Haggai 01: Let's Build

Stalled progress has a feeling—you work hard, expect more, and still come up empty. That’s the ache Haggai names with brutal honesty and surprising hope. We return to post‑exile Jerusalem where houses rise but the temple sits quiet, and we trace how God’s simple word—“I am with you”—turns spiritual drift into focused rebuilding. Along the way, we unpack the real meaning of the temple, not as a monument but as the living center that orders worship, work, and identity.

We walk through the timeline under King Darius and connect the dots with Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zechariah to show how policy opened the door home while God’s presence restored purpose. Haggai confronts misaligned priorities—luxury before loyalty, projects before presence—and explains why that leaves us with “pockets with holes.” Then comes the pivot: God calls the people to gather timber and get to work, and enthusiasm ignites. We talk about how obedience often follows assurance, and how ordinary tasks become worship when the center is set.

This conversation gets practical for today. We explore how to rebuild your “temple” through simple, steady habits: gathering with the church, opening Scripture, honest prayer, generous living, and serving where you stand. We also dismantle the myth of spiritual celebrities. There are no junior members in God’s story; every gift and role matters when God is first. If you’ve been chasing more and feeling less, this is your invitation to return to the center, rebuild what truly matters, and rediscover joy that lasts.

If this encouraged you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—it helps others find the message and start rebuilding too.

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:01 Welcome And Series Purpose
• 0:27 Why Haggai Matters Now
• 1:16 Community Updates And Housekeeping
• 2:03 Setting The Historical Scene
• 3:20 The Call To Rebuild And Prioritize God
• 5:27 Links To Ezra And Post-Exile Life
• 7:14 Everyone’s Role In God’s Work
• 9:50 Reading Haggai 1: The Wake-Up Call
• 12:47 God’s Promise: I Am With You
• 15:07 From Apathy To Enthusiasm
• 17:30 Modern Application: Put God First

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

SPEAKER_01: 0:23

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Haggai Chapter 1, and today's title is Let's Build. Let's Build. And I want to tell you, this is one of those books that I'm so glad, honored, excited that we get to read through the Bible together. Because when is the last time? Now you'll be honest with me, if you're listening to this on YouTube, I want you to put down in the comments when is the last time that you heard a preacher on Sunday say, open your Bibles to the book of Haggai? You know what I mean? We just don't talk about this poor guy very much, which is which is a shame because number one, the entire Bible is inspired of the Holy Spirit. So all of it is important. But then also, this guy's awesome. I mean, he is like the cheerleader of the Old Testament. He has got just some hope, some encouragement. I mean, he's awesome. And we are going to have a really good time with him. And by the way, no one can say his name properly because some of us say Haggai, some of us say Haggai. Who knows, right? When we get to heaven, we're going to ask the poor guy, hey, can you pronounce your name for us? I mean, it is going to be awesome. But I'm going to give you a minute to find the book of Haggai because he is in the Old Testament, but he is toward the end. And he may take you a second. But while you do that, also make sure you take just a moment, like, share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help us in the search algorithms. And make sure you're going to the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job. And you can get all that information at the Biblebreakdown.com. Well, hopefully you found it at this point. If not, you're welcome to pause it. I will be here waiting for you when you get there. But I absolutely love the book of Haggai because it is such an encouraging book. There's so much going on in the nation at the time. And I think if we're not careful, we can take books like this one, and especially because it is one of the shortest books in the Old Testament, and he's right there in among all of these other things. And these were not, you know, placed in the Old Testament in chronological order. A lot of these are out of place from chronology and different things. They're there for a reason where they are. But if we're not careful, the more time passes, the more we will forget, you know, why these were important when they were. And it's especially true when it comes to him. So I love the idea that we get a moment to just kind of set the tone, put ourselves back where he was about 2,500 years ago, and really just enjoy what Haggai was called by God to do. So let's dive into this. First of all, his name is Haggai, or Haggai, however that works for you. And he is called the prophet of encouragement. His name literally means festive. And that's important because this was during a time of very difficult just uncertainty for the Jewish people. Even though this was written likely in Jerusalem, it was written to the people that were there, but it was a post-exilic people. So what had happened was is you know they had been taken over. Well, first of all, Israel had been taken over by Assyria. They're gone. Most of the people are deported. And then not that long after that, Babylon comes along and they take over Judah and they exile so many of the Jewish people. And for 70 years, it was just kind of a ghost town, like that. Most of the people had been moved around, all this kind of stuff. That's just how they did it back then when you overthrew a nation. But then after 70 years, Babylon was taken over by Persia, which by the way, just for the sake of, Persia was taken over by Greece, uh Greeks, Greek was taken over by Romans. Okay, then you got Rome. Okay, that's kind of how the history works there. But when Darius took over, he started letting the people of Israel go back to their homeland. So they're back there, but they're grappling with, who am I? Who are we? These people most likely have been born in other countries. They'd heard the stories of their parents about the greatness of the temple of God and all these things, but they're they're grappling with their identity, and comes along a guy named Haggai who says, Man, let's celebrate. God has given us the opportunity to rebuild the temple. And what's also really interesting is we know exactly when he wrote his book. There's so many books in the Old Testament that we have an idea. We can get within five years, but we don't really know because at the time people were so aware of when it was written that they didn't put a lot of dates on stuff. Because, like, for instance, if somebody even in our time were to say that they wrote about the the twin towers being destroyed on 9-11, then people would automatically go, oh, that was in 2001. Like they didn't, you didn't have to know, you know, you didn't have to write down 2011, you just knew. Well, that was the the deal with a lot of the different prophets and stuff. But for Haggai, he tells us exactly when he wrote it, and it's also during the time of Ezra, Zechariah, and Malachi. And his main message was put God first and rebuild a house for fellowship and worship. Haggai is a post-exilic prophet, and he is calling the people of Judah to rebuild the temple after returning from Babylonian captivity. So what is happening is the temple, it wasn't just a building, it was a declaration that God was the center and the focus of their worship, of who they were, of their identity. And so Haggai is saying, man, God has brought us back from such a terrible travesty that happened to our parents and our grandparents. Man, let's build. Let's place God as first in our life and watch what he will do. And so he is encouraging and cheerleading and just pulling the people along. Now, the reason why this is important is because he really helps us understand why we need to focus on reorienting our priorities. He reminds us to seek God first even when life feels busy or uncertain. Because you got to remember, these people are coming back from who knows where, and they're coming back to their ancestral homes, you know, with their parents, grandparents, you know, great-grandparents had lived, and it's 70 years in disrepair. Roofs are caved in, you know, fields are overrun with weeds and all of this kind of stuff, and having to rebuild fencing and all this thing, and so that life is busy, life is uncertain, and in the middle of that, he is saying, remember who can fix all this. God is the one who can give us the strength we need to do this, so let's make sure we prioritize him. Also, it is directly linked to the book of Ezra. We can see how God's word and pro and prioritizing God brings freshness and joy to the people of God. So, one thing that's really interesting is if you go back and you read the book of Ezra, the time frame is the same. And you can see how as they continue to read God's word, as they built the temple, God was moving in their life and God was reorienting everything. So, a couple more things, and we'll jump in. Elsewhere in the world, Babylon had had risen, and then Babylon had fallen. They had now, they had now fallen, the Persian Empire had rose up, and that is why they were allowed to go home. The Jewish people had returned but faced discouragement and opposition. Interesting facts. Haggai is the shortest prophetic book. There's not one shorter than that, than this one. He emphasizes obedience and that it brings blessing. I love how he anticipates Christ as a greater glory of God's temple. He mentions the shaking of nations, which points out God's ultimate kingdom. And I love this, he reminds us that everyone has value in God's kingdom. Here's one thing I want to tell you, and we're going to jump into uh Haggai chapter one, and that is this. One of the things that's really easy to do if we're not careful, is it's really easy for us to see other people doing things that we think of as great, and we can we can tend to feel so very less than. Let me give you an example. There are there's people in the Bible called Nehemiah. God called Nehemiah to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. There's a guy named Ezra that God called to go back to Jerusalem and re-establish the spiritual life of the people, rebuild the temple. He most likely was the one who compiled most of the psalms together. He wrote Ezra, most likely wrote Nehemiah. I mean, uh Ezra was awesome. And you also have a guy named Nehemiah. Well, how easy would it have been with people like Nehemiah, you know, uh Zechariah, Ezra, Malachi, all these people alive, how easy could it have been for someone like Haggai to say, you know, I know God's moving in my life and all, but I'm nothing compared to them. What a shame that would be if he did not consider that the ministry God had given him was just as important as the rest. God does not have a junior member of his squad. Everybody's on the varsity team. Everybody has a role to do. And while Ezra is saying we need to get God's word central, and Malachi is saying we need to make sure we give to the Lord, and Nehemiah is building a temple, somebody needed to come along and say, hey, let's rebuild that temple. We can do this. And all of that going together is what ends up making the kingdom of God strong. And so I can go ahead and tell you, if you don't get anything else out of Haggai, let me encourage you, there are no big eyes and little hues in the kingdom of God. We all have a part to play in the kingdom. And we're going to read right now about Haggai's role that he played. So if you're ready, here we go. Haggai chapter 1, verse 1 says this. On August 29th, of the second year of King Darius' reign, the Lord gave a message to the prophet Haggai, to Zerubbabel, son of Sheelteel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Jehosedak, the high priest. This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies says. The people are saying, The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord. Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai. Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies says. Look at what's happening to you. You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink, but are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you are putting them in pockets filled with holes. This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies says. Look at what's happening to you. But now go into the hills and bring down timber and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. Your hope, you hope for rich harvest, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven's armies. While all of you are busy building your own fine houses, is because of you that the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth produces no crops. I have called for a drought on your fields and hills, a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get. Then Zerubabel, son of Shieldil, and Joshua, son of Jehosedak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God's people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. And when they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, to whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, gave the people this message from the Lord. I am with you, says the Lord. I love that. Verse 14. So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel, the son of Sheel Til, the governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Yeshua, son of Jehosedak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God's people. And they began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of heaven's armies. And on September 21st, the second year of King Darius' reign. Wow. I love that. Where he says that the Lord tells them, I am with you, and man, it got people excited. The enthusiasm grabbed onto people, and they began to rebuild the temple of the Lord. What I love about this is Haggai tells them, Man, have you noticed that we keep on wanting good things to happen, but it's not quite turning out that there's a hunger in us that nothing can fill? There's something, there's a gnawing on the inside of us that no matter how much harvest we bring in, no matter how many clothes we put on, whatever, it's just something just doesn't feel right. He said, if you noticed we haven't put God first, we've put everything else first, we're taking care of ourselves, but we're not taking God seriously, we're not putting him first, and because of that, there's a hunger in us that cannot be filled, even to the point that things are going the wrong way. If we were to put God first, if we were to make him the central focus of our lives, things would change. And when people started hearing the Lord saying, I am with you, let's do this, let's do this, I'm with you, I'm with you, I got this, that it excited the people, and it became exciting for them to do what was once not exciting. And can I tell you, I've seen that happen in my life so many times. As I get, unfortunately, as I get used to the presence of God, as I get used to the goodness of God, over time, the things that were that were joyful, the things that were obvious, of course I want to spend time in God's Word, of course I want to pray, of course I want to be in Christian community, of course I want to share my faith, all that stuff, it lost its joy because I started focusing on me rather than focusing on God. One of the worst questions you can ask is, what is God's word? You know, how does it help me? How does prayer help me? All this it does, but remember we don't do it because we want God to serve us. We do it because we are serving God. And but we if we get that out of whack of the as the people in Haggai's time guide it out of whack, everything started to not find joy anymore. Everything started to just mess, just everything was messed up. And Haggai comes back and he's saying, Don't forget who all this is for. If we will focus on God, God will focus on us. And as they heard the word of the Lord and God says, I am with you, so they got excited. And the very thing that had fallen behind was the very thing that excited them. And can I encourage you with this? It is still true for us today. It is still true that if we get so busy trying to build our lives on a foundation of anything other than God, eventually nothing will satisfy. I have had the opportunity to talk to people who started businesses and became billions. And you would think having all the money in the world would make them satisfied. But if that's where their hope is, they're not. I have had opportunity to watch people who start from the very bottom of, you know, the a company and get all the way up to the very top of the company. You would think that that power would cause them to feel satisfied, but it's not. But I have seen people who didn't have all the money in the world, didn't have all the status in the world, and they were so content with life. There's so much joy in life. And it was because their worth and value was not based on what was in their bank account or what was on the label on the door outside their office. It had everything to do with who God was and what he was doing in them. And then all of the other things were great, wonderful, exciting, but it didn't move their hope. And so here's my question for you Is there something in your life that you have placed in front of God only to find that it doesn't satisfy? Take a moment and think about it. And then think about what will happen if we put God first. You know what I think would happen? I think that even the simple joys of life would become fresh. I think we would love our kids more. I think we would enjoy being married more. I think we would enjoy going to God's house more. I think we would enjoy reading God's word and praying and sharing our faith and everything. If we go into a job we don't like, we start liking it more because we go, God gave that to us. And when the time comes, he will give us a different one. That's what Hague say. You focus on your relationship with God and watch what God will do for everything else. Let's pray. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, God, that when we orient our lives on you, you do amazing things in us. I pray that as we continue to orient our lives on you, you will have your way in us. We celebrate you today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And then we will Haggai 1, verse 8. We just got through reading it. It says, Now go up into the hills and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored. When we put God first, God works out everything else. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Haggai Chapter 2.