August 13, 2023
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Haggai? Here’s today’s reading:
Haggai 1 (NIV)
A Call to Build the House of theLord
1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest:
2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’ ”…..Continue Reading
Haggai is speaking to those that have returned after the 70 year exile. They were returning to rubble and a destroyed place. They needed to rebuild and start over and I am sure that task felt daunting but instead of trusting in God and getting to work they seemed to be making excuses for not getting to work on the rebuilding of the temple which God had instructed them to do. Instead they were worrying about themselves (and probably doing a fair share of feeling sorry for themselves) and Haggai reminds them of god’s plan, what God had done for them and instructs them to get their priorities right and get back on track. A reminder we all need from time to time when we are getting in our own way and not listening to God even if we think it is justified behavior.
The prophets Haggai and Zechariah which were contemporaries of each other were prophets during the reign of Darius a Persian king. As we studied earlier when King Cyrus conquered the Babylonians he allowed the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem with the holy vessels, etc. This was a fulfilment of scripture. According to Haggai it was him that spoke out about the people only building their own homes and forgetting about building the temple. He urged Zerubbabel whose was appointed as governor to build the temple. He emphasis was that they weren`t being blessed because they were neglecting the temple. They were thinking of their homes and themselves first and foremost before God. Then the people did the work of building the temple. The Lord wasn`t blessing them and was also causing problems so they would reach out to Him. For example causing drought. But the Lord speaking through the prophets promised to bless them if they obeyed and built the temple and then have a place to worship Him. This reminds me of us Christians where the Lord wants us to put Him first in everything we do. Giving the tithe would be one of these. Also as a home owner where we have so much to do but the Lord should be first. It can be overwhelming for the property was neglected for many years when my father was alive and we weren`t allowed to make improvements. Finally within the last year Melodye and myself became homeowners. eventually we will get things done but it will take a long time just to get caught up to make the land in good shape. We just want this land to be blessed of the Lord. Our prayer is that the Lord will bless us as we go forward. We are also trying to make our property a working property where the Lord would use it to glorify His name. We are not sure but perhaps garden providing for the church and maybe community. Perhaps the youth group having a retreat on the property. We do have 5 acres of land. Maybe supplying fire wood to those who need it and can`t afford it. Maybe also selling it. We are open to however the Lord leads. It would be great if we could use this property to share Jesus with the lost. We both would love to do that. I wasn`t sure about sharing this but their has been some in our church that have encouraged me to share our need of physical help. Sorry we won`t be in church again tomorrow because of our heath. It`s been 4 weeks for me. We really miss the fellowship but we will be on line during the worship service. God bless everyone.
Thanks for sharing that Dennis. I have had some thoughts about using our home for the work of the Lord. We have done foster care for many years, and at one point I envisioned a large addition on our home for foster kids who have “aged out” of the system. Now we have our own kids back in the house! and I do feel like that is how the Lord is directing us to serve at this time.
Haggai 1, sometimes God brings upon His people less than desirable life conditions, to demonstrate His will. God says His temple shall be built. The people say, no. God says, you ought to think about that for a minute….
Where is their economic prosperity? Farmers grow, but not enough. Money collected, but in bags with holes. Sounds like today.
God uses situations in life to bring us about. May we have the Spititual sensitivity to recognize the hand that says to go this way or that. -gy
Done
One of the greater challenges of the Christian life, especially here in prosperous America, is to prioritize the things of God over material and financial things and things of fun and pleasure. It would be tempting for me to mention things that need to be done at the church and compare it to how our own homes look, but the temple represented far more to the people of Israel. It represented God’s presence with the people and provided the means to worship Him and to be made right with Him. It was more about their relationship with Him, and thus I believe the better application for us is what things do we allow to come before our relationship with God. The time we spend with Him in His word and in prayer, the time we spend in doing works of service, and the commitment we have to evangelism are all aspects of how we prioritize our relationship with God over the things of the world. Our checkbooks/bank statements and our daily schedule are good indicators of the priorities we keep. And that is exactly what God is saying to the people of Judah here, to right the balance, and He even has shown them in experiences they have had that He is not happy with the choices they are making. He does the same to us….when all our efforts outside of God’s will just don’t work out the way we thought. We should be glad when God disrupts our plans to direct us to His plan. May we follow as readily as the people here…and may God provide inspiration in our hearts to grease the wheels of our involvement with Him.
I was thinking about what the application of Haggai 1 is to us now. What is the temple today? It is us….not our church building, but we are a temple of the HS. I don’t think this means we should take better care of our bodies (although perhaps we should be better stewards of our bodies). I think this applies to our spiritual “health”, as Pastor says devoting our time and minds to the Lord. I think it also applies to the body of Christ, the Church.
Haggai 1 and 2