NEARLY 2,521 YEARS AGO, ON AUGUST 29, 520 B.C., THE PROPHET HAGGAI DELIVERS A STERN MESSAGE OF IMPENDING JUDGMENT TO THE PEOPLE OF JUDAH WHO WERE NEGLECTING THE TEMPLE OF GOD.
FRESH OUT OF BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY THE PEOPLE HAD BECOME CONTENT IN THEIR FREEDOM. EVEN THOUGH THE KING OF PERSIA HAD GIVEN THEM HIS BLESSING TO RESUME CONSTRUCTION ON THE TEMPLE THEY STILL MANAGED TO LAPSE INTO SPIRITUAL LAZINESS.
THEY SOON BECAME EXPERTS OF PROCRASTINATION. WITH THEIR NEWLY ISSUED “BUILDING PERMIT” THEY DECIDED TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES FIRST. ALL-OF-A-SUDDEN THE TEMPLE WAS NO LONGER A PRIORITY.
THE FACILITIES REMAINED A DELAPIDATED MESS AND NOBODY WAS IN A HURRY TO FIX IT. IN FACT, THE CONTINUED MEETING FOR WORSHIP AMONGST ALL THE RUINS OF THE TEMPLE AS IF THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.
EVERYONE CHERISHED THEIR OWN PROPERTY MORE THAN THE THINGS OF GOD. AS THEIR OWN HOMES BECAME EXTRAVAGANT THE TEMPLE SAT IN DISREPAIR AND RUIN. OVER A COURSE OF TIME, THE PEOPLE SLOWLY LOST THEIR PASSION FOR THE WORSHIP OF THE LIVING GOD.
REGARDLESS OF WHAT REASONS OR EXCUSES THE PEOPLE HAD FOR FALLING INTO THIS CONDITION, THE MESSAGE FROM GOD TO HAGGAI WAS TO TELL THE PEOPLE TO GET BUSY AND FINISH MY TEMPLE!
APPARENTLY, THE ISRAELITES WEREN’T MAKING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN CROP FAILURE, LACK OF HARVEST, AND A DROUGHT WITH THEIR SPIRITUAL CONDITION.
HAGGAI WAS TRYING TO GET THEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT THEY WERE FOCUSING ON INSIGNIFICANT MATTERS LIKE DECORATING THEIR HOMES WHEN THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUSY BUILDING THE TEMPLE.
THEY BEGAN PAYING MORE ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES AND TO THEIR OWN POSSESSIONS. THEY HAD BECOME SPIRITUALLY BLIND TO THE THINGS OF GOD. SOON, THE TEMPLE WAS NOTHING MORE TO THEM THAN “JUST” A BUILDING.
HAGGAI WAS QUICK IN REMINDING THEM THAT IT WAS MORE THAN “JUST” A BUILDING. HE TOLD THEM THAT IT WAS THE SITE WHERE THE PEOPLE COULD MEET TOGETHER WITH THE LIVING GOD.
IN OTHER WORDS, IGNORING THE PHYSICAL RUIN OF THE TEMPLE WAS A SIGN THAT THEY WERE NOT ONLY IGNORING GOD, BUT THEY WERE ALSO IGNORING THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THEIR OWN SOULS.
HAGGAI DELIVERS THE MESSAGE OF GOD THAT THE PEOPLE SHOULD “CONSIDER THEIR WAYS.” THE PEOPLE NEEDED TO STOP AND THINK ABOUT HOW FAR THEY HAD NOT ONLY LET THE TEMPLE GO, BUT HOW PERVERTED THEIR PRIORITIES HAD BECOME IN RELATION TO GOD.
NEGLECTING GOD AND PUTTING THE PRIORITY UPON THEMSELVES PROVED FRUITLESS. THEIR SELF-CENTEREDNESS HAD NOT PRODUCED ECONOMIC STABILITY NOR ANY KIND OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH.
THEIR ABUNDANT PLANTINGS HAS RESULTED IN ONLY MEAGER HARVESTS. THE SIMPLEST NECESSITIES OF LIFE – FOOD, DRINK, AND CLOTHING – WERE NOT BEING MET. WORST OF ALL, THEY SPENT THEMSELVES AND BECAME SPIRITUALLY BANKRUPT IN HEART, SOUL AND MIND.
ALL THEIR EFFORTS AT FARMING AND WAGE-EARNING AVAILED NOTHING BECAUSE THEY HAD PUT NOTHING INTO MAKING THE LORD THEIR FIRST PRIORITY AND FIRST LOVE.
GOD REBUKES THEM FOR WHAT THEY HAD NOT DONE AND SHOWS THEM THE FRUITLESSNESS OF WHAT THEY HAD DONE. HE NOW CHALLENGES THEM WITH WHAT THEY SHOULD DO – REBUILD THE TEMPLE TO THE GLORY OF GOD.
HAGGAI DELIVERS THIS SIMPLE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE. THE GOOD NEWS OF THIS MESSAGE IS THAT IT IS ONE OF ENCOURAGEMENT.
HAGGAI ENCOURAGES THE LEADERS AND PEOPLE OF JUDAH TO START REBUILDING THE TEMPLE. THE RECORD SHOWS THAT THE PEOPLE RESPONDED IN TWO WAYS.
FIRST, THEY OBEYED THE VOICE OF GOD AND HIS MESSAGE DELIVERED BY HAGGAI THE PROPHET. THIS IS PROOF OF AN EFFECTIVE CHANGE IN THEIR ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS.
SECOND, THEY FEARED THE LORD. THIS IS PROOF THAT THEY DEVELOPED A NEW AWE AND REVERENCE FOR GOD BECAUSE THEY TOOK TIME TO PONDER THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THEIR PAST DISOBEDIENCE AND SELF-CENTERDNESS. IT WAS ALSO THEIR WAY OF SHOWING THEY HAD A NEW SENSE OF OBEDIENCE TO DIVINE PRIORITIES.
BECAUSE OF THEIR OBEDIENCE GOD PROMISED HIMSELF TO THEM AS IMMANUEL WHICH MEANS “GOD IS WITH US!” BECAUSE GOD SAID, “I AM WITH YOU,” THE PEOPLE WERE GIVEN THE ASSURANCE THAT IMMANUEL WOULD BE WITH THEM TO GUIDE AND EMPOWER THEM TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR MONUMENTAL TASK.
IT SOON DAWNED ON THEM THAT THEY HAD THEIR SPIRITUAL PRIORITIES ALL MIXED UP. THEY REALIZED THAT THEY WERE THE ONLY WITNESSES TO GOD’S DIVINE TRUTH. IF THEY PROVED FAITHLESS, IT WOULD DAMAGE, IF NOT DESTROY, GOD’S REPUTATION.
THEY UNDERSTOOD THE GREAT RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING GOD’S REPRESENTATIVES IN THE WORLD. THEY WERE ABLE TO SEE HOW THEY WEREN’T DOING A VERY GOOD JOB OF IT. THEY REPENTED, OBEYED AND GOT TO WORK.
IT ONLY TOOK THEM 23 DAYS TO MAKE THEIR PLANS, GATHER THE NECESSARY CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL AND GET THE BUILDING UNDER WAY. THEY DID WHAT GOD TOLD THEM!
WHAT ABOUT US? IS GOD CALLING OUT TO US SAYING, “GIVE CAREFUL THOUGHT TO YOUR WAYS?” THESE WORDS PASSED ONTO US FROM THE PROPHET HAGGAI ARE A CONSTANT REMINDER TO THE CHURCH TODAY. THE QUESTION IS: WILL WE BE JUST AS FAST IN OUR RESPONSE?
I HOPE OUR RESPONSE WOULD BE TO DO THOSE THINGS THAT ARE RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. CAN WE KEEP THE ORDINARY OCCUPATIONS OF LIFE FROM BECOMNG MORE ATTRACTIVE TO US THAN THE THINGS OF GOD?
WE CAN BY TAKING INVENTORY OF WHERE WE STAND WITH GOD PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY AND SPIRITUALLY. CAN WE STRIVE TO BUILD UP GOD’S TEMPLE IN THESE THREE WAYS?
FIRST, WE STRIVE TO BUILD UP GOD’S TEMPLE PHYSICALLY BY LITERALLY TAKING CARE OF OUR PHYSICAL BODIES. 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20, “DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT YOUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO IS IN YOU, WHOM YOU HAVE FROM GOD, AND YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN? FOR YOU WERE BOUGHT AT A PRICE; THEREFORE GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY AND IN YOUR SPIRIT WHICH ARE GOD’S.”
WE MAKE SURE WE NEVER ALLOW THEM TO BECOME DISMANTLED THROUGH PHYSICAL NEGLECT. THIS IS WHY WE DIET, EXERCISE AND GET PROPER REST. WE TAKE CARE IN BUILDING OUR PHYSICAL TEMPLES PROPERLY.
SECOND, WE STRIVE TO BUILD UP GOD’S TEMPLE MENTALLY BY TAKING CARE OF OUR MINDS. SPIRITUAL GROWTH BEGINS IN OUR MIND.
ROMANS 12:2, “DON’T COPY THE BEHAVIOR AND CUSTOMS OF THIS WORLD, BUT LET GOD TRANSFORM YOU INTO A NEW PERSON BY CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK….”
WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LET THE VALUES OF THIS WORLD MOLD AND SHAPE OUR WAYS OF THINKING. THIS IS WHY IT IS SO CRITICAL FOR US TO GUARD WHAT GOES INTO OUR MINDS.
THIS IS WHY WE ARE CAREFUL WITH SELECTING WHAT WE WATCH ON TV, THE BOOKS WE READ, STYLES OF MUSIC WE LISTEN TO AND THE FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT WE ENGAGE IN ON A DAILY BASIS.
ABOVE ALL¸WE ENSURE THAT WE SATURATE OUR MINDS BY LEARNING GOD’S WORD. WE PRAY, AS DID SOLOMON IN 1 KINGS 3:5-14, THAT GOD WILL GIVE US AN “UNDERSTANDING MIND SO THAT [WE] CAN…KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG.” WE TAKE CARE IN BUILDING OUR MENTAL TEMPLES PROPERLY.
OUR THIRD AND OUR FINAL WAY THAT WE STRIVE TO BUILD UP GOD’S TEMPLE IS SPIRITUALLY. WE’VE HEARD MANY CLICHÉS SUCH AS “SEVEN DAYS WITHOUT PRAYER MAKES ONE W-E-A-K,” AND “ANYTHING – JESUS = O.”
REGARDLESS OF THE SAYING, THE FACT REMAINS THE SAME THAT WE MUST EXCERICISE OUR FAITH TO INCREASE OUR SPIRITUAL STRENGTH.
WE DO THIS BY INCORPORATING WORSHIP, PRAYER, BIBLE STUDY, AND EVANGELISM INTO OUR LIVES. WE DIGEST GOD’S WORD AND DECLARE AS THE PSALMIST IN PSALM 119:11, “YOUR WORD I HAVE HIDDEN IN MY HEART, THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINT YOU.”
WE CONTINUE, AS IT TELLS US IN HEBREWS 10:25, TO “NOT NEGLECT OUR MEETING TOGETHER.” WE SHOULD GATHER TOGETHER WITH OTHER BELIEVERS ON A REGULAR BASIS TO WORSHIP GOD, STUDY HIS WORD AND PRAY.
PLUS, WE DO NOT NEGLECT TO PUT IT ALL INTO PRACTICE BY TELLING OTHERS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST. MATTHEW 28:19-20, “GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL THE NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. TEACH THESE NEW DISCIPLES TO OBEY ALL THE COMMANDS I HAVE GIVEN YOU.” WE TAKE CARE IN BUILDING OUR SPIRITUAL TEMPLES AS WELL.
BUILDING AND MAINTAINING OUR PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND SPIRITUAL TEMPLES SHOULD BE THE PRIORITY OF EVERY BELIEVER IN CHRIST JESUS.
HOW WE LOOK, HOW WE CONDUCT OURSELVES, HOW WE REACT, WHAT WE SAY AND WHAT WE ARE BECOMES THE VISIBLE AND VERBAL STRUCTURE OF THE CHURCH.
A CHURCH THAT SHOULD BEAR TESTIMONY TO GOD AND ONE THAT GLORIFIES GOD. WHAT IMAGE OF THE CHURCH AND WHAT IMAGE OF GOD DO PEOPLE SEE IN YOU? WHAT DO THEY HEAR WHEN THEY LISTEN TO YOU? ONLY YOU CAN ANSWER THAT! BE ENCOURAGED! KEEP ON BUILDING!
