Reconstructing the Temple

It’s so beautiful the way that historical accounts within the Old Testament can lend guidance to our lives even in this fast-paced, modern world. While some can certainly give encouragement, others echo with warning.

I was reading in the book of Haggai…and no, I never have been able to pronounce it correctly! It sounds like my dad when he was preaching a few weeks ago and swallowed a fly mid-sentence! Same effect!

Anyway, reading in Haggai, it became apparent that the situation depicted could so easily be likened to Christianity today. What do I mean?

Let’s set the scene….

Israel had once again fallen prey to sin…and once again it had been taken captive by an enemy power as a result of its idolatry and disobedience. Thousands had died. The city of Jerusalem had been devastated and even the temple was in ruins.

As families were left to pick up the pieces, the Israelites struggled under the hand of the Babylonians. As you will notice, however, God always leaves a remnant to carry on His name!

This remnant was finally free to rebuild their precious city and the temple when the Persians overtook the Babylonian empire.

A remnant is “something that is left over, a remainder, a surviving trace or vestige, or a small surviving group of people,” according to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary.

Understand, this group of people was a remnant of the mighty nation that once was. They were only a shadow of Israel’s former greatness, an echo of a voice once clearly heard, a shred of a once fine tapestry of godly lineage. And yet….

One could easily say that the book of Haggai communicates a single message. This remnant—these small dregs of a once great civilization—was commanded to reorder its priorities and complete the temple before it could expect the blessing of God!

My thoughts as I read this book ran something like this….”Ok, if the entire nation couldn’t get themselves straightened out and maintain the homeland, how is a remnant supposed to do it?”

The New Testament Temple

The temple played an important role in the Old Testament. Its well-being often indicated the well-being of the Israelites’ relationship with God.

Under the New Testament covenant, things have changed however. For instance, no longer is physical circumcision required of male newborns; rather, circumcision of the heart is required for every child of God, according to Romans 2:29. Similarly, we do not make a yearly trek to a physical temple in Jerusalem; instead, we have become that temple in which the Lord is to dwell.

I Corinthians 3:16-17 says, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

We are the temple of God!

Jesus also compared his physical body to a temple that would be destroyed and then rebuilt in three days.

Just what are the characteristics of a temple?

1. A place of worship….Jesus’ holiness in his earthly walk glorified Him as deity. Our lives should glorify God as well.
2. A place of learning…The Old Testament temple was a place for the elders and rabbis to teach the young. We find Jesus taking on the role of the ultimate teacher even as a child in the temple. I Peter 3:15 admonishes us that we be well-studied in God’s Word that we may “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.”
3. A place of request…In the Old Testament, we find that anyone could come to the temple with a request. Even Hannah, whom the priest thought might be drunk due to her grief, asked for a child; she was granted Samuel, one of the mightiest men of God who ever lived. Similarly, Jesus hardly visited a city where the masses did not throng him, seeking their healing and deliverance. As His temple in our world today, are we prayerful enough that the hungry, the sick, and the desperate can find their answers when they ask us for prayer?
4. A place of sacrifice…Bulls, goats, and doves were often sacrificed in the Old Testament temple; Jesus became the sacrifice for all sin as a temple. How much more should we as followers of Jesus “offer ourselves a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is [our] reasonable service?” (Romans 12:1). Our walk will be one of sacrifice if we are to be a true temple of God.

Often, in our day-to-day lives, our temple can be broken down just as the physical structure was in this account in Haggai.

How are we broken?

We can be broken down spiritually, as life hands us hard trials that try our faith, as our ministries are sometimes challenged, or as society erodes our morals.

We can be broken down physically through illness, aging, or even an accident. While the physical body does not control the spiritual, it can certainly constrict our ability to do what God has called us to do and can even begin to work on the mind.

We can then be broken down mentally, questioning the Word of God that we once knew was true. We can easily lose faith in God and in ourselves as His ministers. Stress and burnout can make our efforts seem futile just when they are most needed!

Finally, we can be broken down emotionally. We are indeed emotional creatures but “we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15).

In the case of Israel, the temple was destroyed by an enemy and the Israelites were taken captive by the Babylonians.

Notice, it was not directly the fault of the Israelites that the temple was destroyed. Indeed, they had made mistakes along the way but they did not physically take it apart brick by brick, stone by stone. Instead, life choices that seemed to have nothing to do with the temple lead to the Israelites’ captivity and the destruction of the temple.

Our temple can be destroyed in much the same manner. Sometimes we are indeed broken down by our own mistakes, but other times we have little control over the adversity that comes our way.

God always leaves a remnant though….and always makes a pathway back.

When the Persians conquered the Babylonians, the Israelites were given the opportunity to rebuild. At first, they excitedly began the endeavor under the direction of Zerubbabel, the governor.

A Second Chance…But Who Has Time For It?

However, the rebuilding soon came to a standstill. Why? Throughout the first chapter of Haggai, we find that the Israelites found many excuses why the temple either could not be rebuilt or why it should not be rebuilt at that particular time.

In our own lives, the same excuses abound.
• I just can’t get past the hurt,
• the church won’t accept me,
• there are hypocrites in the church,
• I’m dealing with too much right now,
• I have other responsibilities,
• I will turn to God at a more convenient season.

Before we allow another service to pass, we need to consider another man who chose to wait until convenience caught up with conviction!

Felix once served as governor to the province of Israel under the Roman Empire. At one point, Paul was brought before him on trial by Ananias, the high priest. In answer to the charges, scripture tells us that Paul began to tell about Jesus. Felix kept Paul in a holding chamber until he and his wife, Drusilla, could hear more of what Paul had to say.

Sadly, even though he trembled at the revelation, he replied, “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee” (Acts 24:25).

Felix was busy building his career. In fact, ruling a troubled little province like Israel, which was one of the least important sections of the Roman Empire, Felix was likely trying to get a promotion to a better province. Unfortunately, in his haste to please the Jews he ruled and the Romans he served, that convenient season never came!

In Haggai’s time, we find that all the while that the Israelites found excuse not to expend their efforts in rebuilding the temple, they found little obstacle to their building their own sumptuous residences and cities! Indeed, many of us find little obstacle to storing away funds in our 401k while the house of God is in need of repair; furthermore, we build and furnish beautiful, physical homes but neglect the temple within!

Note, the temple was brought to ruins by outsiders but it remained in ruins because of apathy—not adversity!
* No one was standing in their way.
* No one threatened their children or their homes if they rebuilt the temple.
* There was no shortage of building supplies.
* They had the blessing of the Persian king, Darius, upon their endeavor.
* And yet….

While such busyness is common in our day-to-day world, we must be aware of the spiritual consequences of such apathy.

In Haggai 1, we find that God withdrew His blessing, leaving the Israelites to sink into an economic depression:
“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. Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?

Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 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.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 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. 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. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. 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” (Haggai 1:2-11).

While one could liken such a scenario to the present economic tumult in our world today, I would dare say we are only on the cusp of such a calamity. Today we have credit cards and welfare programs that are there should we truly be starving; in those times, however, economic hardship could truly bankrupt and eventually starve your family! How far will we have to fall before we awaken to the need for God in our lives?

While I certainly do not want to blame God or charge Him foolishly for consequences that may be largely due to man’s bad choices with credit and spending, there is certainly a difference between living within the realm of His blessing and without.

So many in our world today have fallen in love with a pseudo-Jesus. Denominational churches preach of a Jesus who might even wear Birkenstocks and smoke pot just to fit in. They encourage a lack of reverence for the house of God by their dress and the club-like atmosphere created by their rock bands and strobe lights. In fact, they preach of a God who is influenced by the times, who will never condemn anyone for anything, and who might better fit in with Simon and Garfunkel than the holy and redeemed.

The Jesus they preach no longer considers homosexuality an abomination, fornication to be a sin, or marriage to be for life. This “new and improved” Jesus condones lying if it makes you a better paycheck, murder if the victim is yet unborn, and theft as long as it’s not too much!

Unfortunately, I’ve been reading my Bible so I don’t recognize this particular version of Jesus.

Scripture tells us that while he is a God of compassion, He is also just.

While He indeed forgives sin today and washes it away with His blood, He will one day stand as Judge.

While His mercies are surely new every morning, He will not bless a life that remains unsubmitted to Him.

And, although it is not His Will that any should perish, He will not dwell in an unclean temple.

The Israelites were commanded, through the prophet Haggai, to “consider their ways!” Essentially, God commanded them to re-order their priorities, to reassess what really mattered in their lives!

Although each of us will quickly say that God is first in our hearts, do our actions verify such a statement? Where do we spend our time? Our energy? Our thought? Our focus?

When it comes to choices of where we will spend our time, our finances, and our talents, where does God fit in the hierarchy?

Furthermore, God called His people to rebuild the temple!

We are to rebuild the broken down walls of ourselves so that we are fit for service!

What makes a complete temple?

First, the Old Testament temple was properly covered. God had definite ideas on how the temple was to look and be covered; it wasn’t exposed to the elements or to the carnal nations around it. God has not only chosen that we should be dressed modestly but that we should be cloaked in a garment of praise rather than a spirit of heaviness, in beauty rather than ashes, and perfumed with the oil of joy rather than mourning. Although we face hard times and even temptation, God has prepared a special covering for His temple—both physical and spiritual!

Secondly, the Old Testament temple, prior to the establishment of Israel in Canaan, was ready for travel. We are “epistles known and read of all men,” meaning we are a traveling testimony wherever we go (2 Cor. 3:2).

Third, the Old Testament temple housed the Ark of the Covenant, a beautiful chest which God graced with His divine presence. Today, we are to house the presence of God. As Isaiah once viewed, God should be “high and lifted up” with his train—or holy entourage—filling the temple!

Fourth but not Finally, the temple served as a refuge for people in the Old Testament. For instance, King David found refuge in the house of the Lord as did Nehemiah! We are to be a refuge for the hurting, a soul-saving station for the lost, and an ambassador of God’s love to all who need us!

As I Corinthians 6:19-20 says “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”

We are indeed temples not built with hands…let us be mindful that our hands not become too busy, too apathetic, and too comfortable for us to house the presence of the Lord!