BUILDING THEIR HOUSES "And the word of Jehovah continued to come by means of Haggai the prophet, saying: "Is it the time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses,* while this house is waste? And now this is what Jehovah of armies has said, 'Set your heart upon your ways. You have sown much seed, but there is a bringing of little in. There is an eating, but it is not to satisfaction. There is a drinking, but not to the point of getting intoxicated. There is a putting on of clothes, but it is not with anyone's getting warm; and he that is hiring himself out is hiring himself out for a bag having holes.'"" (Haggai 1:3-6). (* "well-roofed houses") (NEB). "This house" is where the Holy Spirit of God dwells, and is His anointed "temple" class. But while people lavish their resources on their own houses, they are abandoning "this house" and allowing it lie in a "waste" condition just before the arrival of the Archangel Michael the High Priest of God. And so, "By reason of My house that is waste, while you are on the run, each one in behalf of his own house" (1:9), Jehovah holds back His Spirit from the lives of rebellious ones: "It is your fault that the heavens withhold their dew and the earth its produce. So I have proclaimed a drought against land and mountain, against corn, new wine, and oil, and all that the ground yields, against man and cattle and all the products of man's labour." (1:10,11 NEB). The House of God is for Holy Spirit, prayer, and for hearing the Word of God. But "houses"* of Gog promote the spirit of uncleanness and/or works of the flesh, such as "fornication, uncleanness, loose conduct, idolatry, practice of spiritism, enmities, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, contentions, divisions, sects, envies, drunken bouts, revelries, and things like these." (See Gal 5:19-21).
The House of God is a spiritual
dwelling within and among His Spirit anointed sons where heaven-sent
Holy Spirit dwells. Members of the "temple" class of God have been
gathered since The Christ inaugurated the new covenant, and are the "body"
of Christ. (1 Cor 3:16,17. 1 Cor 12:12,13). While the Spirit of God imparted
through His "temple" sons is being withheld, human
activity and endeavour fails to satisfy rebellious mankind Jehovah declares: "I will shake heaven and earth, sea and land, I will shake all nations; the treasure of all nations shall come hither, and I will fill this House with glory… and the glory of this latter House shall surpass the glory of the former, says the Lord of Hosts." (From 2:7-9 NEB). During the outpouring of the "bowls" of the anger of God, the life-giving Spirit of God that inspires human wellbeing has gradually diminished. (Rev 16:1). But still people are "on the run" to acquire worthless things, none of which satisfy the spirit. The "treasure of all nations" is the Spirit of God made manifest through His anointed "temple" class. By shaking heaven and earth to remove corrupted spirits, Jehovah will lay the foundation of His Temple and bestow a blessing of new spiritual "food" as a cause of rejoicing for mankind. (2:18,19 NEB). (Cont. on Page 20/7/89).
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