September 28 - Haggai 1-2: A Good Hard Look

At the first reading of Haggai, the theme of the book is to challenge Judah to get up and build the temple for God, to shake off the discouragement and opposition that caused them to lose interest.  As Larry Crabb reminds us,

"Remember your history.  Solomon's temple was destroyed in 587 BC, ten years after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, carried many of My people to exile in his country....It was difficult for them to even dream that the day would come when they could return to Jerusalem and rebuild both the Holy City and the Holy Temple.

"That day came in 538 BC.  My people immediately went to work.  Within two years, the temple's foundation was in place.  The young people danced with joy while the old folks wept in despair (Ezra 3:10-13).  The old folks had seen Solomon's temple and realized that what they were buidling would never come close to the splendor of the original.  Discouragement from the older men and the shallow enthusiasm of the younger folks and opposition from neighbors who didn't want to see jerusalem prosper combined forces and the 'work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill' for sixteen years (Ezra 4:24)...

"It was then I raised up Haggai, himself an old man, to speak in My name as Lord of hosts with one message:  build My temple!"  (66LL)

At second read, Haggai is much more personal - an examination of my life as "the temple where My Spirit lives" (1 Cor. 6:19).

God-of-the-Angel-Armies said: 'Take a good, hard look at your life. Think it over.' (1:5, 7)

I feel like I've been doing a lot of "looking" lately and examining what in my life is "building God's temple."  This soul-searching has been prompted by reading the disturbing words of the minor prophets; by my current lack of a named, defined ministry; and by some disruptive and confusing words of a friend.  This ache that I've referred to recently is not a bad thing - although I would like resolution - but it is a disruptive thing.  Haggai's words are incredibly pertinent to me today:

You have spent a lot of money, but you haven't much to show for it.  You keep filling your plates, but you never get filled up.  You keep drinking and drinking and drinking, but you're always thirsty.  You put on layer after layer of clothes, but you can't get warm....

...rebuild the Temple.  Do it just for me.  Honor me.  You've had great ambitions for yourselves, but nothing has come of it.  (1:5-9)

God's Word shakes up my definitions of ministry, of success, of wholeness.  He tears down what I've wrongfully built and called "spiritual".  He calls me to something else, something much more difficult.  A very different model for my life:

"Whatever you do for My sake that involves the sacrifice of self-interest, whatever you do to reveal Me to others when you feel least able to do so, whatever you do that pleases me at any cost to yourself, that is building My temple."  (66LL)

I take great hope in God's promise as I wrestle through this ache and this season of redefining what it means to build His temple:

 'This Temple is going to end up far better than it started out, a glorious beginning but an even more glorious finish:  a place in which I will hand out wholeness and holiness.'  Decree of God-of-the-Angel-armies.