Charles Spurgeon Commentary Haggai 1:3-4

"Then came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses, while this house lieth waste?" — Haggai 1:3-4 (ASV)

Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?

They had paneled their houses with cedar and fragrant wood, decorating them with carvings, whereas the plainest buildings would have been sufficient. God will allow them to build their own houses for necessary dwelling, but His house should certainly have come next, before they began decorating their own.

"Is it time for you to do this?" Indeed, it may well be said to many a wealthy man, "It does not appear to you to be time to aid foreign missions, but it does seem to you to be time to put another thousand pounds in secure investments. It does not seem time for you to help the Bible Society, but it seems to be time to make another investment and purchase another estate that adjoins your own."

Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your ceiled houses?

Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?

"There seems to be time enough for you to enjoy the luxuries of life, but not time for you to rebuild the temple of the Lord; time enough for you to get rich, but not time for you to serve God; time enough for you to spend your labor upon anything for yourself, but not upon the house of your God!" What a rebuke was this to those who professed to be the Lord's people!