Instead of moving forwards, the people are stuck in the past and making comparisons with the way things used to be.
Read: Haggai 2: 1-9
A month has passed since the people have begun to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem following the first message of the prophet Haggai. Now it seems that the people are once again dragging their feet despite their initial enthusiasm. You can read the story of what happened when the foundations were completed in Ezra 3: 10-13. There was a marked difference between the reactions of the older and younger people present. The young ones were excited and shouting praises to God, whilst the older ones wept aloud. It seems that those who were old enough to remember the first Temple were disappointed that the new Temple wasn’t a bit like the Temple in the good old days, while the younger ones were just thankful to have a Temple, the physical reminder of God’s presence among them.
The reason for the slow down in the building work reflected the tension between having a functional Temple now versus waiting a long time to get the building just like it was in the glory days. It’s a good example of what happens when faith is fossilised, when followers of Jesus spend time looking back and living in the past at times when God has moved on and wants his people to move on too. Sometimes we make the way we’ve always done things a bit of a sacred cow and are in danger of worshipping the way we do things rather than God himself.
So God makes a promise to the people. He says, “Be strong and work BECAUSE I am with you. This is what I want today. Trust me and do what I say. The building may not look as good as it used to, but it will be more glorious. I believe this is a reference to the coming of Jesus and the birth of the church. God will no longer live in a Temple building, but in men and women who are the temple of the Holy Spirit, no longer confined to a building and a place, but God present in the whole world.
At this time, the Coronavirus pandemic has impacted and changed the way Christians do things. Some commentators are suggesting that God is giving us the opportunity to start to rebuild the way we do things from the foundations up, to be engaged in the replanting of the church. It’s so important that we don’t get stuck in the past but move forward wherever God is leading us.
Compare the early church and the church now (remember, church = people, not a building). Might we sometimes treat the New Testament church as a nostalgic “good old days” instead of living out our faith in a very different culture and time and seeing God at work in different ways today. We need to learn from the early church but not necessarily copy their ways of doing things.
Pilgrim Traveller 