Haggai 1:5

Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways".

From Background Notes [BN] for September 15^th & 16^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

God is saying through these words, not, “Start paying attention,” but rather, “Don’t you see how things are turning out because you pay more attention to your own things rather than to God’s?”

Then God gives a bill of particulars showing the impact of their privatized economies on the province of Judah as a whole (1:6):

• Planted much, harvested little.

• You eat, but never have enough.
• You drink, but never have your fill.
• You put on clothes, but are not warm.
• You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.

We might say about the profile here, “It’s the economy, stupid!” Haggai uses poetic artistry when he pens these lines. In the Hebrew language there is a “triad of seven-syllable bicola, each divided 2 + 5.”7 That would be like a traditional poet writing in perfect iambic pentameter. Using elevated language was a way to draw attention to the passage, maybe similar to taunting the audience in a sing-song fashion. For the people of God in the Old Testament, a strong link existed between spiritual health and material wellbeing. It was not an absolute link (see the story of Job!), but one based on the regular observation of cause and effect (see the book of Proverbs). The link had its roots in the curses and blessings of Torah, especially in texts like Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 where poor harvests, insufficient food, and inadequate clothes were consequences of bad covenant-keeping. Keeping to themselves, with a roof over their heads, and neglecting the worship of Yahweh led to “the ways” — “your ways” — that Haggai intends in 1:5 and 1:7.  [BN, 5-6]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am, 5:30pm