My Notes
What Does Haggai 1:7 Mean?
"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways." The five-word command that defines Haggai's message: CONSIDER YOUR WAYS. The Hebrew is even more vivid: 'Set your heart upon your ways' — direct your attention, your emotional center, your decision-making faculty toward the PATH you've been walking. The command isn't to consider God's ways or someone else's ways. It's to consider YOUR OWN.
The phrase "consider your ways" (simu levavchem al darkheykhem — set your hearts upon your roads/paths) is both self-examination and course-correction: 'set your heart' means DIRECT your attention (the heart is the seat of attention and decision). 'Upon your ways' means toward your OWN behavior (the path you've been walking, the choices you've been making). The command is: look at what you're doing. Evaluate your own course. Assess your own direction.
The context gives the command its urgency: the people have built their OWN houses but left God's house in ruins (verse 4). They've sowed much but harvested little (verse 6). They earn wages that disappear into a 'bag with holes' (verse 6). The 'considering' should reveal the connection: your personal prosperity isn't working because God's house is neglected. The 'ways' that need considering are the PRIORITIES.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you honestly considered your ways — and what did the considering reveal?
- 2.What does 'set your HEART' (not just your mind) on your ways teach about the depth of self-examination required?
- 3.What connection between your personal futility and your spiritual priorities might 'considering' reveal?
- 4.What 'bag with holes' — what evaporating prosperity — is the symptom of neglected priorities?
Devotional
Consider your ways. Five words. The most direct command in Haggai — and one of the most powerful in all the prophets. Set your heart on the path you've been walking. Look at what you've been doing. Evaluate the direction you've chosen. The considering isn't about God's ways. It's about YOURS.
The 'set your heart upon your ways' is a self-examination command: the heart — your attention center, your decision-making core — must be directed AT your own behavior. Not at other people's behavior. Not at the economy. Not at the political situation. YOUR ways. YOUR path. YOUR choices. The examination begins at home.
The context makes the command devastating: the people have been building their OWN houses (paneled, decorated, comfortable) while God's Temple lies in ruins (verse 4). They've been sowing much but reaping little (verse 6). They eat but aren't satisfied. They drink but aren't filled. They earn wages that evaporate — 'a bag with holes' (verse 6). The 'considering' should produce a CONNECTION: the personal futility is caused by the divine neglect. Your ways aren't working because your PRIORITIES are wrong.
The repetition — Haggai says 'consider your ways' TWICE (verses 5 and 7) — makes the command INSISTENT: once might be missed. Twice demands attention. The double command says: this isn't a suggestion. This is the central issue. The considering of your ways is the first step toward everything changing. Until you CONSIDER, nothing SHIFTS.
Have you considered your ways — honestly, with your heart directed at your own choices? And what did the considering reveal?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. What they have been; what has been the consequence of them; and to…
It was the complaint of the Jews in Babylon that they saw not their signs, and there was no more prophet (Psa 74:9),…