The prophet Haggai had a very specific message: rebuild the temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians. The background: the Persians (present day Iran) conquered Babylon (present day Iraq) and reversed the policy of taking captive people into exile. The Jewish exiles returned to the Promised land in 538BC and began to rebuild their homes. Eighteen years later, in 520BC, the word of the Lord came to Haggai telling the leadership and the people to make building a second temple a priority. Go up into the hill country; bring timber, and build the house That I may take pleasure in it and receive my glory, says the LORD. You have to sympathize with the returning exiles. Eighteen years of building houses and establishing farms and businesses is not a long time. But the prophet insists that the new temple couldn’t wait. Maybe the analogy can be found in walking around Chicago or any big city. Each newly arrived ethnic group, who were struggling to make it, worked at building a prominent church for their community as a mark that they had arrived. That was Haggai message to the returning exiles. Make honoring God a priority and the people will flourish.
