Temple Builders (Greater Glory)

Haggai 1:1-15 KJV

[1] In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, [2] Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. [3] Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, [4] Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? [5] Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. [6] Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. [7] Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. [8] Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. [9] Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. [10] Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. [11] And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands. [12] Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the Lord. [13] Then spake Haggai the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord. [14] And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, [15] In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Title “Temple Builders”

Subtitle “The Glory of Today Will Be Greater Than The Glory Of Yesterday”

Israel was a place that was given by God to His people. They had a temple.

They had an established system.

They had an established faith.

Sadly, Babylon came in and destroyed Israel from top to bottom. They destroyed the temple and took the ark of the covenant along with the rest of the things that were in it. The ark of the covenant is still supposedly lost today. some say that it is in Ethiopia. Some say that it is in Jerusalem being protected.

Along with the destruction, they were captured and taken into Babylonian captivity. The children of Israel were there for about 60 years. Around an entire generation.

In 538 bc, Cyrus a Persian King, captured Babylon.

He was a more charismatic and nicer dictator. He told the Jewish people that they could return to Israel.  He told them that they could rebuild their temple that Babylon completely destroyed. He told them that he wanted them to pray to God almighty on his behalf.

In the event, only 50,000 Jews decided to return to an Israel that was completely destroyed.

They had no homes. They had no temple. Everything was gone. There wasn’t a rock left unturned.

The rest of them, the Jewish people, having mostly been born in Babylon, and having established themselves as business men and women in Babylon, decided to stay.

Babylon was on a major trade route, and many of the Jews had become rich.

Jerusalem did not have the same advantages. As I said earlier, they had no temple. They had no homes. Everything was destroyed.

There were two individual who led those who returned.  A prince named Zerubbabel, whose name means “seat of Babylon” and Joshua the high priest. There is always a Joshua to lead the people out. Joshua was there when they entered into the promise land after leaving Egypt. Then there was another Joshua when they came back from Babylon. Now there is a Joshua that will lead US into the Promise Land. Jesus' name in Hebrew was “Yeshua” which translates to English as Joshua.