Throughout scripture, God shows his followers about his character. God shows us he is creative in Genesis 1–3. God shows us that he protects us in Job. Isaiah 66 tells us how uncontainable God is. The book of Haggai is just 32 short verses, yet God speaks to his people in big ways. Through the minor prophet Haggai the Lord tells the remnant, the Jewish people who have returned to Judah after being captive, that they need to consider their ways. The remnant are busy trying to get their lives back in order. They are working on their homes, fixing their gardens, and trying to make a life for themselves again. All of the busyness wasn’t fulfilling their needs.

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 he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
— Haggai 1:6

They had forgotten to rebuild the temple where God would reside with his people. Basically, the remnant had made God an afterthought. Through Haggai, God shows his people that he wants them to be radically centered on him. The good news is that his people listened for a change and stopped to rebuild God’s holy place on Earth. In the final few verses of Haggai the Lord tells his people that he is “about to shake the heavens and the earth.” He shakes the whole earth by sending his son, Jesus, to become a living sacrifice for us, so that God could live in each of his followers instead of the temple.

From beginning to end, God’s plan is revealed through his word. The entirety of the Old Testament points to Jesus’ sacrifice for us. God’s plan reveals that he is reliable, he is trustworthy, and he is not finished. We each play a role in what he is trying to accomplish right now. We are part of the plan.