Haggai 1:1-2:23

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

The LORD's First Message: Meditate upon your ways 1:1-15

Meditate upon what you have done: forgetting GOD's House 1:1-6
Meditate upon what you should do: build GOD's House 1:7-11
Obedience to the call to rebuild 1:12-15

The LORD's Second Message: Be strong and work 2:1-9

Comparison between the New Temple and the Temple of Solomon 2:1-3
Call to work 2:4,5
The future glory of the New Temple 2:6-9

The LORD's Third Message: I will bless you 2:10-23

A question to the priests 2:10-29
A promise to Zerubbabel 2:20-23

Hag. 1:1-4 See section 1 of "TRUTH IN ACTION" at the end of Haggai

Hag. 1:1 The date that, with all precision, is offered for the year in which Haggai received GOD's message, is based upon the prophet's ministry among those who returned from exile during a period of four months in 520 B.C. The message comes from the LORD through Haggai to Zerubbabel and Joshua, and is directed to all the people, and calls for a collaboratoin between the prophetic leadership, the priesthood and the political leadership, taking into account that GOD's will is fulfilled in His people.

Hag. 1:1-11 Materialism Reconsidered (HBH) Haggai has no title verse. The information needed is provided in the narrative. This includes a precise date for each prophecy. Darius was the third Persian ruler over the huge empire that succeeded Babylon in 539 B.C. and which controlled territory from India in the east to the Aegean Sea in the west. Darius began his reign in 522. His second year of reign was 520.

Haggai's message is called "the word of the LORD" in the way already familiar from Hosea through Zephaniah. But here it is used for a specific prophecy in verses 1-11.

Haggai probably means something like festival child, indicating that he was born on a holiday. He is called "the prophet". That term has not been used frequently in the Book of the Twelve (Minor Prophets). Haggai is mentioned along with Zechariah and Zerubabbel in Ezra 5:1 and 6:14.

Zerubabbel apparently succeeded Sheshbazzar as governor of Judah. He was the grandson of Jehoiakin, former king of Judah, who had been taken to Babylon in 598 B.C. So Zerubabbel was a potential heir to David's throne if there should be one again.

Joshua is called "high priest". That title came into use after the exile. He apparently shared ruling authority with Zerubabbel because Jerusalem was to be a temple-city according to Cyrus's decree. Priests formed a major portion of those who returned under Sheshbazzar (Ezra 2:36).

The occasion for the prophecy was the people's reluctance to start building the temple (v.2). They said that the time was not right. In response the LORD asked if it was time, then, for them to live in luxurious homes while His house remained in ruins (vv. 3-4).

GOD's people found their labor brought little real result (vv. 5-6). Futility of labor was one of the curses for breaking covenant (Lev. 26:16,20; Deut. 28:20-41). This curse was already announced for preexilic Israel in passages like Hosea 13:15 and Amos 4:6-12. Despite the fulfillment of judgment and the chance of a new beginning in Jerusalem, the promised reversal of fortunes with outpoured blessings had not occurred. Life was still futile and empty, economically and in every other way.

Verses 7-11 explain that the LORD did this because His house, the temple, remained in ruins with no effort made to rebuild it. Until the people turned their attention to this priority, there would be no prosperity for them.

Hag. 1:2 Haggai's favorite designation when he refers to GOD is Jehovah of Hosts, which appears fourteen times in this short book. This may deal with "hosts", "angels", "stars" or the "armies of Israel", and is used by the prophet to emphasize the greatness and power of GOD. This people say: Thus the scene is set to present GOD's dispute against the people of Jerusalem.

Hag. 1:4 Crafted houses (KJV-ceiled houses; the Hebrew word used here means "covered"): The people, although negligent in the construction of the Temple, embellished their own houses covering the walls with expensive panels, like in the Temple of Solomon, where "all were cedar; no stone was seen" (I Kings 6:18).

Hag. 1:5,7 Meditate well upon your ways: In Hebrew it literally says "meditate on your heart" (see 2:15,18).

Hag. 1:6 Apparently the people invoked the problems of poverty, hunger, shortages and the devaluation of money, as excuses for not finishing the Temple. But GOD's judgment is announced in verses 9-11.

Hag. 1:7 Without the resources of Solomon, who built using the cedars of Lebanon and the gold of Ophir, the people could still glorify GOD using the materials they had at hand.

Hag. 1:10,11 The same nature reflects divine judgment when GOD's will is ignored.

Hag. 1:12-15 Motivating GOD's People (HBH) Verses 12-14 report the response of the leaders and the people to Haggai's message. They obeyed the LORD because they recognized that He had sent Haggai. They "feared the LORD" (v.12), worshiping Him and giving Him due attention. So Haggai announced a new word from GOD: "I am with you" (v.13). The LORD's presence was manifested in a revived willingness by all the people to work on the temple.

Hag. 1:13 Haggai, sent by Jehovah, spoke by Jehovah's mandate: This defines Haggai's personality and mission.

Hag. 1:14 The prophet's message (v.13) is complemented by the direct intervention of GOD, who awakened the dormant hearts and renewed the desires of all who did His will. The result was that the builders began the work again with great energy.

LITERARY RICHES

Hag. 1:14 awakened, 'ur; Strong #5782: To raise, provoke, excite, incite, motivate or open someone's eyes. 'Ur appears some 75 times in the Old Testament, and is used as much to describe an eagle stirring up his next (Deut. 32:11), as the "awakening" of a musical instrument that is ready to play (Psa. 108:2). In Isaiah 50:4, Jehovah awakens the prophet every morning and "awakens" his ear so that he can hear the divine message. See also Isaiah 51:9, which speaks of the awakening of Jehovah's arm. This reference is similar: GOD awakens the spirit of Zerubbabel and rouses him to repair the temple of GOD.

Hag. 1:15 In the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month: Twenty-three days passed between the proclamation of Haggai's first message and the resumption of the work of rebuilding the Temple.

Hag. 2:1 Haggai's second message ("be strong...and work", v.4) is produced approximately two months after the first and a month after the construction of the Temple having commenced.

Hag. 2:1-9 GOD's Emerging Word (HBH) A month later GOD gave an encouraging word to a tiny group which had determined, without adequate resources, to build GOD's house as He had directed (2:1-9). They might have been discouraged because they had no chance of duplicating the splendor of Solomon's temple that once stood on that spot (v.3). But GOD called on all of them to be strong and to work hard because the LORD Almighty was with them (v.4). The name "the LORD Almighty [or 'the LORD of Hosts']" is used frequently in the last books of the twelve Minor Prophets. The smaller and weaker Israel's own resources, the greater their need for a faith in GOD as even more powerful than before.

Verses 6-9 portray GOD's intended use for the new temple. He planned great earthshaking events soon. The "desired of all nations will come" (v.7). The nations would be shaken and that which they desired would come to pass. Verse 9 suggests that this desire was for "peace". This would come when the temple was filled with GOD's presence.

GOD's people did not need to be overly concerned with how they could finance the temple rebuilding. GOD said, "The silver and the gold is mine" (v.8). Micah 4:1-5 (and Isa. 2:2-4) shows that the new temple was GOD's goal and that worship there would be related to peaceful life. Haggai said now was the time for that to be fulfilled. As for the needed funding, Ezra-Nehemiah records the specific financial support Cyrus and his successors decreed should be provided for the new temple. He gave back to Sheshbazzar the vessels that were taken away by Babylonian and Assyrian kings. Darius later ordered surrounding peoples through the governors to pay for the work (Ezra 6:8-10). Artaxerxes later ordered even more generous support for Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra 7).

Hag. 2:3 That had seen this house in its first glory: Refers to the Temple of Solomon. Some of the oldest among the people were children at the time of the fall of Jerusalem.

Hag. 2:5 The promise of the Holy Spirit was confirmed through a pact in the beginning of the history of Israel. The promise continued being fulfilled while the Spirit of GOD still dwelled in the midst of the Israelites, who should not fear. See the introduction to Haggai: "The Holy Spirit in Action".

Hag. 2:5-9 See section 1 of "TRUTH IN ACTION" at the end of Haggai.

Hag. 2:6-9 This passage is better interpreted in light of GOD's final intervention in history, in the sublime "Day of the LORD" (see the note for Obadiah 15).

Hag. 2:7 And I will shake all the nations: Alludes to GOD's final judgment before the arrival of the world to come. And I will fill this house with glory: Refers in part to the dedication of Zerubabbel's, although it also announces the future presence of GOD in human temples through Jesus Christ (I Cor. 6:19,20).

Hag. 2:7 And the desire of all nations shall come: (Albert Barne's Notes on the Bible)
The words can only mean this, the central longing of all nations. He whom they longed for, either through the knowledge of Him spread by the Jews in their dispersion, or mutely by the aching craving of the human heart, longing for the restoration from its decay. “The earnest expectation of the creature” did not begin with the Coming of Christ, nor was it limited to those, who actually came to Him Rom_8:19-22. “The whole creation,” Paul saith, “groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” It was enslaved, and the better self longed to be free; every motion of grace in the multitudinous heart of man was a longing for its Deliverer; every weariness of what it was, every fleeting vision of what was better, every sigh from out of its manifold ills, were notes of the one varied cry, “Come and help us.” Man’s heart, formed in the image of GOD, could not but ache to be reformed by and for Him, though “an unknown GOD,” who should reform it.

This longing increased as the time drew near, when Christ should come. The Roman biographer attests the existence of this expectation, not among the Jews only, but in the East ; this was quickened doubtless among the pagan by the Jewish Sibylline book, in that, amid the expectations of one sent from heaven, who should found a kingdom of righteousness, which the writer drew from the Hebrew prophets, he inserted denunciations of temporal vengeance upon the Romans, which Easterners would share. Still, although written 170 years before our LORD came , it had not apparently much effect until the time, when, from the prophecies of Daniel it was clear, that He must shortly come . Yet the attempt of the Jewish and pagan historian to wrest it to Vespasian, shows how great must have been the influence of the expectation, which they attempted to turn aside.

The Jews, who rejected our LORD whom Haggai predicted, still were convinced that the prediction must be fulfilled before the destruction of the second temple. The impulse did not cease even after its destruction. R. Akiba, whom they accounted “the first oracle of his time, the first and greatest guardian of the tradition and old law,” of whom they said, that “GOD revealed to him things unknown to Moses,” was induced by this prophecy to acknowledge the impostor Bar-cochab, to the destruction of himself and of the most eminent of his time; fulfilling our LORD’s words (John 5:43) “I am come in My fathers name, and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”

Akiba, following the traditional meaning of the great prophecy which rivetted his own eyes, paraphrased the words, “Yet a little, a little of the kingdom, will I give to Israel upon the destruction of the first house, and after the kingdom, lo! I will shake heaven, and after that will come the Messiah.”

Since the words can only mean “the Desire of all nations,” he or that which all nations long for, the construction of the words does not affect the meaning. Herod doubtless thought to advance his own claims on the Jewish people by his material adorning of the temple; yet, although mankind do covet gold and silver, few could seriously think that, while a pagan immoral but observant poet could speak of “gold undiscovered and so better placed,” or our own of the “pale and common drudge ‘Tween man and man,” a Hebrew prophet could recognize gold and silver as “the desire of all nations.” Rabbi Akiba and Jerome’s Jewish teachers, after our LORD came, felt no difficulty in understanding it of a person. We cannot in English express the delicacy of the phrase, whereby manifoldness is combined in unity, the Object of desire containing in itself many objects of desire.

To render “the desire of all nations” or “the desires of all nations” alike fail to do this. A great pagan master of language said to his wife, “fare you well, my longings,” i. e., I suppose, if he had analyzed his feelings, he meant that she manifoldly met the longings of his heart; she had in herself manifold gifts to content them. So Paul sums up all the truths and gifts of the Gospel, all which GOD shadowed out in the law and had given us in Christ, under the name of “the good things to come.” A pious modern writer speaks of “the unseen desirables of the spiritual world.” A psalmist expresses at once the collective, “GOD’s Word” and the “words” contained in it, by an idiom like Haggai’s, joining the feminine singular as a collective with the plural verb; “How sweet are Thy word unto my taste,” literally “palate.”

It is GOD’s word, at once collectively and individually, which was to the Psalmist so sweet. What was true of the whole, was true, one by one, of each part; what was true of each part, was true of the whole. So here, the object of this longing was manifold, but met in one, was concentrated in One, (1Cor. 1:30) “in Christ Jesus, Who of GOD is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” That which the whole world sighed and mourned for, knowingly or unknowingly, light to disperse its darkness, liberty from its spiritual slavery, restoration from its degradation, could not come to us without some one, who should impart it to us.

But if Jesus was “the longed-for of the nations” before He came, by that mute longing of need for that which it wants (as the parched ground thirsteth for the rain how much more afterward! So Micah and Isaiah describe many peoples inviting one another Mic. 4:2; Isa. 2:3. “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the GOD of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.” And in truth He became the “desire of the nations,” much more than of the Jews; as, Paul says, (Rom. 10:19-20; quoting Deut. 32:21; Isa. 65:2.) GOD foretold of old; “Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are not a people: by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Esaias is very bold and saith, I was found of them that sought Me not.”

So until now and in eternity, “Christ is the longing of all holy souls, who long for nothing else, than to please Him, daily to love Him more, to worship Him better. So John longed for Him; “Come, LORD Jesus (Rev. 22:20). So Isaiah (Isa. 26:8-9), “The desire of our soul is to Thy Name and to the remembrance of Thee: with my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me, will I seek Thee early.” So Ignatius, “Let fire, cross, troops of wild beasts, dissections, rendings, scattering of bones, mincing of limbs, grindings of the whole body, ill tortures of the devil come upon me, only may I gain Jesus Christ. - I seek Him Who for us died; I long for Him Who for us rose.”

“Hungerest thou and desirest food? Long for Jesus! He is the bread and refreshment of Angels. He is manna, “containing in Him all sweetness and pleasurable delight.” Thirstest thou? Long for Jesus! He is the well of “living water,” refreshing, so that thou shouldest thirst no more. Art thou sick? Go to Jesus. He is the Saviour, the physician, nay, salvation itself. Art thou dying? Sigh for Jesus! He is “the resurrection and the life.” Art thou perplexed? Come to Jesus! He is “the Angel of great counsel.” Art thou ignorant and erring? Ask Jesus; He is “the way, the truth and the life.” Art thou a sinner? Call on Jesus! For “He shall save His people from their sins.” To this end He came into the world: “This is all His fruit, to take away sin.” Art thou tempted by pride, gluttony, lust, sloth? Call on Jesus! He is humility, soberness, chastity, love, fervor: “He bare our infirmities, and carried,” yea still beareth and carrieth, “our griefs.”

Seekest thou beauty? He is “fairer than the children of men.” Seekest thou wealth? In Him are “all treasures,” yea in Him “the fullness of the Godhead dwelleth.” Art thou ambitious of honors? “Glory and riches are in His house.” “He is the King of glory.” Seekest thou a friend? He hath the greatest love for thee, who for love of thee came down from heaven, toiled, endured the Sweat of Blood, the Cross and Death; He prayed for thee by name in the garden, and poured forth tears of Blood! Seekest thou wisdom? He is the Eternal and Uncreated Wisdom of the Father! Wishest thou for consolation and joy? He is the sweetness of souls, the joy and jubilee of Angels. Wishest thou for righteousness and holiness? He is “the Holy of holies;” He “is everlasting Righteousness,” justifying and sanctifying all who believe and hope in Him. Wishest thou for a blissful life? He is “life eternal,” the bliss of the saints. Long then for Him, love Him, sigh for Him! In Him thou wilt find all good; out of Him, all evil, all misery. Say then with Francis, ‘My Jesus, my love and my all!’ O Good Jesus, burst the cataract of Thy love, that its streams, yea seas, may flow down upon us, yea, inebriate and overwhelm us.”

And I will fill this house with glory - The glory then was not to be anything, which came from man, but directly from GOD. It was the received expression of GOD’s manifestation of Himself in the tabernacle (Exod. 40:34-35) in Solomon’s temple (1Kings 8:11; 2Chron. 5:14; 7:1-12), and of the ideal temple (Ezek. 43:5; 44:4) which Ezekiel saw, after the likeness of that of Solomon, that “the glory of the LORD filled the house.” When then of this second temple GOD uses the self-same words, that He will “fill it with glory,” with what other glory should He fill it than His own? In the history it is said, “the glory of the LORD filled the temple;” for there man relates what GOD did. Here it is GOD Himself who speaks; so He says not, “the glory of the LORD,” but, “I will fill the house with glory,” glory which was His to give, which came from Himself. To interpret that glory of anything material, is to do violence to language, to force on words of Scripture an unworthy sense, which they refuse to bear.

The gold upon the walls, even had the second temple been adorned like the first did not fill the temple of Solomon. However richly any building might be overlaid with gold, no one could say that it is filled with it. A building is filled with what it contains; a mint or treasure-house may be filled with gold: the temple of GOD was “filled,” we are told, with “the glory of the LORD.” His creatures bring Him such things as they can offer; they bring (Isa. 60:6) “gold and incense;” they (Psa. 72:10) “bring presents” and “offer gifts;” they do it, moved by His Spirit, as acceptable to Him. GOD was never said to give these offerings to Himself.

Hag. 2:9 In Jewish tradition this house was called "the second temple", the first being the Temple of Solomon. This is the temple that existed in Jesus' time, although it was amplified and embellished under Herod. About the importance of this "later temple" see the note for verse 7. See also the Introduction to Haggai, "Christ Revealed".

Hag. 2:10 Haggai's third message, "I will bless you" (v.19) came approximately two months after the second message (v.1).

Hag. 2:10-23 The Turning Point (HBH) Two months later the LORD announced a turning point when the first stones were actually laid for the temple's foundation (v.15). The passage begins with a parable related to meat consecrated for sacrifice. It had no power in itself to sanctify what it touched and could only be profaned by alien contact. So long as the people had no temple, so long as they were under GOD's judgment, they were like that. Nothing prospered. Nothing worked for them. But now, from the day the temple began to be a reality, that would change. GOD would bless them.

Haggai 2:20-23 is a prophecy given on the same day to Zerubabbel that again spoke of earthshaking events in which GOD would use violence and war. On that day GOD said He would elevate Zerubabbel. He called him "my servant", a title made great in Isaiah. He promised to make him like GOD's own signet ring.

The subject turns from building the temple to the question of leadership in Jerusalem, from a position of joint leadership with Joshua, the priest, to the single rule of Zerubabbel. Jeremiah 22:24-25 had announced that GOD would tear off Yahweh's signet ring from Jehoiakin to give it to Nebuchadnezzar. Now Jehoiakin's grandson was promised that the LORD would "wear him as a signet ring" because GOD had chosen him. The verse has a messianic sound to it, and Christians have thought of Jesus Christ as its fulfillment. Readers about 420 B.C. must have expected a great deal more from Zerubabbel himself. (See Zech. 4 for a further word on Zerubabbel). It is enough here to note that messianic expectation was not in step with the trend of these later Books of the Twelve Minor Prophets, which expect no restoration of the temple and of the people in the land of Israel.

Hag. 2:11-14 After his third message of blessing, Haggai reminds them that holiness isn't transferable. His intention is to explain that three months of work on the temple can't compensate for years of negligence. The temple doesn't work wonders, the people must still amend their lives.

Hag. 2:12 Holy flesh: Alludes to the flesh of the sacrifice.

Hag. 2:15-19 See section 1 of "TRUTH IN ACTION" at the end of Haggai.

Hag. 2:15-19 By asking the people to look behind, GOD emphasizes what He states by blessing those who put His will first (from this day forward).

LITERARY RICHES

Hag. 2:15 Temple, heychal; Strong #1964: Sanctuary, palace; any edifice filled with splendor and beauty; a construction, a tabernacle, a citadel, a spacious royal building. This substantive appears some 80 times an is occasionally translated as "palace", as in Psalm 45:8,15 and Isaiah 39:7. However, the majority of times that it appears, it refers to the temple of Jehovah in Jerusalem. In some references, heychal indicates the interior appearance of the temple (see II Chron. 29:16; Psa. 11:4; 27:4; Is. 6:1; Jonah 2:7).

Hag. 2:19 From this day I will bless you: Words that assure, although unearned, GOD's provision.

Hag. 2:20-23 The the note for verse 7. See also the note for Zechariah 4:7.

Hag. 2:22 The sword of his brother: GOD will confront those who oppose His people, so that they will end up destroying themselves.

Hag. 2:23 Signet: An article of especial value for its owner. Zerubabbel's name will remain engraved as a sign for all to see the special treatment of which GOD made him an object; this appears in the geneaologies of our LORD Jesus (see Matt. 1:12,13; Luke 3:27). See also the Introduction to Haggai, "Christ Revealed".

Theological and Ethical Significance (HBH) Haggai calls us to attempt great things for GOD. Petty selfishness and fears of failure must not prevent GOD's people from acting. Our actions will reveal whether or not GOD is the top priority in our lives. If we do not honor GOD in what we do, we will not be successful no matter how hard we strive. GOD provides His people with leaders like Zerubbabel to assist His people in serving Him.

Questions for Reflection (HBH)

What does Haggai teach GOD's people about their use of time and material resources?
What evidence was there of GOD's presence with His people in their work of rebuilding the temple?