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The Prophet Haggai Rebuilds the Temple

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[Haggai 1:14]

So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God,

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There was a great prophet named Haggai among the prophets in the time of the Old Testament. God appeared to this prophet Haggai. Haggai humbly listened to what God had to say.

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After hearing from God, the prophet Haggai went to the streets and shouted what he had heard from God in a loud voice. “Everyone, you say that it still is not the time to rebuild the temple of God. However, God says differently.”

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The people heard Haggai shouting and gathered to listen to the words God said through him. The prophet Haggai continued to speak, “The temple of God is all ruined but you are living in  good houses and paying attention to decorating your own houses with good things and making them beautiful.”

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“Look unto the past times. You earned a lot lesser than your hard work and even though you have sown a lot, you have reaped only a little. It is because you have not rebuilt the temple of God, which God is happy with.”

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God promised the Israelites, that were taken as captive to Babylon, that they would return to Israel after 70 years. After 70 years had passed, they had returned to Jerusalem. God fulfilled that promise.

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The Israelites, who had returned to their hometown, thanked God and started to rebuild the temple of God with very happy hearts. However, because of the disturbance of the Samaritans that were living in Jerusalem, they were not able to finish rebuilding the temple.

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At first, it was painful but as time passed by, the people forgot that they had to rebuild the temple of God and they only payed attention on building their houses and on how they could live well.

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16 years had passed since the rebuilding of God’s temple had stopped and the place where the Israelites had tried to rebuild the temple became ruined to the point of being unrecognizable. Now, through the prophet Haggai, God was requesting to the people to start again to rebuild the temple.

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The prophet Haggai shouted,“Go up into the mountains, bring down wood and rebuild the temple of God. So, I may be glad by that and be glorified. This is what God tells us.”

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After hearing God’s words from the prophet Haggai, governor Zerubbabel and high priest Joshua realized that God was speaking through him. They received the words with fearful hearts.

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As they started to obey, God again spoke through the prophet Haggai. “I will be with you.” God said that He would help them to rebuild the temple and make the work go smoothly.

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God helped governor Zerubbabel and high priest Joshua to rebuild the temple of God well. Also, God moved the hearts of all of the Israelites and made the work go smoothly.

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The temple of God was finally completed. However, the size of the temple seemed so much smaller than the temple built in the time of Solomon. The people were disappointed in their hearts by the size.

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However, God comforted their hearts through Haggai by saying,“Zerubbabel, be strong. Joshua, be strong. The temple may seem less than you remember, but I will be with you. And I will fill this temple with my glory.”

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What God is happy with the most, is obeying His words. Even though they rebuilt the temple that was smaller than the temple built by Solomon, God promised to fill that temple with God’s glory. We should carefully think back whether we have not forgotten or delayed what God wants and we should become people of faith who immediately obey Him.

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