Haggai 2:10-19

THE THIRD MESSAGE. Haggai 2:10-19

RV. In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any food, shall it become holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then Said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It Shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith Jehovah; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. And now, I pray you, consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of Jehovah. Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah. Consider, I pray you, from this day and backward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of Jehovah's temple was laid, consider it. Is the seed yet in the barn? Yea, the vine, and the fig-tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive-tree have not brought forth; from this day will I bless you.

LXX. On the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Aggaeus the prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Inquire now of the priests concerning the law, saying, If a man should take holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and the skirt of his garment should touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. And Aggaeus said, If a defiled person is unclean by reason of a dead body, touch any of these, shall it be defiled? And the priests answered and said, It shall be defiled. And Aggaeus answered and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so are all the works of their hands: and whosoever shall approach them, shall be defiled (because of their early burdens: they shall be pained because of their toils; and ye have hated him that reproved in the gates.) And now consider, I pray you, from this day and beforetime, before they laid a stone on a stone in the temple of the Lord, what manner of men ye were. When ye cast into the cornbin twenty measures of barley, and there were only ten measures of barley: and ye went to the vat to draw out fifty measures, and there were but twenty. I smote you with barrenness, and with blasting, and all the works of your hands with hail; yet ye returned not to me, saith the Lord. Set your hearts now to think from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day when the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid; consider in your hearts, whether this shall be known on the corn-floor, and whether yet the vine, and the fig-tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive-trees that bear no fruit are with you: from this day will I bless you.

COMMENTS

THE FOUR AND TWENTIETH DAY OF THE NINTH MONTH

... Haggai 2:10

The third message came from Jehovah to the prophet Haggai exactly three months after the favorable response of the people to the first message. As the first message cautions against false contentment and the second cautions against false discontentment, the third exhorts them not to build from false motives.

THUS SAITH THE LORD. Haggai 2:11

As in the previous messages, so here, Haggai is careful to let his hearers know the message is not his but the Lord'S.

ASK NOW THE PRIESTS CONCERNING THE LAW.

This admonition is followed by two questions. The questions are, in essence, can the holy make the unholy holy and can the unholy make the holy unholy? The priests-' answers are accurate. To the first they answer no. To the second yes.

A basic principle is revealed here. The influence of holiness is not as far reaching as unholiness. A rotten apple will corrupt a barrel of good apples, but a good apple will not make a barrel of bad ones good.
So is this people. The construction of a holy temple will not automatically sanctify the land or its inhabitants any more than the flesh of a sacrifice will make holy a garment in which it is carried.

When the first temple stood, the people could not believe God would allow evil to come upon them. They made a fetish of the building. It must not happen again by assuming the work of re-building can sanctify an unclean people.
Here is a warning to today's Christian who assumes he is right with God because he associates with an active church, regardless of his personal commitment to God or trust in Jesus.

CONSIDER. BACKWARD. Haggai 2:15-17

Haggai challenges his people to consider what has happened since they returned from captivity, prior to the beginning of the reconstruction. Conditions have not changed since they began to build. Prosperity did not immediately result from their work on the temple. The reason was the far-reaching result of past neglect. It could not be erased by three months of obedience.

In Haggai 2:17 Haggai indicates that, although the people have resumed building, they have not really returned to the Lord. If they have, it is only recently. Here, just following their return from Babylon, is the beginning of the strange malady confronted by Jesus. This people honoreth me with their lips: but their heart is far from me. (Matthew 15:8) Isaiah had confronted this same spiritual failure in the people prior to the captivity. (Isaiah 29:13)

A building program such as that in which Haggai's readers were engaged, or a full program of activity in the building, such as that in which Jesus-' hearers participated, can neither one substitute for genuine commitment to God and concern for His covenant purpose.

CONSIDER. BACKWARD. Haggai 2:18-19

Again Haggai

calls upon the people to remember. A new era is about to begin, as

indicated in verse fifteen by the transitional phrase and now. This seems to be the reason for Haggai's repeated emphasis on dates.

The term in Hebrew does not mean backward exactly, as our versions render it (Haggai 2:15; Haggai 2:18). It is used rather to call attention from the past to the future. Past calamities are contrasted with the beginning of the new period of Jewish history.

The plea seems to be for patience. Since the laying of the first stones there has not been enough time for Jehovah to relieve the wants of the people short of a miracle. The fig and pomegranate and olive harvests are yet on the trees. Their present obedience will yet be rewarded.

Chapter XXIVQuestions

Exposition of Haggai

1.

Write an outline of Haggai.

2.

Haggai's first message is concerned with?

3.

What were the results of the first message?

4.

Discuss the ancestry of Zerubbabel in light of Haggai 1:1, 1 Chronicles 3:17-19, and Luke 3:27,

5.

The message Haggai was _____________ message.

6.

Haggai's first message attacks _____________.

7.

How does the message apply to us who would build the church?

8.

How does Haggai account for the drought and austere conditions which had beset the people?

9.

Discuss Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel.

10.

What is the gist of Haggai's second message? To whom is it addressed?

11.

What was missing from the second temple?

12.

What is meant by the latter glory of the house?

13.

Discuss Haggai 2:7 in light of Hebrews 8:1 -ff and Galatians 3:29.

14.

What is meant by desire of all nations?

15.

What is the gist of Haggai's third message?

16.

What false motives might have been involved in rebuilding the temple?

17.

What malady confronting Haggai was also addressed by Jesus?

18.

Show evidence that Haggai considered his message to be God's rather than his own.

19.

Discuss the shaking of the heavens and earth (Haggai 2:21 cp. Haggai 2:6)

20.

Why could not this shaking have referred to the chaotic conditions of Darius-' early reign?

21.

Where in the Bible do we find the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy?

22.

Discuss Zerubbabel as a type of Christ. Show parallels between them.