“Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.
God's people had come back from exile to rebuild His house. But the work had stopped, and they built their own homes instead. Now the same short command they had already heard in verse 5 comes a second time — and the repetition is the point.
The Same Words, a New Purpose
God gives the call twice in this chapter, and the two calls differ in aim. William Kelly reads the first as a rebuke and the second as an invitation forward:
William KellyThere was diligence for themselves; but what was the result? Bitter disappointment must always come to the people of God who live for themselves instead of trusting Him who especially looks after the faithful. Our business is to care for His things; His gracious work is to care for us in our things, and indeed in all things... In grace there is another call to consider their ways. The first was to reprove them; the second is to encourage and exhort them.
What the Word Asks For
The command asks for more than a passing thought. One writer gives the word's literal sense:
Arend RemmersGod appeals five times to the Jews to consider their ways. The word literally means "to concentrate one's heart upon something," because man makes his decisions in the heart. These passages are in chapter 1:5, 7; 2:15, 18, 19.
The Evidence God Told Them to Weigh
The "ways" in question had left visible marks — full effort, thin returns. Hamilton Smith takes each line of verse 6 in turn:
Hamilton SmithThe result then, as now, comes out in the words, "You have sown much, and harvested little" — great activity but little return. Moreover, this neglect of the house of God leads to spiritual starvation, for, says the prophet, "You eat, but you never have enough." Again, it brings no spiritual satisfaction: "You drink, but you never have your fill." It leaves the spiritual affections cold: "You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm." And it carries no reward: "He who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes."
Why the Call Has to Be Repeated
Left alone, a people under God's discipline will conclude that nothing is wrong:
The Christian's FriendAgain, the Lord calls His people to consider their ways. This is a blessed occupation for His saints at all times. The tendency always exists — especially in times of decline — to deceive ourselves into believing that all is well. That can happen even when we are under the chastening hand of God for our unfaithfulness. Heeding this call would spare us many an evil, many a breakdown, many a startling outbreak of sin among God's people. We should consider our ways in God's presence constantly. There all delusions disappear, and the secrets of the deepest heart come to light. Only there, seeing our true condition and failures, can we receive grace to judge ourselves by the infallible standard of God's glory.
The Same Principle Today
The failure was not laziness. These people worked hard — for themselves. Edward Dennett applies the pattern to Christians today:
Edward DennettThey set their hearts on rest, ease, and prosperity in this world. They wanted to find their "life" in their comforts, and they lost it, because they had left God out of the account... How common this mistake is even among Christians... You may see a child of God who is always absent from the gatherings of the saints, because of his family or business claims, as he will tell you. He has hardly any heart for the Lord's objects. He is dried up in his own soul, has little peace in his family, and not much prosperity in his affairs. And why? Not because he neglects his own concerns; as we have seen, those come first in his mind. No — it is because he is caring for his own things while indifferent to the desolation of the house of God.
Where the Considering Leads
The call to consider does not stop at self-examination. The next verse tells them what to do, and Dennett shows what that work was for:
Edward DennettThey had set their hearts on their own houses, and the Lord, as it were, says to them, "My heart is on My house. Go up therefore to the mountain, and bring the wood, and build the house."... We learn from this that the true way to glorify God is to be in fellowship with His own mind. It is not found in activities we may choose, however good they are in themselves. It is not found in works of kindness and charity, however much they ease the needs and sorrows of others. It is found in working for the object God has before Him at any given time.
Summary
- Consider. The word asks you to fix your heart on something, not glance at it. God repeats the appeal five times in this short book.
- Twice. The first call convicts; the second, in the same words, encourages them to pick up the work again.
- Evidence. Much sown and little harvested; food that never satisfies; wages in a bag with holes. God puts these facts in front of them to weigh.
- Self-deception. In times of decline we tell ourselves all is well. Considering our ways in God's presence kills that delusion, so we can judge ourselves.
- Build. The considering has a destination. God's heart is on His house. We glorify Him by working for what He has before Him, not for goals we choose ourselves.