“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’ Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai: ‘Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?’” – Haggai 1:2-4 NLT
All the Minor Prophets up to this point had been sent by God to issue a warning of impending judgment due to sinful behavior. Haggai was commissioned to give a message to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah and Jeshua, the son of the High Priest to finish what they had started. The backstory is that in 586 BC the people of Judah were taken captive to Babylon and the Babylonian armies completely destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. Once Cyrus, king of Persia, had allowed the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem in 520 BC the Lord had told the Jews thru Haggai that they were to rebuild the Temple of the Lord. The people, under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, began the rebuilding process.
Over time the people became more concerned with building beautiful homes for themselves than complete the Lord’s Temple. In addition, they had begun their sinful ways again. God was not pleased with the priorities they had set and had Haggai remind them that God must always be their first priority.
It stands true for us today as well. If the Lord is first in your life he will be with you to lead and guide, to strengthen and encourage. But if you do as you please placing yourself and your own needs as your first priority the Lord will not be with you. To illustrate, having the Lord as your first priority is like walking into a pitch black room with a flashlight. Placing yourself and your own concerns first is like walking into a pitch black room with no light at all to show the way.
The Jews finished the Temple but those who remembered the majesty of Solomon’s Temple, destroyed just 66 years earlier were disappointed with the new Temples inferior appearance. Haggai encouraged the people that the glory of this temple would far surpass that of the one, which preceded it.
The most important element of the new Temple was the presence of the Lord. Is the presence of the Lord real to you? Is he the top priority of your life? He needs to be, for if he is he will be with you and guide you thru this tangled web of a life. Until next time, walk with the king and be a blessing! rlkeller
Resource: The Life Application Study Bible.
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