Haggai was sent as a prophet to the remnant of Israel who had returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. He was sent with a difficult word for the people to hear. “Give careful thought to your ways,” Haggai cried out. It was a call to spiritual introspection.
In 1:1-12 we see God’s concern is that after a little more than a decade the people have blessed themselves with finely rebuilt homes but have neglected to rebuild the temple. “It’s not time yet,” they excused themselves. But God asks, “Is it a time for you to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” This hard question was not one about worship space but about priority.
The temple was they very symbol of God’s presence with the people. He pointed to the temple building as an illustration of their spiritual life. The temple was neglected because God was neglected. Yahweh had been relegated to the sidelines while the people spun and toiled for their own wellbeing. I asked of our congregation to consider our ways. In what ways have we neglected God by putting our own material concerns first?
God told the people to do three things: Go up the mountain, bring down the wood, and build my house. Hard work indeed. But they responded. They abandoned their own pursuit of “all of these things” and built his house again. Keeping God at the center of our day to day where he belongs involves the hard work of dying to self and seeking first the kingdom!
In chapter 2 (and in Ezra) we find that many were broken hearted at how this rebuilt temple compared to Solomon’s temple in all of its glory. But God encouraged them through Haggai by reassuring them that he was with them. He reminded them that the whole earth is his. He promised to shake heaven and earth to ensure that “the glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house.” And God does just that. Through the treasury of the kings of the Persian Empire and on into Herod’s rule, God did indeed prove that the silver and gold were his. That temple that the people mourned over became one of the wonders of the ancient world.
But even that temple in all of its majesty could not compare to Christ who said of himself, “One greater than the temple is here.” And Paul says of the church, “For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said, ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’” As the church we are the chosen means through which God would make his presence known to the world. We are the new symbol of God’s presence with his people. And that means work! Go up the mountain, bring it down, and build. God says to us, “I am with you and I will shake the very foundations of the earth until my glory is revealed through you.” That should be the operative understanding of who we are called to be as the church. Let us consider our ways!
Pastor Scott
In 1:1-12 we see God’s concern is that after a little more than a decade the people have blessed themselves with finely rebuilt homes but have neglected to rebuild the temple. “It’s not time yet,” they excused themselves. But God asks, “Is it a time for you to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” This hard question was not one about worship space but about priority.
The temple was they very symbol of God’s presence with the people. He pointed to the temple building as an illustration of their spiritual life. The temple was neglected because God was neglected. Yahweh had been relegated to the sidelines while the people spun and toiled for their own wellbeing. I asked of our congregation to consider our ways. In what ways have we neglected God by putting our own material concerns first?
God told the people to do three things: Go up the mountain, bring down the wood, and build my house. Hard work indeed. But they responded. They abandoned their own pursuit of “all of these things” and built his house again. Keeping God at the center of our day to day where he belongs involves the hard work of dying to self and seeking first the kingdom!
In chapter 2 (and in Ezra) we find that many were broken hearted at how this rebuilt temple compared to Solomon’s temple in all of its glory. But God encouraged them through Haggai by reassuring them that he was with them. He reminded them that the whole earth is his. He promised to shake heaven and earth to ensure that “the glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house.” And God does just that. Through the treasury of the kings of the Persian Empire and on into Herod’s rule, God did indeed prove that the silver and gold were his. That temple that the people mourned over became one of the wonders of the ancient world.
But even that temple in all of its majesty could not compare to Christ who said of himself, “One greater than the temple is here.” And Paul says of the church, “For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said, ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’” As the church we are the chosen means through which God would make his presence known to the world. We are the new symbol of God’s presence with his people. And that means work! Go up the mountain, bring it down, and build. God says to us, “I am with you and I will shake the very foundations of the earth until my glory is revealed through you.” That should be the operative understanding of who we are called to be as the church. Let us consider our ways!
Pastor Scott
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