Consider Your WaysHaggai 1:1–15

Welcome 25:45

I know y’all have bets on when I am going to fall down these stairs trying to get up here.

Awesome. Well, welcome again to Superstition Foothills Baptist Church. That song is special to me, “Wonderful, Merciful Savior.” Those of you who have been around a while have heard me talk about Shelley Spears, Lewis’s first wife, who passed away. That was one of her favorite songs, and I believe that song was made for her voice. So hearing that song always brings back special memories. Choir, those of you walking back in, you did not know why that brings back a special memory for me, but it does. So thank you.

Having said that, welcome, welcome, welcome. My name is Pastor Tim. If you have not been here for a while or you are new here, I am what is called an expository preacher. That is just a big word. It means I preach through books of the Bible. I do not like to preach on topics, which is funny, because last Sunday I preached on a topic. But this Sunday I am back in my comfort zone.

A new series in Haggai 26:50

Just like Ruth, I have never preached a sermon in the book we are starting today. Today will be my first sermon in this book. I have read it over and over and over again, but it has never struck me like it is striking me right now. And so I am very excited to announce that today we are starting a new three-week series in the book of Haggai.

Now, if you do not know where Haggai is in the Bible, find the book of Matthew and go backwards, just like you did for Malachi. But go back page by page, because these are the smaller books called the Minor Prophets. That does not mean they are any less important. It just means they were more concise in how they wrote. They were not long-winded like I am. So you might want to go back page by page to find the book of Haggai. But if you have the Bible that is inspired by the Holy Spirit, it is on page 1333. I am just kidding. I am just kidding.

Resources for the series 28:14

Before we get into Haggai chapter 1, I am going to give you a brief history lesson. Now, this history lesson is not going to be as long as Ruth, and it is not going to be as long as Malachi. You wonder why? If you have not checked your email already, I would suggest, if we have your email, that you go home and check it. An email was sent to you last night with a link to the sermon series page for the book of Haggai. On that page you will find 13 downloadable resources to help you understand the book of Haggai.

Not only do we have downloadable resources for you, we have downloadable resources for families with children. And not only that, we have downloadable resources for children who learn not by hearing but by seeing pictures, like children with autism. All of that is in your email if you have signed up. If we do not have your email, go to our website. You will see something about Haggai. Click that and you will find the page.

Like I said, there are downloadable resources about all the different characters and about the history. There is a timeline that shows you when all of this happened compared to other events. I went to town on the book of Haggai, which is really funny: 13 downloadable resources for a book that has two chapters. Two chapters. So needless to say, there is a lot of really cool information about the book of Haggai, and even some comparisons, because Haggai and Ezra happen at the same time. So here is your plug for the Sunday. I am going to read you a short paragraph about the history, but if you are serious about wanting to grow in your faith and understand the book of Haggai, there are plenty of resources to share with your family, your grandchildren, your kids, all of that. Make sense?

The history in one paragraph 30:41

All right. The brief history in one paragraph. I am reading directly from my notes, so follow along.

Babylon destroyed Solomon’s temple in 586 BC and carried Judah into exile. In 539, Persia conquered Babylon, and in 538, Cyrus issued a decree letting the Jews go home and rebuild their temple. You can find that in Ezra 1:1–4 and 2 Chronicles 36:22–23. The first group came back under Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel. You will find in Ezra 1 and 2 that it totals 42,360 Jews plus 7,337 servants. When they got back, they rebuilt the altar in the seventh month and laid the temple’s foundation in the second year, which was 536 BC. The older men who remembered Solomon’s temple and how grand it was wept. The younger ones, who did not get to see Solomon’s temple, shouted for joy.

The neighbors all around them opposed them, discouraged them, and hired counselors against them, and eventually the work stopped “until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.” And that is exactly where Haggai picks up. Does that make sense? All right.

Reading the passage 32:49

We are reading the whole chapter today. Chapter 1, fifteen verses.

[Pastor Tim reads Haggai 1:1–15 from the New King James Version.]

All right. Lots of history. If you love history, congratulations, this is going to be a fun series. If you hate history, take a deep breath. We are going to have fun.

Verse 1: dated by a Persian king 36:29

Haggai chapter 1. Let’s go back to verse 1 and break it down.

[Reads Haggai 1:1.]

Usually when you open up the Scriptures and the books are dated very specifically like this, they are dated by an Israelite king: in the fifth year of King David, in the second year of Solomon’s reign, and so on. The Bible, especially the Old Testament, when it talks about dates and times, always tried to bring in Israel’s king to give the people context. But there was no Israelite king. They could not date things by Israelite kings anymore.

That is a small, sad reminder that they are now a province and not a kingdom. What started as a kingdom was conquered and taken away, and now it is invited to come back. Only part of it does, and they do not have the same freedoms they had before they were taken away. They are now a province, not a kingdom.

A New Moon at harvest time 38:21

“The first day of the sixth month.” Now, if you do not know, that is a New Moon day. It was considered a holy day when people all gathered together. You can find it in Numbers 10:10, Numbers 28:11, Isaiah 66:23, and Amos 8:5 if you do not believe me. It was common for them to gather on that day.

This was intentional. Haggai was smart. He picks a day when a crowd is already assembled, probably near the temple site where the altar stood. Remember, according to what we read, they were able to build the altar and the foundation, so they could go back to their Jewish customs and offer the sacrifices they needed to make. But the temple itself was not built.

The sixth month is harvest season for grapes, figs, and pomegranates. And here is Haggai, during harvest season, at a New Moon gathering, with the harvest coming in so they can go out and pick what they need. It is harvest season, and he preaches about poor harvests at the very moment the poor harvest is sitting in their baskets. We will get to this in verse 6, where he says you have sown much, you have done so much work, but you bring in very little. Haggai is talking about the harvest during the harvest season, letting them see exactly what God is trying to tell them.

“By Haggai the prophet” 40:39

It says the word of the Lord came “by Haggai the prophet.” That literally translates “by the hand of Haggai.” That is important. Haggai is the instrument. The word is the Lord’s. Haggai is the vessel God is using, but the words God is getting across to all of Israel were not Haggai’s words. They were the Lord’s.

It is like when I get up here and pray. Did we pray before I preached? We did. Okay, thank you. I got scared for a second. It is like when I get up here and pray, “God, take me away. I do not want to be seen. May Your Holy Spirit fill us and preach.” That is kind of what is happening here. It is written by Haggai, but the words were the Lord’s.

Zerubbabel and Joshua 41:37

It came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Do you want to know some really cool things about these two guys? There are some really cool things. Go check them out on the website.

The word of the Lord came to Haggai, and he was told to take it to Zerubbabel and to Joshua. These were the two leaders at the time. The word first goes to Haggai, and he takes it to the leaders. But verse 2 makes it clear that the word is not just for these two people. It is for all of Israel. By the way, Zerubbabel was the governor, in charge of the government of the province. Joshua was the high priest, in charge of the spiritual life of the people. That is your spoiler alert. Now go download some good resources.

So the word of the Lord first comes to leadership, and that is important to me because I can tie it in with other Scriptures. The Scriptures say you should not be too eager to preach and teach, because the judgment on preachers and teachers is stricter than on anyone else. And Matthew says that if you lead one of His little ones astray, it would be better to have a millstone tied around your neck and be thrown into the depths of the sea. Do you understand? I am terrified to preach, because one day I am going to face judgment for the words that I say.

Leaders carry responsibility. And God has placed us here for such a time as this, in such a place as this, to do what He is asking us to do. So, leaders, I would ask you to really take this word to heart today, because the leaders were the first ones to get the word. That carried responsibility, and God had expectations of Zerubbabel and Joshua.

Verse 2: “This people” 44:22

That was a lot for verse 1. Verse 2, let’s go quick.

[Reads Haggai 1:2.]

“This people.” I think that is interesting. He says “this people.” He does not say “My people.” Israel is His people, but He does not say “My people.” He says “this people.” It is the same way you distance yourself from your children as a parent. How many of you have said, “Your child did this”? It happens at our house all the time. “Your kid. Can you believe what your kid did?” That is what God is doing here. This people, not My people.

“The time has not come” 45:23

And what do they say? “The time has not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.” Notice that they do not say never. They do not say, “We are never going to build the temple. We are never going to get to it.” They just say, “Not yet. It is not time yet.” I wonder how many of us are doing that.

Here are some possible reasons they gave themselves. The first is economic. We know from later in the chapter that the crops were poor and money was tight, so maybe they were saying, “We will wait until we have more money so we can get the stone and the gold and everything we need to build.”

A second option could be political. Opposition had shut them down before. You can read about it in Ezra 4. And maybe the new king would not allow it.

The third option is theological. Some scholars suggest this. By the way, these are all just thoughts. Scripture does not tell us exactly, but these are logical possibilities. The third one is interesting to me. In Jeremiah 25:11–12 and 29:10, Jeremiah speaks of seventy years. If you count from the temple’s destruction in 586, seventy years would not be up until 516. So maybe they were saying, “The prophet Jeremiah told us it would be seventy years, and it has not been seventy years. So we will just focus on our own stuff, and at the seventy-year mark we will go ahead and do it.” Interesting fact, though: the temple was finished in 515, sixty-nine years later, almost seventy. We do not know what excuse they gave themselves, but they said, “Not yet.”

“The LORD of hosts” 47:33

And the Scripture says the LORD of hosts is speaking. “The LORD of hosts” is important. It means the Lord who commands the armies of heaven. Interestingly enough, the entire book of Haggai has 38 verses, and that name appears 14 times. That gives us some insight into what is happening. There is a reason God chooses that name and puts it on repeat over and over again.

They are not a kingdom. They do not have the ability to defend themselves the way they should. The enemy is constantly attacking. And so the LORD of hosts, the commander of heaven’s armies, is trying, in my opinion, to build their courage, so they understand: “Yes, this is what I am telling you to do. It does not matter what everything around you looks like. I am God. If I tell you to do something, live in faith and do it.”

Verses 3–4: “Is it time for you?” 48:56

Verses 3 and 4 together.

[Reads Haggai 1:3–4.]

“Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses?” Remember what their excuse was? “It is not time yet.” God pulls out the Uno reverse card. He flips it on them and uses their own words to give His answer. Is it time for you to have your house with these beautiful panels on it, while My house is crumbled? All I have is a table. You have four walls. You have a roof. You have a nice doorway. You have some beautiful designs. And I have a table. Is it time yet? He flips it on them. “You have time for your own house, but you do not have time for My house.”

It says they have paneled houses, covered and finished with wood. The same word describes Solomon’s temple in 1 Kings 6:9. It is also the same word that describes the palace halls in 1 Kings 7. And it is the same word used for King Jehoiakim’s luxury house, paneled with cedar, in Jeremiah 22. So when I hear the word “paneled,” that is what I think of: you have these great, glorious, beautiful houses, and I have a table.

Just so you know, scholars do debate whether it means luxurious or just houses that are finished. But either way, the point is the same. You have finished houses while My house is in rubble.

Now let’s pause here. God is not against them having homes. God is not against them having homes. The issue God has is priority, and the sixteen-year gap. They had time, they had money, and they had wood for their own projects and their own homes, but not for the Lord’s. And so He says, “It lies in ruins.”

Verses 5–6: “Consider your ways” 51:59

Verses 5 and 6.

[Reads Haggai 1:5–6.]

He tells them, “Consider your ways.” That literally means “set your heart on your ways,” or think about the road you have been taking and where it is taking you. Take a good, honest look at your life. What does it look like? Is it honoring God, or does it look like selfishness? Does it look like fear, or does it look like faith? Take an honest look at your life. Consider your ways. Look at everything you have done.

There are five pictures of futility here. You sow much but bring in little. You eat but do not have enough. You drink but are not filled. You clothe yourselves but no one is warm. You earn wages and put them into a bag with holes.

These echo the covenant warnings in Deuteronomy 28, where it says, “You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in,” and in Leviticus 26:20 and 26, where it says, “You shall eat and not be satisfied.” The people listening would have recognized the language Haggai uses in these five statements, because this is what Moses said would happen, and they knew what Moses said.

Verses 7–8: Wood from the hills 54:04

Verses 7 and 8.

[Reads Haggai 1:7–8.]

“Consider your ways.” There it is again. He says it again, but now with an action. Before, it was “consider your ways”: think deeply about your motives and what is going on. Now He is saying, “Consider your ways, and do what I am telling you to do.” This time it leads to a command.

And what does He tell them to go into the mountains to get? Wood. Not stone, like the temple is usually built with. He says, “Go get wood.” They did not need to go get stone. The stone was likely already there with them, in the rubble from the previous temple sitting on the old foundation. But the timber had to be brought in from the hills. By the way, according to Ezra chapter 3, cedar from Lebanon had already been arranged, but we do not know where it went. The Bible never tells us. So instead, they have to go into the hills and get it.

What is the point of that? I am going to get to the points later, but this one is super important and I do not want to forget it. Start with what is within reach. Start with what is within reach. Notice that God does not ask for Solomon’s gold. Read up on the first temple. It had beautiful gold and jewels and expensive wood. It was a sight to see. And now God is not asking for that. He is just asking for the wood in the hills right behind them. Go get something that is within reach.

“That I may take pleasure in it” 56:09

Why? “That I may take pleasure in it and be glorified.” Who is the “I”? Not you. I am pointing at you, but I am pointing at me, too. God is saying, “That I might be glorified,” not you.

Why do we do things? Why do we throw a fall festival? It is not so Tim can be glorified. It is not so Superstition Foothills Baptist Church can be glorified. My friends, I am sorry, but I am going to say it right here, right now. I am putting my foot down. If that is why you are in ministry, get out of ministry. Get out. We are in ministry for God and for His kingdom, that God might be glorified, not that we might be glorified.

I am sorry, but I am fired up today. I am tired of selfish people trying to lead ministries. We do not have room for it. Time is short. God may come back tomorrow. It is raining. I might die today on the 60. I do not have time to play games anymore. The games are done. We do ministry for God’s glory and God’s glory only. Amen. And that is what God was telling Israel: do it for My glory, not for yours.

Verse 9: “I blew it away” 57:56

Verse 9.

[Reads Haggai 1:9.]

He says, “You looked for much, and I blew it away.” God Himself is saying, “I am the source of your frustration.” You want to complain to somebody? You want to be mad at somebody? Guess what, buddy. My door is open. Let’s talk. You are mad you do not have all this food when you planted all this harvest? Let’s talk. You are mad that you made all this wine but do not have much to drink, and nothing fills you? Let’s talk. It is because of Me. And I have been waiting for you to come crawling back, so I can show you how far you have gone and what I require and want from you. I blew it away.

He says, “Every one of you runs to his own house.” Runs to his own house. I picture people hurrying, eager. Hurrying to their houses, eager to get there, only for their own stuff. For their own stuff. And every day they walk past the ruins lying on the foundation of the temple. They were not lazy. They were busy. And they were busy for the wrong house.

Verses 10–11: The drought 59:52

Verses 10 and 11.

[Reads Haggai 1:10–11.]

“I called for a drought.” God says, “My house is in ruins, so I called for the drought.” Their neglect of God’s house comes back on them. And He stops the grain, He stops the new wine, and He stops the oil. Those are three very specific things. I wonder why God would stop those three things. Well, if you go back to Deuteronomy, you will find out that this is the classic trio of covenant blessing. When God forms a covenant with His people, the blessing usually involves grain, new wine, and oil.

Every part of life is touched in verses 10 and 11: the land, the mountains, the crops, the men, the livestock, and all the labor of their hands. Everything is touched.

A caution 61:22

Now, a caution. Yeah, I still have time. A caution. Haggai can say this drought is because of sin because God told him so. He is only able to make that claim because God literally told him. He did not guess it. He did not use inference. He did not use logic. He did not look at it with a knowledge of history and his own wisdom. He is only able to say the drought was caused by the sin of the people because God told him.

We cannot look at someone’s hardship and say, “Oh, they must have sin in their life.” Someone is suffering from cancer, so there must be sin. Someone is going through a hard time right now, so it must be sin. That is not what we can do. First and foremost, you are not a prophet. I am not a prophet. We are not prophets. We cannot do that. Haggai could, because God told him.

Beyond that, we can read in the New Testament that when the disciples were walking with Jesus and saw the man who was born blind, they said, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” And what did Jesus say? Did He say his parents? Did He say him? No. Jesus said neither one had sinned and caused him to be blind. He was blind so that the works of God could be revealed in him. And then Jesus healed the man. We cannot look at people’s struggles and say, “They must be sinning.” Haggai could, because God directly told him. Another Scripture says God sends rain on the just and on the unjust alike. Okay, let’s move on.

Verse 12: Everyone responds 63:52

Verse 12.

[Reads Haggai 1:12.]

Everyone responds. Everyone responds. The governor responds, the high priest responds, and the people respond. Leadership first, but then everybody responds.

“The remnant.” This is the word the prophets used for the faithful survivors through whom God would continue His promises. “This people” becomes “the remnant.”

It says the people “feared the presence of the LORD.” That is reverent awe. They were not panicked. It was a reverent awe. It showed that they took God seriously. And it says they “obeyed the voice.” They heard Haggai’s voice as God’s voice.

Verse 13: “I am with you” 65:14

Verse 13. Three more verses.

[Reads Haggai 1:13.]

“Messenger” here is the same word used for “angel.” And if you remember from Malachi, it is also the root of Malachi’s name. He says, “I am with you, says the LORD.” God’s whole second message is four Hebrew words.

And it is the same promise God gave to people He sent on tough assignments. It is the same phrase He told Isaac in Genesis 26. It is the same phrase He told Jacob in Genesis 28. It is the same phrase He told Moses in Exodus 3. It is the same phrase He told Joshua in Joshua 1:5 and 9. It is the same phrase He told Gideon in Judges 6:12. It is the same phrase He told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:8. It is the same phrase Jesus told His own disciples in Matthew 28:20. And it is the same phrase used for the name of Jesus: Immanuel, God with us. If God is for us, who can be against us?

Israel would have known this phrase. They would have studied it over and over again. And they had been afraid of opposition. But notice how God answers. He does not say there will not be any opposition. He does not say there will not be any trouble. Instead He says, “I am with you.” Simple. “I am with you.” Opposition did come. It did come. But God’s promise was kept.

Verse 14: “The LORD stirred up the spirit” 67:58

Let’s move on. Verse 14.

[Reads Haggai 1:14.]

He stirred up the people. God started the return by stirring up hearts, and He restarts the work the same way. God stirs up their hearts to get them going. Three times it says He stirred them up: the governor, the priest, and the people. At every single level, God made sure He stirred up their hearts.

And what did they do when He stirred up their hearts? They came and they worked. What was last week’s sermon on? Faith. “Show me your faith, and I will show you my works.” Pastor, it almost sounds like that is what God is talking about in Haggai. Faith does not sit on its tail. That is not the word I want to use, but faith does not sit on its tail. It does not sit on its hands. It gets up and it moves. It has action. God stirred up the hearts of the people. When they said it was not time, God said it is time. He stirred up their hearts, and when He did, they got to work. They got to work.

Verse 15: 23 days 69:51

And verse 15 says, “On the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.” Now, I am not very good at math, but simple subtraction is pretty easy for me. That is 23 days from the time the sermon was preached in verse 1 to the start of the work, which began on September 21, 520 BC. Pretty cool that we can be confident about exact days. 23 days. I think that is impressive.

You might say, “Why the gap? Why the gap?” Well, it was harvest season. They were probably finishing their harvest. They had to organize workers. They had to clear the rubble all around, and they had to gather wood. They were not dragging their feet. They were working through their preparations.

Sixteen years of “not yet.” Sixteen years of “it is not quite time,” and then 23 days and the work starts. The thing they could not get to for sixteen years started in three weeks, once they decided that God came first.

Point 1: What ruins have you stopped noticing? 71:31

What is the point? If y’all cannot figure this one out, we have some problems.

Point number one: what ruins have you stopped noticing? After sixteen years, those people went back to their paneled houses and did not give those ruins a second look. “It is not time yet. It is not time yet. It is not time yet.” So I am asking you: after they looked at that for sixteen years, what is going on in your spiritual life that you have just gotten used to? They got used to seeing God’s house in rubble. Have you gotten used to selfishness? Have you gotten used to a lack of faith? Have you gotten used to doing things by your own will for your own glory? Have you gotten used to something else? Have you gotten used to telling God, “Not yet”? What have you stopped noticing?

God is moving. He is not done. These are not the days after Malachi and before Jesus was born, when there were hundreds of years of silence. God is not done. We have His Word. It speaks to us. And living inside of us is the Holy Spirit.

Now, I do not know if you know this, but the Holy Spirit is a pretty big deal. Jesus said, “I am going away to prepare a place for you. If it were not so, I would have told you.” He said, “I am not going to be here with you forever, but I have to go away, because the One who is coming after Me is incredible. And you will do even greater things than I have done.” That is what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, the very Person we claim lives inside of us. And yet we have let outside forces hold us back and say, “Not yet. Not yet.”

Point 2: Are you telling God “someday”? 73:59

Point number two goes with point number one. I am asking you, are you telling God “someday”? Are you telling God “someday”? Someday we will rebuild the temple. Someday we will rebuild the walls. Someday we will have a place to worship. Someday we will be able to do all of this.

What is your “someday”? Someday I am going to listen to God’s calling and stop being afraid of people’s opinions. Someday I am going to have the courage to ask my waitress whether I can pray for her. Someday I am going to share the gospel with my neighbor. Someday I am going to open my mouth, and my pastor will not be the only one who preaches. Someday I will get started on that new ministry. What is your “someday”? What is your “someday”?

God wants us to move where He is directing, and we cannot procrastinate when God tells us to move. There is no “someday.” It is today. It is today. Israel obeyed, and 23 days later they were working. Not the next season, not when it was convenient, but when God said, “It is time.”

Point 3: Wood from the hills, not gold 75:26

My last point today: they got wood from the hills, not expensive gold like they used to have. God wanted their action, not what they used to have.

I do not care what ten years ago looked like. I mean, I do. It is nice to know history. It is nice to know where we came from and the path the church has taken. But I am tired of living in the past. And I pray that you are tired of living in the past, too. I do not have time to live in the past.

Can I be really blunt with you? This might be too transparent, but I am on a roll today. I do not have time to waste anymore. I promised my children I would not talk about them as much, but I do not think they will be mad about this one. I have a 13-year-old daughter, and another daughter who is about to turn 12. That means I have five or six years left to live with them and speak life into my children. I do not have time to waste. If we want to live in the past, I do not have time to waste. If we want to worry about ourselves, I do not have time to waste. We do not have time to waste, people. We have to move forward.

And I wonder how many of us are waiting on the perfect circumstances to listen to God. My friends, yesterday was not the perfect circumstances, but yesterday was one of the best fall festivals we have ever had, because we stepped out in faith. And that is what I want from us. I am tired of living in fear. I am tired of worrying about other people’s opinions. I am tired of the weak, bogus, baloney faith I have been living. And if you are with me, then let’s move forward. It is time. Twenty-three days? Make it four days for me. Twenty-three days is too long for Superstition Foothills Baptist Church. I am telling you today, November 1, 2026, God is saying it is time to get out of His way and move. And I am asking you today: will you join me?

Closing prayer 77:53

Let’s pray. God, I love You. God, I thank You for Your Word. God, I pray for forgiveness where I have been selfish. God, I pray for forgiveness where I have fought my ministry. God, I pray for forgiveness where I have looked at other things, like forecasts, and allowed them to shake my faith in You.

God, I thank You for the stories we can read in the Scriptures, where the disciples are on a boat, screaming and crying and panicking, and they wake up Jesus, who stands up in the boat and, in faith, tells the storm to stop, and the storm stops. God, I thank You for the examples in our history and in the Scriptures that we can hold on to as promises from You. God, I pray that we stop waiting. God, I pray that we stop living in fear. And God, I pray that we go to the hills, that we get what is available to us, not necessarily the greatest things, but what You want from us, and that we will not wait anymore, but move forward in action. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Invitation 79:09

I am coming down. I am sorry that was a little bit longer of a sermon. We are going to have a time of invitation with hymn number 465. If you are able, please stand with us right now. If God is speaking to you today, do not let the song be another distraction. Do not let it be the thing that lets you walk past the rubble. I am turning off the camera, and I will be here to pray with you. If you want to move forward, if you want prayer, whatever God is speaking to you today, you can come down and talk to me. If you do not want to talk to me, it does not hurt my feelings. Just respond to God.