Wed.’s Devo - Rebuilt God’s Temple

Read: Haggai 1:1-2:23; Revelation 11:1-19; Psalm 139:1-24; Proverbs 30:15-16 The prophecies of Haggai were devoted to getting the people to start again building God’s Temple. Cyrus had given them the money and commission to go back home and rebuilt the Temple to God. But, they had met so much opposition that they finally stopped all together and began building their own mansions thinking that maybe they were suppose to wait for the 70 years before they rebuilt. *** God sent Haggai to tell them that it was time to stop being so selfish and put the Lord first and then he would bless all the work of their hands. *** Their harvests had been less than expected and it was getting worse. It was the Lord who was causing this because they had forgotten him and the plan. The plan was to build back the worship of the only true God. *** Haggai’s words stirred the hearts of Jerusalem’s governor, Zurubbabel and the high priest, Jeshua. God encouraged them to be strong because He was with them and would help them. *** God asked them if they touched something clean would it make it unclean and the answer was “Yes”. Then he asked them if they touched something unclean would it make it clean and they said, “No”. Haggai said that that was what was happening to them. Everything they were offering to the Lord was defiled by their sin. God wanted them to mark the day they began to rebuild the Temple because that was the day that God would begin to bless everything they did. Not only that, God was about to shake the heavens and the earth and overthrow royal thrones and destroy the power of foreign kingdoms. God would overturn their power and give his leaders the authority. *** In John, a measuring stick was given to him and he was told to go and measure the Temple of God, the altar and all its people. He was not to measure the people outside the court because they were to be turned over to the nations to be trampled on for 42 months. God will empower two of his witnesses to prophesy during that time. These two witnesses were the two olive trees and the two lamp stands that stand before the Lord. We learned in the first chapter of Revelation that the lamp stands were the churches (1:20). I would guess that they would be the churches of Sardis and Philadelphia since Sardis was the persecuted and faithful ones and Philadelphia were the church of brotherly love. Olive trees are for healing and boy do we need healing in the body of Christ! *** When their testimony is complete, the beast will declare war against them and kill their voice. Their followers will celebrate their death for figuratively, three and a half days. Then God will breath life back into those churches and they will come to life again. They rise up and take the seats of authority and everyone will see it. *** Next we see the judgment of God hitting those who were in authority as God shakes the earth. As the seventh angel blows his trumpet, loud voices in heaven shout, “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he will reign forever and every.” *** Heaven rejoices because God has now begun to reign on earth as he has in heaven. It is time to judge the dead and reward his servants who were faithful and honored his name from the least to the greatest. Now it is time to destroy those who had destroyed all the earth and God’s people. Then it was just like what happened on Mt. Sinai and at the cross: lighting, thunder and an earthquake. A terrible hailstorm also. *** Lord, may we continue to be faithful witnesses of your light and your truth. May we collectively rebuild your Temple on earth as it is in heaven.