Verses 3 – 6 >> Sown much but brought in little
“Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying -”
Just as God used His prophets of old to foretell the first coming of Christ to earth, so God uses us through the medium of the scriptures to warn His people to be ready for the second coming of Christ. Because there have also been false prophets in former days who misled the people and set dates for the Lord’s return when only God the Father knows the date – and reveals it to none – so now God is instructing us from His book, the Bible, to see that the time is short and calling to us through Haggai to awaken from our lethargy. We will not be misled if we pay attention to the scriptures, listening with the ears of faith to what the Holy Spirit would tell us concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. God is not setting dates for us, but rather revealing to us the word of the Lord – and the word of the Lord to this generation is simple and short, “The time is come.” To anyone who claims that God has revealed a date to him or her, let us make it quite clear. The date of our Lord’s return is so secret that the Lord Jesus Himself does not know it. If God the Father has withheld it from Jesus Christ, His well-beloved and only begotten Son, will He reveal it to you? Haggai gives us as close an approximation as we need get to see that God is saying only, “The time is come.” If we knew the date would we watch in hope? And if we do not watch in hope we annul the scriptures that teach us to be found watching.
“Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?”
Up till now we have been neglecting rather badly the fact that God’s house is in a deplorable state. Which of us would willingly and knowingly neglect our own homes to the extent that we neglect God’s things? God’s house is the Church on earth and it is sad to see what a state it has fallen into in this our day. If decay and rot and vermin began to eat away our ceilinged houses in which we live today would we not take steps to repair them? Ask yourself, how much time, effort and money have I so far spent on my home compared to the house of God? Is this the Lord’s will for me? Has the time not come, therefore, to do something about the state of the Church on earth?
The Church lies today in ruins compared to its former magnificence and we are content to have it so. Gone are the pillars, the ornaments of God’s grace, the mystery, the atmosphere of godliness. Gone are the mighty bulwarks, the strong walls, the wealth of gold and silver and brass and wood. The roof leaks, the ceilings are fallen. Instead of godliness we have only efficiency and advertising, instead of faith we have games of chance, instead of our pillars we have a pliable plastic compromise, instead of ornaments we have nests of vermin, instead of beauty we have stocks and shares.
“Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; consider your ways.”
We each have only one life-time on this earth. The second coming of Christ is near. What should we do with the time that we have? There are many choices. We might succeed in the business world, or go to great centres of education and spend much time there. We might travel, we might set out to see a great deal of this planet or go on to another planet. We might immerse ourselves in sport or literature. We might drive bigger and better machines. There are thousands of ways of spending our time; from researching the past to predicting the future. It is no longer a question simply of working, eating and sleeping six days out of seven to keep body and soul together, but rather a multitude of choices of how to spend our time. Let us therefore consider our ways – now – and turn our attention to the neglected things of God in this golden age of leisure and entertainment. Some of course have a great deal less leisure and entertainment than others, but for each of us who dwell in ‘cieled houses’ the implication is clear – we have time, money, energy for own things whilst the things of God show neglect. If this describes our present position the word of the Lord of hosts to each one of us is, “Consider your ways,” and we might add that as regards the time, the word to us is clear, “Now therefore.” Not tomorrow – now!
“Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.”
Whether we consider this verse in the purely material picture it presents of those who despite all effort seem not to prosper, or whether we consider it from the spiritual point of view the revelation is clear enough. With all his technology and education man is not better off but worse off, and the problems of earth are not solved but multiplied. The individual never had more opportunity, but which of us has not felt that for all we eat, drink, and wear we seem to be empty and colder than ever? As inflation again and again overtakes our ability to earn we realize we are holding a bag of holes. But in the spiritual sense never has the gospel been more widely proclaimed, by publishing, printing Bibles, evangelistic crusades, mass communication and travel afar. “Ye have sown much” – with what results? Never have we seen so much “food” in the way of religious literature, religious tracts, religious pictures and great religious movements, but for all we “eat” our lives are strangely unsatisfied, even downright dissatisfied. We have also drunk of the water of life freely, and the Holy Spirit has been liberally “poured out” to us, but we are not filled with the Spirit in the manner of the early church.
