Rebuilding God's House of Living Stones
Haggai 1:2-14
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”
Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but 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.”
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.
Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God.
When God's people returned from their 70 year exile in Babylon, they returned to rubble. The walls of Jerusalem still lay in ruins. The houses were in disrepair. And the majestic Temple of God was nothing.
They arrived in Jerusalem in 536 B.C. Almost immediately, they began work on rebuilding the city, especially the Temple of God. They built an altar. They laid a foundation. Can you imagine the celebration? After 70 years of no regular temple worship, the priests put on their vestments, the trumpets and cymbals played, the people sang, “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever” (Ezra 3:11). And yet the book of Ezra records, “Many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise” (Ezra 3:12,13).
Soon, the work stopped. Enemies of God's people wanted to help rebuild the Temple. They’d been living in the area ever since God's people were taken away. They claimed to worship their God. But, in truth, they worshiped him as one among many gods. God's people refused to build alongside them. Their enemies got mad. They opposed and protested the rebuild. They sent letters to high officials. And soon, the work stopped.
It stopped for 16 years. The opposition mostly went away, since the enemies had nothing to oppose. Yes, the opposition would restart if they began building again, and it did (Ezra 5:3). Yes, they didn’t want to risk upsetting their overlords, the Persian empire, even though it was King Cyrus who sent them and gave them permission to build the temple (Ezra 1:2,3). But you can tell God wasn’t happy with them. He reveals one of the main reasons they still hadn’t finished rebuilding his house after 16 years: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” They were more focused on their own houses than his.
God calls them to account. He tells them to look around. This is why you’re struggling in the land: You have neglected my house. The people listen to what the Lord says and repent (Haggai 1:12). The LORD promises them, “I am with you” (Haggai 1:13). It’s that promise—no matter what opposition they might face, the Lord was with them—that stirs up “the spirit of the whole remnant of the people” (Haggai 1:14).
We see God's patience here. He allows them not to rebuild his house for a time without calling them out. He doesn’t just throw up his hands and send them back into exile. But eventually, the time for patience is over. When the people have become so used to their lives as they are and no longer even think about building God's house, he calls them to repentance and promises them, “I am with you.”
I am no prophet. I am not Haggai. I have received no direct word from God. But in this account we see application for our own lives.
In his first letter, the Apostle Peter writes, “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4,5). Our local, visible corner of God's house, like many others around the world, was ripped through by the COVID tornado, his living stones, though still part of the spiritual house, scattered to the four winds. We have begun to rebuild, but we are still rebuilding.
Like the returning Jews, there are also reasons to continue not to rebuild, that is, to stay away from church. We have not yet reached herd immunity. Active cases in Collin County swing wildly between 700 and 1000 cases right now. But be careful that there isn’t a further underlying reason keeping you away. Don’t wait for Haggai to show up and ask, “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” That is to say, “Is it a time for the rest of your life to get back to normal, but not your life with God?”
Let God's Word stir up your spirit with his promise, “I am with you” (Haggai 1:13). He promises to be with you wherever you go. He promises to be with you at home. He promises to be with you at work or school. He promises to be with you at church.
No matter the opposition, he is there. No matter the struggle, he is there. No matter the danger, he is there.
His presence is stated in his name: Immanuel, God with us. This is Jesus, who came to be with us, not just in spirit, but in flesh and blood. Who came to bear our diseases (Matthew 8:17). Who came to cleanse our hearts from sin with his blood shed on the cross (1 John 1:7). Who came to destroy him who holds the power of death (Hebrews 2:14) and death itself (1 Corinthians 15:54-56). Who promised, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
In Haggai, we see God's patience. You may not yet be comfortable returning to in-person worship. But with God's promise of presence behind you, make a plan. Find that date or month and circle it on your calendar. Anticipate the day you will rejoin your fellow living stones of God as we continue to love and serve him “as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).