During the time of Prophet Haggai, God Almighty sent the prophet to the Israelites to warn them of their sins and the need for them to repent, the same way He is sending me to you today to warn you about your sins.
He told the prophet that the Israelites are sinning and because of their sins, He has caused them so much hardship.
The same way the Lord is telling us, Nigerians today that He is punishing us because of our sins, sins of adultery, fornication, and stealing, cheating, lying and fraudulent transactions.
He is telling us as a nation, then as individuals that the stagnation we are experiencing is due to our sins. You are suffering because you have cheated too many people that is why you are not making progress in your career, in your businesses. You have lied to too many people; you have cheated too many girls, that is why your marriage is not working out. You have committed too many abortions, that is why you are not getting pregnant again!
The prophet asked the Israelites this question: “If one of you is carrying some meat for a holy sacrifice in his robes and his robe happens to brush against some bread or stew, wine or olive oil, or any other kind of food, will it also become holy” And the Israelites said, No!
Take for instance, an anointed man of God, a miracle working child of God who mistakenly brushes his body on that of a prostitute in a large crowd. Does that make the prostitute holy, or does that defile the prophet? The answer is No!
Then Haggai asked, “If someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then touches any of these foods, will the food be defiled? And the priests answered, “Yes” Haggai 2:13
Again, let’s look at this instance where a Great man of God out of error or temptation deliberately sleeps with a born-again sister who is also a virgin, is this former virgin and born-again sister defiled and with sin?- Yes. Is the prophet with sin? – Yes!
And Haggai replied them saying, “That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the Lord. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled by their sin” Haggai 2:14
So when we sin we become polluted, we smell to the Lord and when we smell to Him, He cannot be attracted to us.
Try to imagine a friend of yours, a very close friend who suddenly begins to have a very bad body odor, that friend of yours, whether male or female will no longer attract you the way he/she used to before because of this unfavorable smell. You will always be conscious of him or her whenever he is coming to you and very soon you will no longer want to associate with him, and soon enough you will start dodging him.
That is the way it is with us and God. When we live in sin, we smell to God and He moves away. And when He moves away, it becomes a problem to us because at such times we attract all sorts of negative things, things that are associated with evil and devil.
Haggai said in Chapter 2 verse 15 to 17 of the Book Haggai, “Look at what was happening to you before you began to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple (Before you started to do the will of God). When you hoped for twenty- bushel crop, (When you expected to get twenty thousand naira from your legitimate business and work), you harvested only ten (you get only ten thousand naira). When you expected to get fifty gallons from the wine-press, you found only twenty. I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy everything you worked so hard to produce. Even so, you refused to return to me, says the Lord”
So Satan is not the one responsible for those hard times you are facing, God says he brought them upon you so you can change but in spite of all He has done you still refuse to change and turn to Him.
Because you did not realize that your stagnation and sufferings came from God, you continued in your sins and refuse to return to God.
But today that you are hearing this word of God, note this, that stagnation, lack of fruit of the womb and career progress including all the sufferings you are experiencing are not caused by that old witch in your village, it is because you have disobeyed God Almighty. Therefore it is time for you to ask God for forgiveness and quickly return to Him.
God says if you repent today, He will begin to bless you. He said, though you are just sowing now by doing His will, preaching the gospel and teaching His word to the people, He will start to bless you from today in Jesus name, amen.
He said, “I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the ban. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you” Haggai 2:19
That means from today your sufferings are over in Jesus name, amen.
Praise God.
trying to make sense of or find any consistency in their religion is a fool’s errand