What is ‘why’?

Major Mark Herbert begins a three-part series entitled A Study Of Haggai

STUDY PASSAGE HAGGAI 1:1–11

TIME doesn’t always fly; in some circumstances, it can feel like time has stood still. Less than two years ago men with white hats, yellow coats and hobnail boots arrived at William Booth College to commence the largest, single building project in the United Kingdom Territory since the first college was completed in 1929. As the project draws to its climax, we anticipate with growing excitement the stronger impact and influence the college’s ministry will have around the Army world.

William Booth College is in good company with others who have been through a building project. Six hundred years before Christ, a growing number of Jews returned from exile to a Jerusalem that lay in ruins.

The prophet Haggai recalls the story in our study passage. His Old Testament prophecy has an intensity about it that easily gets under the skin; but this is the role of the prophet. The prophet sees what others can’t, hears what others don’t and says what others won’t. Therefore, we should give Haggai a measured reading and take note when he says ‘give careful thought’ (1:5; 1:7; 2:15; 2:18) and ‘be strong’ (2:4 all quotations from New International Version).

The Temple had not been rebuilt, even though the foundation had been laid 15 years earlier. It still lay in ruins. The Jews were eager that the altar should be built but, as opposition grew, their determination waned and the project came to a halt.

Haggai speaks the word of God to his people. Little is known about Haggai, but through his leadership he encouraged the rebuilding of the Temple.

The piercing question in 1:9 is at the core of these early verses. God asks: ‘Why?’ So, what is ‘why’?

Simply stated, humankind’s priorities were not the same as God’s. The people were saying it was not the right time to rebuild the Lord’s house. Perhaps they were right. They lived with the political pressure of re-establishing their community with the aftershocks of a changed political landscape. The economy wasn’t in great shape; questions were undoubtedly asked about better ways of spending money. Some things never change!

God disagreed. There is never a good time to go against God. God says what, where and how to build. Haggai records, for future reference, the link between behaviour and circumstances (1:6 and 9–11).

Frustration, tiredness and emptiness are common emotions when the choices we make go against God’s plans. What is the ‘why?’ of verse 9? The text speaks of poor decision-making, blurred focus and mixed priorities. The comfort of a nice home (1:4) can be a distraction. As a consequence, the harvest failed – itself a sign of the judgment of God. No rain, no crops, no Temple. God extends grace, but also he disciplines and judges.

There is a more significant point from this text – so obvious, it is almost missed. Things began to change when God raised up a leader to lead his people: ‘The word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai’ (1:1). When God’s time has come, our time has come. Haggai was a leader who did the right things at the right time for the right reasons. Everything rises and falls on leadership.

Haggai saw the need to dream and could imagine what had not yet happened. We should never underestimate the power of a leadership moment that is the catalyst to changing a culture.

Building projects that bring honour and glory to God are biblical. The legacy of the William Booth College building project will not be the new or refurbished structures nor the quality of the food. The legacy will be the high calibre of leaders shaped by all that is offered from the college.

The necessity to build a temple may not be relevant for today, but the priority of leadership remains. There is a leadership vacuum – a shortage of people with the capacity for leadership.

William Booth College is now a training facility that will help to identify, train, send and provide continuing development opportunities for the next generation of spiritual leaders. Some might think that the money invested in refurbishing the college could have been better spent.

But God’s priorities must become our priorities. Haggai’s story tells us that when the leadership is clear, people gather around a common cause, temples are built and God is given his rightful place.