Build the House

HAGGAI 1:1-11

Key Verse 8

Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.

Timeline & Background

• ~536 BC - The foundation of the Second Temple is laid.
  • Persecutions arise blocking the completion of the Temple
  • 18 years pass without progress
• ~520 BC - The Word of the Lord comes to Haggai to finish the Temple
• ~516 BC - With focus the Second Temple is completed in about 4 years

Here is a link for more background on this rebuilding era and how God used Ezra, Nehemiah, Zerubbabel, Joshua, Haggai and Zechariah.

1. Look at v.1. Who are the four people mentioned in v.1? What unique roles might they each have in the rebuilding work of God’s house? (Ezra 5:1-2)
2. Look at v.2-4. The work on the temple had been stopped for 18 years; did the people think it was “time” to be working on the temple?
   1. What were the people busy doing? (vs. 2-4; 9)
   2. What does the Lord’s question in verse 4 seem to indicate about the people’s priorities during this time?
3. Look at v.5-6. What was happening while the people devoted their time to building their own ‘paneled houses’ and neglected building ‘the house of the Lord’? (vs. 5-6; 9)
   1. What did the people put their effort into and what were the results of their efforts?
   2. What do you think God is indicating when he says, “You never have enough?”
4. Look at v.7-8. Could there be a spiritual significance in having the people of Jerusalem being told to go to the hills to gather wood?
   1. What are the two reasons for building the ‘house of the Lord’? (v. 7-8)
5. Who brought these consequences upon the people, what could happen if they changed and focused on the Lord’s house once again? (vs. 9-11)