Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
The heaven held back its dew and the earth held back its fruit, sending drought, scarcity, meager harvests and fruitless labor because the people left God's house waste and in ruins while eagerly pursuing their own houses and interests. The withholding reached everything that was theirs, touching field and garden crops, corn and vineyards, livestock and cattle, and all the work of their hands, removing the fruits that had been tokens of divine favor. Dew, rain and all the agencies of nature are under God's control and spring in obedience to His word, whether to bring blessing and mercy or to bring wasting, drought, famine and destruction in punishment of iniquity, and their prompt obedience rebukes the slothful disobedience of men. God's house must therefore be given first consideration and built without delay, kept free from the dishonor of debt and supplied with free and acceptable offerings, for when He is placed first He blesses, but when He is left last sowing much brings in little and earnings and possessions are scattered. Dearth in the treasury and in the field is the sure result of selfish, unsanctioned work that robs others and grasps means for favored interests, while when His stewards unitedly use His own substance to lift the burdens on His languishing institutions, He cooperates with them.
Neglect Brings Withheld Blessing
Therefore the heaven over the people was stayed from giving dew and the earth was stayed from giving her fruit, bringing drought and scarcity with meager harvests and failed labor, because they left the Lord's house waste and unfinished and in ruins while pursuing their own houses and interests. The withholding was God's own act in response to neglected claims, for when His house was left waste He held back dew from heaven and fruit from the earth as the consequence of failure to honor Him. Lack of rain and harvest followed putting their own concerns ahead of rebuilding the temple, and honoring Him by rebuilding would have invited His presence.
This was the condition of the Jews in the early part of the reign of Darius Hystaspes, when for over a year the temple lay neglected and well-nigh forsaken while the people dwelt in their own houses and labored for temporal prosperity in sowing and reaping and building. Though they worked they could not prosper, for nature itself worked against them with prevailing drought and meager harvests. It meant both temporal and spiritual ruin, for by long murmuring and doubting and by putting personal interests first while looking with apathy on the Lord's house in ruins, they had lost sight of God's purpose in restoring them to Judea.
The wasting drought was a judgment that reached all that was theirs, bringing the very hardship they had feared upon crops and other produce and upon their labor. It removed the fruits of field and garden that had been tokens of His favor, reaching vineyards and corn and gardens as well as the fruit of the ground. Livestock and cattle were affected, and the cattle suffered because of the people's sin. Their labor did not prosper because the Lord withheld dew and the land's produce after they had used His gifts selfishly.
Dew and rain and the varied agencies of nature are under God's control and spring in response to His word, obeying His call whether He directs them to bring blessings and mercies or to bring wasting and destruction. In that obedience He sends drought and famine and plague and pestilence and calamities by sea and by land to punish iniquity, and fire and water are under His command to scatter possessions in judgment upon those who dishonor Him by keeping for themselves what belongs to Him and neglecting His work. The prompt obedience of inanimate and material things stands in striking contrast to the tardy inattention and slothful disobedience of men for whom Christ died, and inanimate nature is shocked at man's disregard for God's word.
The lack of temporal prosperity came from failing to put God's interests first and to make the building of His house the first work, using His gifts selfishly for their own prosperity. Had they shown Him due respect and courtesy by putting His house first, they would have invited His presence and blessing. Haggai and Zechariah were raised up to reveal this cause to the people in a dark hour that still held hope for those whose trust was in God.
Honor God First Today
The chapter stands as a lesson that the Lord's house must not be left as the last consideration but must be given first consideration and built without delay. It calls for rising at once to build a house where God can be worshiped in humbleness of mind, where His people kneel down to worship Him and serve Him becomingly and in order, dedicated to Him for worship and standing as a witness to the truth claimed. When the place is located by the Lord's directions the work must be hastened and finished, and when the present place is too small and unfit for bowing before God a suitable, accessible place of worship must be secured. Failure to have done this work before shows want of faith of the right quality. Neglect came when the people left the Lord's house in ruins while attending to their own houses, and for that reason dew was held back from heaven and fruit from earth, bringing drought and failure to labor and lack of temporal prosperity. That lack of success was the result of not putting God's interests first and not making the building of His house the first work with due respect and courtesy, and had that honor been shown His presence and blessing would have been invited. The warning applies to churches now that neglect their buildings or leave them burdened, for such neglect dishonors God and keeps blessing away.
The withholding falls on churches that leave God's house waste and dishonored by debt while every man runs to his own house through selfish priorities and poor management. It is God blowing upon what is brought home and binding about resources, so that sowing much brings in little and earnings vanish. This is sent to rebuke selfish indulgence and torpor and failure to devise and plan with earnest, zealous effort to cancel the debt. When the Lord is placed first and every debt upon every house of worship is paid and the church is rededicated to God without debt upon it, He will bless.
The stayed heaven and stayed earth mean God held back dew and the land's produce, bringing drought and scarcity, because the people neglected the unfinished temple while attending to their own houses, so that harvests and labor yielded far less than expected. Failure to provide for the Lord's house brought hardship and called for the work to be restored. Withholding what belongs to God and keeping for self what is His, to the neglect and dishonor of His work, brings loss, affliction and scattered possessions, with fire and water under His command to execute that judgment. By contrast, freely giving acceptable offerings for His worship brings blessing in proportion to the value placed on sacred things.
Dearth of means in the treasury and withholding of fruit are the sure result of work God cannot sanction. That sanction is withdrawn when men rob their brethren of their rights, selfishly grasp available means for the advantage of one institution while claiming to act for God's cause, and confederate together to sustain methods contrary to His Word. Human preferences and prejudices, selfishness, unfaithfulness to principle, and crooked paths bring this divine withholding. The first chapter of Haggai is to be read and acted upon by all who realize the nearness of the Lord's coming. Acting faith means manifesting heart-and-soul interest when one of God's instrumentalities is languishing or in peril, and when human stewards unitedly take of the Lord's own substance to lift the burdens resting on His institutions, the Lord will cooperate with them.
The heaven held back its dew and the earth held back its fruit, sending drought, scarcity, meager harvests and fruitless labor because the people left God's house waste and in ruins while eagerly pursuing their own houses and interests. The withholding reached everything that was theirs, touching field and garden crops, corn and vineyards, livestock and cattle, and all the work of their hands, removing the fruits that had been tokens of divine favor. Dew, rain and all the agencies of nature are under God's control and spring in obedience to His word, whether to bring blessing and mercy or to bring wasting, drought, famine and destruction in punishment of iniquity, and their prompt obedience rebukes the slothful disobedience of men. God's house must therefore be given first consideration and built without delay, kept free from the dishonor of debt and supplied with free and acceptable offerings, for when He is placed first He blesses, but when He is left last sowing much brings in little and earnings and possessions are scattered. Dearth in the treasury and in the field is the sure result of selfish, unsanctioned work that robs others and grasps means for favored interests, while when His stewards unitedly use His own substance to lift the burdens on His languishing institutions, He cooperates with them.
Neglect Brings Withheld Blessing
Therefore the heaven over the people was stayed from giving dew and the earth was stayed from giving her fruit, bringing drought and scarcity with meager harvests and failed labor, because they left the Lord's house waste and unfinished and in ruins while pursuing their own houses and interests. The withholding was God's own act in response to neglected claims, for when His house was left waste He held back dew from heaven and fruit from the earth as the consequence of failure to honor Him. Lack of rain and harvest followed putting their own concerns ahead of rebuilding the temple, and honoring Him by rebuilding would have invited His presence.
This was the condition of the Jews in the early part of the reign of Darius Hystaspes, when for over a year the temple lay neglected and well-nigh forsaken while the people dwelt in their own houses and labored for temporal prosperity in sowing and reaping and building. Though they worked they could not prosper, for nature itself worked against them with prevailing drought and meager harvests. It meant both temporal and spiritual ruin, for by long murmuring and doubting and by putting personal interests first while looking with apathy on the Lord's house in ruins, they had lost sight of God's purpose in restoring them to Judea.
The wasting drought was a judgment that reached all that was theirs, bringing the very hardship they had feared upon crops and other produce and upon their labor. It removed the fruits of field and garden that had been tokens of His favor, reaching vineyards and corn and gardens as well as the fruit of the ground. Livestock and cattle were affected, and the cattle suffered because of the people's sin. Their labor did not prosper because the Lord withheld dew and the land's produce after they had used His gifts selfishly.
Dew and rain and the varied agencies of nature are under God's control and spring in response to His word, obeying His call whether He directs them to bring blessings and mercies or to bring wasting and destruction. In that obedience He sends drought and famine and plague and pestilence and calamities by sea and by land to punish iniquity, and fire and water are under His command to scatter possessions in judgment upon those who dishonor Him by keeping for themselves what belongs to Him and neglecting His work. The prompt obedience of inanimate and material things stands in striking contrast to the tardy inattention and slothful disobedience of men for whom Christ died, and inanimate nature is shocked at man's disregard for God's word.
The lack of temporal prosperity came from failing to put God's interests first and to make the building of His house the first work, using His gifts selfishly for their own prosperity. Had they shown Him due respect and courtesy by putting His house first, they would have invited His presence and blessing. Haggai and Zechariah were raised up to reveal this cause to the people in a dark hour that still held hope for those whose trust was in God.
Honor God First Today
The chapter stands as a lesson that the Lord's house must not be left as the last consideration but must be given first consideration and built without delay. It calls for rising at once to build a house where God can be worshiped in humbleness of mind, where His people kneel down to worship Him and serve Him becomingly and in order, dedicated to Him for worship and standing as a witness to the truth claimed. When the place is located by the Lord's directions the work must be hastened and finished, and when the present place is too small and unfit for bowing before God a suitable, accessible place of worship must be secured. Failure to have done this work before shows want of faith of the right quality. Neglect came when the people left the Lord's house in ruins while attending to their own houses, and for that reason dew was held back from heaven and fruit from earth, bringing drought and failure to labor and lack of temporal prosperity. That lack of success was the result of not putting God's interests first and not making the building of His house the first work with due respect and courtesy, and had that honor been shown His presence and blessing would have been invited. The warning applies to churches now that neglect their buildings or leave them burdened, for such neglect dishonors God and keeps blessing away.
The withholding falls on churches that leave God's house waste and dishonored by debt while every man runs to his own house through selfish priorities and poor management. It is God blowing upon what is brought home and binding about resources, so that sowing much brings in little and earnings vanish. This is sent to rebuke selfish indulgence and torpor and failure to devise and plan with earnest, zealous effort to cancel the debt. When the Lord is placed first and every debt upon every house of worship is paid and the church is rededicated to God without debt upon it, He will bless.
The stayed heaven and stayed earth mean God held back dew and the land's produce, bringing drought and scarcity, because the people neglected the unfinished temple while attending to their own houses, so that harvests and labor yielded far less than expected. Failure to provide for the Lord's house brought hardship and called for the work to be restored. Withholding what belongs to God and keeping for self what is His, to the neglect and dishonor of His work, brings loss, affliction and scattered possessions, with fire and water under His command to execute that judgment. By contrast, freely giving acceptable offerings for His worship brings blessing in proportion to the value placed on sacred things.
Dearth of means in the treasury and withholding of fruit are the sure result of work God cannot sanction. That sanction is withdrawn when men rob their brethren of their rights, selfishly grasp available means for the advantage of one institution while claiming to act for God's cause, and confederate together to sustain methods contrary to His Word. Human preferences and prejudices, selfishness, unfaithfulness to principle, and crooked paths bring this divine withholding. The first chapter of Haggai is to be read and acted upon by all who realize the nearness of the Lord's coming. Acting faith means manifesting heart-and-soul interest when one of God's instrumentalities is languishing or in peril, and when human stewards unitedly take of the Lord's own substance to lift the burdens resting on His institutions, the Lord will cooperate with them.