The Prophet Haggai has gotten the Jews’ attention. He has revealed to them the reason why they have failed in everything they had done over the previous years. Speaking what God is telling him through His Holy Spirit, Haggai has directed their focus toward the One Who has caused their calamity and has explained why He has cursed them and their efforts–they have ignored His command. In summary, the God they bow to and acknowledge has cursed them and their efforts, calling both the people and their work “unclean.” The reason– the Jews (Judahites) have not obeyed Him. God’s “cause and effect” system has been a part of their everyday lives and they have ignored it.

This episode in the lives of the Jews is in keeping with the Lord’s mode of operation that has been in effect since He dealt with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Both Biblical and secular history reveal that His “sowing and reaping” system has remained in effect to this day. The world’s current weather system is a prime example. Another example is the invasion of “Christian nations” by God-hating heathen and those nation’s inability to stop it. Both these catastrophies are prophesied in the Holy Scriptures to come upon God-proclaiming/God-rejecting nations in the latter days. The ancient Israelites, in this case the Jewish segment–the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi–serve as examples of the Lord’s sowing and reaping system. Knowing that His people would abandon Him in the latter days, He instructed His prophets to record His dealings with the Israelites as a warning for those living just before His Son’s return to earth (1 Cor. 10:11). Alas, the warning has fallen on deaf ears and has materialized before blind eyes. Isaiah’s words to the Jews of his day applies to their spiritual descendants living in this age. Their collective head is sick and their heart fails because they have rejected Him. And just as He did to those who professed Him but ignored Him during that day, He will do to their descendants–the “Christian nations”–in these end times. He will “strike them again” (Isa. 1:5). The weather patterns and heathen invasions these nations are experiencing, specifically the United States, are mere sips of the death and destruction in the “cup of bitterness” that is soon to come upon professing Christendom. This ministry serves as a watchman on the wall whose job is to warn the so- called “Christian world” of the terror to come. Is anyone listening?

The Lord’s method is simple. He tells us what to do in His Holy Bible, then leaves us alone to decide whether or not we will obey Him. In Haggai’s case the people were busy building their own homes instead of constructing the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem as they had been instructed to do (vss 8,9). Notice that the Almighty had brought much suffering on them because they had ignored His instructions. He expected them to obey Him without having to tell remind them repeatedly what He has said. Haggai had been with them during those years when everything they put their hands to do failed. When the Lord moved on Haggai his message must have hit them hard. One can only imagine what the people thought and said about God’s message to them. What? Build a Temple first? What about them? did they not count? Was their comfort and safety not important? Did it not make sense to first build homes for themselves? What were they supposed to do, live in caves and tents while building a structure for the God Who owned the entire universe? Yes, the Lord told them, that was exactly what they were supposed to do. They were expected to prove their love for Him by obeying Him at all costs. In this episode one of the Lord’s lessons being taught was that man’s reasoning plays no part in His operation. In fact, in most cases man’s wisdom is in opposition to His plans. L.J.