Haggai 2:16

"Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty."

"Through all that time ..." Through all the fourteen years after they had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, and during which time they had utterly neglected it. Crops failed, expectations were not met; God did not bless them. So-called "modern man" is inclined to reject any view that connects his earthly success with concern for holy religion, but he is profoundly wrong in this. A broad view of the human race on earth clearly reveals that the people who have honored God enjoy degrees of earthly prosperity unmatched and even unapproached by anything visible in those lands where paganism still prevails. As long as a substantial proportion of a nation are God-fearing, honest, Christ-worshipping people, the land prospers, much of the prosperity spilling over to bless blatant and unrepentant sinners; but when the character of a whole nation is changed, the blessings of God are invariably withheld. Individually, therefore, there must be countless exceptions to the principle expounded by Haggai; but, as applied to nations, there are no historical exceptions to it. Godless Russia, possessing three fifths of the resources of the whole world today and unable to feed its population is a classical and current example.