Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Some things just don't change. The exiles come back, or as least a few of them (why did any of them leave Babylon? Things were so much better there and so most of them remained - wasn't that what God said they were to do anyway in that letter from Jeremiah?). Now they had to start rebuilding. I've no idea what Jerusalem looked like or the destruction of the temple but you just have to look at some of the cities in Iraq or Afghanistan or remember some of the places after the First and second World Wars to get an idea perhaps.
And the prophet encourages them, in the name of God, to keep building and build the temple well: God is with you. But as they do they hear themselves saying: It's not as good as the last one etc. But then God comes in with: I'll get all the gold soon, all the nations will come and present all their silver and it will be used to adorn this temple. I am with you.
God is with them. That is the constant theme. But to help trust that truth people need symbols that point to that. And temples do that well and the more glorious the better. Churches and cathedrals continue to do that, and they need to be more splendid than the last.
But there is a far more profound and generous symbol of God's presence. It is quite simply bread and wine. That's the symbol and the promise. The more glorious the building, the smaller the bread and wine become. Take the building away and the bread and wine are everything. Who needs more than that. This is the symbol of presence that we carry with us.
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