God's grace and blessings
Life would be so nice if there was an undo button. Unfortunately, we all know there's no such thing. Once we say or do something, it's done. However, God does have the ability to undo has past actions or words… but that's something He wouldn’t do. He will not change the past, but He'll do something even better to give us a fresh start for the future. This is exactly what we notice in Haggai 2:10-19 - we see a faithful God reaching out to unfaithful people so they don’t need an undo button.
God’s Grace Covers Unholy Living (v.10-14)
In ancient Judaism, once an animal was offered as a sacrifice that animal was considered holy. Haggai's question in verse 12 is whether that holiness is passed from the meat to things the meat touches. The Jewish priests who were experts in such questions answered ‘no’... and it’s true. Holiness is like being healthy while unholiness is like being sick; health is not contagious, but disease is. As we all know, it’s much easier to get sick than it is to stay healthy, especially when you have constant contact with sick people. Sickness spreads as does impurity.
The people of Haggai's generation thought that because they were rebuilding the temple that that automatically made them holy in God’s sight. They thought holiness could be caught by being around holy things or holy people. But holiness doesn't work that way. Haggai wants us to realize that when it comes to our lives, we only have the power to mess it up, not clean it up. If we can’t undo unholy living, what do we turn to? God’s grace! And His grace doesn't just cover, it cleanses!
God’s Blessings for the pure-hearted (v.15-18)
In chapter 1, Haggai told them the root of their economic turmoil was related to the delayed temple rebuilding project. Yet now they are rebuilding the temple, and things still haven’t turned around for them. Haggai reveals that it's because even though they're doing the right thing, they're doing it for the wrong reasons.
In Genesis 4 we notice that Abel and Cain both offered sacrifices to God, but God rejected Cain’s sacrifice. Cain’s heart was evil and even though he knew what was right, he refused to do it and chose not believe in God. Even though God spoke to him in grace, Cain rejected God’s counsel and his refusal cost him God’s blessing.
What comes from the wrong motivations? What about all of this religious work and effort? Without God, do you want to know what it amounts to? Nothing! Without God, all of our labor is in vain.
These two points must be reflected in our hearts. You can be involved in a lot of the local church ministries. You can give money to the church. You can even be the leader of the church, but if your heart is not clean before God, you’re defiling everything you touch! Questions that you can ask yourself daily:
Do I immediately confess any known sin and turn from it in genuine repentance, relying on God’s grace?
Am I completely honest and truthful about my heart or do I put on a mask of hypocrisy?
Haggai closes with another interesting question in verse 19, “Is the seed yet in the barn?” Now God sees genuine evidence of repentance among the people and therefore He can say, “But from this day on I will bless you.” God's blessings accompany their obedience. And now, the prophet can boldly say, the future is brighter than the past. This is the beauty of the gospel.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your faithfulness even though I’m not that faithful to You. Thank You for giving me a chance to come closer to You through grace. Thank You for making every day brand new and giving me a new path to a hopeful future. Teach me how to align my heart with Yours so that I have the right reason to serve You.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.