THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT

Honoring God by abiding in and obeying His Word must take precedence over every other concern (Matthew 6:33; John 15:7-14; 14:21-24). However, according to the Lord, the Jews who returned to the Promised Land from the Babylonian captivity had their priorities reversed:

• “You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 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." (Haggai 1:9-11 ESV)

We too look for blessings but experience drought. Why? Because our priorities are reversed. We cannot expect God to honor us as long as we refuse to honor God as our Master:

• “If anyone serves me [Jesus], he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” (John 12:26)

This principle doesn’t only pertain to the next life:

• “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these [necessary] things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Israel’s leaders responded to the Word of God delivered by the Prophet Haggai:

• Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, "I am with you, declares the Lord." 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. (Haggai 1:13-14)

Joshua and Zerubbabel were godly leaders, but they too needed to hear the Word of God. However, they had already known God’s priorities, that the Temple had to be rebuilt and offerings had to be made.

Why hadn’t they enforced these priorities? Perhaps it was because they knew the desire of the returnees to first re-establish their own lives. Perhaps also they had reasoned, “Once we help the people re-establish their lives, they’ll be more agreeable to doing God’s work.” In any event, it is likely that they were leaning upon pragmatic human reasoning instead of the Word of God.

Mordecai was a man who had evidently placed the Word above all other considerations. Haman had been made the second most powerful man in the Persian empire. He therefore demanded that everyone should bow to him. However, the Jew Mordecai refused. Haman became so enraged that he had an edict passed ordering the killing of every Jew in the kingdom.

The pressure to compromise must have been unbearable. I am sure that many of his Jewish brethren had begged him, “Mordecai, is your honor worth more than the lives of our people! Just do what Haman wants. Bow before him, kiss his sandals, whatever it takes to save our people.” However, Mordecai evidently stood firm and trusted God more than human reasoning. Consequently, God rescued His people.

Will we sacrifice obedience to God according to His Word in favor of our own reasoning? If we do, we also reject trust-in-God in favor of trust-in-self and will most likely learn a painful object lesson.