My Thoughts on Haggai's Condemnation of the Neglected Temple of the LORD
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.
This is really the problem of the restoration. People were too focused on their paneled houses (cieled in the KJV) that they neglected the Temple of the LORD. You can imagine the very problem that both Zerubbabel the Governor and Joshua the High Priest had. Zerubbabel was already four generations since the curse of Jehoiachin. Zerubbabel was in the fourth generation of Jehoiachin. Somehow, there was a reversal of the curse with the godly Zerubbabel who chose to follow in the ways of his great-grandfather Josiah than his paternal grandfather Jehoiachin or also known as Jeconiah. Zerubabbel was not a king yet he was in charge of the people. Having a high priest named Joshua (Jesus in Greek) was also foreshadowing the coming of the Messiah. Haggai 1:2 shows that the people were procrastinating - a very sin where you put off what you can do today for later. It's a very common sin and God was sending Haggai to wake the people up from their procrastination. Everybody was having their houses but there was still no place of worship yet.
I was thinking of the context of Malachi 3:10-11 yet again. Malachi 3 was talking about the temple in ruins. How did the people rob God? They put their needs first over God's. The purpose of the tithes and offerings was to provide for the storehouse. That's why there were tithes for food products because they were to feed the Levities. The Levites didn't inherit any land at all during the conquest of the Promised Land. Instead, they were set apart for the temple. God was angry that the place of worship was neglected and decided to send plagues. It was the command to give the necessary offerings to get the temple rebuilt. The nation was robbing God when they chose their own personal pleasures first over building a place of worship for the nation of Israel. The people really neglected the temple with so many excuses in Malachi 3:14-15. It was time to rebuke them to have a new place of worship. They were really robbing God by not providing the Levites the resources they needed.
Today, this can also be the sin of some Christians who have backslid. It's very easy to think of our needs first. Better said, it's very easy to put your wants first over your needs. I've often experienced the greed I get whenever I start saving up my income. It's very easy for me to think first how I'm going to enjoy or invest the money over giving a part of it for the work of the LORD. It can be very easy to forget about joyful giving too (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). How easy it is also for Christians to suddenly grumble about giving as if God is a cosmic killjoy? God commands all the offerings to be given with a willing heart whether they be tithes (though the New Testament is now silent about it) or offerings. All of the offerings must always be given with a joyful heart.
Any local New Testament church relies on offerings as its main source of income. Sure, some pastors don't preach about tithing anymore since it's ceremonial law. For a Christian to tithe would mean giving a tenth of all they produce and not just their income. Thankfully, the tithing that's often taught is tithing your salary. However, we can't deny that whether a church preaches tithing or not that monetary offering is important. A church would need money to buy food and pay its bills. Missionary work requires lots of money too. Neglecting the needs of your local church is really the utmost robbery. It can also be robbery when a person promises to pay money every month and doesn't give it. In criminal law, failure to pay money in bad faith can be considered theft. A church that doesn't receive offerings will be unable to fulfill its basic obligations. That's why it's very important that anybody who is able should give. Then again, the proof of real conversion can also come when a person lovingly gives his offerings out of a joyful heart. Under the law, it was tithes and offerings. Under grace, it becomes cheerful giving that willingly and generously gives one's offerings (whether they tithe or not) out of a loving heart.
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