Building His Temple
Haggai was an Old Testament prophet who wrote a very short book with a very important message. The LORD had explained to him that the reason the people were not being blessed was because they were neglecting His house. The Temple stood in disrepair while they worried only about their personal homes and physical needs. Haggai warned them that they needed to focus on taking care of God’s house first, then they would be blessed in their own lives and business.
Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!
“You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore, the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” Haggai 1:3-11
In Scripture, there is always a meaning for the people who are alive at the writing of the prophecy. But most prophecies go beyond the immediate and point to Jesus. Scripture says, “The volume of the book is written of Me,” meaning Jesus, the Word made flesh. There are many scholars who have written about how the Temple itself, as well as the implements and the sacrifices all point to Jesus. He even told us that He is the Temple:
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. John 2:19-22
We should never neglect our Christian walk with Christ. To neglect spending time with Him in prayer and meditating upon Scripture (He is the Word of God) will never bring the spiritual blessing of the Lord upon our lives. If we desire to grow and be filled with the Holy Spirit and serve God as we should, then we need to focus on the Temple of His body – our Lord Jesus Christ. If we love Him, John tells us, we will obey Him. The Christian walk requires discipline and obedience. So we can apply Haggai’s warning to our own lives in our own day by staying focused on the Christian disciplines of prayer, Bible study, and obedience.
Just as Jesus is the Temple of God, the New Testament also explains that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. We are in Christ and Christ is in us, so this makes perfect sense. If the Holy Spirit resides inside of you, then you are His temple.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Please notice that this verse says to glorify God in your body and in your spirit. Paul didn’t leave out the fact that we are both body and spirit. God has given us one body and it must last us until we get our new bodies at the rapture/resurrection. If we want to be fruitful and actively serving God all the days of our life, then we need to focus on keeping our bodies healthy. How do we glorify God in our bodies? By taking care of them and avoiding things that contaminate – both spiritual (sin) and physical. Let’s look at some aspects of caring of our temple that houses the Holy Spirit within us:
1) Eating Healthy Foods
a) Choose foods that are in their whole natural state in which God made them. Avoid foods sprayed with herbicides and pesticides. Avoid GMO foods. We can’t have any idea how the modified genetic material will affect our bodies.
b) Eat plenty of protein to keep muscles strong. Proteins carry out most of the work within our cells. We need to get even more protein as we age and start to lose muscle mass.
c) Avoid ultra processed foods and ingredients. The ultra processing of foods removes healthy nutrients and replaces them with synthetic versions of some vitamins, unhealthy fats which cause inflammation in the body, and too much sugar (usually in the form of fructose) and salt (which has been stripped of other vital electrolytes leaving only sodium).
d) Eat foods that have been fermented to seed your gut with healthy bacteria and yeast. These healthy strains of “gut bugs” will help to keep your microbiome balanced so that the unhealthy bacteria and yeasts don’t cause illness.
e) Stay hydrated with water!
2) Move Your Body
a) Start a resistance or weightlifting routine to build muscles as you age. Losing muscles, or sarcopenia, is the number one cause of unhealthy aging. Strong muscles are an indicator of better health as you age.
b) Take a walk after supper. Studies show that regular walking can help maintain a healthy body weight, keep your musculoskeletal system strong, normalize blood pressure, and decrease your risk for type 2 diabetes. Your body was designed to move and we fail to get enough walking in each day.
c) Maintaining a healthy body weight is easier if we are active. One of the problems in modern culture is the rate of obesity. Most of the diseases plaguing us today are a result of obesity.
3) Sleep
a) We need around 7 hours of good sleep each day. Our brains are hard at work during sleep “taking out the trash” that accumulates. Sleep is when the cells in the body are able to reenergize and repair. Sleep also serves to support learning and memory. It plays a vital role in regulating our mood and our appetite during the day.
Taking care of our physical bodies is just as important as taking care of the spiritual aspects of our temple. We can’t be functional and stay active serving God is our bodies are broken down and sick. God promises that He can and will bless us if we focus on keeping His temple in good repair. I believe this means that we need to keep our bodies healthy and be good stewards of this precious gift God has given us.
In chapter 2 of Haggai, the people are saddened because the new Temple is not as glorious as the one built by Solomon. God says something very interesting to them.
“The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:9
God is telling them that in the last days, the glory of that Temple will outshine all other temples that have stood throughout history. Jesus is the true Temple. His glory outshines everything! And one day, after the rapture/resurrection we will also be given new bodies that will be more glorious than those which we now have. God is with us today, and He will bless us today, but the glory and blessings to come will far outshine anything we’ve ever experienced. What a promise! Even if we do our best and still don’t get it right, we have a promise that the everlasting life to come will be beyond our wildest dreams! What an encouragement to stay faithful and obedient. Let us tend to the Temple of the Lord and reap the wonderful benefits and promises of God.
