Source: Bible Journey: Study 3: Prophecy & Restoration, Course 7: Minor Prophets, Part 3, Lesson 2: Haggai, In | The Earth Withholding Its Produce
“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)
The “earth withheld its produce” and there was “a drought on the land and the hills” because the people weren’t rebuilding God’s house. God is telling the people, in effect, “You’re trying to get my crops without having my presence. The crops are for your feasts at my Temple, and without the Temple, I’m not going to give them to you.”
They have it backwards. They’ve been using the absence of plentiful resources as an excuse for not starting construction. Haggai is telling them they lack resources precisely because they haven’t started construction—in faith. Until the people rediscover God at the center of their community, and their priorities, they’ll never have enough.