Daily Devotions
Haggai
"And now, carefully consider"
Text: Haggai 2:15
VITAL REFLECTION
The remnant had begun well when they were allowed to return to Judah to rebuild their homeland. King Cyrus showed them great favour and had given his protection and provision. But before too long, the heart of the people had changed and they were consumed with the desire to become wealthy. They had lost sight of the command of the LORD to rebuild the temple. Instead of becoming wealthy, they experienced more and more problems in their life. The building program had stalled badly. The LORD had to address this problem candidly.
“And now, carefully consider from this day forward:
from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the LORD—
since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten;
when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty.”
Haggai 2:15-16
1. “And now, carefully consider from this day forward”
a) The remnant had not given much time to reflect.
b) The Lord called upon them to “carefully consider” going forward.
2. “From before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the LORD—”
a) This would refer to the planning stage.
b) Before the actual work on the temple of the LORD.
3. “Since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten”
a) An ephah was a dry measure in those days.
b) It is about 40 litres.
c) They were hoping for a high yield (twenty ephahs).
d) The actual yield was 50% less (10 ephahs).
4. “When one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty”
a) A “bath” is a liquid measure like the ephah.
b) It is about 37 litres.
c) Hoped for results would be the production of wine at 50 baths (1850 litres).
d) The actual yield was much less at 20 baths (740 litres).
CONSIDER YOUR WAYS
Haggai had given a strong word of warning at the beginning of his prophetic ministry (Haggai 1:3-11). Again and again, he would say, “Consider your ways” (Haggai 1:5,7). There was good initial response. The people began to work hard to build the temple. But after a while, the people seemed to have lost their focus. Once again, the prophet Haggai had to remind the people to “carefully consider from this day forward.” They must return to the LORD and seek cleansing from their selfish ways.