Haggai
Book Outhne
Key theme: Complete the work you have begun
Key verse:
I. First Message: Conviction ()
A. Stop making excuses ()
B. Start considering your ways ()
C. Begin to serve the Lord ()
II. Second Message: Comparison ()
A. Discouragement ()
B. Encouragement ()
1. Be strong ()
2. Fear not ()
3. Glory will come (, )
4. God will provide (, )
III. Third Message: Contamination ()
A. The question of defilement ()
B. The assurance of blessing ()
IV. Fourth Message: Coronation ()
A. The coming judgment ()
B. The promised Messiah ()
Book Overview
When the foundations of the temple were laid in Jerusalem in the year 536 B.C., the younger people shouted for joy while the older leaders wept (). Although Haggai probably had seen Solomon’s temple in its glory (), he was undoubtedly among those who expressed joy, for the Lord was at work among His people.
Unfortunately, for zeal to cool and apathy to set in didn’t take long, especially when opposition began to increase. Eventually the work stopped entirely (, ) and the temple lay unfinished from 536 to 520 B.C., when Haggai and Zechariah brought God’s message to Zerubbabel and Jeshua.
Getting God’s people back to work is one task; keeping them on the job is quite another. The greatest ability a person can possess is dependability, but too often potential workers excuse themselves and say, “Here am I, Lord; send somebody else.” God states His pattern for His workers in . “To work is to pray,” said Saint Augustine, and God’s people can do any legitimate task to the glory of God ().
Rebuilding the temple was a very special task because it meant restoring true worship in Jerusalem, and completing the project would please the Lord and be a great testimony to the unbelieving nations who were watching the remnant in Jerusalem.
“Be Transformed”
Bad habits are hard to break; good habits disappear in a blink. We can always think of good reasons not to do what we should and good reasons to do what we shouldn’t. Moral inertia takes special energy to overcome. All of these tendencies could be called spiritual red tape that keeps life wallowing in sin rather than walking in God’s light. We find ourselves in a dark rut, and we are shockingly comfortable right where we are! In cases like these, God often sends a Haggai along to move us from lethargy into action. He or she speaks God’s Word into our lives and reminds us of best intentions, forgotten promises, and the eternal matters of life.
Like Esther, Haggai came on the scene for “such a time as this” (). The people were in desperate straits and didn’t realize what was causing their difficulties. God, through Haggai, reminded them that the temple, which had been the primary objective on their to-do list when they returned from Babylon, was still a foundation with no structure. They needed to get back to work.
We often resent Haggais in our lives. We don’t like to be reminded of our broken promises. How many wandering children appreciate being called home? How often do wayward spouses enjoy being called to account for the promises they have broken? What do we say to those who remind us of commitments we haven’t kept? One of the healthiest spiritual exercises we can undertake is to identify people who have been faithful Haggais in our lives and go back to thank them for caring enough to call us to do what we needed to do and had promised to do.
The Command to Build God’s House
1In 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,
2“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.” ’ ” 
3Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
6“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.”
7Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways!
10“Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.
11“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.”
The People’s Obedience
13Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, spoke the LORD’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you, says the LORD.”
15on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.
The Coming Glory of God’s House
2“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:
3‘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?
9‘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.”
The People Are Defiled
11“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Now, ask the priests concerning the law, saying,
12“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.”
13And 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.”
14Then 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.
Promised Blessing
16‘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.
19‘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.’ ”
Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet
20And again the word of the LORD came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying,
21“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying:
‘I will shake heaven and earth.
22I 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.
23‘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.”
Annotations for Haggai
Catalyst
The first statement in God’s message through Haggai went right to the heart of the problem and exposed the hypocrisy and unbelief of the people. His words confronted three obstacles that were preventing the reconstruction of the temple:
Incessant Excuses. “The time has not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built” was their defense of their inactivity.
Ignored Evidence. What more evidence did the Jewish people need that God’s time had come? How could they doubt that it was God’s will for them to rebuild the temple and restore true worship in Jerusalem? Hadn’t God moved King Cyrus to free the exiles and commission them to return to Jerusalem for that very purpose? (See , ; .)
Inconsiderate Evasion. The people were terribly inconsistent. The time wasn’t right for building the house of God, but the time was right to build their own homes! And some of the people had built not just ordinary dwellings, but “luxurious houses”—the kind that kings built for themselves (, ; ).
These three tactics or clues can often be identified in our lives when we know what God wants us to do but never seem to get around to doing it! Transformation doesn’t come until we face our part in promoting spiritual delays.
Go to the
When we put God first and give Him what’s rightfully His, we open the door to spiritual enrichment and the kind of stewardship that honors the Lord. A century after Haggai ministered, the prophet Malachi accused the people of robbing God of tithes and offerings and thereby robbing themselves of blessing (); and His words need to be heeded today.
, In the light of these facts, on what basis were the people refusing to obey God and build His house? For one thing, both Isaiah and Jeremiah had predicted a national restoration that would amaze the Gentile nations and bring glory to Israel, but that wonderful event had not yet occurred. (See ; ; ; ; .) The people failed to understand that some of these promises would be fulfilled in the end times (“the last days”); and when the situation in Judah became worse, the people questioned the dependability of the Word of God.
Like the priests in Malachi’s day, we bring to the Lord gifts we’d be embarrassed to give to our family and friends (). But when we do this, we commit two sins: (1) we displease the Lord, and (2) we disgrace His name. The Lord told the people through Haggai, “bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified.” God delights in the obedient service of His people, and His name is glorified when we sacrifice for Him and serve Him.
Tithing is a good place to start when it comes to systematic stewardship. After all, if an old covenant Jew under law could gladly give tithes to the Lord, should a new covenant believer under grace do less? But the tithe is only a start! The principles laid down in and encourage us to give offerings to the Lord and trust Him for all that we need (see ).
Once more, the prophet revealed the source of the nation’s trouble: the people were busy building their own houses and had no time for the house of the Lord. This is . Had the nation believed what God promised in His covenants, they would have obeyed Him and enjoyed His blessing.
When God speaks to us by His Word, only one response is acceptable, and that’s obedience. We don’t weigh the options, we don’t examine the alternatives, and we don’t negotiate the terms. We simply do what God tells us to do and leave the rest with Him.
Any interpretation of the Bible that limits God and encourages His people to be lazy instead of busy in ministry is a false interpretation and must be abandoned. If the Lord is to be pleased with us and glorified before an unbelieving world, we must hear His Word, believe it, and act upon it, regardless of the circumstances. After all, God is with us, and “If God is for us, who can be against us?” ().
The church today can learn a lesson from the Jewish remnant of Haggai’s day. Too often we make excuses when we ought to be making confessions and obeying the Lord. We say, “The time isn’t right for an evangelistic crusade”; “The time isn’t right for the Spirit to bring revival”; “The time isn’t right to expand the ministry.” We act as though we fully understand the “dates and times” that God has ordained for His people, but we don’t understand them (, ).
Rather than ignore the problem of discouragement that was sure to come when the people contrasted the two temples, the prophet faced the problem head-on. He picked an important day on which to deliver his message: October 17, the last day of the Festival of Shelters. This feast was devoted to praising God for the harvest and for remembering Israel’s pilgrim days in the wilderness ().
Encouragement is found in God’s presence. Haggai didn’t deny that the new temple was “in comparison” like nothing to what Solomon had built, but that wasn’t important. The important truth was that this was God’s work and they could depend on Him to help them finish it. Haggai said “Be strong” to the governor, the high priest, and the people working on the building, and those two words would be very significant to them.
Telling people to be strong and work is one thing; giving them a solid foundation for those words of encouragement is something else entirely. Haggai told them why they should be strong and work: because the Lord was with them (see ). The promise of God’s presence was an encouragement to both Joshua (, ; ) and Solomon (). Believers today can claim the same promise as they serve the Lord, “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ ” (; and see , ).
Encouragement is also found in God’s covenant. The promise of God’s presence with His people is guaranteed by His unchanging Word. When the tabernacle was dedicated by Moses, God’s presence moved in (), for the Lord had promised to dwell with His people.
, Encouragement is wrapped in God’s promise. With prophetic insight, Haggai looked ahead to the time when the Son of God would minister in this temple and bring the glory of God into its precincts (). Herod’s temple replaced the temple Zerubbabel built, but the Jews still considered it “the second temple.” Certainly the glory that Jesus brought into that temple was greater than the glory of the tabernacle or the temple Solomon built.
The remnant had no beautiful treasures with which to adorn their temple. But when the Messiah comes to reign, the treasures of the nations will be brought to Him and will be used for His glory. God not only promised the coming of Messiah and the glory of God in the future temples, He also promised peace (v. ). “In this place” (v. ) refers to the city of Jerusalem where the Messiah will reign as “Prince of Peace” (). Those who believe on Jesus today have peace with God () because of His atoning death and victorious resurrection (; ). They may also enjoy “God’s peace” as they yield to Christ and trust wholly in Him ().
Encouragement flows with God’s provision. Finally, through Haggai the Lord assured the people that, despite the bad economy and their lack of wealth, He was able to provide all they needed. “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine.” True, the remnant had promises of provision from the government (; ; ), but government grants are limited. God owns all the wealth, even the wealth stored in the king’s treasury, and He can distribute it as He desires. God promises to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus ().
“What is Haggai driving at?” the people no doubt were asking, so he told them. The people working on the Temple couldn’t impart any holiness to it, but they could defile it by their sins. Not only was doing God’s work important, but doing His work from hearts that were pure and devoted to God was even more important.
Many local church constitutions assign to the elders the spiritual direction of the church, and to the deacons the responsibilities for the material aspects of the ministry. For organizational purposes, this may be convenient, but this separation of spiritual and material is not biblical. The construction of a new church sanctuary should be just as spiritual an endeavor as an evangelistic crusade or a missions conference.
Sin always hinders God’s work and robs us of God’s blessings. The sins of the people brought about the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the nation, and their sins could hinder the rebuilding of the temple and the renewing of the Jewish nation in their own land. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” ().
, Haggai was issuing a call to repentance, and with that call came the assurance of God’s blessing. He was reminding the people of the promise God had given Solomon after the dedication of the temple: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” ().
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