Haggai 1:3-4

Haggai then spoke to the people for the Lord, in this disputation speech, not just their leaders (Haggai 1:2). He rhetorically asked if it was proper for them to build their own houses but not rebuild His. They should have put the glory of their God ahead of their own comfort (cf. 2 Samuel 7:2; Philippians 2:21). Their priorities were upside down.

"Their problem was not lack of goods but of good." [Note: Motyer, p. 977.]

"Paneled houses" apparently describes quite luxurious homes, though the Hebrew word sapan ("paneled") can mean simply houses with roofs. Wooden paneling or plaster that covered the walls and possibly the ceilings seems to be in view.

King Cyrus had provided the Jews with money to buy hardwood timber to rebuild the temple (Ezra 3:7; 1 Esdras 4:48; 1 Esdras 5:54). It appears that the restoration Jews had used this superior wood to build their own homes rather than to rebuild the temple.

"Many Christians are like those ancient Hebrews, somehow convincing themselves that economy in constructing church buildings [or financing God’s work] is all-important while at the same time sparing no expense in acquiring their personal luxuries." [Note: Alden, p. 581.]

"Whereas the house of God today is no longer material but spiritual, the material is still a very real symbol of the spiritual. When the Church of God in any place in any locality is careless about the material place of assembly, the place of its worship and its work, it is a sign and evidence that its life is at a low ebb." [Note: G. Campbell Morgan, The Westminster Pulpit, 8:315.]