The next book in what we call the
“Minor Prophets” (so called due to size, not importance) is Haggai. He’s
post-exilic, meaning he lived and prophesied after King Darius allowed the
exiles from Judah and Israel to return to their homeland. For obvious reasons,
the returnees had a really hard time when they returned. The infrastructure was
completely shot, Jerusalem still lay in ruins, and the wall surrounding the
city was broken down, leaving all its citizens vulnerable. The books of Ezra
and Nehemiah tell the story.
But if you read the book of Ezra,
you might notice something rather striking. When the exiles returned, the first
thing on their agenda was the temple. The once-great structure that was meant
to be the envy of the nations and to draw them
from the four corners of the earth into worshiping the Lord was completely
torn apart by the Babylonians. Partly to discourage the Israelites and partly
to plunder any valuable artifacts, they tore it apart piece by piece.
And when the exiles returned,
rebuilding and resanctifying the temple and getting it back into operation was
priority one. But over time, the hands of the workers grew tired. They
encountered severe opposition from their neighbors and were accused of plotting
rebellion against King Darius. So the work stopped.
That’s where Haggai—called by the
Lord—stepped in.
Please keep in mind that the
original Hebrew didn’t have punctuation like we think of it. There was no
exclamation mark or italics or bold font to express emphasis. So the main way
God’s word emphasizes something we need to pay attention to is by use of
repetition. Let me reiterate: If the Bible repeats a word or phrase, then
that’s something we need to pay extra attention to.
Here the Lord twice tells the exiles
“Give careful thought to your ways.” If they were paying attention, they might
have noticed that the Lord didn’t seem to be blessing their efforts at
rebuilding their nation. Let’s say they planted a crop and reasonably expected
a return of X amount in their harvest. And they got half that. They never
really got enough to eat or drink and be satisfied. They never had enough
clothes to keep warm. They earned money, only to see it lost.
If
they listened to Haggai, then they wouldn’t have to wonder about the cause.
Mystery solved: They were doing something that seriously offended the Lord.
Specifically they were going back to rebuilding their own houses while
neglecting his.
Now,
we need to think this through using the whole of Scripture. Why was the Lord so
adamant about this? Did he really “live” in the temple like a person lives in a
house? Of course not. Solomon, the builder of the original temple, knew better
than this (see the link above). God is omnipresent. He fills heaven and earth to overflowing.
Technically speaking, you’re no more in his presence in a temple or church
building than anywhere else. And we no longer have a building
as a temple; every believer
is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
But the temple was the official
meeting place for worshipers of the God of Israel. It was there that
sacrifices were made. But it wasn’t for the Lord’s
sake but for the peoples’ sake that
he wanted them to finish the project. And by neglecting the rebuilding the
temple, that showed something disturbing about their priorities.
So how can we apply this, since we
don’t have a physical temple anymore? I think we need to move past the
immediate problem of building a temple to the attitude which the Lord was
condemning here. Where do his values fit into my priorities? Do I neglect what
he considers important in favor of my own selfish interests? Do I neglect my
personal or corporate time with him in favor of my own convenience and
gratification? Which “house” gets more of my attention?
If you’ll excuse me, I think I need
some Spirit-examination here.
Father God, I hear you saying to me:
“Give careful thought to your ways.” You deserve the best worship and the best
worshipers. Inside and out, please cleanse me and remove anything that
distracts me from you.
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