A God Powerful Enough to Change Us (1:11-15)
11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.
13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD’s message, “I am with you, declares the LORD.”
14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
(Hag 1:1 ESV)
Surely one of the most surprising and striking things of Haggai 1 is the response of God’s people. Instead of ignoring Haggai, the people “obeyed the voice of the LORD their God” (Haggai 1:12)! This was after 15 or so years of neglect and disobedience. Now the people “worked on the house” (1:14) and this work began 23 days after the initial call to repent and recognize their sinful ways (1:15).
I am encouraged that a group of believers who were disobedient for 15 or so years could change and begin to do what God calls them to do. God Himself is the one who “stirs” up the people (1:13) and it is because of this that the people get to work.
The Holy Spirit empowers us to put sin to death and carry on the good works of God. He did this in Haggai’s time, and does it today. We need not give into cynicism or unbelief: God changes people. He changed us, and is continuing to change. This should give us courage to press on.
Praise the God who changes people!
