The Message of Haggai for Today

After the Babylonian exile ended, God’s people returned to Jerusalem (around 536 BC). The first order of business was to reestablish the worship of God in a rebuilt temple. However, a combination of factors stalled the work. First, there was the people’s inactivity, either from selfishness in wanting to build their own homes first (1:4) or from a sense of hopelessness that the second temple would not come anywhere near the first in glory (2:3). Added to this was an incorrect view of the temple’s significance, tied to its magnificence.

 

In other words, the people seemed to believe that the temple’s magnificence guaranteed God’s presence there. Second, there were opponents of the Lord’s work (2:22). The people’s priorities were wrong: they feared men rather than God and placed their own comfort and priorities before the worship of God.

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Taken from The Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth, JULY/AUGUST 2020, Vol. 28, No. 4, Page 157-158. Used by permission.