What happensPermalink
Haggai confronts the people for living in finished houses while God’s temple lies in ruins. Although they work hard, their harvests and wages never satisfy them. God reveals that He has withheld rain and produce because they have neglected His house. Zerubbabel, the high priest Joshua, and the people respond with obedience and fear of the Lord. God assures them, “I am with you,” stirs their spirits, and they begin rebuilding the temple.
Why it mattersPermalink
More than a decade after the temple’s foundation was laid, the people have allowed other priorities to replace its reconstruction. Their poor harvests reflect God’s covenant discipline and reveal their disordered relationship with Him. Yet when they obey, God immediately assures them of His presence and strengthens them for the work. God is with His people, and His presence moves them to work with their own hands.
Key versePermalink
And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God.