Haggai and Zechariah: Consider Your Ways and Return to Me
Post 5 of 10 | Exploring Ezra: Return, Rebuild, Restore
By Tony Smith — preparedheart.org
God does not leave His people without a word. Israel did not abandon God overnight. They simply became preoccupied.
Sixteen years into the delay, with the temple still unfinished and the people settled comfortably into their paneled houses, God sent two prophets. He sent two prophets with a call to return, not an army to destroy. This reveals a great deal of the heart of the Lord. He desired repentance and restoration, not condemnation.
Haggai’s message was direct and it wasn’t subtle. Consider your ways! It appears five times in his short book, and the repetition is emphatic. The people had allowed the cares of life to crowd out the things of God one decision at a time, and Haggai put a mirror in front of them. Why are your efforts fruitless? Why are you struggling? Consider your ways. Their priorities were upside down and God was blowing their efforts away (Haggai 1:5-11).
Zechariah’s message was equally pointed but came with a tenderness: Return to Me (Zechariah 1:3). Where Haggai confronted the condition, Zechariah extended the invitation. Come back. The door is open. Together their messages formed what Paul describes as the full work of prophecy — edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Corinthians 14:3).
Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).
Notice what God did not send. He did not send a sledgehammer of condemnation. Conviction and condemnation are not the same thing. Condemnation pushes you from God. It piles on guilt, whispers that what you have done is unforgivable, and keeps you paralyzed. Conviction draws you back to Him.
The accuser of the brethren has always known that the best way to destroy you is to convince you to stay in that guilt (Revelation 12:10). Conviction, by contrast, cuts to the heart and leads to repentance. It is the work of the Holy Spirit and it always leads back to God (2 Corinthians 7:9-10).
Haggai and Zechariah brought God’s Word of conviction. It cut them to the heart, and moved them to action.
In Ezra 5:1-2 the people obeyed. That single act of obedience carries the weight of everything that follows. The result of their obedience was the promise of God’s presence: “I am with you” (Haggai 1:13). When God says, “I am with you,” opposition loses its power and impossible work becomes possible.
The same pattern holds today. When the Word of God confronts you — through Scripture, through a faithful teacher, through the conviction of the Spirit — the question is not whether the word is true. The question is what you do with it. Do you humble yourself and return? Or do you let condemnation keep you from the very God who is calling you back?
James 4:10 says it plainly: humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Consider your ways. Return to Him.
Exploring Ezra: Return, Rebuild, Restore is a ten-lesson printed study guide through all ten chapters of the book of Ezra with free teaching notes for leaders to help facilitate the study. Available now at preparedheart.org.