"This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’” The priests answered, "No (Hag 2:11-12)."

God spoke on the 24th day of the 9th month by first asking the priests the above question. According to the Law, everything that touches the consecrated thing like an altar and the consecrated meat of a sacrificed animal that is offered to God becomes holy. Thus, the fold of the garment of a person who carries the consecrated meat becomes holy. Then, the question is: does the fold consecrate the other things that it touches? The answer is “No.” In other words, the second transmission of holiness by touching is not possible.

Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?" "Yes," the priests replied, "it becomes defiled (v. 13)."

But a person to whom defilement has been transmitted from a carcass defiles everything that he touches—even the consecrated fold of his garment or the consecrated food. In other words, holiness requires 100% purity, and anything less than that is unholy, and thus, things can be defiled through the second transmission. Defilement, therefore, advances far more easily in this world than consecration. This world with everything in it was once holy and perfect at the time of creation, but when death came in as a result of sin, defilement soon spread to the whole world and to every human being in it. What has been already defiled cannot be made holy unless it is consecrated through the offering of a sacrifice to God. Holiness only comes from God, and nothing can be consecrated without the direct contact with God. The people of Israel were chosen and were made holy in this way when they came out from Egypt. But they were defiled by contagious idols, and both the nation and the land they lived in were defiled. So, death and destruction came, and Jerusalem, the holy city, was filled with carcasses, and the temple, the only link between the heaven and the earth, the source of holiness, was defiled and destroyed.

Then Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled (v. 14).’”

Holy God cannot accept unholy offerings. With defilement, it is no use worshiping him—no blessings. First, we need to be consecrated in order to be able to come and stand before him. However, since the temple is the place where we can be consecrated by offering sacrifices to God, how can we be consecrated without the temple? That was why God told the Jews of Haggai’s time to build the temple. He said, “Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house.”

From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. Give careful thought: Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. "`From this day on I will bless you (vv. 18-19).

God accepts only consecrated people and consecrated offerings. You cannot stand before God with sin and defilement. And the temple is the place where you are consecrated. Do you have your temple built in you? If not, you will need to start with its foundation. Do you have the foundation of God’s word, the foundation of prayers, the foundation of giving, etc.? The bigger the foundation is, the bigger the house that can be built upon it will be. Spend more time on making the foundation because once you start building a house on it, it will be difficult to make the foundation bigger. Study God’s word with more eagerness to know him, and worship him in spirit and truth with more energy and love for him. Then, your foundation will become bigger and firmer, and God will use you for his work as the place of his feet.