Work Through the Bible, Part 9ናሙና

Haggai connects the economic and social well-being of the people with the state of the environment. When there is disease in the physical environment on which we depend, there is disease in human society, and one of the marks of an unhealthy society is its contribution to the disease of the environment.

There is also a link between the way a community worships and cares for the land and the economic and political condition of those who occupy the land. The prophets call us to re-learn the lesson that respect for the creator of the earth we occupy is a starting point for peace between the earth and its inhabitants. For Haggai, the drought of the land and the ruin of the temple are inseparable. True and whole-hearted worship ushers in peace and blessing from the land. If Christians were to do their work according to the vision of the prophets, we could have a profoundly beneficial impact on the planet and all those who inhabit it.

If desolation is part of God’s punishment for the sin of the people, then productive ground is part of their restoration. Indeed, in quite different circumstances, Zechariah has a very similar vision to that of Amos during the time of Israelite prosperity: people experiencing wellbeing in the form of sitting under the fig trees that they planted. “On that day, says the Lord of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your vine and fig tree” (Zech. 3:10). Peace with God includes care for the earth that God has made. Productive land, of course, has to be worked in order to yield its fruit. And so the world of work is intimately connected with the realization of abundant life.

Lord, your Word indicates that one of the marks of an unhealthy society is its contribution to the disease of the environment. I want to experience productive work as you intended it—not according to my vision and ways, but in accordance with yours. Show me how to work according to your ways. Amen.