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Old Testament

Wisdom and Poetical Books

Why hadn’t the people rebuilt the temple already?

They built their own houses and planted crops first. Those were necessary things, but God said attention should have been paid to the temple as well: “You’ve had great ambition for yourselves, but nothing has come of it. The little you have brought to my temple I’ve blown away—there was nothing to it. And why?” (This is a Message from GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, remember.) “Because while you’ve run around, caught up with taking care of your own houses, my Home is in ruins. That’s why. Because of your stinginess.” (The Message, Haggai 1:8–9)