Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. – Haggai 1:10

Today's Scripture Reading (October 1, 2023): Haggai 1

Weather patterns on this planet that we share have always held more than just a little mystery. However, as time passed, we did begin to notice that there was a cycle to the weather that we experienced. Rain and dry weather came in seasons. The mechanism of why remained a mystery, but we started to plant and harvest according to the cycle we noticed in the weather patterns. Northern climates also provided for another cycle of warmth and cold. Snow fell, but once again, usually only in its season. But no matter how cold it got, we knew that warmth would return after the cold season had passed. The same cycle held for the storms, hurricanes, and cyclones that emerged from the planet's oceans. Some weather was beneficial; it helped us feed our people, but other weather patterns remained destructive. I am not sure that it is accidental that much of the planet's innovation came from people who lived in areas that experienced extreme weather because, within those extremes, people had to find a way to survive.

We call one of the weather patterns, a cycle of changing winds and heavy rains, a monsoon. Wind patterns altered, and with the change in the wind came either dry or wet weather. The monsoons that reigned in Africa soon became reasonably well understood. What was less understood was what became known as the North American monsoon, a similar change in the weather pattern in the southern United States and Mexico.

But, there is some evidence that the North American Monsoon is drying up. It is not disappearing altogether; we recently experienced a reoccurrence of the traditional monsoon pattern in Mexico and the South Western U. S. But, it isn't as regular as it once was, and maybe not as vibrant.

The change in the North American monsoon season seems to be coinciding with an expanding hurricane season and a higher level of violence in the storms that season produces. The increased storms and the infrequent monsoons in North America are causing increased damage and a need for more spending on disaster relief. Weather is becoming more harmful and less beneficial. It is a problem that we have to find a way to address.

Haggai was a prophet. He began to teach that the earth was withholding its moisture. The people were already experiencing that in their outside world. As a result, there were no crops to grow to feed the people. During the days of Haggai, the weather wasn't well understood. Still, the people understood there were cycles in the region's climate that included times of drought and famine that seemed to reoccur every few years or on a decadal cycle. The people likely believed they were caught in one of those regular cycles.

But the prophet had a different message for the people. This period of drought wasn't part of the normal cycle; this was special. God was withholding the dew, the moisture of the earth because the Temple remained in ruins. If the people wanted the weather to return to its normal cycle, then the rebuilding of the Temple would need to be given priority.

But Haggai was a prophet. And some prophecies have an extension beyond what the prophet intended to convey. I believe that this is one of those prophecies. Weather changes in our contemporary world seem to directly result from climate change, something for which we have been at least partially responsible. And yet, it amazes me how often Christians refuse to see our own guilt and sin. This planet was given to us to care for, and we have failed. As a result, the monsoons are drying up, and destructive storms are becoming more frequent. Our weather has less benevolence because the good in weather is succumbing to the destruction that storms can bring. And yet, like the people in Haggai's day, we insist that these changes are nothing more than the normal cycle of weather.

We need a Haggai to stand up and boldly say that this planet, this Temple God has given us, lies in ruin because of our behavior. And if we wish God to return the dew to the ground and the storms to their place, then we, as Christians, have a responsibility to take climate change more seriously. We need to hear the words of Haggai afresh one more time so that God will return the dew to the places where it needs to fall and cause the good of the land to be released.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Haggai 2