Haggai 2:9 KJV
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
Israel had once had the beautiful temple that Solomon had built. It was overlaid with gold. It was splendorous. It was the "pride" of Isreal. But over the years of declination, much of that splendor had been stripped away and when Babylon seized the city, the destruction of that temple was completed. Every stone was torn down; all the gold was removed and taken into Babylonian possession.
When the Jews returned to the land and, by the insistence of the LORD, rebuilt the temple, the resulting building was nothing like the former one in its beauty and pomp. Some of the elders, who had seen the first temple, were likely saying, "This is nothing like the first one." God's answer was that he owned all the silver and all the gold and could have the most beautiful building imaginable if that was His desire. God said that the glory of the latter house would be greater than the glory of the former because in the latter God would give peace.
We, humans, tend to put our stock in things that are beautiful to the eyes. Things that look impressive, things that smack of success. God, on the other hand, has little interest in those things. In fact, many times those things only prevent us from knowing Him in a personal way.
We don't need beautiful buildings
We don't need golden or in other ways ornate objects
We need the grace and the peace of God in our souls.
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
Israel had once had the beautiful temple that Solomon had built. It was overlaid with gold. It was splendorous. It was the "pride" of Isreal. But over the years of declination, much of that splendor had been stripped away and when Babylon seized the city, the destruction of that temple was completed. Every stone was torn down; all the gold was removed and taken into Babylonian possession.
When the Jews returned to the land and, by the insistence of the LORD, rebuilt the temple, the resulting building was nothing like the former one in its beauty and pomp. Some of the elders, who had seen the first temple, were likely saying, "This is nothing like the first one." God's answer was that he owned all the silver and all the gold and could have the most beautiful building imaginable if that was His desire. God said that the glory of the latter house would be greater than the glory of the former because in the latter God would give peace.
We, humans, tend to put our stock in things that are beautiful to the eyes. Things that look impressive, things that smack of success. God, on the other hand, has little interest in those things. In fact, many times those things only prevent us from knowing Him in a personal way.
We don't need beautiful buildings
We don't need golden or in other ways ornate objects
We need the grace and the peace of God in our souls.
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