The Doctrine of Futility Text: Haggai 1:1-11
Introduction: The Great Evasion
We live in a generation of Christians that has mastered the art of the pious excuse. We have become experts in what could be called the great evasion. We know the right words to say, we can formulate the most spiritual-sounding reasons for our disobedience, and we can convince ourselves that our self-interest is actually a deep and profound concern for the kingdom of God. We are like a man who says he cannot possibly go to work today because he must stay home to pray about the global economy. It sounds important, it sounds spiritual, but the power is out because he didn't pay the bill, and his family has nothing to eat.
The book of Haggai is a short, sharp, and potent rebuke to this kind of thinking. It is a divine splash of cold water in the face of a people who had fallen asleep on the job. The exiles had returned from Babylon some sixteen years prior. They had come back with high hopes, laid the foundation of the Temple, and then, when a little opposition arose, they quit. They traded the great task of rebuilding the central place of worship for the much smaller task of building their own comfortable lives. And they had an excuse that sounded perfectly reasonable: "The time has not come."
This is the perpetual excuse of the disobedient. "The time is not right." "We need to wait for a more opportune moment." "The culture is too hostile." "We need to get our own house in order first." And so, while they waited for this mythical "right time," they got very busy with their own projects. They paneled their houses with cedar while the house of God lay in ruins. They were not idle; they were just busy with the wrong things. They had exchanged God's priority for their own preference, and they were suffering the consequences without connecting the dots.
Haggai comes to them as God's prosecuting attorney. He comes to show them that their economic frustrations, their agricultural failures, and their deep sense of dissatisfaction are not a string of bad luck. They are not facing a random economic downturn. They are under the direct, disciplinary hand of a covenant-keeping God. They are experiencing the doctrine of futility. And God, in His mercy, sends a prophet to tell them exactly why, and exactly what to do about it.
The Text
In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, "Thus says Yahweh of hosts, 'This people says, "The time has not come, even the time for the house of Yahweh to be rebuilt." ' " Then the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, "Is it time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses while this house lies waste?" So now, thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Set your heart to consider your ways! You have sown much, but bring in little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a bag with holes."
Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Set your heart to consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and rebuild the house of God, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified," says Yahweh. "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; and you bring it home, and I blow it away. Why?" declares Yahweh of hosts, "Because of My house which lies waste, while each of you runs to his own house. Therefore, because of you the sky has restrained its dew and the earth has restrained its produce. And I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands."
(Haggai 1:1-11 LSB)
The Pious Procrastination (vv. 1-4)
The prophecy is dated with precision. God's Word intersects with real human history. He speaks to the civil magistrate, Zerubbabel, and the high priest, Joshua. This is a word for the entire covenant community, leaders and all.
"Thus says Yahweh of hosts, 'This people says, "The time has not come, even the time for the house of Yahweh to be rebuilt." ' " (Haggai 1:2)
Notice the cold distance in God's language: "This people." Not "My people." When God's people start making excuses for their disobedience, they create a relational distance. Their excuse is a masterpiece of self-deception. It sounds prudent. It sounds wise. "The time has not come." This wasn't an outright denial of the task; it was an indefinite postponement. They still affirmed, in principle, that the Temple should be rebuilt. Of course! But just not now. The economy is fragile. The neighbors are hostile. We need to establish ourselves first. This is the lie that comfort whispers to us. We must secure our own position before we can advance the kingdom. But the kingdom of God is not advanced by cautious men who wait for ideal conditions. It is advanced by faithful men who obey in the midst of difficult conditions.
God immediately exposes the hypocrisy of their excuse with a sharp, rhetorical question.
"Is it time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses while this house lies waste?" (Haggai 1:4)
Paneled houses, likely with imported cedar, were a luxury. It wasn't just that they had put a roof over their heads. They had moved on to the renovations and the upgrades. They had found the time, the resources, and the energy to finish their own houses beautifully. But for God's house, "the time has not come." Their priorities are laid bare. Their own comfort, their own status, their own security came first. God's glory, God's public worship, God's house came second. Or rather, a distant, postponed last. This is the essence of worldliness. It is not necessarily a plunge into gross, public sin. It is simply the slow, creeping mis-ordering of our loves and our labors. We run to our own house, and we walk, slowly, to His.
The Covenantal Curse (vv. 5-6, 9-11)
God then commands them twice to do something very simple: think. "Set your heart to consider your ways!" In other words, "Look at your lives! Connect the dots!"
"You have sown much, but bring in little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a bag with holes." (Haggai 1:6)
This is not a description of laziness. They are working hard. They are sowing much. They are earning wages. The problem is not their work ethic; the problem is the utter futility of it all. Everything they do is mysteriously unproductive. Their harvest fails. Their food doesn't satisfy. Their wine doesn't bring joy. Their clothes don't keep out the cold. Their paychecks disappear as if put into a pocket with holes. This is a picture of total, comprehensive frustration.
And God makes it clear that this is not an accident. This is a direct consequence of their sin. This is the covenant curse of Deuteronomy 28 being applied in real time. They have disobeyed, and God is actively working against their prosperity. He asks the question and then immediately answers it Himself.
"You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; and you bring it home, and I blow it away. Why? ... Because of My house which lies waste, while each of you runs to his own house." (Haggai 1:9)
This is one of the most terrifying and wonderful verses in Scripture. Terrifying, because it reveals that God can be actively opposed to our frantic, self-centered efforts. "I blow it away." That business deal that fell through, that investment that soured, that project that just won't come together, could it be that God Himself is blowing on it? It is a terrifying thought. But it is also a wonderful thought, because it means our frustrations are not meaningless. They are the loving discipline of a Father who wants our attention. He is not content to let us prosper in our idolatry. He loves us too much to let us find ultimate satisfaction in our paneled houses. So He introduces a divine friction into our lives. He calls for a drought on the land, on the economy, on the labor of our hands (v. 11). He is withholding His blessing because His priorities have been neglected.
The Simple Command (vv. 7-8)
The solution is not complicated. It does not require a five-year plan or a capital campaign committee. The solution is simple, rugged obedience.
"Thus says Yahweh of hosts, 'Set your heart to consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and rebuild the house of God, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,' says Yahweh." (Haggai 1:7-8)
Again, He tells them to think. And then He tells them to act. The command is three-fold and direct: Go. Bring. Rebuild. This is not a call to feel bad. It is a call to get up and do something. Repentance is not just a change of mind; it is a change of direction, demonstrated by the work of our hands. Notice the raw simplicity of it. "Go up to the mountains and bring wood." God was not demanding imported marble and gold from Ophir. He was telling them to use the resources right in front of them. The issue was not a lack of resources, but a lack of will.
And what is the goal? What is the desired outcome? It is not, first and foremost, their own prosperity. The goal is God-centered. "...that I may be pleased with it and be glorified." This is the foundation of all true work and worship. We do what we do for the pleasure and glory of God. When that is our primary motivation, the blessings follow. When our own blessing is the primary motivation, the futility follows. Jesus taught the same principle: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). The people of Haggai's day had reversed the order. They were seeking "all these things" first, and they were losing them. God calls them back to the fundamental grammar of reality: God first, then everything else falls into its proper place.
First Things First
The application for us is as sharp as a carpenter's axe. We do not have a physical temple to build, for we ourselves are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the church is the household of God (1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Tim. 3:15). But the principle of priorities is perennial. The central task of the people of God in every age is to be about the business of building His house, extending His kingdom, and seeking His glory.
So we must ask ourselves the same question Haggai asked. "Is it time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses while this house lies waste?" Have we become so consumed with our own careers, our own financial security, our own hobbies, our own family comforts, that the corporate life of the church, the work of the gospel, and the advance of Christ's kingdom have become an afterthought? Are we running to our own house?
And if we find ourselves in a season of frustration, if our work feels like we are earning wages to put into a bag with holes, we must have the courage to "consider our ways." We cannot simply blame the government, or the economy, or bad luck. We must first ask if we are under the disciplinary hand of God. Is He blowing on our efforts because our priorities are out of order?
The good news of the gospel is that the true Temple has been rebuilt. Jesus Christ, after being torn down on the cross, was raised up on the third day. He is the true house of God, and we are being built up in Him. Our work now is to align our lives, our families, our resources, and our ambitions with His great construction project. The call is the same: Go. Bring. Rebuild. Go into the world and make disciples. Bring your gifts, your resources, your very lives as a living sacrifice. Rebuild the ruins of our culture by establishing faithful Christian households, churches, and communities.
When we put God's house first, He promises to take care of ours. When we seek His glory, He is pleased. And when He is pleased, the curse of futility is broken, and the dew of His blessing begins to fall once more.