Priority To God's Work

PRIORITY TO GOD'S WORK

Primary Text: Haggai 2:10-14; Haggai Chapters 1 and 2

INTRODUCTION: When God's House Lies in Ruins

Picture this: You return home after 70 years away. Everything lies in ruins. This was reality for 45,000 Jews who returned from Babylonian captivity in 536 B.C. Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest led them (Ezra 2:64-65).

God intervened through Haggai in 520 B.C. This was 16 years after their return from Babylon. Initial enthusiasm had become spiritual apathy. When they first arrived in Jerusalem, the returning exiles laid the temple foundation with tears of joy and celebration (Ezra 3:11-13). Opposition arose quickly. The Samaritans offered to help build. When refused, they became hostile enemies. They hired counselors to frustrate the work and wrote accusations to Persian authorities (Ezra 4:1-5).

For 16 years, the temple foundation stood bare. It was a monument to unfinished business with God. The people built their own "paneled houses" (Haggai 1:4) while God's house remained rubble. They rationalized their delay: "The time has not come, the time that the LORD's house should be built" (Haggai 1:2).

God raised up Haggai in this spiritual vacuum. His name means "festive" or "my feast." He delivered five precise messages over four months. Today, we examine how God calls His people back to their first priority: the work of His kingdom.

I. A CALL TO RENEW THE WORK OF GOD (Haggai 1:1-11)

A. The Danger of Spiritual Procrastination (Haggai 1:2)

The people weren't denying the importance of God's work. They were postponing it. "The time has not yet come," they said. This is Satan's most subtle deception: not to oppose God's work outright, but to delay it indefinitely.

Alexander the Great conquered the known world by age 33. When historians asked his secret, he answered in three words: "Do it now." How much more urgent is the work of the eternal Kingdom!

Consider these Biblical warnings against delay:

• "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts" (Hebrews 3:15)

• "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2)

• "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring forth" (Proverbs 27:1)

B. The Exposure of Misplaced Priorities (Haggai 1:3-4)

God asks a penetrating question: "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?" The word "paneled" suggests luxury. Cedar-lined walls like those in Solomon's palace (1 Kings 7:3). While they lived in decorated homes, God's house lay desolate.

This mirrors Jesus' teaching: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).

C. The Command to Consider (Haggai 1:5-7)

Five times in this short book, God commands: "Consider your ways!" The Hebrew means "set your heart upon your roads." This involves:

• Self-examination of your current spiritual state

• Recognition of where your paths are leading

• Repentance from wrong directions

• Realignment with God's purposes

D. The Divine Prescription (Haggai 1:8)

God's solution is simple and direct:

1. "Go up to the mountains" - Requires effort and determination

2. "Bring wood" - Gather the necessary resources

3. "Build the temple" - Complete the assigned task

4. "That I take pleasure in it and be glorified" - Fulfill God's purpose

II. THE CONSEQUENCES WHEN GOD'S PEOPLE FORGET THEIR PRIORITIES (Haggai 1:5-11)

A. Economic Frustration Despite Hard Work (Haggai 1:6)

Notice the sixfold futility when God's priorities are neglected:

1. "You have sown much, and bring in little" - Agricultural failure

2. "You eat, but do not have enough" - Persistent hunger

3. "You drink, but you are not filled" - Unquenched thirst

4. "You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm" - Inadequate provision

5. "He who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes" - Financial instability

A businessman once told his pastor: "I'm working 70 hours a week, but I'm further behind than ever. My marriage is suffering, my children are strangers, and I feel empty inside." The pastor replied: "You're trying to fill a bucket without a bottom. Until you put God first, you'll never have enough."

B. Divine Discipline Through Drought (Haggai 1:9-11)

God declares: "I called for a drought on the land." This wasn't random misfortune but purposeful discipline:

• Drought on the grain (basic necessities)

• Drought on the new wine (joy and celebration)

• Drought on the oil (anointing and blessing)

• Drought on what the ground brings forth (fruitfulness)

• Drought on men and livestock (strength and productivity)

• Drought on all the labor of your hands (success in work)

Amos 3:6 states: "If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?"