Haggai 2:15-19, The Need for a Reminder

The older I get the more reminders I need. A calendar entry, a spouse, a note to myself. Whatever works. But what about spiritual reminders? Israel seems to need one. You would think that after experiencing Yahweh’s discipline they would have been good to go.

¹⁵ “‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on—consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in Yahweh’s temple. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me,’ declares Yahweh. ¹⁸ ‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: ¹⁹ Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. From this day on I will bless you.’” (Haggai 2:15-19)

Yahweh knows that His people, as special as they are to Him, are nonetheless spiritually thick. They were experiencing the fiscal downturn He caused, seeking for them to repent, and they were offering Him sacrifices to appease Him, not realizing that their “unclean” attitude toward Him was rendering their sacrifices unclean. They had repented and begun work on the temple, but there was a concern on Yahweh’s part that they would not really continue in their repentance.

So, He reminds them once again what had happened. He brings to their recall that when they were unrepentant their harvest was diminished, their vintners came up short, blight and mildew and hail ruined valuable produce from their work. They must not forget that Yahweh is a God who cares about the spiritual welfare of His people. Yes, God wants them wealthy and healthy and happy, but even more He wants them holy. “Give careful thought,” He reminds them. And He reminds us, as well.

Now, as an incentive to follow through on spiritual priorities, God gives them a commitment. “From this day on” He will bless them. The economic downturn will be reversed. It will be an economic upturn instead. As they obey and love Yahweh their God with all their heart and all their mind and all their strength, He will provide for them. “Seek first God’s kingdom,” Jesus said, “and all these things will be provided for you” (Matthew 6:33). Do you need a reminder?