ruin, 1Co 11:30 Lev 26:41 Eze 18:32. Capite consilium ex rebus ipsis, vel experimentis, Learn at least by the things ye have suffered: let experience, the mistress of fools, reduce you to a right mind. Lay to heart your manifold miseries, those διδασκαλοι αμισθοι, as one calleth them, free school masters, cursed enough and crabbed, but such as whereby God openeth men’s ears to discipline, and eyes to observation of his works and their own ways, Job 36:8-10; according to that of Eze 40:4 "Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thy heart upon all that I shall show thee," &c.: the senses must be exercised that the heart may be affected with the word and works of God; according to that, "mine eye affecteth my heart," Lam 3:51; and Solomon got much of his wisdom by observation, as appeareth by his Ecclesiastes, which some have not unfitly called Solomon’s soliloquy. It is but little that can be learned in this life without due and deep consideration; which is nothing else but an act of the practical understanding, whereby it reflects and stays upon its own intentions; and, comparing them with the rule, it proceeds to lay a command upon the will and affections to put them in execution. Thus David considered his ways, and, finding all out of order he turned his feet to God’s testimonies, Psa 119:59. And, to still God’s enemies, Psa 4:4, he bids them commune with their own hearts and be still, or, make a pause, viz. till they have brought their consideration to some good upshot and conclusion. For when consideration hath soundly enlightened a man’s mind, informed his judgment according to that light (that candle held to his mind), and determined his will according to that judgment, it must needs bring forth sound resolutions purposes, and practices; as it did in the Ninevites, Ephraim, Jer 31:19, Josiah, 2Ch 34:27, the prodigal, Luk 15:17-19, the Church in Hosea, Hos 2:6-7. She considered she was crossed, and hedged in with afflictions, and resolved to return to her first husband. The contrary inconsiderateness is complained about as a public mischief, Jer 6:8; Jer 8:6; Jer 12:11. They have laid it waste, and being waste it mourneth unto me; the whole land lieth waste, because no man layeth it to heart, that is, considereth deeply of the cause of its desolation. Without this, though a man had all possible knowledge locked up in his brain and breast, it would be but as rain in the middle region, where it doth no good; as the horn in the unicorn’s head, where it helps no disease; or as a fire in a flintstone, insensible and unprofitable till beaten out by sound consideration; this makes knowledge to become experimental, as Psa 116:6 Rom 8:1-2; this is to "follow on to know the Lord," Hos 6:3, as without this men’s knowledge is but a flash, and may end in ignorance and profaneness; because never formed and seated in their hearts, never digested by due meditation and application to their own consciences.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Now therefore; or,
Now therefore; or,
And now, or, But now, Heb.; it is time for you to consider, to set your heart to that I propose.
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Thus saith the Lord of hosts; the great God speaks, hearken therefore.
Consider your ways; ponder well the course you have taken and the success of it, what you have designed, how you have succeeded, what care, and what disappointment, what labour, and how fruitless your labour hath been; consider how you have carried it toward God, and how God hath carried it toward you.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... The…
Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... The Lord God omniscient and omnipotent, that saw all their actions, and could punish for them; since they were so careful of their own houses, and adorning them, and so careless of his house; he would have them now sit down, and seriously think of these things, and of what he should further observe unto them:
Consider your ways; their sinful ways, and repent of them, and forsake them, particularly their ingratitude before observed; and their civil ways, their common ways of life; their labour, work, and business, they were continually employed in; and observe the event of them; what success they had, what these issued in; whether there were not some visible tokens of the divine displeasure on them, which rendered all their attempts to support and enrich themselves and families vain, and of no effect: and they would do well to consider to what all this was to be imputed; whether it was not chiefly owing to this, their neglect of the house of God; and this he would have considered, not in a slight cursory way; but with great earnestness, diligence, and application of mind: "put", or "set your hearts upon your ways" (p); so it may be literally rendered.
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(p) "ponite corda vestra", V. L.; "ponite cor vestrum", Burkius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. Consider your ways] Is it fit that…
Verse 5. Consider your ways] Is it fit that you should be building yourselves elegant houses, and neglect a place for the worship of that God who has restored you from captivity?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Hag 1:5-6. Therefore consider your ways — Reflect seriously…
Hag 1:5-6. Therefore consider your ways — Reflect seriously upon this affair, whether it is consistent with the reason of things, or whether you have even promoted your own happiness by it as you thought to do. Ye have sown much, and bring in little — Namely, into your barns. Ye eat, but ye have not enough — To satisfy your hunger; ye drink, but ye are not filled — Ye have not wine enough for your support. Ye clothe you, but there is none warm — Ye have not been able to get sufficient clothing to keep yourselves warm. And he that earneth wages, &c. — And whatever you gain by your labour, it is very quickly required for your necessary expenses, every thing being at a very dear rate. This has been the case with you, and this has arisen from your neglect of rebuilding God’s temple; for as you have neglected him, so hath he withdrawn his blessing from you; the consequence of which has been, that nothing has prospered with you.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And now, thus saith the Lord of hosts; “Consider,”…
And now, thus saith the Lord of hosts; “Consider,” (literally “set your heart upon) your ways,” what they had been doing, what they were doing, and what those doings had led to, and would lead to. This is ever present to the mind of the prophets, as speaking God’s words, that our acts are not only “ways” in which we go, each day of life being a continuance of the day before; but that they are ways which lead, somewhere in God’s Providence and His justice; to some end of the “way,” good or bad. So God says by Jeremiah Jer 21:8. “I set before you the way of life and the way of death;” and David Psa 16:11, “Thou wilt show me the path of life,” where it follows, “In Thy presence is the fullness of joy and at Thy Right Hand there are pleasures forevermore;” and Solomon Pro 6:23, “Reproofs of instruction are the way of life;” and, he is in Pro 10:17, “the way of life who keepeth instruction; and he who forsaketh rebuke, erreth;” and Pro 15:24, “The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath;” and of the adulterous woman, Pro 7:27. “Her house are the ways of hell, going down to the chambers of death” and Pro 5:5-6, “her feet go down unto death; her steps take hold on hell; lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life.” Again, Pro 14:12; Pro 16:25. “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, and the end thereof are the ways of death;” and contrariwise Pro 4:18, “The path of the righteous is a shining light, shining more and more until the mid-day” Pro 2:13. “The ways of darkness” are the ways which end in darkness; and when Isaiah says Isa 59:8, “The way of peace hast thou not known,” he adds, “whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.” They who choose not peace for their way, shall not find peace in and for their end.
On these your ways, Haggai says, “set your hearts,” not thinking of them lightly, nor giving a passing thought to them, but fixing your minds upon them; as God says to Satan Job 1:8, “Hast thou set thy heart on My servant Job?” and God is said to set His eye or His face upon man for good Jer 24:6; or for evil Jer 21:10, He speaks also, not of setting the mind, applying the understanding, giving the thoughts, but of “setting the heart,” as the seat of the affections. It is not a dry weighing of the temporal results of their ways, but a loving dwelling upon them, for repentance without love is but the gnawing of remorse.
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Set your heart on your ways; - i. e., your affections, thoughts, works, so as to be circumspect in all things; as the apostle Paul says 1Ti 5:21, “Do nothing without forethought,” i. e., without previous judgment of reason; and Solomon Pro 4:25, “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee;” and the son of Sirach, “Son, do nothing without counsel and when thou hast done it thou wilt not repent.” For since, according to a probable proposition, nothing in human acts is indifferent, i. e., involving neither good nor ill deserts, they who do not thus set their hearts upon their ways, do they not daily incur almost countless sins, in thought, word, desire, deed, yea and by omission of duties? Such are all fearless persons who heed not to fulfill what is written Pro 4:23, ‘Keep your heart with all watchfulness. ‘“
“He “sows much” to his own heart, but “brings in little,” who by reading and hearing knows much of the heavenly commands, but by negligence in deeds bears little fruit. “He eats and is not satisfied,” who, hearing the words of God, coveteth the gains or glory of the world. Well is he said not to be “satisfied,” who eateth one thing, hungereth after another. He drinks and is not inebriated, who inclineth his ear to the voice of preaching, but changeth not his mind. For through inebriation the mind of those who drink is changed. He then who is devoted to the knowledge of God’s word, yet still desireth to gain the things of the world, drinks and is not inebriated. For were he inebriated, no doubt he would have changed his mind and no longer seek earthly things, or love the vain and passing things which he had loved. For the Psalmist says of the elect Psa 36:8, “they shall be inebriated with the richness of Thy house,” because they shall be filled with such love of Almighty God, that, their mind being changed, they seem to be strangers to themselves, fulfilling what is written Mat 16:24, ‘If any will come after Me, let him deny himself. ‘“
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Ways. Sound the real motives of your neglect. (Haydock)…
Ways. Sound the real motives of your neglect. (Haydock) --- See if your misfortunes do not originate in this cause, and if God does not require you to build the temple, ver. 9. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Consider your ways--literally, "Set your heart" on your ways.…
Consider your ways--literally, "Set your heart" on your ways. The plural implies, Consider both what ye have done (actively, Lam 3:40) and what ye have suffered (passively) [JEROME]. Ponder earnestly whether ye have gained by seeking self at the sacrifice of God.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5, 6. If at present they are experiencing misfortune,…
5, 6. If at present they are experiencing misfortune, if the results of their labors are disappointing, if their crops do not prosper, all these calamities are a judgment from Jehovah for their indifference and neglectfulness (compare Hag_1:9). For the philosophy underlying this argument see on Amo_3:6, and at the close of comments on Amo_4:11.
Consider your ways — Literally, set your hearts on your ways. A favorite phrase with Haggai (compare Hag_1:7; Hag_2:15; Hag_2:18). Their ways are their conduct, but, as Hag_1:6 indicates, the consequences of the conduct are to be included in their considerations. Jerome explains your ways as equivalent to “what you have done and what you have suffered.” Their experiences have been startling enough to cause them to stop and think. A curse seemed to rest upon all their possessions and undertakings.
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Bring in — Harvest. Harvests had turned out badly; abundant sowing had produced sparingly (compare Isa_5:8-10). For how many years this continued we do not know. The same curse was seen everywhere. What they ate and drank did not satisfy their hunger and thirst, their clothes failed to warm them, and the wages of the day laborer were used up as rapidly as if they had been placed in a bag full of holes.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. Consider] Lit. set your heart upon, consider both…
5. Consider] Lit. set your heart upon, consider both their nature and (as what follows shews) their consequences; both what they are and to what they lead. The expression consider, set your heart, is used by Haggai no fewer than four times in this short book, Hag_1:5; Hag_1:7, Hag_2:15; Hag_2:18.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) Consider your ways.—A common expression in this prophet.…
(5) Consider your ways.—A common expression in this prophet. The results of their conduct are set forth in Hag_1:6 : they are left to infer from these what its nature has been.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Consider; literally, set your heart upon. (so ver. 7;…
Consider; literally, set your heart upon. (so ver. 7; Hag_2:15, Hag_2:18) Your ways. What ye have done, what ye have suffered, your present projects, and the consequences thereof.
Vers. 5, 7Considering one"s ways.
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I AN EXALTED PRIVILEGE. The faculties of introspection and reflection, which enable man to consider his ways, constitute a lofty endowment, which places him incontestably at the apex of creation.
1. It distinguishes him from the lower animals. These may Do possessed of capabilities which enable them to perform actions in some degree resembling the fruits of intelligence it may even be conceded are, in some instances at least, endowed with faculties of memory, imagination, and judgment; but they are wholly devoid of the powers of self-introspection and reflection here ascribed to man. Of the noblest of brute beasts it still remains to be proved that it ever said to itself, "I communed with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search"; (Psa_77:6) or "I thought on my ways". (Psa_119:59)
2. It sets him in the neighbourhood of God. The Hebrew psalmist conceived the ideal man as a being only a little short of Divinity; (Psa_8:5) and though the basis on which he rested this conception was man"s manifest dominion over the creatures, yet this arose, as he well knew, out of the fact that man, as distinguished from the lower creatures, had been made in the Divine image; (Gen_1:26) which again, in part at least, consisted in his capacity to consider his ways, or to look before and behind in whatever way he was treading. "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world"; (Act_15:18) "He declareth the end from the beginning"; (Isa_46:10) and though the Preacher affirms that "no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end", (Ecc_3:11) yet to each man has been granted the ability to consider the way in which he himself goeth, (Ecc_5:1) and in this high capacity of pondering the path of his feet he possesses an endowment that in him a finite Doing corresponds to the omniscience of the infinite God.
II AN URGENT DUTY. The consideration of one"s ways required by two things.
1. Divine commandment. In addition to the twice-repeated exhortation here addressed to the builders, the admonition frequently occurs in Scripture (Psa_4:4; Pro_4:26; 1Co_11:28; 2Co_13:5; Gal_6:4) to commune with one"s own heart, to search and try one"s ways, to examine carefully into one"s spiritual condition. And this to a good man is enough to constitute an imperative obligation. "Where the word of a king is much more where the word of the King of kings is is power.
2. Present safety. No one can travel long securely or comfortably along the path of life who does not ponder well at the outset from what point the course he is pursuing starts, who does not frequently pause to notice whither it is tending, and who does not always have an eye upon the where and the how it shall terminate. The man that lives purely by haphazard, that rushes on blindfold into whatever enterprise he takes in hand, whether in business or religion, is sure to come to grief, if not to fall into the ditch.
3. Future responsibility. There might be less need for attending to this duty if the issues of our ways and actions always exhausted themselves on earth and in time. But they do not. "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and give an account of the deeds done in the body, whether these be good or whether they be bad". (2Co_5:10) The ways of every man project themselves into the unseen beyond. Every man is making his future by the, ways he is travelling and the deeds he is doing in the present.
III A PROFITABLE EXERCISE. Apart altogether from the duty of it, the advantages to be derived from it should go far to recommend this practice.
1. Self-knowledge. No one will ever attain to a trustworthy or valuable acquaintance with his own heart who does not frequently undertake a review of "the issues of life" (Pro_4:2-8) that proceed from it. Yet next to the knowledge of God and Christ, which constitute the essence of "life eternal", (Joh_17:2) the knowledge of self is the highest attainment to which one can rise.
2. Moral discernment. The power of distinguishing between right and wrong, which belongs to all as an intuitive endowment, is nevertheless susceptible of improvement or deterioration, according as it is exercised or neglected. It may be clarified, intensified, quickened, strengthened; or it may be dulled, darkened, weakened, deadened. Through diligent personal culture the soul may become sensitive to nicest distinctions of right and wrong as an aneroid barometer to smallest variations in the atmosphere; or, through want of use, it may become hard as a fossilized organism or as a petrified log of wood.
3. Spiritual improvement. No one is likely to make progress in religion without an intimate acquaintance with his own ways. Without this one may even not suspect that his religion is defective. In proportion as one knows what in himself is dark and needs illumining, or feeble and requires strengthening, or low and demands upraising, or deficient and calls for supplementing, or wrong and wants correcting, will one advance in moral and spiritual attainment.
Learn:
1. The dignity of man.
2. The responsibility of life.
3. The duty of circumspection.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Now, therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider…
Hag_1:5
Now, therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways.
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Preparation for self-amendment
The design of this prophecy is to persuade the Jews off from that slothful security in the neglect of their duty which had already exposed them to the displeasure of God. They had outward difficulties of circumstance, but their chief hindrance was their own neglect and dulness, their want of respect for God and holy things. It was this state of insensibility that God sent His prophet to bring them out of. His words here primarily import no more than that it was time for that rebellious people to observe and consider diligently of all their labour and pains, and the works of their hands, and see what it all came to. This, however, is not the only design. They were to consider with a view to amending their lives, and getting free of those sins which were causing Gods displeasure. How much our case is like that of the Jews in Haggais time. The temple we are now to build up, is the Church and body of Christ; not with stones and wood from the mountains, but with living materials, Christ being the foundation and chief corner-stone. The building up this holy temple consists in advancing the credit and honour of religion among men, and in discountenancing, in the course of our lives, and the whole tendency of our discourse, all vice and profaneness, and everything that is inconsistent with religion; and this, it is too certain, we have not had the courage and the constancy to do. We of this nation, too generally, have not been advancing the public interest, and the Protestant cause, as we ought to have done. The prophets words are therefore applicable to us.
I. The person speaking. It is that Being who has furnished you with all the blessings you have enjoyed; who has been your continual safety and protection. He can never lay any commands on us but what are necessary for us, and highly tending to our own interest. He is infinitely wise, and so knows perfectly well what will conduce most to our interest and happiness. Other arguments there are, perhaps of more force than these. In the text He is called by that awful title, The Lord of hosts, importing that He has a right to us and all our actions, because He created us and all things.
II. The advice or command which is given. Consider your ways. A very plain and easy command. The original is, Set your heart upon your ways. Observe, attend to, watch over all your actions.
1. Show the mischiefs of inconsideration.
(1) We give ourselves up by it to the most stupid and insuperable ignorance imaginable.
(2) We lay ourselves open entirely to the power of our lusts.
(3) It subjects us to the tyranny and insults of our great spiritual enemy.
2. Some of the advantages and necessity of consideration. The blessed advantages of consideration can never be enumerated. It gives us strength and vigour in the performance of all our duties. It is the only means to furnish us with suitable arguments and victorious resolutions against every temptation and artifice of the devil. And as it suffers us to omit no duty, it effectually destroys and conquers every beloved lust and inclination.
3. Answer some objections by the devil raised in our minds against consideration.
(1) It is exceeding difficult and trouble some to be always upon the guard, and watching against ourselves. But the question for us concerns not the difficulty but the necessity and the duty.
(2) To be always filled with notions of the power, justice, and vengeance of God, must needs make us very melancholy. But enter into religion aright, and you will soon find that, instead of melancholy, your souls will be filled with the truest and most satisfactory joy and life and vigour. (John Gale, D. D.)
The great importance in life of frequent reflection and self-examination
The faculty of reviewing our past lives carries with it an evident obligation upon all men to exercise it constantly and uprightly. It is a principle that implies in its very nature an authority over the whole of our conduct; and we every one feel ourselves most intimately bound to obey its dictates. God our Maker saith to each one of us continually, by the inward voice of our own breasts, Consider your ways. In the midst of so many passions and appetites as compose our frame; so many disorders in it as we are born with; such powerful temptations as surround us on every side, we cannot hope that the carefullest attention to ourselves will keep us entirely free from faults. By a little neglect of culture, a soil so fruitful of ill weeds will soon be covered with them. The best inclinations of the best minds, if left to themselves, will run wild and degenerate. A duty thus plain and necessary, God will doubtless expect us to perform very faithfully. What the Almighty commands, we shall find it our interest to do, never to omit. The cowardice of not searching our wounds will inevitably make them fatal. Possibly we are not convinced that our behaviour is of such infinite and eternal importance. It is important to examine, whether it be or not. Perhaps we have inquired, and think there is reason to doubt of what we are commonly taught concerning these matters. But when did we begin to think so? And what do we doubt of? Not surely of all the articles of faith, and all the obligations of life. Have we considered well what the undoubted ones are, and how far they ought to influence our conduct? We find it but too easy, if we will, to judge very favourably of almost the worst actions we have ever done. But God sees everything in its true light and magnitude, and surely then it is our concern to see it so too. Have we then examined, as in His presence, our lives and hearts? By what standard have we tried their innocence or guilt? The practice of others can no more justify us than ours can them. Have we done our utmost to divest our examination of self-partiality, to enlighten it by the instruction of pious and judicious friends and books, and above all, to direct it by the unerring Word of God? Our business is so to examine ourselves now, as to live more Christianly than ever. And whence can we better begin than from what we owe to Him that made us? We owe Him worship, faith in what He teaches, obedience to what He commands. How fully soever we own the authority of religion, do we practise it? Do we live to any unworthy passion? If we are clear both of worldliness and vanity, still what can we answer with respect to pleasure? In regard to other indulgences, have we acted as becomes rational natures, designed to prepare ourselves, by the discipline of this life, for spiritual happiness in a better? Another very material head of examination is our resentments. Do we bear ill-will to no one? Again, what is the tendency of our common discourse and conversation? Is it favourable to religion, to probity, to decency, to goodwill among men, or the contrary? Our behaviour must be regulated, not only towards our fellow creatures in general, but with a closer view to the more general relations of life. Are we careful what sort of example we set others to copy after? Nor should we stop at considering what our faults have been; that alone would be a speculation of little use: we should proceed to think what must follow from them. Are we deeply sensible that, in all we have done amiss, we have provoked a most holy God; and have no claim to pardon, much less to happiness hereafter, but through the mercy procured by our blessed Redeemer? (T. Secker.)
The use and benefit of Divine meditation
Two things remarkable in the text. The repetition and enforcing of it again (Hag_1:7). The benefit that came by it; it brought them to repentance. Doctrine--Serious meditation of our sins by the Word is a special means to make men repent. Meditation is a settled exercise of the mind for a further inquiry of the truth. Four things in meditation--
1. An exercise of the mind.
2. A settled exercise. Not a sudden flash of mans conceit, but it dwells upon a truth.
3. It is to make a further inquiry. It would fain know more of those truths that are subject to it. Meditation pulls the latch of the truth, and looks into every closet, and every cupboard, and every angle of it.
4. It labours to affect the heart. Meditation musters up all weapons, and gathers all forces of arguments for to press our sins, and lay them heavy upon the heart. Meditation, having bundled up all items against the soul, and brought in all hills of account, fastens sin upon the soul, makes the soul feel it, so that it must needs be convinced without any evasion. It is with the Word as it is with a salve. II a man have ever so good a salve, it will not heal if it be constantly taken on and off. Only if it be let lie on will the salve heal the wound. What shall we think of them who are loth to practise this duty of meditation, but keen enough to meditate on their own worldly affairs? The poor man thinks he has no time for this tedious duty; the rich man thinks he needs it not; the wicked dare not do it; so no man will. The lets or hindrances of serious meditation are--
1. Vain company.
2. Multitude of worldly company. He that over-employs himself, his meditations of heaven are dreaming meditations; his thoughts dreaming thoughts, he can never seriously meditate on the good of his soul. A good meditating mind no man came to surfeited wire employments.
3. Ignorance. A man cannot meditate of a thing he knows not, nor thou of thy sins, if thou be not skilful in Gods catalogue of thy sins.
4. Averseness of the heart; which consists in three things--
(1) In the carelessness of the heart.
(2) In runnings of it. The heart is like a vagrant rogue, he would rather be hanged than tied to his parish.
(3) In the wearisomeness of the heart. This may serve for terror unto all those who, for all this that has been spoken, dare sit down without it. If thou wouldest meditate aright, separate yourself for other things. Observe the times of privacy: morning, evening, when the heart is touched at sermon or sacrament. Rub up thyself and thy memory. Rouse up thy heart. Use meditation for reprehension; for men usually make slight account of their sins. But you will say, How shall I come to feel my burden? Three things are here to be discovered.
1. The ground upon which our meditation must be raised.
(1) Meditate on the goodness, patience, and mercy of God, that hath been abused by any of your sins.
(2) Meditate on the justice of God; for He is just as well as merciful.
(3) Meditate on the wrath of God.
(4) Meditate on the constancy of God.
2. The manner how to follow meditation home to the heart.
(1) Weigh and ponder all these things in thy heart.
(2) Strip sin, and look upon it stark naked; for sin has a way of covering and disguising itself with pleasure, profit, ease.
(3) Dive into thy own soul and heart. There is a tough brawn over thy heart, that it feels not its sins.
(4) Anticipate and prevent thine own heart. Meditate what thy heart will one day wish, if it be not humbled; and tell thy soul as much.
3. How to put life and power into meditation.
(1) Let meditation haunt the heart, dog thee with the hellish looks of thy sins, and follow it with the dreadful vengeance of God.
(2) Let meditation trace thy heart, as it should haunt thee, so let it trace thee in the same steps. Because the heart is most cunning, and hardest to be tracked by its scent, when the heart hath taken up with abundance of good duties, and attained unto sundry graces. These good duties and common graces drown the scent of the hearts wickedness.
(3) Hale thy heart before God, and let meditation bring it before His throne. Make complaint to God; and thy complaint must be full of sorrow. It must be a full complaint of all thy sins, and of all thy lusts. It must be with the aggravation of all the circumstances of thy sins, which may show them to be odious. It must be a self-condemning complaint. Let meditation, when it hath haled thy heart before God, there cast thee down before Him. Motives--
1. It is a folly not to meditate.
2. Thou wouldst be loth to have the brand of a reprobate.
3. Thou wouldst be loth to rob God of His honour.
4. Or that all the worship thou givest to God should be abominable; but so it will be without meditation, before it, and after it. (W. Fenner, B. D.)
Consider your ways
Nearly twenty years had passed away since a remnant of Gods people had returned captivity. Dung the whole of that time nothing had done to restore the temple. Yet the people had thought of their own comfort they dwelt in ceiled houses. Haggai arose to point out their mistake. He cries, Consider your ways So they would discover--
1. The reason of their misfortunes--Which was that they had thought of themselves and had forgotten God. It is the explanation of all unhappiness. If you wish to be miserable--be selfish. Selfishness looks not at what it has, but at what it has not; casts covetous eyes on what others have. The selfish man thinks more of what he has than what he is, and disregards the needs of others. All these are so many doors to unhappiness. He that will save his life shall lose it.
2. The secret of blessedness. Render to God the things that are Gods. Build the temple, said Haggai. Put yourselves in harmony with God and His purposes. Philosophers have discovered that happiness is not found when it is sought directly. Seek it obliquely. Live for others. But the doctrine fails because men are sinful. To join them is to join them in their sin, and sin is the gate of all wretchedness. Happiness can only come by living for another, when that other is sinless. Live for God, and the secret of all blessedness is discovered. This is the true Imitation of Christ, whose meat and drink it was to do His Fathers will. (Herbert Windross.)
Lenten thoughts
Lent is the season which our forefathers have appointed for us to consider and amend our ways, and to return, year by year, heart and soul to that Lord and Heavenly Father from whom we are daily wandering. We need a particular time in which we may sit down deliberately and look our own souls steadily in the face, and cast up our accounts with God, and be thoroughly ashamed and terrified at those accounts, when we find, as we shall, that we cannot answer God one thing in a thousand. The hurry and hustle of business is daily putting repentance and self-examination out of our heads. Much for which a man ought to pray, he forgets to pray for. Many sins and failings of which he ought to repent slip past him out of sight in the hurry of life. Much good that might be done is put off and laid by, often till it is too late. It may be said that the bustle will go on just as much in Lent as ever. How can we give up more time to religion then than at other times? There is a sound and true answer to this. It is not too much more time which you are asked to give up, as it is more heart. The time will come when you will see yourselves in a true light; when your soul will not seem a mere hanger-on to your body, but you will find that you are your soul. Then there will be no forgetting that you have souls, and thrusting them into the background, to be fed at odd minutes, or left to starve,--no more talk of giving up time to the care of your souls; your souls will take the time for themselves then--and the eternity too; they will be all in all to you then, perhaps when it is too late! Then try, for this brief Lenten season: the plan which the Lord of heaven and earth advises, and seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. You need not be idle a moment more in Lent than at any other time. You can get ten minutes more in the morning, and tea at night. When there is a will there is a way. Then make up your minds that there shall be a will. Examine yourself and your doings. Ask yourself, Am I going forward or back? Can we not all find time this Lent to throw over these sins of ours,--to confess them with shame and sorrow,--and to try like men to shake them off? (C. Kingsley, M. A.)
Of consideration and meditation attended with resolution
I. The nature of this religious exercise. Meditation seems to be of a higher nature than consideration. This latter is an operation of the mind in order to conversion and reformation of life; but the former is the continued work of those that are already changed in their hearts and lives, and have attained to some improvements in religion and godliness. Meditation includes in it consideration, but it is something more, yea, much more. They agree in this, that they are both of them a serious reflecting and animadverting on those matters relating to religion that axe set before us, to the end that we may receive advantage by fixing our thoughts on them, and thereby become more pious and holy. Consider the proper objects of meditation. These are ourselves; God; His Word; His works; mens actions; those solemn entertainments of our thoughts, which are commonly called the four last things.
II. The worth and excellency, the vast usefulness and advantage of meditation.
1. It is the proper employment of rational minds.
2. This exercise well ordered, will banish idleness and vain diversions.
3. It mightily improves the faculties of the soul. Knowledge, reason, judgment, and a right apprehension of things, with composedness and consistency of mind, are the fruits of it.
4. It wonderfully promotes all the parts of devotion and religion.
(1) It fixes the mind, and thereby is useful to preserve in us a constant sense of God in our souls, and to keep up a steady disposition in our minds towards goodness and holiness.
(2) It begets heavenly-mindedness.
(3) It promotes prayer, which is the very key of devotion, and the chief office of our religion.
(4) It helps all the duties of religion and the exertment of all the graces of the Holy Spirit, by seasoning the heart with savoury and pious thoughts.
(5) It not only promotes religion, but also the comforts and solaces which attend it.
III. The mischief of inconsideration; or the neglect of this excellent duty of meditation. This is the fault of Christian men, and that by which they generally miscarry,--they will not reflect on their ways. The complaint is, My people doth not consider. Men seldom sin out of ignorance. Want of consideration is the great spring of all their disasters.
IV. Directions for the right managing of our meditations.
1. You are not to give yourselves up to immoderation in this exercise, but to use prudence and discretion.
2. When we meditate on Divine things we should keep ourselves within due bounds. Many are too inquisitive and curious in their contemplations. They would be wise above that which is written.
3. Some fit place for meditation should be chosen: some retreat from the noise and bustle of the world.
4. When thus alone, you must be very busy; for privacy and solitude are not commendable unless well employed.
5. Some appropriate time must be set apart. The close of the day is very suitable. The Lords day is arranged to provide opportunity. After reading or hearing Gods Word a time of meditation is useful. At the Lords Supper. In time of trouble or distress. And in times of great mercy and deliverance. The proper qualifications of this duty are the following. Prayer must always accompany meditation. It must be accompanied with the affections, or else it is a very dry and useless exercise. And resolution should follow meditation. Meditation must not only produce resolution, but also action. Devout thoughts minister to religious endeavours and enterprise. (John Edwards.)
On the duty of considering our ways
Lay them to heart. Ponder them, meditate upon them, maturely weigh them. It is the want of this reflection and consideration that now brings difficulties and distress upon us, and will soon bring severer judgments. To the warning voice of Haggai the people prudently listened. To us, however, the words would convey a meaning not precisely the same with that which the Jews would collect from them. To us the command would enjoin the scrutiny of our lives and conduct, but it would bid us compare them with the precepts of a new and more perfect law, the covenant of grace. But how few do consider their ways! How seldom is it possible, even by alarm, to bring to life those that are dead in trespasses and sins! Without considering your ways, without practical reflection, your state is one of imminent danger. To the young, more especially, this advice is most necessary. (A. B. Evans, D. D.)
Self-examination
At the encouraging voice of their Divine Protector, through the prophet, the spirit of the Jews revives, their zeal is inflamed, and their hands are joyfully given anew to do the work of the Lord. We may learn that the Almighty knows and observes all human actions, and will sooner or later in this life, and certainly in the next, punish the negligence of those who disobey His commands. The text contains instruction in righteousness. The power of reflection is one of those characteristics by which our nature is adorned. The other animals enjoy or suffer only for the present. The exalted spirit of man, made in the image of supreme intelligence, subjects to his view the future and the past. As this power distinguishes us from all other animals, it is most becoming in us to employ it. We should strive to be acquainted with our spiritual state, that we may know, when at a throne of grace, what we have to confess, what to ask to be forgiven, wherein to pray to be encouraged and strengthened. The negligent and careless worshipper cannot be acceptable unto God. This self-examination is a matter of some difficulty.
I. Illustrate the nature of the duty. For the regulation of our conduct we have the power of judging between right and wrong: the knowledge of God and His perfections: a revelation of the Divine will, and promised assistance of Gods Spirit: and the certainty of a future state of retribution. All these means for regulating our ways point out the same line of conduct. Christians should consider their ways in reference to each of these different means of direction, and they will enable them to ascertain their state with regard to knowledge, faith, love, repentance, and new obedience.
1. Consider your ways by the power of knowing right from wrong. Though we be called into the marvellous light of the Son of God, this original power of our minds is not extinguished, neither is its exercise superseded. In many cases it must be our sole guide, because Divine revelation does not descend to minute particulars. This power is often biassed and weakened by prejudice and passion.
2. Consider your ways in reference to God. Consider in what light your actions must appear to this all-seeing God: whether they have been such as He had a right to expect, and it became you to perform. Compare your conduct with the rectitude of the Divine nature, and with the obligations under which you lie.
3. Consider your ways in reference to the revealed will of God. As our judgments are often defective, it is expedient that we examine ourselves by that clearer rule which is given us in the Scriptures, in which are distinctly unfolded the duties which we owe to God, to society, to individuals, and to ourselves.
4. Consider your ways with reference to immortality, and a state of retribution. This life is of uncertain continuance.
II. Man shuns the performance of the duty of considering his ways. He is unwilling to weigh his actions, because he knows that, in so doing, most unpleasant feelings are prepared for him. But is this conduct rational or judicious! From considering our ways there arises perseverance in holiness. A man must examine himself that he may reform. There can be no apology for setting aside this work. It is difficult, indeed, but it is commanded by our God, on whom our fate depends. It is necessary for promoting that holiness on which our happiness must be founded. Shall we be deterred by this difficulty from taking those salutary measures which are essential to our everlasting peace? (L. Adamson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Hag_1:5. Consider] Lit. set your heart upon; i.e. consider…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hag_1:5. Consider] Lit. set your heart upon; i.e. consider your conduct and lay it to heart: a frequent formula with Haggai (cf. Hag_1:7; ch. Hag_2:15; Hag_2:18).
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Hag_1:6.] The meaning of these clauses is, not that the small harvest was not sufficient to feed and clothe the people, but that even in their use of the little that had been reaped, the blessing of God was wanting, as evident not only from the words themselves, but placed beyond doubt by Hag_1:9 [Keil]. Holes] A torn bag was proverbial for money spent without profit (cf. Isa_55:2; Jer_2:13; Zec_8:10). Necessities were dear, and a day’s wage to purchase them, as if put into a bag with holes.
Hag_1:8.] The summons repeated. They were not required to buy, but simply to give their labour, and bring timber from the mountainous country where trees grew. Cyrus granted cedars from Lebanon for the building of the temple (Ezr_3:7; Ezr_6:3-4). Pleasure] God displeased when it was in ruins. Glorified] Be propitious to suppliants, and so receive the honour due to me (1Ki_8:30).
Hag_1:9. Looked] Lit. Ye turned towards much, inspecting frequently the growing crops (Exo_16:10). Blow] I dissipated, blighted with my breath, the little gathered into barns. Because] Most emphatic. Run] Indicating the eagerness with which they pursued their own affairs and sought for self-indulgence.
Hag_1:10.] The curse further depicted, with an evident play upon the punishment with which transgressors are threatened in the law (Lev_26:19-20; Deu_11:17; Deu_28:23-24) [Keil].
Hag_1:11. I] The first cause: heaven and earth (Hag_1:10), the visible and second causes. Drought] Affecting man and beast, through vegetation. “The word is carefully chosen, to express the idea of the lex talionis. Because the Jews left the house of God chârçbh, they were punished with chôrebh” [Kiel]. All] Comprehending the cultivation of the soil and labour for the necessities of life.
HOMILETICS
HUMAN THOUGHTLESSNESS.—Hag_1:5
Having reproved their sinful negligence, the prophet urges them to a serious consideration of their ways. Why should the earth be deprived of produce and their labour of profit through their ingratitude and folly? From the results of their conduct they may discern the principles of moral government, and the proofs of their guilt.
I. Men should seriously consider their ways. Solemnly and prayerfully lay them to heart. Are they reasonable? Nature is governed by force, and brutes driven with the lash, but men should act under the influence of thought and reason, in gratitude to God,—and a feeling of responsibility. To be the slave of habit, or to be under the dominion of lust, is most unreasonable. Are they safe? If opposed to God’s word they are sinful and dangerous. “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man: but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Will they end well? Every action tends to good or evil. Thoughts, words, and deeds are the germs of future harvest. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
II. Men do not seriously consider their ways. Thoughtlessness is common in spiritual affairs,—some occasionally, and others never, consider. Indifference, prejudice, and habit operate upon the mind. The greatest difficulty is to make men think. Thoughtlessness in spiritual affairs is inconsistent. Men think intensely and act eagerly in business. When self-interests are at stake they are considerate enough; but in most important concerns careless and guilty. “My people doth not consider.”
III. God urges men to consider their ways. God’s servants call continually upon them to reflect upon their character, condition, and doom. God’s providence warns them of their danger. They have been chastised time after time, to rouse them to consideration and repentance. Sorrows and griefs, disappointments and embittered cups, have brought no change. Once more God calls. Consider now before it be too late to consider. Neglect, want of thought, will be attended with consequences as fearful as open rebellion. “Son, do nothing without counsel, and when thou hast done it thou wilt not repent” (Sir_32:19).
“Evil is wrought by want of thought
As well as want of heart” [Hoed].
DUE CONSIDERATION OF OUR WAYS SHOULD TEACH US THE WILL, AND URGE US TO THE WORK, OF GOD.—Hag_1:6-8
The admonition of Hag_1:5 is repeated (Hag_1:7), both as betokening greater urgency, and also for the purpose of reinforcing the argument of Hag_1:5-6, by showing to what course a conscientious review of their conduct should determine them. They should be impelled, as is next shown, to make immediate preparations for the complete restoration of the temple [Lange].
I. Consideration of our ways should teach us the will of God. Lack of consideration led to disobedience. When the Jews therefore did not hearken to the word of God, they lost his favour and providential care, which secure fruitful seasons and social enjoyment. They were under the visible curse of the law (Deuteronomy 28). God’s will was read—
1. In fields without produce. “Ye have sown much, and bring in little.” God disappoints our expectations from the creature that we may fix them on him.
2. In daily necessities without enjoyment. “Ye eat, but have not enough,” &c. If men would seek first the kingdom of God, they would secure the secondary things of life (Mat_6:33).
3. In labour without remuneration. Wages earned were spent without profit. They laid up treasures for themselves and lost them. Nothing will prosper if we neglect known duty. “The events of life are the hieroglyphics in which God records his feelings towards us,” says Moore. He speaks in the failure of the crops, and the loss of the merchandise. He diminishes the customers of the tradesman, and scatters the wealth of the rich, to correct in sin and restore to duty.
II. Consideration of our ways should urge us to the work of God. “Go up to the mountain,” &c. (Hag_1:8). They were to rouse themselves, collect materials, and begin to build. When we seriously consider our life and are convinced of our sins, we shall amend our ways, engage with diligence in needful and neglected duty. “Amendment of life is the best repentance; neither is there any wiser way to break off our sins than to practise the contrary duties” [Luther]. In neglecting God’s commands we dishonour him; but earnest obedience will secure his blessing. “I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Hag_1:5. Consider. The religion of the Bible is a reasonable service. We are not forced like a machine into insensible workings and results. We are here taught that while God is the author of all good, and our progress in goodness is from him, yet he does not carry us along in the way everlasting, but enables us to walk. He works in us, but it is that he may will and do. We are not only impressed, but employed. Thus all true religion arises from consideration [Jay].
Hag_1:6. Withholding from God’s cause tends to poverty. Willingly devote a portion of your possessions to his glory, there will be sweetness in the remainder which the worldling can never enjoy (Pro_13:25). He will “bless us in basket and in store.” “As long as the sin lasted, so long the punishment The visitation itself was twofold; impoverished harvests, so as to supply less sustenance; and various indisposition of the frame, so that what would, by God’s appointment in nature, satisfy, gladden, warm, failed of its effect” [Pusey].
The bag with holes, contrasted with “bags that wax not old” (Luk_12:33). We provide for a large store in future, by a wise and generous use of what we have in the present. “Lord, thou knowest where I have laid up my treasure,” cried Paulinus, when he heard that the Goths had sacked Nola and taken all he had.
Hag_1:8.
1. The work to do. Go up, bring wood, and build the house. A division of labour useful and successful. God a spiritual temple to build. All may help.
2. The motive to perform it. “I will take pleasure in it.” God would accept them and their labours.
3. The result. “I will be glorified, saith the Lord.”
(1) God is glorified in man’s service to him.
(2) In the manifestations of his grace to man. “God will not come to bless us as an uninvited guest. His favour will be displayed towards us only when we have prepared him a temple in our hearts” [Lange].
HOMILETICS
Hag_1:8
Important events in the spiritual world have been symbolized by things in the natural. In this event—
I. Observe an important operation directed. The nature of the operation is, “the building of a house,” i.e. the house or temple of God upon Mount Zion. The spiritual import of it, with which we have to do, is the formation and gradual perfecting, through successive ages, of the Church of God, which is compared to a temple. Observe its attendant difficulties. Numerous adversaries around them. Obstacles from the Jews themselves, scanty in number, and feeble in resource. Some depressed and fearful, others indifferent and apathetic. These facts set forth the circumstances attendant on the erection of the temple of Divine grace under the gospel of Christ. That work progresses, amid difficulties and opposition, in numerous forms; heathen imposture, infidel impiety, antichristian superstition, worldly contempt, neglect and indolence of the Church.
II. Observe the agency with which this operation is conducted.
1. An instrumental and secondary agency. The devoted labours of converted men, under the impulse of renovated nature, influencing others; their success being as the bringing of materials by which the temple is built.
2. Distinct mention is made of Divine agency. This agency is connected with the instrumentality of men; directs them in their counsels, gives efficiency and success to their movements.
III. Observe the result, in which this operation, so conducted, shall terminate.
1. The operation shall be triumphantly completed. The second temple was finished in a brief space of time.
2. Being triumphantly completed, it will eminently redound to the glory of God. “I will be glorified in it, saith the Lord.” This completion will be hailed with rapture by holy created beings. When the second temple was finished, they brought out the headstone “with shoutings, crying, grace,” &c. Ezra says that they kept the dedication with songs, and that they were delighted in the achievement of their work. We may anticipate the same delight in the victories of truth and the subjugation of the universe to Christ. Redeemed men will rejoice, and angels in heaven will partake in their pleasure. Application from the whole.
1. What encouragement here for those already labouring for God.
2. What rebuke here to those who profess the religion of Jesus, yet are indolent and inactive.
3. What warning here to those avowedly hostile to God and his truth [Preacher’s Treasury].
DUTY VINDICATED BY DIVINE GOVERNMENT.—Hag_1:5-11
I. The Divine government recognizes the selfish motives which actuate men. First, the necessity of moral reform in the world. Secondly, the necessity of attending more to the spiritual than the formal in the Church. Thirdly, the possibility of solemn disclosure at the last day.
II. The Divine government avenges selfish motives which actuate men. “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little.”
1. God neutralizes the fruits of their labour. “I will blow upon it.”
2. God renders inefficient the materials of their labour. Learn—
(1) That God directs the universe. “I called.”
(2) That God directs the universe to mind. “Why?”
(3) That God directs the universe to meet the state of every heart. “Because” (Hag_1:9). “Therefore” (Hag_1:10). [Adapted from The Homilist.]
THE DOUBLE CURSE.—Hag_1:9-11
To stir them up, the evidences of God’s anger are again put before them. All sought their own things, and neglected the things of God. He therefore disappointed their hopes of harvest, and withheld his blessing from that which they gathered into the barn. “God punishes men in both ways, both by withdrawing his blessing, so that the earth is parched, and the heaven gives no rain; and also, even when there is a good supply of the fruits of the earth, by preventing their satisfying, so that there is no real enjoyment of them” [Calvin].
I. Little was reaped when much was expected. “Ye looked for much,” &c. Their toil had been great. They sowed much (Hag_1:6), and kept much ground under tillage. They expected much, enough and plenty to spare. But the greater their hopes, the more bitter their disappointment.
II. Little was reaped, and that little withered away. “When ye brought it home,” &c. Stroke follows stroke, and men are punished in their homes and possessions. Portions, little or great, are easily scattered by the blast of the Almighty.
III. The cause of this double curse.
1. The cause should be sought. “The curse causeless does not come.” Afflictions do not spring from the ground, nor trouble rise from the dust. God appeals to the awakened conscience. “Why?”
2. The cause may be found. “Because of mine house that is waste,” &c. (a) In duty neglected. Absorbed in material interests, they had no time for God’s work. Men seek their own, more than the things of Jesus Christ (Php_2:21). (b) In Divine retribution for duty neglected. “Therefore the heaven over you is stayed,” &c. God rules the world in the interests of humanity. Heaven and earth are at his command, to bless or curse. Spiritual indifference results in temporal distress, and ruin falls upon an unfaithful people. “If ye will not bear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hag_1:9. Mine house waste, ye run every man, &c. Apathy in spiritual matters, zeal in selfish (Pro_1:16 : cf. Psa_119:132). Concern for the spiritual wants of men.
1. The situation of mankind, in a moral and religious view, is such as ought to awaken the unaffected concern of good men.
2. Men who properly care for the spiritual state of their fellow-beings are rarely to be found. This was the case in the time of Haggai; Paul (Php_2:21); and is so now.
3. Some of the principal causes of this unconcern.
1. An inordinate and criminal self-love.
2. The prevalence of unbelief.
3. Despondency [Dr. Payson].
Hag_1:10. He “calls for famine, &c., as instruments of his wrath (2Ki_8:1; Psa_105:16). The contrast is striking between the prompt obedience of these material agencies and the slothful disobedience of living man, his people [Fausset].
House wasted, and drought. Heb. chârçb and chôrebh. Wasted temple and wasted substance. Divine retribution in human conduct, the correspondence between the sin and its punishment. “The very evils which men think to escape by neglecting God’s ordinances, they actually bring on themselves by such unbelieving conduct” [Fausset].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Hag_1:6. Holes. Money is seen in the pierced bag when it is cast in, but when it is lost it is not seen. They then who look how much they give, but do not weigh how much they gain wrongly, cast their rewards into a pierced bag [St. Gregory].
Hag_1:5; Hag_1:7. Consider.
“Come, then, sad thought, and let us meditate,
While meditate we may. We have now
But a small portion of what men call time,
To hold communion” [H. K. White].
Hag_1:9-11. Looked. We are too apt to misjudge the dispensations of Providence when we wish them with our own wishes [Skelton]. The good things of Providence may be considered as having this inscription, “Accipe, redde, cave,” that is, “accept us as from God, return us in gratitude to him, and take care not to abuse us” [Wilson].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:5 Look at what’s happening to you (literally Set…
1:5 Look at what’s happening to you (literally Set your heart on these matters): For the Hebrews, the heart is the place where thinking, feeling, and willing all occur. So this command (also 1:7; 2:15, 18) calls upon the people to think carefully and draw the proper conclusions about the connection between what’s happening to them (drought and poverty, 1:6) and their failure to restore proper worship of the Lord (1:8-9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.