Does God use frustrations in life to awaken and/or punish us (Haggai 1:6, 9)?

"Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 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." (vv. 5, 6.)

As our own blessed Lord taught, "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it," so was it with the remnant. Setting their hearts upon rest, ease, and prosperity in this world, desiring to find their "life" in their comforts, they lost it; for they had left God out of the account. Making themselves, and not God, their object, putting their own things in the first place, and becoming indifferent to His honour, claims, and interests, they forfeited the very blessings for which they laboured. How common is this mistake even with Christians; for though the character of the blessing may differ, the principle still obtains. Thus you may see a child of God who, because of his domestic or business claims, as he will tell you, is constantly absent from the assemblies of the saints, and has scarcely any heart for the Lord's objects, but who is withered up in his own soul, and has little peace in his family, and not much prosperity in his affairs. And why is this? Not because of his lack of attention to his own concerns; for, as we have seen, these have the foremost place in his mind. No; but it is because such an one is caring for his own things; all indifferent to the desolation of the house of God; because, in other words, he exalts his own interests above those of the Lord. Let us never forget that there is such a thing as a present judgment of God; that He notices the conduct of His people, and, in His paternal government and care, deals with them according to their state of heart and walk. (See, for example, 1 Peter 1:17.) It was so in the case before us. They were diligent in sowing their seed, but God gave them but a scanty harvest; they ate and drank, but were not satisfied, for God withheld His blessing; they clothed themselves, but found no warmth, and their savings melted away. In this way God dealt with them, to exercise their souls, to wean them from their selfish aims, and to recall them to the object of their restoration to their own land, that, losing sight of themselves, they might find their blessing in communion with the mind and heart of God: It is this truth which is set before them in the following verses: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. 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." (vv. 7, 8.)

"Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 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." (vv. 5, 6.)

As our own blessed Lord taught, "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it," so was it with the remnant. Setting their hearts upon rest, ease, and prosperity in this world, desiring to find their "life" in their comforts, they lost it; for they had left God out of the account. Making themselves, and not God, their object, putting their own things in the first place, and becoming indifferent to His honour, claims, and interests, they forfeited the very blessings for which they laboured. How common is this mistake even with Christians; for though the character of the blessing may differ, the principle still obtains. Thus you may see a child of God who, because of his domestic or business claims, as he will tell you, is constantly absent from the assemblies of the saints, and has scarcely any heart for the Lord's objects, but who is withered up in his own soul, and has little peace in his family, and not much prosperity in his affairs. And why is this? Not because of his lack of attention to his own concerns; for, as we have seen, these have the foremost place in his mind. No; but it is because such an one is caring for his own things; all indifferent to the desolation of the house of God; because, in other words, he exalts his own interests above those of the Lord. Let us never forget that there is such a thing as a present judgment of God; that He notices the conduct of His people, and, in His paternal government and care, deals with them according to their state of heart and walk. (See, for example, 1 Peter 1:17.) It was so in the case before us. They were diligent in sowing their seed, but God gave them but a scanty harvest; they ate and drank, but were not satisfied, for God withheld His blessing; they clothed themselves, but found no warmth, and their savings melted away. In this way God dealt with them, to exercise their souls, to wean them from their selfish aims, and to recall them to the object of their restoration to their own land, that, losing sight of themselves, they might find their blessing in communion with the mind and heart of God: It is this truth which is set before them in the following verses: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. 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." (vv. 7, 8.)

But through grace the word of God, as before delivered by the prophet, had already reached their consciences, roused them from their indifference and neglect, and, producing in them a sense of their failure, had brought them back to Jehovah. From that moment His things, His house, occupied their minds, and, animated by the encouragement ministered to them through the Lord's tenderness, they proceeded to lay the foundation of His temple. And the object of the Lord in this new message to His people was to call their attention to the change of His attitude towards them since they had become obedient to His word. Thus from verse 15 to 17 we have a description of His dealings with them while neglecting His house. God could not, consistently with His holiness and with His love to His people, bless them when their hearts were turned back from Him, when they were using His grace, in their restoration from captivity, as a means to their own ease and comfort. He therefore dealt with them in judgment, chastising them, to awake them out of their spiritual torpor, and to teach them the lesson which God's people ever need, that their true blessing and prosperity could only be found in the Lord's ways, and not in their own. This explains the words of the prophet "And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward" (i.e. looking back upon the past, the word "upward" being used in the sense of taking a retrospect), "from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord" (when the people said, "The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built") "since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the press-fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. I smote you with blasting, and with mildew, and with hail, in all the labours of your hands; and ye turned not to me, saith the Lord." (vv. 15-17.)

It is then pointed out that the failure was deeper than in mere circumstances. And what made it the more remarkable is that God was no longer maintaining His throne in Israel; but He did not for all that relax His moral government. This is to be weighed. A royal throne in His name as a witness to the nations was no longer the question. It was thrown down. The throne of Jehovah was not in Zion, nor anywhere else on earth for the time, though of course the purpose is not given up; but still He governed morally; and this is the thing that is now made plain. "Therefore" (so He begins with them) "the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. 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 brings forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands." It was Jehovah who blighted their selfish efforts. He was dealing with the unbelief and consequent neglect of the returned remnant. It was not because He loved them not, but because He did. "Whom he loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives." When the Lord allows persons to go away without rebuke, it is the evident and sure sign that all practical bond is broken, — if any bond ever did exist, — that He now disowns them, at any rate for the time. Hence these very chastenings which fell on the Jews were the proof, though of a sorrowful kind, that His eye was over them, and that He felt their negligence of Him and resented — in divine faithfulness of course, but still in government — the failure of His people in care for His glory.

In the next three verses (9-11) the people are reminded that they are being chastised because of their indifference to the Lord's house. God was drying up the source of every earthly blessing. He "blew" upon their crops, withheld the dew, called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, upon everything the earth brought forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands. And wherefore did He send this universal blight upon all the labour of their hands and upon all their expectations? Let the answer be indelibly written upon our hearts: "Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man to his own house."

They had returned to the promised land. God had been faithful and gracious to them, but they were settling down in comfort while God's house still lay waste. No wonder things went wrong! God's Word to them, and perhaps also to us, is "Consider your ways." They sowed much, and reaped little. They ate and drank, but were not satisfied. They earned good money, but it trickled away as in a bag full of holes. No doubt they blamed the recession, the political instability of the time, the abnormal weather conditions. It never occurred to them that God was trying to get through to them. "Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of Mine house that is waste."

I believe it is often proved to be with us, as you get it stated of Israel in Haggai's day. They were dwelling in ceiled houses, and the house of God lying waste. Self was uppermost, but God was watchful of His people. His hand was on them, hence we read, "He that earns wages earns wages to put it into a bag with holes." How did the holes get there? I believe the Lord cut them.

I doubt not there are many amongst us who feel ashamed, and most justly so, at the undue importance attached by us to our own things, while the interests of the house of God — the church of the living God — engage so little of our attention. The Lord often teaches us our shortcoming in this particular by letting us see that even with all our engagement about self we fail of our object. "Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man to his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit." (Haggai 1:9-10) The Lord deals with his people upon a principle of retributive justice as conveyed in these words, "Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap". (Gal. 6:7) This method of dealing does not interfere in the least with the perfect acceptance of the believers person, through grace, nor yet with his standing in grace. No; these, blessed be God, are settled points, nor can anything unsettle them; yet does the Apostle, by the Spirit, teach us that "he that sows sparingly shall reap sparingly."

A second lesson is, that the object of God's ways in government with His people is that they may lay their condition to heart. On this account it is He uses His rod. This is strikingly exemplified in the book of Haggai "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways." For there the remnant were occupied with their own interests, building their own houses, and neglecting the house of the Lord. God therefore, as in Malachi, "cursed their blessings," saying, 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." (Haggai 1, 2) On the same principle He still acts in government, and many a chastening which falls upon His people has for its end that they may lay their condition to heart. And nothing proves so distinctly the insensibility of our hearts when, after passing through trials, whether individually or in connection with the Church, we pay little or no heed as to the object God had in view, and flatter ourselves that all is well. Every stroke of God's rod should produce great searchings of heart, and where it does not, it is the sure precursor of the sorer chastenings of His hand. For, as we learn from this scripture, God does not forget; for He says, "If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, I WILL curse your blessings."

What a contrast in the condition of things in the days of Haggai! Because the people met with some discouragement in the re-building of the Temple, they ceased operations, and laboured to build houses for themselves instead. "Thus speaks Jehovah of hosts, saying, This people say, the time is not come, the time that Jehovah's house should be built." Such indifference was very displeasing to the One who had been so good to His erring people, and He sent them a remonstrance by Haggai the prophet, saying: "Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses and this house lie waste?" (Haggai 1:1-4). Jehovah found it necessary to chasten His people for their apathy, and all blessing was withheld until they recommenced their work upon the Temple, and proceeded vigorously with it in faith. Then their barns filled up again with good things.