God’s House

 

I don’t know what kind of house you live in, but I would guess there may be some things you would like changed or updated. You may watch renovation or house hunting shows on TV and find yourself wishing you had a bigger house, a newer house, or a nicer house. Maybe you see other people’s houses and envy what they have. 

 

Retired NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal is selling his house in Orlando for a reduced price of “just” 19.5 million dollars. The house has twelve bedrooms, a regulation indoor basketball court, a movie theater, and a showroom style garage with room for “17+” cars. It isn’t that it is too much house for the seven-footer, it is just that he has too many other houses. 

 

Some may criticize O’Neal and others like him for having a house like that. What he does with his money is his business. When this becomes a problem is when Christians ignore the needs of others while they live in mansions. Imagine the audacity of building yourself a house fit for Shaq, while knowing that your local church did not have the funds to repair a leaky roof. That is exactly what God’s people were doing in the book of Haggai. 

 

Israel had been destroyed during the Babylonian invasion, and the temple laid in ruins for seventy years. When the Israelites began returning home, their first order of business was to rebuild God’s house. Ezra tells us the people acquired the timber they needed for the project, but fifteen years later the temple construction and stopped, but the Israelites were living in luxury. Haggai asked, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins (1:4)?”

 

What happened to all that timber? And why were the people living in paneled houses? Hmm…

 

It becomes clear that the Jews were stealing the timber meant for God’s house and incorporating it into their own. There was still no place to go worship, but at least they had luxurious homes. Paneled houses were reserved for royalty (I Kings 7), but thanks to the five-finger discount, now anyone can have the finer things! 

 

They let themselves off the hook by coining a new proverb: “This people says, ‘The time has not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built (1:2).’” They basically said, “We can do it later. We have plenty of time to build the temple.” God had to send a prophet to scold the people and get them back to work. Besides the fact that stealing is wrong (and stealing from God seems even worse), the people were out of line because they made excuses for themselves and kicked the can down the road. It is always easier to let someone else handle a problem, but when we are the ones who are supposed to be doing the work, we need to do it. Whatever God may be calling you to do, do it. Don’t live in a paneled house while the temple lies in ruins. No delays; no excuses. Just get it done.