Hag 1:1
Introduction
On the first day of the sixth month1 of King Darius’2 second
year, the LORD spoke this message through the prophet
Haggai3 to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah,
and to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak:4
(Guzik)
Hag 1:1-15
HAGGAI 1 – GETTING PRIORITIES STRAIGHT
A. God rebukes the returning remnant for their misplaced
priorities.
1. (Hag_1:1) Introduction.
In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the
first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai
the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of
Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest,
saying, a. In the second year of King Darius: The
prophecy of Haggai gives us specific chronological marking
points (Hag_1:1; Hag_1:15; Hag_2:1; Hag_2:10; Hag_2:20).
The prophecy begins in September, 520 B.C.
i. This makes Haggai the first among the post-exilic Minor
Prophets. Of the 12 Minor Prophets, the first 9 spoke before
Judah was carried away captive, exiled to Babylon. The last
3 Minor Prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi) each spoke to
those who returned from the 70-year exile.
ii. “Gone was the glory of the former kingdom and temple.
Gone was the great population. All that was left was the
rubble of Jerusalem, the remnant of the people, and the task
of restoration.” (Boice) iii. In 538 B.C. Cyrus King of Persia
allowed the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem after 70 years
in captivity. Two years later (536 B.C.) construction on the
temple began, led by Zerubbabel. The work stopped after
two years (534
B.C.). After 14 years of neglect, work on the temple resumed
in 520 B.C. and was finished four years later in 516
B.C. (Ezr_6:15)
iv. We notice the dates are reckoned by a pagan king
because there is no king over Israel. Yet the date is still
important to God. “There is a set time for each of his
messages to come to men, and God would have them give
heed to every message as soon as it is delivered to them. If
they do not, he keeps count of the days of their delay.”
(Spurgeon)
b. The word of the LORD came by Haggai the
prophet: In the difficult years of the return from exile God
spoke to His people through the prophet Haggai.
i. Haggai is also mentioned twice in the Book of Ezra, the
priest who oversaw the work of rebuilding the temple: Then
the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets,
prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in
the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. So
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of
Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which
is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them,
helping them. (Ezr_5:1-2)
So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through
the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the
son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the
commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the
command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
(Ezr_6:14) ii. The name Haggai is probably an abbreviated
form of the phrase, “Festival of Yahweh.” Some speculate
that he was born on the day of a major feast in Israel.
c. Zerubbabel . . . Joshua: Haggai introduces us to two
leading figures in Jerusalem during these difficult days of
rebuilding the temple. Zerubbabel was the governor of
Jerusalem, and a descendant of the last legitimate ruler of
Judah (Jechoniah). Joshua was the high priest.
2. (Hag_1:2) An excuse for not rebuilding the temple.
“Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying: ‘This people says,
“The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house
should be built.” ‘ “
a. The time has not come: Haggai gave this first word in
September, 520 B.C. At that time the exiles had been back
in Jerusalem for 18 years – but the work of rebuilding the
temple laid idle for the last 14 years.
i. The work started gloriously: When the builders laid the
foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in
their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of
Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the
ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang
responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: “For
He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.”
Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they
praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of
the LORD was laid. (Ezr_3:10-11) ii. Despite the glorious
beginning, after two years the work stopped, mired in
discouragement and derailed by a lack of focus. When
Haggai prophesied the foundation to the temple was laid
and the altar was rebuilt but the temple wasn’t yet rebuilt.
b. This people says: God’s people – the citizens of
Jerusalem – told themselves that it wasn’t time to resume
work on the temple. There were some good reasons why
they might say this, and why the work of rebuilding the
temple was hard: · The land was still desolate after 70 years
of neglect
· The work was hard
· They didn’t have a lot of money (Hag_1:6) or manpower
· They suffered crop failures and drought (Hag_1:10-11)
· Hostile enemies resisted the work (Ezr_4:1-5)
· They remembered easier times in Babylon
c. The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s
house should be built: The people made their excuse
sound spiritual. The couldn’t speak against the idea of
building the temple, so they spoke against its timing. “It
isn’t God’s timing to rebuild the temple.”
i. Because of the great obstacles against the work, God’s
people began to rationalize and decided that it wasn’t time
to rebuild after all. “If it’s so hard, evidently, God doesn’t
want us to do it – at least no time soon.”
ii. They may have said “the time has not come” because
they thought that the 70 years of captivity mentioned in
Jer_25:11-13; Jer_29:10 had not yet been fulfilled. According
to Usher’s chronology of these events, they were in the 69th
year since the last siege of Jerusalem. Even in this, the
people of God lacked faith. There were three “waves” of
captivity – 605 B.C., 597 B.C., and 587 B.C. In Daniel’s
prayer in Daniel 9, he was bold enough to ask God to take
the earliest starting point to determine the 70 years – and
God did. Unbelief made these returned captives think that
God’s mercy might not come to Israel until 18 years later.
d. This people: We never like to hear God speak to His
people this way – saying, “This people” instead of “My
people.”
He said this because He saw their excuses and poor
priorities and noticed that they were not living like His
people.
i. We should remember that these weren’t “bad people” –
they were the remnant that returned from Babylon.
Hundreds of thousands of people went into the Babylonian
captivity and only about 50,000 returned. Those who did
were the most committed to the LORD and to the restoration
of Jerusalem.
3. (Hag_1:3-4) Haggai exposes their wrong priorities.
Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet,
saying, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your
paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?”
a. Then the word of the LORD came: God saw and heard
their excuses and poor priorities – and He had something to
say to them through Haggai the prophet.
b. It is time for you yourselves to dwell in your
paneled houses: The people said that it wasn’t time to
rebuild the temple, but their actions said that it was time to
live in nicely rebuilt houses.
i. “Solomon first built a house for God, and then for himself.”
(Trapp)
c. And this temple to lie in ruins: This was the real
problem – not that God’s people lived in paneled houses,
but that they lived in such personal comfort and luxury
while the temple was in ruins.
i. The problem was simply wrongly ordered priorities. They
were content to let the cause of the Lord suffer at the
expense of their comfort. Instead, they should have felt no
rest until the work of God was as prosperous as their
personal lives, and been as willing to sacrifice for work of
God as they were for their personal comfort and luxury.
ii. It is easy to see how this happened over 14 years. At first
you stop the work because it is so hard and some obstacle in
the construction prevents progress.
· “We can’t get much done at the temple, and I’m tired of
living in a wreck. Time to start the remodel at home.”
· “God wants me to give attention to things at home – home
comes first.”
· “I would fund more construction at the temple but all my
money is tied up with my home renovation.”
· “I’m not living extravagantly – look at the other houses in
my neighborhood! Look at the chariots in their driveway!”
· “Someone should get to work on the temple. I hope
someone steps up to the job – I’ve got to finish paneling my
living room.”
· “The temple hasn’t been open for business for well more
than 50 years – a little while longer won’t matter.”
· “This isn’t the right time – later will be better.”
· “The altar is there and we can at least sacrifice to the
LORD. We’re getting by.”
iii. The excuses sound familiar – but God saw through them
in the days of Haggai, and He sees through them today.
The prophet Haggai was like an alarm clock – unwelcome but
necessary.
iv. “Many Christians are like those ancient Hebrews,
somehow convincing themselves that economy in
constructing church buildings is all-important while at the
same time sparing no expense in acquiring their personal
luxuries.”
(Alden)
d. Houses: “It seems to intimate some of them had more
than one house, a city and a country house, and whilst
God’s house lay waste; they thus lavish out their wealth on
private worldly conveniences, but grudge their charge
against God’s house . . . Do you owe so much to yourselves,
and so little to your God?” (Poole) 4. (Hag_1:5-6) Consider
your ways – and the result of them.
Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your
ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but
do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with
drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he
who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”
a. Consider your ways! The Hebrew figure of speech for
this phrase is literally “put your heart on your roads.” Haggai
asks God’s people to consider what direction their life is
headed, and if they really want it to continue that way.
b. You have sown much, and bring in little: The cause
of their financial difficulties was their wrong priorities. They
suffered setback after setback because the blessing of God
wasn’t on their pocketbook.
i. Haggai describes a double curse. Instead of much, little
was reaped; and the little that was brought home melted
away without doing any good (earns wages to put into a
bag with holes). “I do not know of any passage in the Bible
that better describes the feverish yet ineffective activity of
our own age.” (Boice) This all has the idea of, “The faster I
go, the behinder I get.”
ii. These judgments are a fulfillment of promises God made
hundreds of years before in the time of Moses (Deu_11:16-
17). The people of Israel were being judged and they didn’t
even know it – they probably wrote it all off as bad luck or
tough economic times, but God was trying to tell them
something.
iii. Sometimes our priorities are out of order and we seem to
suffer no financial hardship. In such times we should never
presume on the mercy of God – we should turn to Him and
re-order our priorities before He needs to use crisis to get
through to us.
c. You drink, but you are not filled with drink: If our
priorities are wrong, nothing will satisfy us. Each
accomplishment soon reveals that there must be something
more, something that can really satisfy, Nothing fills the
God-shaped void in our life except putting Him first.
i. “Had your little been as the righteous man’s little, you
might have lived on it, and rejoiced in it; but it had not such
a blessing upon it; it was blasted, and so was weak, and
empty, and profited little.” (Poole) 5. (Hag_1:7-11) What
they must do: rebuild the temple.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways! Go up to
the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I
may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the LORD. You
looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you
brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the LORD of
hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one
of you runs to his own house.
Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the
earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the
land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and
the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and
livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
a. Go up to the mountains and bring wood: God calls
them to work. Sometimes God’s cause needs work, work that
is supported by prayer, not work that is neglected because
of pretended “spiritual” service.
i. It was work to be embraced by individuals without
thinking, “Someone else will do it.” When David Livingstone
applied to a missionary society in Scotland because he
wanted to bring Jesus to Africa they told him, “Young man,
when God sees fit to evangelize Africa He will do it without
your help.” This is not the case at all – God will do it, and He
wants and often will wait for our participation.
b. That I may take pleasure in it and be glorified: It
was time for God’s people to start being concerned with
pleasing Him instead of themselves. In their nice houses and
prosperous lives they took pleasure and were glorified; now
it was the LORD’s turn.
i. God is also telling them to do it with the right kind of
heart; a heart that wants to please and glorify God c. You
looked for much, but indeed it came to little: When
God was neglected, nothing worked right. They were able to
accomplish some things (like building their own houses), but
it didn’t bring the satisfaction that it should have.
d. For I called for a drought on the land: We can
imagine the people of God depressed and discouraged
because of the drought. They thought it was all an attack of
Satan, and they prayed fervently against “Satan’s plot.” All
the while it wasn’t Satan’s doing at all, but it was the LORD
who called for a drought on the land. The problem
wasn’t Satan, but their priorities.
e. On the grain and the new wine and the oil: Because
they neglected the LORD, He neglected to bless their three
basic crops.
B. The response to Haggai’s prophecy.
1. (Hag_1:12) They obeyed God and feared His presence.
Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of
Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the
people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the
words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had
sent him; and the people feared the presence of the LORD.
a. Then Zerubbabel . . . and Joshua . . . with all the
remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the
LORD: Obedience had to begin with the leadership. This
wasn’t a sermon just for the people, but also for the highest
leaders among God’s people.
b. The voice of the LORD their God, and the words of
Haggai the prophet: “For the word of God is not
distinguished from the words of the Prophet, as though the
Prophet had added anything of his own.” (Calvin) i. In
pointing out both, Haggai is distinguishing between the
author of the doctrine, and its minister c. The words of
Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent
him: Their respect for Haggai was based on his office
(prophet) and his commission (God had sent him).
d. The people feared the presence of the LORD: Their
fear of God prompted obedience. This was more than basic
respect; it was recognition that God is a judge who deals
with us righteously.
2. (Hag_1:13-15) God responds to His people.
Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s
message to the people, saying, “I am with you, says the
LORD.” So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the
son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua
the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the
remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the
house of the LORD of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth
day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.
a. I am with you, says the LORD: God was there to
encourage them, and to strengthen them for the work. He
always empowers and encourages us to do what He
commands.
b. So the LORD stirred up the spirit: Would to God for
such a stirring of spirit among His people today! This stirring
begins with the leadership (Zerubbabel . . . Joshua) and
extends to the people (all the remnant of the people).
c. They came and worked on the house of the LORD:
The stirring of spirit didn’t come and go just as a spiritual
experience. The stirring of spirit flourished into a stirring of
the work.
Hag 1:2 The Indifference of the People
The LORD who rules over all5 says this: “These people have
said, ‘The time for rebuilding the LORD’s temple has not yet
come.’ “6
Hag 1:3 So the LORD spoke through the prophet Haggai as
follows:7
Hag 1:4 “Is it right for you to live in richly paneled houses8
while my temple is in ruins?9
Hag 1:5 Here then is what the LORD who rules over all
says: ‘Think carefully about what you are doing.10
Hag 1:6 You have planted much, but have harvested little.
You eat, but are never filled. You drink, but are still thirsty.
You put on clothes, but are not warm. Those who earn wages
end up with holes in their money bags.’ “11
Hag 1:7 The Instruction of the People
“Moreover, the LORD who rules over all says: ‘Pay close
attention to these things also.12
Hag 1:8 Go up to the hill country and bring back timber to
build13 the temple.14 Then I will be pleased and
honored,’15 says the LORD.
Hag 1:9 ‘You expected a large harvest, but instead16 there
was little, and when you brought it home it disappeared
right away.17 Why?’
asks the LORD who rules over all. ‘Because my temple
remains in ruins, thanks to each of you favoring his own
house!18
Hag 1:10 This is why the sky19 has held back its dew and
the earth its produce.20
Hag 1:11 Moreover, I have called for a drought that will
affect the fields, the hill country, the grain, new wine, fresh
olive oil, and everything that grows from the ground; it also
will harm people, animals, and everything they produce.’
“21
Hag 1:12 The Response of the People
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and the high priest Joshua
son of Jehozadak,22 along with the whole remnant of the
people,23
obeyed24 the LORD their God. They responded favorably to
the message of the prophet Haggai, who spoke just as the
LORD their God had instructed him,25 and the people began
to respect the LORD.26
Hag 1:13 Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, spoke the
LORD’s word to the people:27 “I am with you!” says the
LORD.
Hag 1:14 So the LORD energized and encouraged28
Zerubbabel29 son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high
priest Joshua son of Jehozadak,30 and the whole remnant of
the people.31 They came and worked on the temple of their
God, the LORD who rules over all.
Hag 1:15 This took place on the twenty-fourth day of the
sixth month of King Darius’second year.32
Hag 2:1 The Glory to Come
On the twenty-first day of the seventh month,1 the LORD
spoke again through the prophet Haggai:2
(Guzik)
Hag 2:1-23
HAGGAI 2 – THE GLORY OF THE SECOND TEMPLE
A. The second word from God: the glory of the new temple.
1. (Hag_2:1-3) Is the new temple as nothing compared to
Solomon’s temple?
In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the
word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying:
“Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of
Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest,
and to the remnant of the people, saying: ‘Who is left among
you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you
see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as
nothing?’“
a. In the seventh month: This message came in October
of 520 B.C. It was feast time in Israel, celebrating both the
Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles.
b. Who is left among you who saw this temple in its
former glory? Haggai spoke some 66 years after the
temple was destroyed. Certainly there were some old men
who had seen Solomon’s temple in its splendor.
i. Ezr_3:12-13 describes what those who had seen the first
temple felt like 16 years before this prophecy of Haggai,
when the work of rebuilding the temple first began:
But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the
fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple,
wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple
was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy,
so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout
of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the
people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard
afar off. (Ezr_3:12-13) ii. The men in Ezra 3 wept because
they saw this temple in its former glory. When Solomon
built the first temple, he spared no expense in materials,
and hired the best talent he could find to do the work.
c. In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as
nothing: These kind of comparisons between “the good old
days” and the present day – or between the work of God in
various places and times – are rarely beneficial. It didn’t do
the people of Haggai’s day any good to think of how
magnificent Solomon’s temple was compared to their own
rebuilding work.
i. “The smallness of our gifts may be a temptation to us. We
are consciously so weak and so insignificant, compared with
the great God and his great cause, that we are discouraged,
and think it vain to attempt anything . . . the enemy
contrasts our work with that of others, and with that of those
who have gone before us. We are doing so little as compared
with other people, therefore let us give up. We cannot build
like Solomon, therefore let us not build at all. Yet, brethren,
there is a falsehood in all this, for, in truth, nothing is worthy
of God. The great works of others, and even the amazing
productions of Solomon, all fell short of his glory.”
(Spurgeon) ii. A.W. Tozer suggested this prayer regarding our
tendency to compare and compete: “Dear Lord, I refuse
henceforth to compete with any of Thy servants. They have
congregations larger than mine. So be it. I rejoice in their
success. They have greater gifts. Very well. That is not in
their power nor in mine. I am humbly grateful for their
greater gifts and my smaller ones. I only pray that I may use
to Thy glory such modest gifts as I possess. I will not
compare myself with any, nor try to build up my self-esteem
by noting where I may excel one or another in Thy holy
work. I herewith make a blanket disavowal of all intrinsic
worth. I am but an unprofitable servant. I gladly go to the
foot of the cross and own myself the least of Thy people. If I
err in my self judgment and actually underestimate myself I
do not want to know it. I purpose to pray for others and to
rejoice in their prosperity as if it were my own. And indeed it
is my own if it is Thine own, for what is Thine is mine, and
while one plants and another waters it is Thou alone that
giveth the increase.” (A.W. Tozer, The Price of Neglect) 2.
(Hag_2:4-5) Carry on the work in strength and assurance.
“Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,” says the LORD; “and be
strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be
strong, all you people of the land,” says the LORD, “and
work; for I am with you,” says the LORD of hosts. “According
to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out
of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!”
a. Be strong . . . and work . . . do not fear: God gives
the leaders and people of Israel three clear commands. Each
of these three is essential to getting the work of God done.
Great things are not accomplished without action.
i. “What was lacking was dissatisfaction with things as they
were, and the consequent drive to initiate action.
Resignation killed faith.” (Baldwin)
b. I am with you . . . according to the word that I
covenanted with you when You came out of Egypt:
The same God that did great things in the past is among
them today, so be encouraged.
i. “Undoubtedly fear gripped many of the returnees – fear
that God had written an eternal ‘Ichabod’ over Jerusalem”
(Alden)
c. My Spirit remains among you: Under the Old
Covenant the Holy Spirit was among the people. Under the
New Covenant He is in God’s people.
3. (Hag_2:6-9) Why the rebuilt temple will be more glorious
than the temple of Solomon.
For thus says the LORD of hosts: “Once more (it is a little
while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land;
and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the
Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,”
says the LORD of hosts.
The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,” says the LORD of
hosts. The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than
the former,”
says the LORD of hosts. “And in this place I will give peace,”
says the LORD of hosts.
a. Once more . . . I will shake heaven and earth: This is
the only portion of Haggai quoted in the New Testament
(Heb_12:26).
b. They shall come to the Desire of All Nations:
Through the centuries, most see this as a prophecy of the
Messiah coming to this temple rebuilt in the days of Haggai
and Ezra. This understanding began with the ancient rabbis
and continued among Christians, and fits in well with the
promise of filling the temple with glory.
i. Some point out that this word for Desire can also be
translated treasures. We know that the Gentiles will bring
tribute to the LORD in the Millennium (Isa_60:5) – but that
won’t bring treasure to this temple that was rebuilt in the
days of Ezra and Haggai.
ii. The true Desire of All Nations is Jesus, even if the
nations themselves do not know it. “He is the one, the true
Reformer, the true rectifier of all wrong, and in this respect
the desire of all nations. Oh! if the world could gather up all
her right desire; if she could condense in one cry all her wild
wishes; if all true lovers of mankind could condense their
theories and extract the true wine of wisdom from them; it
would just come to this, we want an Incarnate God, and you
have got the Incarnate God! Oh! Nations, but ye know it not!
Ye, in the dark, are groping after him, and know not that he
is there.” (Spurgeon)
iii. Knowing that Jesus is the Desire of All Nations also
encourages our missionary work. “Brethren, I may add,
Christ is certainly the desire of all nations in this respect,
that we desire him for all nations. Oh! That the world were
encompassed in his gospel! Would God the sacred fire would
run along the ground, that the little handful of corn on the
top of the mountains would soon make its fruit to shake like
Lebanon. Oh! When will it come, when will it come that all
the nations shall know him? Let us pray for it: let us labor for
it.” (Spurgeon) c. “The silver is Mine, and the gold is
Mine,” says the LORD of hosts: They didn’t need to be
discouraged if they didn’t have money for the building
project. They had to boldly trust the God who owned every
resource, and then give generously.
i. When we really trust God, we will give generously. Hudson
Taylor, the groundbreaking missionary to the interior regions
of China in the second half of the nineteenth century
experienced this principle early in his life. As a young man
he preached in boarding houses in the poor slums of
London. A poor man asked Taylor to come back to his room
and pray for his wife who suffered complications from
childbirth was near death. The man had no money at all, and
couldn’t afford to pay a priest to come and perform last rites.
Taylor went to the man’s room and found the heartbreaking
situation – several children, the afflicted mother and a threeday-
old baby living in absolute filth and squalor, with
absolutely no food or money. Taylor knew he had a $20 coin
in his pocket that would meet their needs, but it was all the
money he had in the world himself. He began to speak to the
family about God when the Lord spoke to his own heart: “You
hypocrite! Telling these unconverted people about a kind
and loving Father in heaven, and not prepared yourself to
trust him without your $20.” Taylor wished that he had two
$10 pieces, and he would gladly have given them one – but
all he had was one $20 coin. He was taken aback, but
decided to lead the family in the Lord’s Prayer. As soon as he
said the words “Our Father,” the Lord convicted him of his
hypocrisy again. He struggled through the prayer under
tremendous conviction and then gave the father the $20
piece. That provision saved the life of the mother and
rescued the family.
ii. The lesson is plain. Knowing God provides should make us
more generous, instead of less generous (“I don’t have to
give to their need, because God will provide for them some
other way”).
d. The glory of this latter temple shall be greater
than the former: The glory of this temple was in fact
greater.
First, Herod remodeled this second temple into something
greater than Solomon’s temple. Second, the LORD of Glory
-J
esus – personally visited it and worshipped there.
i. “Because Christ shall appear and preach in it, who is the
brightness of his Father’s glory.” (Trapp) ii. Some scholars
speculate that Herod remodeled the temple with the intent
of fulfilling the glory of this latter temple shall be
greater than the former, so that he might fulfill it instead
of the Messiah.
e. And in this place I will give peace: The promised
peace is shalom. It means far more than stopping conflict –
it is the establishment of a lasting, righteous, good.
B. The third word from God: clean and unclean.
1. (Hag_2:10-14) A question for the priests.
On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second
year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the
prophet, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Now, ask the
priests concerning the law, saying, “If one carries holy meat
in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches
bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?”‘
“ Then the priests answered and said, “No.” And Haggai
said, “If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches
any of these, will it be unclean?” So the priests answered
and said, “It shall be unclean.” Then Haggai answered and
said, “ ‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,’
says the LORD, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and
what they offer there is unclean.
a. Will it become holy? Will it be unclean? Haggai
questions the priests – who were accustomed to answering
such questions – about the transmission of both holiness and
impurity. The priests answered correctly according to the
Law of Moses: holiness is not “contagious,” but impurity is.
i. A sick child cannot catch “health” from contacting a
healthy child; but the healthy child can become sick. The
principle of transmission really only works one way far more
than both ways.
b. So is this people, and so is this nation before Me:
On the same principle, living in the Holy Land and offering
sacrifices will not make the people acceptable, as long as
they themselves are unclean through neglect of the house of
the LORD.
i. Since the exile to Babylon, the people of Israel focused on
getting back to the Promised Land. In and of itself this was
not a bad focus; yet it led to the thinking that once they
made it back to the Promised Land everything else would
just fall into place. Haggai reminds them that their presence
in the Promised Land doesn’t make everything they do holy.
If the priorities of our heart are wrong, nothing we do is
really holy to God.
ii. “The ruined skeleton of the Temple was like a dead body
decaying in Jerusalem and making everything
contaminated.” (Baldwin)
2. (Hag_2:15-19) God sees their change of heart and
promises a harvest of blessing to come.
‘And now, carefully consider from this day forward: from
before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the LORD;
since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty
ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat
to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty.
I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors
of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me,’ says the LORD.
Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth
day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of
the Lord’s temple was laid; consider it: Is the seed still in the
barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the
olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless
you.’“
a. I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all
the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me:
The experiences were real but God’s people did not learn
from them. Tough times don’t necessarily bring us closer to
God.
b. But from this day I will bless you: God promised
blessing to His people if they put their priorities back in
order, with Him and His work first. Nevertheless, the
blessings might not come immediately and He did not want
them to become discouraged, but to trust that that from
this day I will bless you.
C. The final word from God: God rules.
1. (Hag_2:20-22) God asserts His sovereignty over the
nations.
And again the word of the LORD came to Haggai on the
twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, “Speak to
Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying: ‘I will shake heaven
and earth. I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I will
destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms. I will
overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them; the
horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the
sword of his brother.’“
a. I will shake heaven and earth. I will overthrow the
throne of kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of the
Gentile kingdoms: It was easy for the returning exiles to
feel insignificant in the world, as if they were just pawns or
spectators. God wanted them to know that though they were
small in the eyes of the superpowers of the world, they were
servants of the God of all power – they are on the winning
side.
b. I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in
them: This word of encouragement shows us that Haggai’s
messages from God are a mixture of rebuke and
encouragement.
2. (Hag_2:23) A promise to Zerubbabel.
‘In that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘I will take you,
Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the LORD,
‘and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,’
says the LORD of hosts.”
a. I will take you, Zerubbabel . . . and will make you
like a signet ring: The signet ring was a token of royal
authority much like a throne, a crown, or a scepter.
i. “This is not a personal assurance only to Zerubbabel, for
neither he nor his natural seed reigned in Jerusalem, or rose
to any special eminence in the kingdoms of this world.”
(Pulpit)
b. For I have chosen you: What was so special about
Zerubbabel? He truly was chosen of God – in the ancestry of
Jesus, Zerubbabel was the last person to stand to be in both
the line of Mary (the blood lineage of Jesus – Luk_3:27) and
Joseph (the legal lineage of Jesus through Joseph –
Mat_1:12).
i. God used these two lines of ancestry for Jesus because He
placed a curse on the seed of Jechoniah (also known as
Coniah or Jehoiachin) as recorded in Jer_22:30. That line was
royal line of David, so if the Messiah was to qualify for the
throne of David (Luk_1:31-33), he had to be of the legal line
of David, yet not of his seed.
ii. Jechoniah was the last legitimate king of Judah and the
royal House of David goes through him. His only successor
was Zedekiah, his uncle who was appointed not by right, but
by an occupying Babylonian ruler (2Ki_24:17-20). Even at
the end of his life, the Babylonians recognized Jechoniah as
the legitimate king of Judah (2Ki_25:27-30)
iii. Because Zerubbabel was a descendant of the last
legitimate king of Judah, he could be legitimately
recognized as the ruler (though not king) of the returning
exiles.
Hag 2:2 “Ask the following questions to3 Zerubbabel son
of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of
Jehozadak,4
and the remnant of the people:
Hag 2:3 ‘Who among you survivors saw the former
splendor of this temple?5 How does it look to you now? Isn’t
it nothing by comparison?
Hag 2:4 Even so, take heart, Zerubbabel,’says the LORD.
‘Take heart, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and6
all you citizens of the land,’7 says the LORD, ‘and begin to
work. For I am with you,’says the LORD who rules over all.
Hag 2:5 ‘Do not fear, because I made a promise to your
ancestors when they left Egypt, and my spirit8 even now
testifies to you.’9
Hag 2:6 Moreover, the LORD who rules over all says: ‘In
just a little while10 I will once again shake the sky11 and
the earth, the sea and the dry ground.
Hag 2:7 I will also shake up all the nations, and they12 will
offer their treasures;13 then I will fill this temple with
glory,’says the LORD
who rules over all.
Hag 2:8 ‘The silver and gold will be mine,’says the LORD
who rules over all.
Hag 2:9 ‘The future splendor of this temple will be greater
than that of former times,’14 the LORD who rules over all
declares, ‘and in this place I will give peace.’ “15
Hag 2:10 The Promised Blessing
On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of
Darius’second year,16 the LORD spoke again to the prophet
Haggai:17
Hag 2:11 “The LORD who rules over all says, ‘Ask the
priests about the law.18
Hag 2:12 If someone carries holy meat in a fold of his
garment and that fold touches bread, a boiled dish, wine,
olive oil, or any other food, will that item become holy?’ “19
The priests answered, “It will not.”
Hag 2:13 Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually
unclean because of touching a dead body20 comes in
contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?”
The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”
Hag 2:14 Then Haggai responded, ” ‘The people of this
nation are unclean in my sight,’21 says the LORD. ‘And so is
all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean.22
Hag 2:15 Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent
past,23 before one stone was laid on another in the LORD’s
temple.24
Hag 2:16 From that time25 when one came expecting a
heap of twenty measures, there were only ten; when one
came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures from it,
there were only twenty.
Hag 2:17 I struck all the products of your labor26 with
blight, disease, and hail, and yet you brought nothing to
me,’27 says the LORD.
Hag 2:18 ‘Think carefully about the past:28 from today,
the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month,29 to the day work
on the temple of the LORD was resumed,30 think about it.31
Hag 2:19 The seed is still in the storehouse, isn’t it? And
the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree have not
produced. Nevertheless, from today on I will bless you.’ ”
Hag 2:20 Zerubbabel the Chosen One
Then the LORD spoke again to Haggai32 on the twentyfourth
day of the month:33
Hag 2:21 Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah: ‘I am ready34
to shake the sky35 and the earth.
Hag 2:22 I will overthrow royal thrones and shatter the
might of earthly kingdoms.36 I will overthrow chariots and
those who ride them, and horses and their riders will fall as
people kill one another.37
Hag 2:23 On that day,’38 says the LORD who rules over all,
‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’39
says the LORD, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring,40 for I
have chosen you,’says the LORD who rules over all.”41