Today we are going to finish up our look at one of the Minor Prophets we find in the Old Testament, Haggai. Once again, it’s important for us to understand the context and history of the book for us to understand what God is saying through the prophet, so in case you missed it, here it is. The nation of Israel was defeated by the Babylonians in 587 BC and for 50 years the people lived scattered throughout the land. During this time, the people were not able to worship God in any formal way, and many measures were taken to try and get the people to forget God entirely.
In 538 BC, the people of God were allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. They started the work with great enthusiasm and laid the foundation and built the altar, but after 14 years, when things got difficult, the people quit. God spoke through the prophet Haggai and told the people the time is now to return to me and rebuild the temple. God stirred up the hearts of the leaders, and the people, and they did return to the work, only to get discouraged after a few weeks because the progress was so slow. God told the people to be strong and keep working because He was with them and that He would keep His promise to restore the nation of Israel.
The people kept on building the temple, but the work continued to go slow and from what the prophet said next, it appears that the people began to question whether or not obedience to God was worth all the work. They are going through the motions and doing the work, but not getting anywhere. They were trying to do the right thing, even though it was hard, and they were trying to be obedient, but they weren’t seeing God bless them and so they wondered if their hard work and obedience is worth it.
Does this sound familiar? We try to do the right thing, we work hard, but we don’t see any progress, or we don’t see God coming through for us the way we think God should, so we begin to ask ourselves, is it worth it? Is following God worth it if God is not blessing us. This kind of thinking is common, and it is what Craig Groeschel calls, Conditional Obedience to God.
Not that any of us would think this way, but conditional obedience to God is when we obey God and follow God as long as we see results. Conditional obedience to God is when we say we will follow God as long as it is comfortable for us, or as long as what God asks us to do is in line with what we want to do. Conditional obedience to God is when we are willing to follow God as long as it doesn’t cost us too much and the rewards are worth it.
When I was in college and first decided I wanted to serve God with my life and work in some kind of ministry, I said I would do anything and go anywhere, except the local church. I told myself that it wasn’t God’s will for me to be a local pastor because I didn’t think that was what I wanted to do. I had not prayed about it, I had not heard any kind of word from God, I just didn’t want to do it. I was willing to follow God completely but under my conditions.
Some people will turn to God when they are at the end of their rope and have nowhere else to turn and say God I will turn now and trust you, but when God doesn’t solve all their problems after one worship service, or when life is still difficult and challenging after a week of reading the Bible, they give up saying, God didn’t come through for me, or that this “walking with Jesus thing just isn’t working for me”
In different ways we all struggle with conditional obedience. We will serve God and love others as long as we get recognized, or as long as we get our way, or as long as I can stay comfortable and not have to change my thinking, my attitudes or my actions, or give too much of my time, my energy or my money. The problem with conditional obedience is that we are serving God for all the wrong reasons. We are serving God to get what we want, and our heart - the only thing God wants - our heart is still far from Him.
This is what Israel was struggling with as they worked to rebuild the Temple. We are going to look at a section of Haggai 2 that at first might seem a little strange, but just bear with me.
This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’”
The priests answered, “No.”
Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”
“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.”
Then Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled. Haggai 2:11-14
Here is what God is asking the people to consider. If the priest picks up a piece of meat that has been offered to God in a sacrifice and is now considered holy, if the robe that is carrying that meat touches some other food, is that food made holy? As you might guess, the answer was no. But, if a person who has been defiled in some way and is considered unclean, if that person touches something, does that become unclean? The answer is, yes, it does.
Let’s think about it this way. For the past year, it has been our practice to wipe down all surfaces after someone has used a room. When we do that, the room and everything in it is clean. Now, if a person who might be sick were to enter that room, would those clean surfaces make the person well? No. Instead what happens? The person who is sick makes the room unclean.
So what does this have to do with the people of Israel working to rebuild the temple? While it might sound harsh, what God is saying is that if the hearts of the people building the Temple aren’t right with Him as they do the work, the work is no good. While the Temple itself, the building, might get finished, the hearts of the people are still far from God. Ultimately God doesn’t want a magnificent building made of wood and stone, God wants a heart that is fully devoted to Him.
After 50 years of living scattered throughout Babylon and not really able to develop any kind of relationship with God, the people were struggling to understand who God was, what God wanted, and how they were to live as children of God. They were being obedient, and then expecting God to bless them for that obedience, but that is not what God wanted. God wanted their heart.
Nothing has changed. God still just wants our heart. God wants our love and adoration and worship. God is not interested in our conditional obedience, following Him when it is easy, or comfortable, or when we get something in return, God wants all of our heart, mind, body, and soul fully fixed on Him. God wants a heart that will trust Him for all we need.
God wants the love and trust of His people so much that He goes back and reminds them what it was like when they were living only for themselves. Haggai 2:15-16, Consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty.
If you remember from the first week of the series, God reminded the people that when they trusted in themselves only and always put themselves first, they never seemed to have enough. Haggai 1:5-6
Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but 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.”
When all they did was try and provide for themselves, they never had enough and were never satisfied, and when we live only for ourselves, when we are focused only on this world and what we can get in it, we will never have enough and we will never be satisfied. But if we can give God the fullness of heart without conditions, God will bless us. But giving God the fullness of our heart doesn’t mean just going through the motions.
Now let me be clear, serving God when our heart is not in it is not always a bad thing. There will be days when we will not feel like serving God or others and on those days we can’t just walk away. There will also be times when we will be obedient and then look for God to bless us for our work and it doesn’t mean that obedience has no value, but at some point we have to stop and make sure our heart is right with God.
That is what God is doing here. God is asking the people to consider the state of their heart. Now is the time, God says, to get your heart right with me. Don’t put your lives first, and don’t try to provide for yourself, and don’t put conditions on following me or obey in order to be blessed, instead, return to me.
During the same time that God was speaking through Haggai, God was also speaking through the prophet Zechariah, and that is exactly what God said, Return to me. Zechariah 1:3 This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. Notice that God doesn’t tell the people to return to the work this time, God says, return to me.
Ultimately, this is what God wants from all of us, God wants us to return to Him. God wants us to turn away from the world, and from ourselves, and from this idea that we can provide for ourselves, and love God with all our heart, and soul and mind and strength. When Jesus was asked which commandment was the greatest, He said to love God with all our heart. As important as obedience is, obedience means nothing if our heart is not in it. It looks like a child being told to say they are sorry. They might say the words, but you can tell their heart is not in it.
The people of Israel had returned to Jerusalem after 50 years of being away and they were struggling to love God with all their heart and soul and mind and strength. When things got difficult they thought God must not be for them. When God didn't come through for them the way they thought God should, they got discouraged. The beautiful part of this story is that God is patient and takes time to restore the relationship. God takes time and teaches them that it’s not about the work, and it’s not about getting a blessing because of the work, it’s about being with God and that is the blessing.
God’s message through the years has not changed. More than anything, God wants our heart. More than our obedience, God wants our love and devotion, and God loves us so much that He will patiently wait for us and work with us so that we will return to Him. Now is the time, God says, will you return to me?
Now is the time, and today is the day for us to consider if our heart truly belongs to God. If it doesn’t, if you are still living for yourself or serving God in order to get something in return, return to God. Give God your heart and He will return to you and bless you. And if you are like me, realign your heart, let go of conditional obedience, and simply love God with ALL your heart. That truly is ALL God wants.
Next Steps
The Blessing of Obedience
Has there ever been a time when you asked yourself if faith in Jesus, or obedience to God, was worth it? What blessings or rewards were you looking for?
How do you continue to wrestle with Conditional Obedience to God?
Why might the people of Israel have thought their obedience to God in building the Temple would have brought them the blessing they wanted? (Remember, they had spent 50 years living far from God.)
What did you think of the statement: If your heart's not in the work, the work is not good.
● What’s the value of continuing to work through spiritually dry or difficult times?
● How might that work shape our hearts?
● How might a change of heart shape our work?
Reflect on these passages that connect love and obedience:
● John 14:15 2 John 1:6
○ Can we love God and not obey?
○ Can we really obey God and not love Him?
Ultimately God is not interested in our work (obedience) but our heart. In what ways have you not given God ALL of your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Where do you still struggle to trust God?
In a world where we are told to provide for ourselves, our family, and our future, what does it look like for you to trust God for your life, your family, and your future?
