God Gave Them Up

“You looked for much, and behold, little! And when you brought it home, then I blew on it. Why, says Jehovah of Hosts? Because of My House that is waste, and you, each man runs to his own house.” (Haggai 1:9)

This was post-exile. The people had returned to Judah and had spent their time, energy and money on rebuilding their own homes. But they were not concerned about the rebuilding of the temple. “So says Jehovah of Hosts, saying: This people says, The time has not come, the time that Jehovah's house should be built.” (Haggai 1:2) So,  Haggai prophesied further saying they should consider their ways. This translation says “... Set your heart on your ways;” meaning the same thing. It’s a peculiar way of speaking but this was the meaning in the original.

Things were not going well with the repatriated. “... you have sown much and bring in little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you dress, but no one is warm; and he who hires out himself hires himself for a bag full of holes.” (Haggai 1:6) They were doing the right things, but were spinning their wheels, going nowhere and not getting ahead because they had neglected to rebuild the temple.

Before the New Covenant, God didn’t dwell in their hearts. He came to the Holy of Holies once a year when the high priest would enter the most Holy place and offer the sacrifice for their sins. And their sins were covered under that sacrifice for one year only. So it was imperative for them to rebuild the temple. They had failed to do this and the Lord literally was punishing them. (Haggai 1: 5,9) I am believing that is why many today think that when things go wrong, they did something wrong and the Lord is punishing them, but that is not the case under the New Covenant which Jesus established for us by His sacrifice, death and resurrection.

There is a difference today for two reasons. First, we are in the dispensation or time of mercy and grace. And also, Jesus took our sins, past, present and future. He took the punishment and the payment which is death. So, the Lord doesn’t punish us for wrong doing. But if we disobey the natural laws and laws of nature and humanity, there will be consequences legally, physically and in many other ways. Now like those Jews of Haggai’s time, we may encounter a time of just one thing going wrong after another. It is not God’s punishment, but it may be the consequence of not obeying God in some way. For instance, if an unmarried couple have sex, they most probably will have a child. And they will be strapped with the consequences of their sin in many ways for a long time.

In this dispensation of grace,  God has provided time for people to receive His gift of mercy and favor because of the redeeming work of Jesus. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that having denied ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live discreetly, righteously and godly, in this present world, (Tit 2:11-12). Paul preached for all to abandon the works of the flesh and to turn to the Lord, leaving sin because when you decide to do so, “sin shall not have dominion over you...” because of God’s grace. “Do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but yield yourselves to God, as one alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under Law, but under grace.”(Romans 6:13-14) Under the Law, punishment was swift. But we are not under that old covenant, but under a new covenant. “...knowing that a man is not justified by works of the Law, but through faith in Jesus Christ; even we believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith in Christ, and not by works of the Law. For all flesh will not be justified by works of law.” (Galatians 2:16) We have forgiveness of our sin because of Jesus. And believing in Jesus, abandoning the world and the flesh, and surrendering our lives to Him, we are born again of God, a new creation (2Corinthians 5:17) and live in the grace and favor of God as His children. (John 1:12)

I am going to reiterate something because there are many who say, “If Jesus has forgiven our future sins, then we can sin cause it’s already been forgiven.” But this is not true because when one receives Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are born again spiritually of course, but literally, we are reborn of God with a new nature and no longer have the nature of a sinner, but the nature of God. We cannot sin. And if we do “fall” into sin, we are more miserable than ever because it goes against our nature. I personally do not believe a person who has really been born again can sin willfully and continually. It’s not in his nature. A person who willfully and continually sins is not born again or has continually disobeyed God so that God has washed His hands of them.

Is it possible? Would God wash His hands and give up on people who continually sin? The Lord God did this in the Old Testament. “But My people would not listen to My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them up to the stubbornness of their own hearts; and they walked in their own conceits.” (Psalms  81:11-12) When Moses was up in the mountain with God and the people made a golden calf, the prophets wrote about what God thought about it. “Then God turned and gave them over to serve the host of the heavens, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: "O house of Israel, have you offered to Me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness?” (Acts 7:42) When Jesus walked the earth, the Pharisees continued in their unbelief. “But He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” (Matthew 15:13-14) Paul wrote about those who refuse to obey God and turn to their lust. “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.” (Romans 1:24) Paul along with Timothy and Silvanus write about the end times, how God will allow people to believe a lie because they reject Him. “ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, so that all those who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness, might be condemned.” (2Thessalonians 2:8-12) So it’s not only possible. It will happen. We are in the dispensation of grace, but this time will end. Then comes the judgement.

So in closing, we can see that the Jews were punished swiftly for disobeying and neglecting God’s Law. But we have a better covenant that is full of grace and forgiveness so that we can come to the Lord, sinless because of Jesus and are able to live a life of righteousness.

Let us pray:

Father God, I thank You for Your plan of salvation which You established from the beginning of the world. You knew my weakness and inability to be holy because of the fall. You are full of grace and mercy. I am grateful. I am grateful that You had pity on me and reached down and poured Your forgiveness on me because of Jesus, my Lord and my Savior. I am grateful because You touched me and healed me in my spirit, in my soul (mind, will and emotions) and in my body. I am grateful for Your grace that covers me and will be with me all the days of my life. I love You my Lord and worship You. You deserve all the praise and adoration of the whole earth. In the Name of Jesus I pray, amen.