Haggai 1:1-15

Never *Give Up!

Haggai

Gordon Churchyard

The Story of Haggai

The *Jews did not obey God. He sent them into exile. This was 587 B.C. (B.C. means years Before Christ came to earth.) Exile means that they lived away from Judah. They lived in Babylon. Babylon is now in Iraq. King Cyrus beat Babylon in 537 *B.C. Cyrus sent the *Jews home to Judah. He told them that they should build their *temple again. And he wrote it down. Cyrus was the king of Persia (Iran). The *Jews made an *altar and *foundations for the *temple. Then they stopped. This was because enemies made it hard for them to build. For 17 years, they built their own houses. They did not finish God’s *temple.

Haggai was a *prophet. He spoke to the *Jews (God’s people) at about the same time as Zecharaiah did.

In 520 *B.C., Haggai spoke to the *Jews. He told them that they must build the *temple. This time they must finish it. He told the *Jews that God was angry with them. Three things showed them this:

• inflation (their money did not buy as much as it had done)

• bad crops (crops are plants for food)

• bad weather.

Enemies again tried to stop them. This time they found what Cyrus wrote. He wrote that the *Jews must build the *temple. He also wrote that the government must pay for it! The *Jews obeyed Haggai. They made new *foundations and they finished the *temple in 4 years.

Chapter 1

v1 Darius was the king of Iran. (This was 520 years before Jesus came to earth.) On 29 August the *LORD spoke to Haggai. Haggai was a *prophet. The *LORD said, ‘Tell this to Zerubbabel and Joshua.’ Zerubbabel was the leader of Judah. He was the son of Shealtiel. Joshua was the *High Priest. He was the son of Jehozadak.

v2 The *LORD of everything says, ‘Everybody says that it is not time to build the house of the *LORD.’ v3 The word of the *LORD came by the *prophet Haggai. He said, v4 ‘You are living in good houses, but the house (of the *LORD) is a *ruin.’ v5 The *LORD of everything says, ‘Think again about what you are doing. v6 You planted many seeds, but not much grew. There is not enough to eat. There is not enough to drink. Your clothes do not keep you warm. Your money bag is like something full of holes.’ v7 The *LORD of everything says: ‘Think again about what you are doing.

v8 Go to the mountains and bring back wood. Build my house. It will make me happy. It will give me *glory.’ This is what the *LORD says. v9 ‘You looked for a lot, but you saw little. When you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?’ This is what the *LORD of everything answers: ‘Because my house is a *ruin, while you work (to mend) your houses.

v10 So, there is no rain from the skies and there is no fruit from the earth. v11 I sent the *drought on the fields and mountains. I sent the *drought on the *corn and on the new *wine. I sent the *drought on the *oil and on the fruit of the earth. Also on men and *cattle and the work that men do.’

v12 Then all these people obeyed the voice of the *LORD their God:

• Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel

• Joshua the *High Priest, the son of Jehozadak

• all the *remnant of the people.

They obeyed the message of the *prophet Haggai. This was because the *LORD had sent Haggai. The people were afraid of the *LORD. v13 Haggai was the *messenger of the *LORD. He spoke the message of the *LORD. Haggai told the people, ‘The *LORD says, “I am with you.” ’

v14 So this was how the *LORD *stirred up Zerubbabel. He was the leader of Judah and the son of Shealtiel. The *LORD also *stirred up Joshua. He was the *High Priest and the son of Jehozadak. The *LORD also *stirred up all the *remnant of the people. They all came and they worked in the house of the *LORD. He is the *LORD of everything. He was their God. v15 This was on 21 September. Darius was in his second year as king.

What Chapter 1 means

Verse 2 God is *LORD of all that we can see. That is what *LORD of everything means. He is also *LORD of all that we cannot see. The house of the *LORD is the *temple in Jerusalem.

Verse 5 We know from verse 4 what they were doing. They were building good houses for themselves. They were not building the house of God.

Verse 6 A bag with holes in it means that their money did not buy very much. It was soon gone. This is because of what we now call *inflation. *Inflation is when things cost more and more.

Verse 8 There were trees on the mountains near Jerusalem. These would give wood for the *temple. There were also many stones near Jerusalem. These would make walls.

Verse 9 ‘Blew away’ is another picture of *inflation (see note on verse 6).

Verse 11 *Drought means no rain. The *cattle died.

Verse 13 Haggai did not say what he liked. He said what God told him.

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words)

give up ~ to stop doing something good.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
temple ~ here, the house of God in Jerusalem. (The Jews had several other temples.)
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
altar ~ a special table in a temple.
temple ~ here, the house of God in Jerusalem. (The Jews had several other temples.)
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
foundation ~ the hard ground that people build houses on.
prophet ~ someone that speaks for God; sometimes a prophet says what will happen in the future.
LORD ~ a special name for God: only his people use it. Really, it is the covenant name for God. A covenant is when two or more people agree together. Here, God and his people agree. LORD translates Yahweh or Jehovah in the language called Hebrew. It is not the same as Lord, which means someone with authority. Lord can be another name for God.'High Priest ~ the leader of the priests.
priests ~ servants of God in his house or temple.
temple ~ here, the house of God in Jerusalem. (The Jews had several other temples.)
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
ruin ~ something that people have knocked; they have broken or destroyed it.
glory ~ something that shines very much and is very beautiful.
drought ~ no rain for a long time.
corn ~ a food plant that we make bread from.
wine ~ a drink with alcohol in it; people make it from grapes.
grape ~ a fruit.
oil ~ not oil for cars, but a food made from olives.
olive ~ a fruit.
cattle ~ cows, sheep and goats.
remnant ~ a little bit that is left over (here it means a few Jews that still loved God).
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
messenger ~ someone that brings a message.'stirred up ~ here it means ‘caused somebody to do something’; usually it means ‘mixed’.
inflation ~ when things cost more and more.
inflation ~ when things cost more and more.
drought ~ no rain for a long time.