Haggai 1:9, commentary and pictures

The people expected a large harvest but gathered little, and what they carried home was scattered and frustrated because the Lord Himself breathed against it, since His house lay ruined and unfinished while each hurried to care for his own house. They served self at the cost of His cause, prizing their own ceiled dwellings above His building and losing their zeal for its restoration, and by leaving His work undone to escape poverty they brought upon themselves the very want they feared so that nothing prospered. The corn and wine and oil and fruits of field and garden had been given as a token of His favor, but because they were used selfishly He took the blessings away. He executed judgment by sending wasting drought upon the ground and its increase and even upon cattle for the sins of men, for dew and rain and all the agencies of nature are under His control to use in blessing or in judgment. Withholding tithes and offerings is robbing Him and brings loss instead of gain, for He blows upon what is kept back and lays His curse upon it, while making the building of His house the first work without delay invites His presence and blessing.

Neglect Brings Divine Loss

They looked for much and it came to little, and when they brought it home He blew upon it and frustrated and scattered their harvest and earnings, because His house lay waste and ruined and unfinished while every man ran to his own house. The shortage of temporal things was the consequence of putting their own interests before His claims and attending to their own homes while leaving His house neglected. Neglect of the temple brought the very want they had hoped to avoid, as the following verses explain the judgment through drought and failed crops.

They served self at the sacrifice of His cause, showing concern for their own ceiled houses and unconcern for the Lord's building and losing their former zeal for its restoration. By neglecting the temple in the desire to escape poverty they brought upon themselves the very poverty they feared, so that He Himself brought them to actual want by disappointing their harvest hopes and wasting what they carried home, and nothing prospered. He had given His remnant people the fruits of field and garden, the corn and the wine and the oil and the fruits of the land, as a token and sign of His favor, but because they used these bountiful gifts selfishly He removed the blessings.

He executed the judgment by sending a wasting drought upon all their substance, upon all the fruits of the ground and upon living creatures as well, so that cattle suffered because of the sins of men. Dew and rain and the varied agencies of nature are under His control and promptly obey His call and spring in response to His word to do His bidding, to be used either in blessings or in judgments, either in mercies and blessings or in wasting and destruction. This stands in contrast to the tardy inattention and slothful disobedience of men for whom Christ died, so that inanimate nature is shocked at disregard for His word. He likewise calls for famine and plague and pestilence and calamities by sea and by land to punish the inhabitants of the earth for iniquity, and here the loss of agricultural blessing came for leaving His house neglected while pursuing their own concerns.

Honoring Him with due respect and courtesy by making the building of His house the first work would have invited His presence and blessing. Putting His interests first would have secured temporal prosperity instead of lack, for failure to put His work first brought the very hardship they hoped to avoid.

Present Stewardship and Duty

The house of the Lord must not be left as the last consideration, but building a house for Him must be the first consideration without delay. Leaving His house waste while every man runs to his own house brings loss and rebuke, for expected abundance dwindles when gains are opposed because His house lies neglected while each attends to his own affairs. His people are called to honor Him at once by rising up and building, providing a place of worship that can be secured and that is large enough to assemble in rather than remaining in a place too small, as was applied to the need to build the meeting house in Cooranbong. There they can worship in humbleness of mind, kneel down, and serve becomingly and in order, so that the building stands as a witness to the truth believed, and delay in doing so shows lack of faith of the right quality.

God is dishonored when churches are left unbuilt and unmaintained and burdened with debt, which is wrong management from beginning to end. This happens when His people think much of themselves and their own selfish interests and pursue personal interests while they either neglect to arise and build or build with borrowed money and fail to give donations and sacrifice to free church buildings from debt. Neglecting the Lord's house and its debts while pursuing personal interests dishonors Him, and putting His house first calls for earnest effort to free it from debt. Looking for much and bringing home little means year after year passing with very little progress and very little sacrifice to lessen the debt, while interest swallows up the means that should pay off the principal, because God's house is left waste while every man runs to his own house.

Dearth of means in the treasury is the sure result of work He cannot sanction, when looking for much comes to little because His house lies waste while every man runs to his own house. That unsanctioned work is when men rob their brethren of their rights and selfishly grasp all available means for the advantage of their own institution while claiming to do it for His cause, when human preferences and prejudices sway men to sustain methods contrary to the Word, and when selfishness leads those who ought to be true to principle to make crooked paths for their feet. Neglect of His work for self-interest brings loss and lack, with poor harvests and diminished gains resulting from neglecting His house while each cares for his own home. Those who realize the nearness of the Lord's coming should act faith by taking of the Lord's own substance and unitedly using it with heart-and-soul interest to lift the burdens resting on His languishing institutions in peril and to relieve His institutions, and then the Lord will cooperate with human stewards.

Withholding tithes and offerings is robbing God and brings loss rather than lasting gain. God frustrates apparent success, scatters substance like chaff, withdraws His special blessing, blows upon what is brought home, lays His curse upon possessions, and scatters what is gathered when what He entrusted is withheld and used for self instead of supporting His work. This is seen when stewards entrusted with the greatest capital to advance His work forget their stewardship and use it extravagantly to embellish their own dwelling houses while leaving His house waste and thinking any place good enough for His worship, dishonoring the Redeemer. The deficiency must be speedily made up by repentance shown in works, with continual grateful offerings, and the proportion given to God sanctifies the balance used for personal benefit.

God blows upon and brings to nothing gains obtained while neglecting His work, including profits gained through dishonest and unjust dealings. Adversity in such cases continues until dishonest dealings are put right and the past is redeemed. He blows upon revenues when His house is left waste while men run to their own interests, which happens when selfish devising puts returns before giving His warning message to the people without delay and closes the way for His voice to reach hearts. He will also blow upon money turned from His cause to buildings and worldly enterprises, when means that should advance His work in the earth and support foreign missions and fields where truth was never lifted up are invested in adding building to building, because His cause calls for His money now. The same frustration meets personal ventures that seek quick gain by following inclination while neglecting practical duties and devotion, where adversity becomes a blessing because prosperity would cause harm.