Lesson for May 4 — Haggai 1:1-4, 7-10; Ezra 5

By Amy Dueckman

Haggai, one of the minor prophets, is not a book that usually gets much attention. But it contains lessons for our own life and time.

It is 538 B.C. Cyrus of Persia has conquered Babylon, and tens of thousands of exiled Jews are allowed to return to their homeland after years in captivity. But Jerusalem is not the same as it was. The city and the temple are in ruins.

Remember the importance of the temple: It is the manifestation of Yahweh’s presence among the Jewish people. The importance of a physical place of worship cannot be overstated.

It is now time to get priorities for building projects straight. First things first: The temple must be rebuilt. Generations ago, Solomon oversaw the building of the temple. Now the task must be done again. Work begins the next year, in 537. But it doesn’t last, for there is opposition to the project.

As so often happens in group projects, interest wanes. People turn their attention to building their own homes and lands and ignore the temple rebuilding. God is not pleased, and God’s message comes down through the prophet Haggai: Get your priorities straight, and rebuild the temple.

Get your priorities in order

Life is always a mixture of clouds and sunshine. During the good times we tend to feel blessed and assume we are in God’s will. But God can use the difficult times to get our attention and realign our priorities. Here God actually withholds blessings from his people: “Because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops” (Haggai 1:10). There is a “drought on the fields and in the mountains, the grain and new wine” (verse 11).

Imagine one of Haggai’s contemporaries had turned heavenward in the face of this drought and asked God, “OK, what am I supposed to be learning from this?” What do you suppose God’s answer would have been? Perhaps something like, “Quit being so self-centered. Get your priorities in order, and finish what you have started!”

Haggai’s voice is one of motivation and inspiration, encouraging the people to turn from their apathetic and selfish ways. So God’s word comes through Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”

“Paneled houses” implies luxury. The people have obviously spent a great deal of time and resources making wonderful dwellings for themselves while ignoring God’s wishes.

Effective exhortation

God has a solution. “Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored” (Haggai 1:8). The second temple will not have the beauty of Solomon’s temple, but it will take its future glory through the Messiah, for this is the temple Jesus will visit. “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house” (Haggai 2:9).

Haggai’s exhortation is effective. The people begin work on the temple again. In line with God’s will, their priorities are straight.

What are the “paneled houses” for us today? What are the luxuries or idolatries in our lives that we are so wrapped up in, keeping us from experiencing God’s blessings?