Rebuilding the Temple

Now the LORD of Hosts says this:

You have planted much
But harvested little.
You eat
But never have enough
To be satisfied.
You drink
But never have enough
To become drunk.
You put on clothes
But never have enough
To get warm.

The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with holes in it. --Haggai 1:5,6

In the ninth verse of that chapter the Lord adds, “You expected much, but then it amounted to little.”

We sincerely hope this applies to O-bummer supporters.

I meet people all the time who never have enough. Sometimes I even see a hard-looking old man in the mirror who thinks that way, but Haggai was not talking about a perception and existential angst. The exiles had returned to Judea from Babylonian captive. They had prospered and done well under Babylonian then Persian rule. Back in their homeland, they began to build their houses, plant their crops and ply their trades.

Yet they found life harsh and unsatisfying. No doubt they blamed it on volatile weather and the poor soil. Then a prophet arose and began to speak to them. Haggai said that the Lord was causing their problems because they had neglected to rebuild His temple. They were building their own fine homes, trying to make themselves comfortable while ignoring God who had brought them back to worship and serve Him.

In Haggai’s time there were no stock markets, 401k’s, IRA’s, or investment banks, but some of us have looked at portfolios we were counting on to grow only to find ourselves thinking we will never have enough.

I am not a prophet, and if I were, I’d be only a reluctant one. I think it is generally unwise to tie headlines to Scripture and watch the evening news while reading “The Revelation”. But that’s mostly because I think it is unwise to watch the evening news or read the newspapers -- if there are any left. I am not predicting malaise, calamity, financial collapse or civil war. I am predicting that those who neglect God’s temple will never have enough, regardless of the terrestrial, political, social, or economic climate.

But what does that mean for us?

Don’t you know that you are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone ruins God’s sanctuary, God will ruin him; for God’s sanctuary is holy, and that is what you are. (1 Corinthians 3:16,17)

Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:19,20)

God wanted to make known … the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)

… you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. …

… you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession … (1 Peter 2:5,9)

For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4: 17)