When the people of Judah returned from Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem after 70 years, they had quite the mess to clean up. The walls of the city were still in ruins that would need to be rebuilt for protection.  The temple that had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar needed rebuilt so they could have a place to worship. But the people neglected these things in order to build their houses and once they were built, they didn’t turn their attention to the temple…so God sends the prophet Haggai to tell the people to “consider their ways” (1:5, 7; 2:15, 18). Haggai is sent to Zerubbabel with this message, “Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing?”

There certainly would have been people that remembered the temple Solomon built. They would have been able to close their eyes and see the cedar and gold and adornments of the first temple. As beautiful and magnificent Solomon’s temple must have been, in their eyes the current condition of the temple was terrible, past the point of repairing. Haggai spurs the people on to rebuild and renew their fervor for the worship at the temple. As a matter of fact, God tells the people through Haggai, “The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former…” (Haggai 2:9). The reason for it being greater than Solomon’s temple is because Jesus would walk in this temple!

What does this mean for Christian’s today? Well, how many times do we reflect on “the good old days” when the pews were full, and the church of Christ was the fastest growing religious group in the United States? Is the church in the present not worthy of your participation and support in your eyes? The Lord Jesus is still the head of the church, that has not and will never change. What has changed is how the church views their mission. The future of the church can be just as great or greater if we only consider our ways, devote ourselves to the work, and remember we serve a God that can “shake heaven and earth!” (Haggai 2:6).

By: Justin Odom