Haggai...Prophet of the Temple

Haggai was coined “Prophet of the Temple.” Like one of his fellow prophets, he was sent a message. His message is to rebuild the temple. Haggai was believed to have been born during the seventy-year period of exile in Babylon. He, Zerubbabel, and a remnant of Israel were released to return home to Jerusalem.

Around 520 B.C., this remnant became very preoccupied with their own interests. They were busy beautifying their own homes. There is nothing wrong with this, except it was at the neglect of the Temple.

Haggai 1:3–4 MEV

Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying: Is it time for you yourselves to live in paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

Blessing Cut Off

All of us enjoy the blessing of the Lord in our lives. I am sure that the Israelites enjoyed God’s blessing. The problem is that we can begin to take all that blessing for granted. Israel had become inwardly focused. They had not worked on the Lord's temple at all.

Haggai 1:3–11 MEV

Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying: Is it time for you yourselves to live in paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of Hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain and bring wood and rebuild the house, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of Hosts. Because of My house that lies in ruins while each of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its crops. I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.

The Blessing

It is never God’s will for us to be so inwardly focused that we shut His will out of our lives. We are called to see the needs around us, to pour into those around us, and to seek Him first in all things. This is where the blessing begins.

Haggai 2:4–9 MEV

Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord, and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong all you people of the land, says the Lord. Work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Hosts. According to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you. Do not fear. For thus says the Lord of Hosts: Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and earth, the sea and dry land. And I will shake all the nations, and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of Hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is Mine, says the Lord of Hosts. The glory of this latter house will be greater than the former, says the Lord of Hosts. And in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of Hosts.

God desired that the temple be rebuilt. It would not be as glorious as the first temple, but He would fill it with His glory. If we can hear Haggai preaching this message about a brick-and-mortar temple, imagine the message we would be getting today.

A New Temple

The Lord no longer inhabits buildings built by humans. Today, He lives in you; you are His temple!

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 MEV

Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy. And you are His temple.

It seems that He still wants that temple taken care of. The Bible says that if we neglect this temple, we will be destroyed, and His blessing will be cut off from us. It would appear that Haggai’s message is our message, too. In the same way, His blessing can be taken from us; He wants to fill us with His glory today.

Joel 2:28 MEV

And it will be that, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.

A Temple Filled

He wants us full of His glory, His Holy Ghost! God is revealing His baptism. John was baptized with water for repentance, but Jesus was baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire. He literally fills this temple full of His glory.

Luke 12:50 MEV

But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how pressed I am until it is accomplished!

Jesus told His disciples that after He returned to the Father, He would send a Helper, His Holy Ghost. He told them to go into Jerusalem and wait.

Acts 1:4–8 MEV

Being assembled with them, He commanded them, “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, of which you have heard from Me. For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the dates, which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Holy Ghost shows up in the prayer room!

Acts 2:1–4 MEV

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared to them tongues as of fire, being distributed and resting on each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

He wants us to be filled with His glorious Holy Ghost. This is where the great blessing for us today comes from a more intimate relationship with Him. It is very difficult to be self-centered when you are full of His Spirit. Through this baptism, He will empower us to go into the world and preach.