Dear Friends:

Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house. Then the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your panelled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on human beings and animals and on all their labors (Hag 1:2-11)

Nebuchadnezzar took everything of value from Jerusalem and burned the city. The exiles returned to devastation. They had to rebuild their homes, shops, government buildings, temple, walls, gates, cisterns, and streets from the ground up.

The work ethic of “these people” was excellent. They planted crops and established businesses. They labored to put roofs over the heads of their families and food on the table. At the end of the day, they hurried home to do the kinds of things that one can only do at home.

What’s not to like about this picture of hard work, entrepreneurship, and family values? Read more »