King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Friday, September 19, 2025
Chapters: The Book of Haggai, Psalms 137
Message: Haggai: Consider Your Ways
Hello My Friend,
As we read through the Book of Haggai, we learn that we may not always know and understand where God is taking us, but He does not want us to just sit on the sidelines and wait for Him to make a move, He wants us to do our part while by faith watching Him do the rest, [James 2:18-20 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?]
As we have been reading through the books that relate to the Jews while they were in Babylon, we did not hear much about the common folk who were faithful to God and what they were going through when they had been taken captive to Babylon for seventy years. This Psalm gives a bit of an insight, it seems that they use to gather to some place by the Euphrates River and would bring their musical instruments with them to sing and praise God with the spiritual songs and hymns they loved to sing in the temple.
[Psalms 137:1-6,8 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. 3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 4 How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land? 5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. 6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. 8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.]
When the locals heard the wonderful hymns they insisted upon being entertained by them, but the Jews felt that these songs were only meant to be sung in the temple and it seemed like an insult to ask them to sing them to them. Of course, God does not want His people turning the prayers, songs, and hymns meant for Him into something for the world to profit off of, but He does want us to sing to Him, [Ephesians 5:17-20 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;]
The Book of Haggai contains two chapters, the author is Haggai, and it was written to the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon after being in captivity for seventy years, the timeline is approximately 520 BC. The purpose of the book was to inspire Israel to have a new zeal for God and remind the leaders of their responsibility to rebuild the temple of worship. What we are to learn from the book is that God expects to have first place in our lives, [Haggai 1:7-8 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.]
Yesterday, we read from Ezra and how the Jews were forced to stop the rebuilding of the temple, then God sent Haggai and Zechariah to encourage them to get back to work. Well, this is Haggai’s side of the story, he goes into detail of what was going on during that time. What we may have thought was only a couple of years turned out to be fourteen since they left the temple untouched.
[Haggai 1:1-2,4-6 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built. 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.]
So apparently they were having a lot of trouble with crops and barely scrapping by to make ends meet even though they were working hard. However, because they put off the rebuilding of the temple God had stopped blessing them for all their hard work. God, has no problem with us getting the jobs we enjoy, that perfect home we desire, or building a legacy while we are here, but we must remember that He comes first, [Luke 12:29-31,33 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you 33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.]
This is exactly what God was telling them to some extent, I know exactly how it feels to be working so hard for a paycheck that is gone before the money is even deposited into your account. The more you make the less you have. And this is not about lacking in giving tithes and offerings, this is about putting off what God is wanting us to do, perhaps out of some obligation or fear. So when things start to go out of wack, it is time to consider our ways. God, goes on to tell them that He caused their struggles because of their neglecting His work.
[Haggai 1:8-11 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. 9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. 10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. 11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.]
You see, for those fourteen years, the Jews were tending to rebuilding the city, while the remains of what was started of the temple just sat there decaying. They invested so much time and money into rebuilding the crops, buildings, homes, and businesses, but nothing prospered. Now, God, is telling them what they need to do in order for Him to be pleased and bless their hard work. That was when Zerubbabel was stirred up and a revival began. They did not care about the decree, they wanted to build God’s house.
[Haggai 1:12-14 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD. 13 Then spake Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD. 14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,]
There is nothing that God has called us to do that we are not capable of doing, we just need a little revival of our spirit sometimes. And I am preaching to the choir here as God is telling me the same thing about my ministry today, [2 Corinthians 7:11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.]
Notice that not all of the people that returned came back to help, only a remnant of them returned to assist in the reconstruction of the temple. Nevertheless, everything was being reconstructed just as David had laid out the plans for the first temple. Well, God took notice and sent them a message.
[Haggai 2:2-5 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, 3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts: 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.]
Think about it, is your faith and fear toward God as strong as it was when you first got saved? We all have times in our lives when we backslide a little bit, and this is a call from God to remember. Remember where you were when you first got saved? The struggles you faced? When you first started serving Him? When He started changing your life? This is why Jesus had to say this, [Revelation 2:2-5 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.]
This is the first time that God had spoken to the Jews since their captivity, He reminds them of His covenant with them since they left Egypt. Then goes on to tell them that the blessings they will be receiving for their hard work will be nothing compared to what is to come, [Haggai 2:6-9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. 9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.]
Little did they realize at the time that God was not talking about the temple that they had just built, He was referring to a much bigger house. This is all about Jesus, and His indwelling the souls of His believers. One thing we can be sure of is that when we put God’s work first He will be there for us and see us through every step of the way of it. And the work we do for God is not necessarily in a church, it is wherever He takes us, [Matthew 10:16,19-20 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. 20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.]
Remember, we are the church, God, will use us in whatever place He needs us, whether it be an office, a store, or a parking garage, but if we do not have His best interest in mind when we are out there then He will not have ours. We learn this as three months into building the temple God sent Haggai to the priest with a message.
[Haggai 2:11-14 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, 12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. 13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. 14 Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.]
Think about what God is saying, if we are not saved, then nothing we do for Him will not be recognized. In other words, if we have not personally admitted that we are a sinner, knowing the punishment for sin is death and hell, but believing in the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ, and confessed that we are trusting in Him alone to save us then we are not saved, [Romans 10:8-10 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.]
Working for God after we are saved is twofold, it blesses us and others with the knowledge of Him so they too can come to know Christ as their Saviour. Even if we never see God give us anything here on earth for our good works, we have something much more incredible awaiting us, and that is the day that we spend eternity with Christ. Praise God! Well, God, also reminds the Jews of this, in His oh so, unconventional way.
[Haggai 2:17-19,23 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD. 18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider it. 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you. 23 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.]
If we are doing God’s work and still everything is crumbling? Then perhaps it is time to reassess our heart and spirit to see where it really is. Are we doing it wholeheartedly or is our heart is really not into it? God, will see it, and He will not be pleased with our work. We are the church, and if we are going do God’s work, no matter where we are, we need to be clean. Our greatest blessings come from being a witness of how Christ has worked in our lives, [1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.]
[Signet; That which is very highly valued, and carefully kept.] Zerubbabel, is in reference to the Messiah, He is indeed the signet on God’s right hand. For all power is given to Him, and derived from Him. In Him is the gospel signed, sealed, and sanctified through His blood, [Ephesians 4:28-30 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.]
Keep in mind that we are not the one who chooses the work that we are called to do, Jesus is, and by the way, all those talents skills and talents we are given are given to us to be used for that purpose, [John 15:16-18,21 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another. 18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for the reminder of Your amazing promise to always be with us when we accept Your Son as our Saviour. You have purposed every one of Your people to work for You in some way so that we can bring others to Your Son. As life starts to bring sorrow to our song, it is easy to set Your work aside in order to try to endure it, and of course, that brings more problems instead of solutions. Lord, Help us to make and keep Your work first place in our lives so that You can show us solutions to our problems. Give us Your power, strength, wisdom, mercy, grace, and guidance to do the work You called us to do, and open our hearts so that we can do it with all our heart. And in everything we do, let us keep singing to You. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/ready-to-follow-jesus/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Read Previous Devotions: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Read The Bible: http://kingjamesbible.imfollowingjesus.com/
Visit I’m Following Jesus: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/welcome/
Like I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2025 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.