"This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,' says the Lord."
Haggai 1:7, 8 NIV
Historical Setting
Haggai's messages were given during a four-month period in 520 B.C., the second year of King Darius of Persia, who defended the returning exiled Jews' efforts to rebuild the city walls and the temple in Jerusalem. His predecessor, Cyrus, had issued permission but neighboring Samaritans and others feared Zerubbabel's efforts and opposed them.
Personal Reflection
Self-centeredness … laziness … fear of what the neighbors would think kept God's people from achieving a great goal for Him then, as it often does now. Their excuse was "It isn't the right time" (1:2). God's answer was "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" and "Be strong … and work. For I am with you" (2:4). We forget that when God blesses what we do, nothing is impossible (Luke 18:27).
God points out that the emptiness of their lives and futility of their efforts stems from their self-centeredness. "You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." (1:6)
Finally, God points out that their rebuilding the temple only creates a bare stage for God to bring his glory and peace back to Israel, perhaps even alluding to their work in the greater plan of redemption. In 2:7-9 he promises, "I will shake all nations and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory . The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord Almighty. "The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house, says the Lord Almighty. "And in this place I will grant peace," declares the Lord Almighty.
Outline of Book
I. First Message: The Call to Rebuild the Temple (1:1-11)
II. The Response of Zerubbabel and the People (1:12-15)
III. Second Message: The Temple to Be Filled with Glory (2:1-9)
IV. Third Message: A Defiled People Purified and Blessed (2:10-19)
V. Fourth Message: The Promise to Zerubbabel (2:20-23)
As you read the book of Haggai this week, ask these personal questions:
1. Are there things that I would like to achieve for God's glory and with His help?
2. Am I afraid to tackle them because of what others might think, say or do? Because of laziness? Because of self-centeredness?
3. Are my excuses any less lame than "The time hasn't come yet"? Or Moses' "I'm not the guy"? (Exodus 3:11) Or the lazy one-talent servant's "I didn't want to risk it"? (Matthew 25:25)
4. Is God withholding blessings from me, perhaps even for the same reasons He did from the Jews reticent to rebuild His temple? (2:15)
5. What emptiness in your life are you trying to fill with food, drink, possessions, or work that can only be filled by God's spirit (1:6)?
6. What difference would it make if you saw your role as only creating the stage for God's glory to shine forth? If you realized that your work for the Lord was necessary, but not sufficient?
As you read the book of Haggai this week, consider these questions for our church, family, community, and world situation:
1. How profound or effective is a message of encouragement today? How common is it?
2. How would it affect our view of the economy if everyone recognized that "'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the Lord Almighty"? (2:8)
3. How would it affect our priorities if everyone believed that God will in fact judge all nations, shaking one final time "what can be shaken -- that is, created things -- so that what cannot be shaken may remain"? (Heb 12:27, quoting Haggai 2:6).
- Keith and Angi Brenton
(Keith Brenton is a web designer/writer for the Abilene Reporter-News. Angi Brenton is Dean of the College of Professional Studies at UALR.)
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