"DESIRABLE THINGS" ARE FILLING JEHOVAH"S HOUSE

WHAT desirable things fill your house? Do you have plush furniture, a state-of-the-art computer, a new car in your garage? Even if you have all these things, would you not agree that the most precious things in your home are the people-the members of your family? Imagine that one night you awake to the smell of smoke. Your house is on fire, and you have just minutes to escape! what is your first concern? Your furniture? Your computer? Your car? Would you not, rather, think of your loved ones? Of course you would, for people are more valuable than things.

Now think about Jehovah God and his Son, Jesus Christ. Jehovah is "the One who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things in them." (Acts 4:24) His Son, the "master worker," was the agent through whom Jehovah made all other things. (Proverbs 8:301, 31; John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-17) Surely both Jehovah and Jesus value all that was created. (Compare Genesis 1:31) But which aspect of creation do you think means the most to them-things or people? In the role of wisdom personified, Jesus states: "The things I was fond of were with the sons of men," or as William F. Beck's translation renders it, Jesus was "delighted with human beings."

Jehovah unquestionably places high value on people. One indication of this is found in the prophetic words that he spoke in the year 520 B.C.E. through his prophet Haggai. Jehovah declared: "I will rock all the nations, and the desirable things of all the nations must come in; and I will fill this house with glory. . .Greater will be the glory of this later house become than that of the former." -Haggai 2:7, 9.

What "desirable things" would fill Jehovah's house and bring it unprecedented glory? Lavish furnishings and ornate decorations? Gold, silver and precious stones? This would hardly seem reasonable. Remember, the former temple, inaugurated some five centuries earlier, was a multibillion-dollar edifice! Surely, Jehovah would not expect the temple built by this relatively small band of repatriated Jews to surpass Solomon's temple in material splendor!

What, then, are the "desirable things" that would fill Jehovah's house? Clearly, they must be people. After all, what makes Jehovah's heart rejoice is not silver and gold but people who serve him out of love. (Proverbs 27:11; 1 Corinthians 10:26) Yes, Jehovah treasures all men, women and children who worship him acceptably. (John 4:23, 24) These are "desirable things," and they are far more precious to Jehovah than all the finery that adorned Solomon's temple.

Despite relentless opposition,the temple was completed in 515 B.C.E. Until the time of Jesus' sacrifice, the temple in Jerusalem remained the center of pure worship for many "desirable things," consisting of natural Jews and Gentile proselytes. But the temple represented something far grander, as we shall see.

Next time: A First-Century Fulfillment

Watchtower, 2000