Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Today we finished our 33rd book of the Bible, and in the next 11 days, we'll be finishing

six more books and the whole Old Testament. We first met

the minor prophet Haggai yesterday in Ezra 5, where he was standing around the construction

site of the deconstructed temple with his buddy Zachariah, another minor prophet. They were there

encouraging the returned exiles of Judah. Today we find out exactly what it was, he said, to

encourage them. And we might even find out

the exact day he said it. Scholars believe it was August 29, 520 BC. After the exiles returned

from Babylon, their first high priest is a guy named Jesua. But in today's reading, it's spelled

like Joshua. We'll keep calling him Jesua since that's how we met him, and since

we're already friends with another Joshua. Today, Haggai has a conversation with Jesua the high

priest and Zarubabel, who is the local ruler over the people of Judah, and he confronts them both

about the misplaced priorities of the people. Haggai says, look, I know you all want to put shiplap in your

houses. It's apparently a thing now, but we've got more important walls to panel. No matter what

you do to your homes and your wardrobes and your lifestyles, it will never be enough. You'll always

want more. Stop scrolling Instagram and Amazon long enough to face that reality. Nothing you're

investing your time and effort and

emotion into is paying any kinds of dividends for you. You're just left with stress and frustration.

But do you know what would be a wise use of your time? Do you know what would be a righteous use of

your energy? Rebuilding God's house. And until you focus on what matters, God is going to

continue to withhold everything

you're trying to access and save up. Jesua the high priest and Zarubabel, the local leader,

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