Haggai 1:1-15
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD bya Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built.
3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Considerb your ways.
6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.c
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Considerd your ways.
8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blowe upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, 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 did fear before the LORD.
13 Then spake Haggai the LORD'S messenger in the LORD'S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
EXPOSITION
Part I. THE FIRST ADDRESS: EXHORTATION TO BUILD THE TEMPLE AND ITS RESULT.
§ 1. The people are reproved for their indifference with regard to the erection of the temple, and admonished that their present distress is a chastisement for this neglect.
In the second year of Darius the king. This is Darius Hystaspes, who reigned over Persia from B.C. 521 to B.C. 486. He is called in the inscriptions Daryavush, which name means "Holder," or "Supporter." Herodotus (6:98) explains it as "Coercer" (ἑρξείης). Hitherto the prophets have dated the time of the exercise of their office from the reigns of the legitimate Hebrew monarchs; it shows a new slate of things when they place at the head of their oracles the name of a foreign and a heathen patenlate. The Jews had, indeed, now no king of their own, "the tabernacle of David had fallen" (Amos 9:11), and they were living on sufferance under an alien power. They had returned from exile by permission of Cyrus in the first year of his occupancy of the throne of Babylon sixteen years before this time, and had commenced to build the temple soon after; but the opposition of neighbours, contradictory orders from the Persian court, and their own lukewarmness had contributed to hinder the work, and it soon wholly ceased, and remained suspended to the moment when Haggai, as the seventy years of desolation drew to an end, was commissioned to arouse them from their apathy, and to urge them to use the opportunity which was afforded by the accession of the new monarch and the withdrawal of the vexatious interdict that had checked their operations in the previous reign (see Introduction, § 1; and comp. Ezra 4:24). The sixth month, according to the sacred Hebrew calendar, which reckoned from Nisan to Nisan. This would be Elul, answering to parts of our August and September. In the first day. This was the regular festival of the new moon (Numbers 10:10; Isaiah 1:13), and a fitting time to urge the building of the temple, without which it could not be duly celebrated. By; literally, by the hand (as in verse 3), the instrument whom God used (Exodus 9:35; Jeremiah 37:2; Hosea 12:11; Acts 7:35) Haggai the prophet (see the Introduction). Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel; Septuagint, Εἰπὸν πρὸς Ζοροβάβελ τὸν τοῦ Σαλαθιὴλ, "Speak to Zorobabel the son of Salathiel." The temporal head of the nation, the representative of the royal house of David, and therefore with the high priest jointly responsible, for the present state of affairs, and having power and authority to amend it. The name, as explained, and rightly, by St. Jerome, means, "Born in Babylon," and intimates the truth concerning his origin. He is called Sheshbazzar in Ezra 1:8; Ezra 5:14, which is either his name at the Persian court, or is an erroneous transliteration for a synonymous word (see Kuabenbauer, in loc.). The name is found in the cuneiform inscription, as Zir-Babilu. Shealtiel (or Salathiel) means, "Asked of God." There is a difficulty about Zerubbabel's parentage. Here and frequently in this book, and in Ezra and Nehemiah, as well as in Matthew 1:12 and Luke 3:27, he is called "son of Shealtiel;" in 1 Chronicles 3:19 he is said to be the son of Pedaiah the brother of Salathiel. The truth probably is that he was by birth the son of Pedaiah, but by adoption or the law of the levirate, the son of Salathiel. He was regarded as the grandson of Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah. Governor (pechah). A foreign word, used in 1 Kings 10:15, in Isaiah (Isaiah 36:9) and frequently in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, to denote an inferior satrap or subordinate governor. Strassmaier (ap. Knabenbauer) notes that in Assyrian the word is found in the form pachu, that pichatu means "a province," pachat, "a district." It seems natural, though probably erroneous, to connect it with the Turkish pashah. But see the discussion on the word in Pusey, 'Daniel the Prophet,' p. 566, etc. Instead of "Governor of Judah," the LXX. here and verse 12 and Haggai 2:2 reads, "of the tribe of Judah." One of the house of David has the government, but the foreign title applied to him shows that he holds authority only as the deputy of an alien power. Judah was henceforward applied to the whole country. The prophecy in Genesis 49:10 still held good. Joshua. The highest spiritual officer (Ezra 3:2, Ezra 3:8; Ezra 4:3). This Joshua, Jehoshua, Jeshua, as he is variously called, was a son of Josedech who, in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, had been carried captive to Babylon (lCh Joshua 6:15), and grandson of that Seraiah who, with other princes of Judah, was slain at Riblah by the Babyloniaes (2 Kings 25:18, etc.). The parentage of Zerubbabel and Joshua is specially mentioned to show that the former was of the house of David and the latter of the family of Aaron, and that even in its depressed condition Israel retained its rightful constitution (see note on Zechariah 3:1).
The Lord of hosts. Haggai, as the other prophets, always uses this formula in enunciating his messages (see note on Amos 9:5). Trochon justly remarks that this expression is not found in the earlier books of the Bible—the Pentateuch, Joshua, and Judges. If these books were contemporary with the prophets, the phrase would certainly occur in them (see a valuable note in the Appendix to Archdeacon Perowne's Commentary on Haggai, in 'The Canibridge Bible for Schools'). This people; populus iste (Vulgate), with some contempt, as if they were no longer worthy to be called the Lord's people (Haggai 2:14). It looks as if they had often before been admonished to proceed with the work, and had this answer ready. The time is not come; literally, it is not time to come (comp. Genesis 2:5), which is explained by the new clause, the time that the Lord's house should be built. The versions shorten the sentence, rendering," the time for building the Lord's house has not come." The excuse for their inaction may have had various grounds. They may have said, reckoning from the final destruction of Jerusalem, that the seventy years' captivity was not complete; that there was still danger from the neighbouring population; that the Persians were adverse to the undertaking; that the unfruitful season rendered them unable to engage in such a great work; and that the very fact of these difficulties existing showed that God did not favour the design.
Then came the word of the Lord, etc. The formula of Haggai 1:1 is repeated to give more effect to the Lord's answer to the lame excuses for inaction. This emphasis by repetition is common throughout the book.
For you, O ye; for you, yourselves; such as ye are (see Zechariah 7:5). He appeals to their consciences. You can make yourselves comfortable; you have time and means and industry to expend on your own private interests, and can you look with indifference on the house of God lying waste? Your cieled houses; your houses, and those cieled—wainscoted and roofed with costly woods (1 Kings 7:3, 1 Kings 7:7; Jeremiah 22:14), perhaps with the very cedar provided for the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 3:7). Septuagint, ἐν οἴκοις ὑμῶν κοιλοστάθμοις, "your vaulted houses," or, as St. Cyril explains, "houses whose doorposts were elaborately adorned with emblems and devices." They had naught of the feeling of David (2 Samuel 7:2), "I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains."
Consider; literally, set your heart upon (so Haggai 1:7; Haggai 2:15, Haggai 2:18). Your ways. What ye have done, what ye have suffered, your present projects, and the consequences thereof.
Their labours for years past had lacked the Divine blessing. Though they had fine houses to dwell in, they had been visited with scanty harvests and weak bodily health. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; but to bring in little (Hebrew). And this infinitive absolute is continued in the following clauses, giving remarkable force to the words, and expressing an habitual result. We see from Haggai 2:15 that these unfruitful seasons had visited them during all the continuance of their negligence (Deuteronomy 28:38). But ye have not enough. The food which they ate did not satisfy them; their bodies were sickly and derived no strength from the food which they took (Leviticus 26:26; Hosea 4:10) or from the wine which they drank (see note on Micah 6:14). But there is none warm. Perhaps the winters were unusually rigorous, or their infirm health made their usual clothing insufficient to maintain their bodily heat. To put it into a bag with holes. A proverbial saying. The money gained by the hired labourer vanished as if he had never had it, and left no trace of benefit. Comp. Plaut.,'Pseudol.' 1, 3, 150—
"In pertusum ingerimus dicta dolium; operam ludimus."
§ 2. The prophet urges the people to work zealously at the building; only thus could they hope for the removal of their present disasters.
(See note on Haggai 1:5.) The repetition of the call to reflection is needed (comp. Philippians 3:1). Former experience opens the way to the injunction in Haggai 1:8.
Go up to the mountain. The hill country in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, whence by their own personal exertions they might procure material for the building. The temple mount is certainly not meant, as if they were to bring wood from it. Nor can Lebanon be intended, as in Ezra 3:7; for the injunction looks to an immediate actual result, and in their depressed circumstances they were scarcely likely to interest the Sidonians and Tyrians to provide cedar for them. There was abundance of wood close at hand, and the "kings forest" (Nehemiah 2:8) was in the immediate neighbourhood of Jerusalem. There is no mention of stone, probably because the foundations had long been laid, and the ruins of the old temple supplied material for the new one; and, indeed, stone was to be had in abundance everywhere; or it may be that the prophet names merely one opening for their renewed activity, as a specimen of the work required from them. Not costly offerings were desired, but a willing mind. I will be glorified; I will glorify myself by showering blessings on the house and the people, so that the Hebrews themselves and their neighbours may own that I am among them (comp. Exodus 14:4; Le Exodus 10:3; Isaiah 66:5).
He shows the real cause of the calamities that had befallen them. Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little. Emphatic infinitive, as in Haggai 1:6. "To look for much, and behold! little." They fixed their expectations upon a rich harvest, and they reaped less than they had sown (Isaiah 5:10). And when they had stored this miserable crop in their barns, I did blow upon it; or, did blow it away, dissipated it as if it were mere chaff, so that it perished. Doubtless, as Dr Pusey observes, they ascribed the meagreness of their crops to natural causes, and would not see the judicial nature of the infliction. The prophet brings the truth home to their conscience by the stern question, Why? And he answers the question for them, speaking with God's authority. Because of mine house that is waste. The reason already given in Haggai 1:4, etc; is repeated and enforced. And (while) ye run. Ye are indifferent to the miserable condition of the house of God, while ye haste with all diligence to your own houses for business or pleasure, being entirely absorbed in worldly interests, or eager only to adorn and beautify your own habitations. Or, your zeal is all expended on your own private dwellings.
Over you. This would be a reference to Deuteronomy 28:23. But the preposition is probably not local, but means rather, "on your account," i.e. on account of your sin, as Psalms 44:22. This is not tautological after the preceding "therefore," but more closely defines and explains the illative. Is stayed from dew; hath stayed itself from dew; withholds not only rain, but even dew (comp. Zechariah 8:12). On the importance of dew in the climate of Palestine, see note on Micah 5:7. The dews generally are remarkably heavy, and in the summer months take the place of rain. Dr. Thomson speaks of the dew rolling in the morning off his tent like rain. The earth is stayed from her fruit; hath stayed her fruit; according to the threat (Deuteronomy 11:17).
I called for a drought. So Elisha says (2 Kings 8:1) that "the Lord hath called for a famine." There is a play of words in the Hebrew: as they had let the Lord's house lie" waste" (thatch) (Haggai 1:4,Haggai 1:9), so the Lord punished them with "drought" (choreb). The Septuagint and Syriac, pointing differently, translate this last word "sword," but this is not suitable for the context, which speaks of the sterility of the land only. The land, in contradistinction to the mountains, is the plain country. Nothing anywhere was spared. All the labour of the hands (Psalms 128:2, etc.). All that they had effected by long and wearisome toil in the cornfield, the vineyard, etc. (comp. Hosea 2:9; Joel 1:10).
§ 3. The appeal meets with respect and attention, and for a time the people apply themselves diligently to the work.
All the remnant of the people (Haggai 2:2); i.e. the people who had returned from the Captivity, who are technically named "the remnant" is being only a small portion of all Israel (Isaiah 10:21, Isaiah 10:22; Zechariah 8:6; Micah 2:12). Others, not so suitably, understand by the expression, all the people beside the chiefs (Haggai 1:14). Obeyed; rather, listened unto. The active obedience is narrated in Haggai 1:14. And the words. The prophet's words are the voice of the Lord; and the people heeded the message which the Lord had commissioned him to give. Did fear. They should that true religion which the Bible calls "the fear of the Lord." They saw their faults, perhaps dreaded some new chastisement, and hastened to obey the prophet's injunction (Ezra 5:1, Ezra 5:2).
Then spake Haggai. God hastens to accept their repentance and to assure them of his protection. The Lord's messenger. Haggai alone of the prophets uses this title of himself, implying that he came with authority and bearing a message from the Lord (comp. Numbers 20:16, where the word "angel" is by some applied to Moses). Malachi's very name expresses that he was the Lord's messenger, and he uses the term of the priest (Malachi 2:7), and of John the Baptist, and of Messiah himself (Malachi 3:1). In the Lord's message (1 Kings 13:18). In the special message of consolation which he was commissioned to deliver. The Septuagint rendering, ἐν ἀγγέλοις Κυρίου, "anong the angels of the Lord," led some to fancy that Haggai was an angel in human farm, which opinion is refuted by Jerome, in loc. I am with you (Haggai 2:4). A brief message comprised in two words, "I with you," yet full of comfort, promising God's presence, protection, aid, and blessing (comp. Genesis 28:15; Genesis 39:2; Joshua 1:5; Jeremiah 1:8; Matthew 28:20).
The Lord stirred up, etc. The Lord excited the courage, animated the zeal, of the chiefs of the nation, who had themselves succumbed to the prevailing indifference, and had suffered their ardour to be quenched. They came and did work. They went up to the temple and began to do the work which they had so long neglected.
In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month. The first admonition had been made on the first day of this month; the three intervening weeks had doubtless been spent in planning and preparing materials, and obtaining workmen from the neighbouring villages. The note of time is introduced to show how prompt was their obedience, and the exact time when "they came and did work in the house of the Lord" (Haggai 1:14). Some, on insufficient grounds, consider this clause to be an interpolation from Haggai 2:10, Haggai 2:18, with a change of "ninth" to "sixth month." In the Latin Vulgate, in Tischendorf's Septuagint, and in many editions of the Hebrew Bible, the whole of this verse is wrongly annexed to the following chapter. St. Jerome arranges it as in the Authorized Version. It is possible that, as St. Cyril takes it, the words, in the second year of Darius the king, ought to begin Haggai 2:1. The king's reign has been already notified in Haggai 2:1, and it seems natural to affix the date at the commencement of the second address.
HOMILETICS
Divine revelations.
I. SELECT THEIR OWN TIMES. These are:
1. Often unexpected. In the present instance this was probably the case. The band of exiles who, availing themselves of Cyrus's permission (Ezra 1:3), returned to Judah and Jerusalem—nearly 50,000 persons in all (Ezra 2:64, Ezra 2:65), though Pusey estimates the company of immigrants at 212,000, counting free men, women, children, and slaves—had for sixteen years at least not heard a prophet's voice. The last that had fallen on their ears had been Daniel's in Babylon (Daniel 9:1), which had predicted the going forth of a commandment to build and restore Jerusalem, and the coming, "seven weeks and three score and two weeks" thereafter, of Messiah the prince (Daniel 9:25). Now, in the second year of Darius the king (Ezra 4:24), i.e. about B.C. 520, the interval of silence terminated, and the lips of a new prophet were unsealed. That God reserves in his own hands "the times and seasons" of his special supernatural interpositions in human history, while it should keep men alive to every movement of the Divine presence in their midst, ought to guard them against presumption both in making and in interpreting prophecy.
2. Always appropriate. The interpositions of Heaven are never post horam. The clock of eternity always keeps time. When the hour comes, so does the man. Man often speaks at an inopportune moment; God, never. When Haggai stood forth among the Jews who had returned from Babylon, they were in urgent need of such a messenger from heaven as he proved himself to be. Sixteen years at home in their own land, for a year and a half they had been disheartened about the building of their temple, and had even discontinued work. Some had even begun to lose interest in the restoration of the sacred edifice (verse 2). Hence they much wanted rousing from indolence and rebuke for unbelief, as well as comfort in sadness and succour in weakness; and all this they received from the new monitor from Jehovah that bad arisen in their midst. So have God's revelations ever been as suitable to men's necessities as to time's urgencies. Notably was this the case with his showing of himself to Moses at the bush (Exodus 3:2), and his disclosure of himself to mankind in the Person of Christ (Galatians 4:4).
3. Sometimes suggestive. This was so in the case under consideration. First, the year in which Haggai appeared was suggestive of the people's sadness; having no more a king of their own to count from, they reckoned the date as that of the second year of Darius, i.e. of Darius Hystaspes (Darajavus of the cuneiform inscriptions), who reigned from B.C. 521 to B.C. 486. Next, the month—the sixth of their ordinary Jewish year, and therefore towards the close of harvest—ought at least, by the comparatively barren fields they had reaped, to have reminded them of their chastisement (verses 10, 11), and so induced in them a spirit of humility. Lastly, the day of the month, the new moon's day, which the Law had directed to be kept as a day of special sacrifice (Numbers 28:11), which their forefathers had observed as a popular festival, and marked by religious gatherings at the local sanctuaries (Isaiah 1:13, Isaiah 1:14; 2 Kings 4:23), and which probably they also celebrated as a holiday, might have spoken to them of their sin in preserving the outward forms of religion while neglecting its inward spirit, and perhaps also of their duty, to attend with true docility to the admonition which proceeded from the new prophet's lips.
II. FIND THEIR OWN INSTRUMENTS. These also are:
1. Mostly humble. Only once did Divine revelation find an organ that was truly exalted, viz. when he who, as the only begotten Son, had been in the Father's bosom, made him known (John 1:18)—although even then it was needful that that Son should empty himself of his glory and. veil his Divinity behind a garment of humanity before he could properly accomplish his work (Philippians 2:6, Philippians 2:7). But in all other instances the instruments selected by Jehovah for the transmission of his will to mankind are humble and lowly in comparison with him whose will they bear (Isaiah 40:18), even when they are angels; how much more when men, as they mostly are! And of these it is seldom the most exalted in rank or wisdom that he selects, but most frequently the lowliest—persons in obscure stations, like Moses when a stranger in Midian (Acts 7:29), like Elisha when holding the plough (1 Kings 19:19), or like Am when amens the herdsmen of Tekoa (Amos 1:1); and persons of unknown family, like Elijah the Tishbite, or Nahum the Elkoshite, or Habakkuk, of whom almost nothing is known.
2. Always suitable. Men frequently err in choosing instruments to execute their will; God, never. He can always discern spirits, while men only think they can. Men judge according to appearance; he, according to the heart. Haggai was, perhaps, not such a vehicle as man would have pitched upon to be the medium of a Divine communication. But for God's purpose he was fitted beyond most. Though not absolutely certain, it is most probable he was an old man of eighty years (Ewald, Pusey), who had seen the first temple in its glory (Haggai 2:3), and who could therefore speak with greater emphasis and solemnity as one standing on the confines of eternity, who knew the vanity of earthly greatness, and could appreciate the superior excellence and desirability of things inward and spiritual. Besides, his very name—Haggai, or "Festive"—fitted him to be the bearer of a message to desponding builders. What they wanted was inspiriting incitement, encouragement, and hope; and of that there was a promise in the old man's designation—Haggai, or "The Festal One"—especially if this only expressed the habitual disposition of his soul.
3. Generally efficient. "It has been the wont of critics, in whose eyes the prophets were but poets," writes Pusey, "to speak of the style of Haggai as 'tame' and destitute of life and power; but, for all that, it was adapted to the object sought to be accomplished. Haggai had no need to complain, as the eloquent Isaiah (first or second), "Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" (Isaiah 53:1); of him it is recorded that his words awoke an immediate response in his hearers' hearts, and "they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God" (verse 14). Man cannot always say of his instruments, however finely polished, that they will never fail; God can always predict of his, however rude, that they will certainly succeed.
III. CHOOSE THEIR OWN RECIPIENTS. These are commonly diverse, as in the present instance. Haggai's message was directed:
1. To Zerubbabel; concerning whom may be noted:
(1) His names Sheshbazzar (Ezra 1:8), most probably Chaldean or Babylonian, and perhaps signifying "Worshipper of Fire" (Gesenius); Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:1), obviously Hebrew, and meaning "Born in Babylon;" and Tirshatha (Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65), most likely Persian, and equivalent to "The Feared."
(2) His descent. Described in the text as the son of Shealtiel, who was the son of Jeconiah the captive (1 Chronicles 3:17, Authorized Version), or, if Assir be taken as a proper name (1 Chronicles 3:17, Authorized Version), the grandson of Jeconiah; or again, if Luke's register be followed (Luke 3:27), the son of Neri;—Zerubbabel is expressly stated by the chronicler to have been a son of Pedaish, a brother of Shealtiel (1 Chronicles 3:19). Probably as good a solution cf the difficulty as any other is Keil's, that Jeconiah, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 22:30), had no sons, but only a daughter, who married Neri, a descendant of David, and became by him the mother of Shealtiel and Pedaiah, who accordingly were reckoned sons of Jeconiah, and that Shealtiel having died without issue, his brother Pedaiah married his widow, and raised up for him a son named Zerubbabel.
(3) His office. As a descendant of the royal house of Judah, he Was the recognized head of the Jewish exiles in Babylon, and as such was by Cyrus appointed governor of the pilgrim band who returned to their native land.
2. To Joshua; who also is described by his ancestry as the son of Josedech, who had been carried away by the Chaldeans to Babylon (1 Chronicles 6:15), when his father Zeraiah had been put to death by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:18-12; Jeremiah 52:24), and by his office as the high priest of the young community that had returned to Judea and Jerusalem. As Zerubbabel was their cirri, so was Joshua their religious, head; and "together they are types of him, the true King and true Priest, Christ Jesus, who by his resurrection raised again the true temple, his body, after it had been destroyed" (Pusey).
3. To the people. Though Haggai's words were directed in the first instance to Zerubbabel and Joshua, they were in the second instance designed for the whole congregation; and that the whole congregation received them, whether directly from the prophet's own lips or indirectly through those of the prince and the priest, is expressly stated (verses 12, 13).
LESSONS.
1. The possibility of revelation.
2. The human medium of inspiration.
3. The greater privilege of the Christian Church in having as a revealer of the Divine will, not a human prophet merely, but the incarnate Son.
4. The higher responsibility which this entails.
The mistakes of the temple builders: a warning.
I. THEY FAILED TO DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. They imagined the time had not come for them to build the Lord's house, whereas it had fully arrived.
1. What led them to suppose or say so, though not stated, may easily be inferred.
(1) They were disheartened by the opposition they encountered (see next head).
(2) The original grant obtained from Cyrus (Ezra 3:7) was probably then exhausted.
(3) They had been interdicted by a decree of Artaxerxes, or of pseudo-Smerdis (Ezra 4:23, Ezra 4:24). And
(4) they were suffering from had trade and worse harvests (Haggai 1:6), and consequently were unable to contribute towards the expense of the building.
2. The indications that the time had fully come were so plain that they should hardly have been misread.
(1) The seventy years during which the whole land of Judah was to lie desolate, and its inhabitants should serve the King of Babylon (Jeremiah 25:11, Jeremiah 25:12), and at the end of which the exiles should return to their own land (Jeremiah 29:10), had manifestly rolled by.
(2) The very deliverer of whom Isaiah had spoken by name, Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1), had appeared, and opened the two-leaved gates of Babylon (Ezra 1:2, Ezra 1:3).
(3) The sacred vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had carried off to Babylon (2 Kings 24:13), and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 28:3) predicted would again be brought from Babylon, had actually been delivered over into the hands of Zerubbabel by Cyrus (Ezra 1:8).
(4) The bad harvests and depressed trade from which they were suffering were a manifest token of the Divine displeasure on account of their negligence, and were no real excuse for their illiberal conduct, since they could obviously find money enough to build ceiled mansions for themselves.
(5) The decree of Artaxerxes only forbad the building of the city (Ezra 4:21), not of the temple; and even though it had been directed against the latter, Artaxerxes himself no longer reigned, having been driven from the throne he had usurped, and his place having been occupied by Darius Hystaspes, so that the repressive edict, had they been anxious, might easily have been revoked. This mistake of the builders has often been committed; as e.g. by Moses in Egypt, who misread the signs of the times, and thought the hour had struck for Israel's deliverance when it had not (Exodus 2:11-2; Acts 7:25); by the Jewish rulers in Christ's day, who failed to discern in the Galilaean Prophet the manifest tokens of Messiah (Matthew 16:3, Matthew 16:4); by the city of Jerusalem, which knew not the day of her visitation (Luke 19:42); and by the present day unbeliever, who cannot see that "now is the accepted time, and now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).
II. THEY WERE TOO EASILY DAUNTED BY OPPOSITION.
1. The nature and source of this opposition is described in the Book of Ezra (4). Prevented from taking part in the building of the temple, the Samaritan settlers first "weakened the hands of the builders," next "hired counsellors against them," and ultimately obtained an interdict commanding them to cease. It was certainly annoying, but:
2. They should not have been so easily discouraged. No enterprise of any moment was ever carried through without encountering difficulties and frequently hostilities, and without calling for patient perseverance in well doing. How otherwise would Israel have been brought from Egypt at the first, or Judah from Babylon a few years before?
3. The same mistake is committed still by those who imagine the spiritual temple of Jehovah, either in the individual soul or in the Church as a whole, can be built without difficulty, without experiencing resistance from enemies within and without, or in any other way than by indomitable perseverance.
4. "Never despair" and "Never give in" should be the twin mottoes of every one engaged in temple building for God—of the individual believer, of the Christian minister, of the foreign missionary.
III. THEY PREFERRED THE MATERIAL AND TEMPORAL TO THE SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS. The ordinary occupations of life had more attraction for them than the duties of religion. To assert that they cared nothing for religion would, perhaps, be wrong, since what had brought them back from Babylon, where for the most part they had comfortable settlements, was a true feeling of piety no less than an ardent spirit of patriotism. Yet were they not long back upon their much loved ancestral soil before they showed they had brought back with them from Babylon a passion stronger than even their love for religion, namely, devotion to the earthly and material pursuits of life. Their zeal in temple building was quickly damped, but not so their enthusiasm in ploughing and sowing their fields, in working for wages, in erecting magnificent mansions, sumptuous palaces like those they had seen and perhaps lived in in Babylon, with walls of polished stone and roofs of cedar. With much case they could see that "the time for building God's house was not come," as they supposed; they had large difficulty in perceiving it was not the season to attend to their ordinary avocations. So do many on becoming Christians carry over with them into their new life "passions for things material and temporal," which, while religious feeling is fresh, are kept in abeyance, but which, the moment this begins to abate, assert themselves to the hindrance of what is properly religious work, and to the detriment of the soul's religious life. This constitutes a third mistake against which Christians should be on their guard.
IV. THEY FOLLOWED THEIR OWN INTERESTS RATHER THAN THE GLORY OF GOD. One cannot help thinking that, had the building of the Lord's house been a matter that concerned their own glory, comfort, or interest, they would not have suffered it to lie waste as they did; but only the honour of the Deity was involved, and what was that to their material advantage and temporal felicity? Was it not of greater moment that they themselves should be well housed, well fed, well clothed, than that even God, who dwelleth not in temples made with hands, and requireth not to be worshipped as though he needed anything, should be well lodged? If it came to the worst, they could do without a temple altogether, could worship in the open air, as they had done since coming from Babylon, but they could not well do without well stocked farms and finely celled houses. And so they let the work, which had only God's glory as its motive, drop, and applied themselves to that which contemplated man's or their own material good. Is it wrong to find in this a parable for Christians? Is not the essence of Christianity just this—that a man, like Christ whom he follows, shall seek, not his own glory, but God's; shall do, not his own will, but the will of him who hath sent him into the world? Yet among professing Christians are those who cannot see beyond their own little selves, and who imagine that a man's chief duty upon earth, even after having become a Christian, is to do the best he can for himself, whereas it is to do the best he can for God. Acting on the former principle leads to spiritual blindness, to cowardice, to this-worldism, all of which are deplorable mistakes; acting on the latter.principle terminates in no such disastrous results, but brings with it to the individual so acting spiritual insight, moral courage, and heavenly—mindedness three qualities which ennoble all by whom they are possessed.
Lessons.
1. The duty of discerning the signs of the times.
2. The necessity of combining courage with forethought.
3. The propriety of guarding against the disturbing influence of supposed self-interest.
Considering one's ways.
I. AN EXALTED PRIVILEGE. The faculties of introspection and reflection, which enable man to consider his ways, constitute a lofty endowment, which places him incontestably at the apex of creation.
1. It distinguishes him from the lower animals. These may Do possessed of capabilities which enable them to perform actions in some degree resembling the fruits of intelligence—it may even be conceded are, in some instances at least, endowed with faculties of memory, imagination, and judgment; but they are wholly devoid of the powers of self-introspection and reflection here ascribed to man. Of the noblest of brute beasts it still remains to be proved that it ever said to itself, "I communed with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search" (Psalms 77:6); or "I thought on my ways" (Psalms 119:59).
2. It sets him in the neighbourhood of God. The Hebrew psalmist conceived the ideal man as a being only a little short of Divinity (Psalms 8:5); and though the basis on which he rested this conception was man's manifest dominion over the creatures, yet this arose, as he well knew, out of the fact that man, as distinguished from the lower creatures, had been made in the Divine image (Genesis 1:26); which again, in part at least, consisted in his capacity to consider his ways, or to look before and behind in whatever way he was treading. "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18); "He declareth the end from the beginning" (Isaiah 46:10); and though the Preacher affirms that "no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end" (Ecclesiastes 3:11), yet to each man has been granted the ability to consider the way in which he himself goeth (Ecclesiastes 5:1), and in this high capacity of pondering the path of his feet he possesses an endowment that in him a finite Doing corresponds to the omniscience of the infinite God.
II. AN URGENT DUTY. The consideration of one's ways required by two things.
1. Divine commandment. In addition to the twice-repeated exhortation here addressed to the builders, the admonition frequently occurs in Scripture (Psalms 4:4; Pro 4:26; 1 Corinthians 11:28; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 6:4) to commune with one's own heart, to search and try one's ways, to examine carefully into one's spiritual condition. And this to a good man is enough to constitute an imperative obligation. "Where the word of a king is"—much more where the word of the King of kings is—"there is power."
2. Present safety. No one can travel long securely or comfortably along the path of life who does not ponder well at the outset from what point the course he is pursuing starts, who does not frequently pause to notice whither it is tending, and who does not always have an eye upon the where and the how it shall terminate. The man that lives purely by haphazard, that rushes on blindfold into whatever enterprise he takes in hand, whether in business or religion, is sure to come to grief, if not to fall into the ditch.
3. Future responsibility. There might be less need for attending to this duty if the issues of our ways and actions always exhausted themselves on earth and in time. But they do not. "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and give an account of the deeds done in the body, whether these be good or whether they be bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10). The ways of every man project themselves into the unseen beyond. Every man is making his future by the, ways he is travelling and the deeds he is doing in the present.
III. A PROFITABLE EXERCISE. Apart altogether from the duty of it, the advantages to be derived from it should go far to recommend this practice.
1. Self-knowledge. No one will ever attain to a trustworthy or valuable acquaintance with his own heart who does not frequently undertake a review of "the issues of life" (Pro 4:1-27 :28) that proceed from it. Yet next to the knowledge of God and Christ, which constitute the essence of "life eternal" (John 17:2), the knowledge of self is the highest attainment to which one can rise.
2. Moral discernment. The power of distinguishing between right and wrong, which belongs to all as an intuitive endowment, is nevertheless susceptible of improvement or deterioration, according as it is exercised or neglected. It may be clarified, intensified, quickened, strengthened; or it may be dulled, darkened, weakened, deadened. Through diligent personal culture the soul may become sensitive to nicest distinctions of right and wrong as an aneroid barometer to smallest variations in the atmosphere; or, through want of use, it may become hard as a fossilized organism or as a petrified log of wood.
3. Spiritual improvement. No one is likely to make progress in religion without an intimate acquaintance with his own ways. Without this one may even not suspect that his religion is defective. In proportion as one knows what in himself is dark and needs illumining, or feeble and requires strengthening, or low and demands upraising, or deficient and calls for supplementing, or wrong and wants correcting, will one advance in moral and spiritual attainment.
Learn:
1. The dignity of man.
2. The responsibility of life.
3. The duty of circumspection.
Hard times.
I. A FREQUENT OCCURRENCE. Poor harvests and profitless trade, famine and idleness, lack of bread and want of employment, nothing to eat, and nothing to do. The two commonly go together. Examples of famines were in ancient times those which occurred in Canaan (Genesis 12:10), in Egypt (Genesis 41:54), in Samaria (1 Kings 17:2; 2 Kings 6:25), in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 52:6); in modern times those which have taken place in India, China, and other parts of Asia.
II. A SORROWFUL EXPERIENCE. When the husbandman has laboured, and, perhaps through long continued drought, has obtained an altogether insufficient return for his labours. When through deficient harvests the people of a country are reduced to a state of semi-starvation. When through this failure in the sources of wealth the wheels of a nation's industry are stopped. When strong men who would willingly work can find no work to do. When wages already scanty are eaten up by exorbitant prices.
III. A PROVIDENTIAL JUDGMENT. Hard times:
1. Are of God's sending. To say that bad harvests and dull trade are the results of natural (physical and social) laws does not show them to be disconnected with God. The Almighty is behind both nature and society, Jehovah claimed that the state of matters in Judah after the exile was his doing.
2. Have their occasions, if not their causes, in sin. Haggai's countrymen had been made to suffer because of their indifference to religion and devotion to self-interest (verse 9). Were modern nations to reflect more deeply, they might discover connections between their characters and their conditions, their sins and their sufferings.
IV. A SALUTARY DISCIPLINE. Intended as all chastisement is:
1. To arrest attention. Inconsiderateness a principal sin of men and nations.
2. To convince of sin. A remarkable proof of depravity that moral perceptions require to be awakened by physical corrections.
3. To excite repentance. Though confessions under the lash are not the same thing as penitence, yet they may and should be, and often are, accompanied by penitence.
4. To promote amendment. Though punishment is not exclusively reformatory in its character, yet it is mostly (on earth at least) inflicted with design to benefit the sufferer.
LESSONS.
1. Religion in individuals and nations the best defence against hard times.
2. Repentance and prayer the best resort in bad times.
Ancient temple builders.
I. UNIVERSAL ACTIVITY. "They came and did work"—all of them: "Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the high priest, and all the remnant of the people." There was not an idler amongst them. Every person was engaged at something in connection with the building, The spectacle was:
1. The reproduction of an old scene, when in the wilderness of Sinai, orders having been issued for the construction of a tabernacle, "as many as were willing hearted came, both men and women," and contributed their aid to the work (Exodus 35:20-2).
2. The foreshadowing of a later scene, when the infant Church of the New Testament was assembled in the upper room, and "there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, which filled all the house where they were sitting," and "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and all began to speak with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1).
3. The picture of a (possibly) present scene. What is wanted is the carrying over of this scene of universal activity into the Christian Church, and the spectacle of every professing disciple of Jesus Christ contributing his quota of work to the building of that spiritual edifice which is today being erected on the foundation of the apostle and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Cornerstone, for the inhabitation of God through the Spirit Ephesians 2:20). "The kingdom of heaven is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work" (Mark 3:34).
II. CHEERFUL WILLINGNESS. "They all came." Not one required to be coerced or in any way dragged forth against his will. Nobody skulked or came forward with a grudge, but each was readier than his neighbour. So was it in the erection of the tabernacle; so should it be in the building of the Christian Church. Yet how to realize this ideal in the latter case is one of the problems o
from a depressed condition of religion in the soul. The cure for the first may be found in the grace of God (2 Corinthians 12:9); for the second, in a high conception of God's ability (Philippians 4:13); for the third, in doing the first thing that comes to hand (Ecclesiastes 9:10); and for the fourth, in a quickening of the soul by the Holy Ghost (Psalms 80:18).
2. The forwardness of Christians to engage in Christian work might be expected on many grounds. Gratitude to God, if nothing else, should constrain them (Psalms 116:12). Love to Christ might impel them (2 Corinthians 5:14, 2 Corinthians 5:15). The nobility of the work might attract them; it would be walking in the footsteps of Christ (Acts 10:38). The splendour of the reward might induce them (Daniel 12:3; Mat 25:40; 1 Corinthians 15:58; Revelation 2:10; Revelation 14:13). The clamant need there is for such work might move them (1 John 5:19). The good it would do might urge them (Titus 3:8).
III. ARDENT ENTHUSIASM. They came and did work. Not merely "putting in the time," as the workmen's phrase is; or simply dragging on with heartless indifference; or hurrying up the job with utmost, speed and in careless fashion, anxious to get it done, no matter how; but toiling honestly and earnestly, with a business like energy and determination, doing good work, and doing it with a will. Such had been the manner in which the tabernacle makers worked; such should be the style of working in the Christian Church.
1. The Founder of the Christian Church was an enthusiastic Worker. From the commencement of his ministry (Mark 4:23; John 2:17) to its close (Luke 9:51; Luke 12:50), Jesus was consumed with a burning devotion to his work of glorifying God and blessing men.
2. The apostles and early preachers of the Christian Church were enthusiastic workers. The eleven (Mark 16:20); the twelve (Acts 5:42); Paul (Philippians 3:13); Apollos (Acts 18:25); Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:27).
3. The Christian Church has in almost every age possessed workers of at like spirit. Ministers, like Augustine, Athanasius, Chrysostom, Cyril, Calvin, Knox, Latimer, Baxter, Wesley, Chalmers; missionaries, like St. Augustine, St. Columba, St. Aidan, St. Mungo, Brainerd, Martyn, Carey, Williams, Moffat, Livingstone; private Christians, like the late Earl of Shaftesbury and others.
IV. INDOMITABLE PERSEVERANCE. Too soon discouraged on the first occasion by the angry speeches and malicious threats of their enemies, on this occasion the temple builders met their adversaries with a bold front (Ezra 5:11), and rested not until they brought the work to completion (Zechariah 4:7, Zechariah 4:9). Perseverance:
1. A characteristic of all sincere Christian workers. Exemplified in the history of Jesus, of Peter and John, of Paul, and of others who have followed in their steps.
2. A necessary condition of all true success in Christian working. The greater the work, the more does it demand patient perseverance. Enterprises that can be carried through with a rush and an effort are seldom of moment.
3. A certain guarantee of ultimate success. The man who perseveres wins—in ordinary life commonly, in religious life certainly.
CONCLUSION. The Christian worker's encouragement. "I am with you, saith the Lord" (verse 13; cf. Matthew 28:20).
1. For aid, to help you with needed strength in your labours (Psalms 127:1; Isaiah 41:10; Zechariah 12:1).
2. For protection, to defend you against the machinations of your adversaries (Ezra 5:5; Psalms 91:1; Proverbs 2:7; Zechariah 2:5; 1 Peter 3:13; Revelation 3:10).
3. For approbation, to accept your service when it is finished (Haggai 2:9).
HOMILIES BY S.D. HILLMAN
The introduction.
The Bible student, with a view to the clear understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures, should fix in his mind the order of the prophetical writings. These books of prophecy may appropriately be arranged under three heads.
1. Those which stand related to the Assyrian period, including the books of Jonah, Joel, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, and Nahum.
2. Those connected with the Babylonian period, including Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Obadiah.
3. Those associated with the return from the exile: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. The introduction of this brief prophecy by Haggai suggests to us—
I. THE CHANGES MARKED BY THE REVOLVING WHEEL OF TIME. We are able, through this opening verse, to fix the exact date of this prophecy. It was "in the second year of Darius the king" that Haggai fulfilled this special mission, i.e. B.C. 521. Hence upwards of a century had passed away since Zephaniah had declared so faithfully the terrible Divine judgments which should overtake the nation on account of its guilt. His words had proved strictly true, and had been very literally and completely fulfilled. The land had been rendered utterly desolate; its cities had been entirely destroyed; its temple reduced to a heap of ruins; and its people carried away into exile. No King of Judah was referred to by Haggai in commencing his book, for the simple reason that the throne had fallen, and he had to recognize the authority of a Persian sovereign, and to speak of his favoured land as a province of a foreign power (verse 1). The dispersion, however, had in a measure been followed by the regathering. Zephaniah had prophesied respecting the return of "a remnant," and his prophecy had, in a sense, now been fulfilled, for Cyrus permitted the Jews to colonize their own land, and a number had availed themselves of this permission, and had now spent some years in the bad given to their fathers, seeking to repair the waste and desolation which the march of events and the lapse of time had wrought.
II. THE WILL OF GOD AS COMMUNICATED THROUGH HUMAN INSTRUMENTALITY. The returned exiles commenced well. Their first concern had reference to the rebuilding of the house of the Lord, and with all possible speed they laid the foundation of the second temple. They were, however, weak and poor; they laboured amidst untold difficulties and discouragements, and it is not surprising that, their hearts becoming downcast and depressed, their ardour declined and their zeal languished. They needed stimulus; they required some message from the Lord their God declarative of his will and purpose; and this need was supplied, for they heard "a voice from heaven" speaking unto them through Haggai and Zechariah (Haggai 1:1, Haggai 1:2; Zechariah 1:1). In every age God has communicated his will and intention through the instrumentality of man. He has made holy men, full of human sympathies, the medium of Communicating his purposes. His agents in this instance, as ever, were admirably chosen. Haggai was advanced in life; he had probably seen the former temple; he was a link connecting the old with the new, and brought to bear upon the difficulties of the times a ripened and matured experience; whilst Zechariah was young, and with all the enthusiasm and warmth of youth. They worked together in perfect harmony and for the common good, their prophecies being at times admirably interwoven. There are two elements in the Bible—the Divine and the human. God speaks to us in every page, and he does so all the more emphatically, in that he addresses us through men who possessed throbbing hearts and who passed through experiences like our own.
III. THE RAISING UP IN THE ORDER OF PROVIDENCE OF EFFICIENT LEADERS TO DIRECT GREAT MOVEMENTS. "The word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josadech, the high priest" (verse 1). Zerubbabel, of royal descent from David, and Joshua, who was in the priestly line, had secured the confidence and esteem of the Jewish community in the land of captivity; and the former had won the regard of Cyrus, the Persian monarch; so that when the time for the return came, leaders, esteemed alike by the Jews and their foreign rulers, were prepared to guide the movement and to carry it through successfully. God's work shall never fail through lack of suitable agents to do his bidding, but he will raise up a bright succession of leal-hearted men to carry on his cause, until the ruin and desolation wrought by sin has been completely repaired, and the topstone of the temple of redeemed humanity be "brought forth" amidst rapturous praise.—S.D.H.
Procrastination.
"This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." There are several ways of accounting for the delay which occurred in the work of re-erecting the temple in Jerusalem.
1. In part it arose from the returned exiles being preoccupied in seeking to secure to themselves material prosperity.
2. Then they were daunted by the opposition they had to encounter as they engaged in this work. The powerful neighbouring tribes, being alike antagonistic to the restoration of Jerusalem as the centre of the pure and unadulterated worship of God, combined to place obstacles in the way of the repairers of the breaches.
3. Further, they had grown somewhat accustomed to being without the structure. Comparatively few of them had seen "the first house."
4. It is to be feared also that they had lost, through the changes they had experienced, that strong sense of the need of the Divine abiding presence in their midst. Influenced by such considerations as these, and forgetful that "good is best when soonest wrought," they kept postponing carrying out the great undertaking to which they had pledged themselves, and excused themselves by saying, "The time is not come," etc. (Haggai 1:2). This habit of delay is far too general, and is not limited to any age or race. It prevails widely today as in all past times; and in no respect more so than in matters affecting man's relation to God. Time was when man was wholly devoted to his Maker's praise. God formed him in his own image, holy, spotless, pure; but he mournfully fell. He who had been the temple of God became a moral waste. "Ichabod" became inscribed upon the once consecrated spiritual man.. Every power of the soul became corrupt, every propensity became drawn to that which is evil. "The gold became dim, and the most fine gold changed." And the voice of God calls us to the glorious work of rebuilding tills temple. He has presented to us, in the perfect life of his own Son, the pattern after which we should seek to raise in ourselves the superstructure of a holy life, and offers us his gracious aid so that we may build into our character the noble materials of truth and virtue, wisdom and love. And it is just at this point that the temptation to delay meets men.
1. They are not insensible to the claims of God, nor are they altogether indifferent about attending to these, but they say, "The time is not come," etc. (Haggai 1:3).
2. They are immersed in other matters at present:
(1) the cares of the world;
(2) the pursuit of riches;
(3) the pleasures of life, absorb them; they are preoccupied just now; they say, "The time is not come" (Haggai 1:3).
3. They reason that there is the whole future yet before them, and that ample opportunity will be given them in due course. So they go on robbing themselves of "aspirations high and deathless hopes sublime."
"Procrastination is the thief of time;
Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves
The vast concerns of an eternal scene."
S.D.H.
The stirring appeal.
It must not be supposed that, for purposes of revelation, there was any suspension of the powers of the men who were honored of God in being the medium of communicating a knowledge of his will; rather there was the retention of their own individual peculiarities and natural gifts, the Divine Spirit operating through these, and turning them to the most profitable account. One beauty of the Bible lies in the fact that, whilst upon the writings of each of its contributors there is unmistakably the impress of the operation of the Spirit of God, there is likewise throughout the whole clear indications of the preservation of those natural endowments which the respective writers possessed, and hence the remarkable variety in style and form of presentation meeting us in the Holy Word, and which constitutes one great charm of the volume. Viewing this particular book of Scripture from this human standpoint, biblical writers have described it as being inferior in respect of literary merit as compared with other prophetical writings; and it must be granted that we find lacking here "the poetical swing" and "the finished beauty" characteristic of "the curlier prophetical diction." The circumstances, however, under which he gave utterance to his message will account for this. It did not devolve upon him to any extent, as it had done upon his predecessors, to make prophetic announcements concerning the future age; his simple mission was to stimulate and stir a lethargic people to renewed action, to reprove them for their neglect of solemn duty, and to impel them to fulfil their trust. And whatever there may be lacking here of poetic genius, the picture presented to us of this noble-hearted man standing "in grey-haired might" amidst the ruins of Jerusalem, and, strong in conviction that the favour and blessing of Jehovah was the great essential in order to the happiness of his people, urging them to knowledge him in all their ways, and without further delay to rear his sanctuary, is one truly beautiful, and which we could have ill spared from these holy records. Consider his stirring appeal.
I. HIS SUMMONS TO REFLECTION. "Consider your ways" (Haggai 1:5, Haggai 1:7); i.e. "Set your heart upon your ways"—your conduct, actions, designs, purposes. Thoughtlessness is the source of so much evil. Men do not always intend to do wrong or to fail in respect of duty, but they do not "give heed." They allow their minds to wander into other courses, and to be preoccupied with other matters.
"Evil is wrought by want of thought,
As well as want of heart."
It is in view of men's highest interests, then, that God by his providential dealings, or the ministry of his servants, or the inward voice of conscience, says to them at times, "Consider your ways." We should consider:
1. Whether our ways are true and right.
2. How they stand affected to the claims which God has upon us.
3. The motives by which we are being influenced.
4. The results to which our actions are tending, whether the sowing is such as will yield a harvest of good.
The momentous importance of the admonition is seen in its repetition here. Man is wondrously free. He can choose good or evil. This freedom increases his responsibility, and the sense of this should lead to frequent self-examination. "Let each man prove his own work" (Galatians 6:4).
II. THE WEIGHTY CONSIDERATIONS HE URGED UPON THEIR ARRESTED ATTENTION. Their great excuse for the unwarrantable delay which had taken place in the work of the temple was the hardness of the times; and in his stimulating address Haggai kept this excuse before his mind, and completely exposed to them its hollowness and swept it away by setting before them two important facts.
1. He brought home to them a sense of their own inconsistency. Hard though the times were, the fact remained that in these hard times they had built for themselves durable dwellings, and had enriched these with costly adornments; and surely if they could do all this for themselves, they might have done something by way of proceeding with the erection of the house of the Lord (verse 4). Clearly they had lacked not so much the ability as the disposition to do their duty.
2. Admitting the severity of the times, Haggai pointed out that the way in which to have improved these would have been by their discharging more faithfully their duty to their God. In vivid language he described the depressed state of things then prevailing (verse 6), but his contention was that God had visited them with such adverse experiences in retribution. They had forgotten his claims, and had selfishly cared only for their own interests; and lie, knowing their hearts and observing their ways, had withheld from them the dews of heaven, and had caused drought to prevail, that by failure and loss they might be led to reflection and to a truer and more devoted life (verses 9-11). When the times are hard—trade slack and commercial depression prevailing—men too often begin retrenchment by withholding from God his due, and long before they sacrifice a single luxury of life will they plead inability to sustain his cause. Wiser far would it be for them to give full recognition to him and to his claims, and, whilst thus honouring him, to look to him for his blessing and the renewal of the temporal blessings of his providence.
III. THE PROMPT ACTION, IN VIEW OF THESE THOUGHTS, UPON WHICH HE SO STRONGLY INSISTED. "Go up to the mountain," etc. (verse 8). This stirring appeal of the prophet was made on "the sixth month, in the first day of the month" (verse 1), i.e. the new moon's day. That day was a special day amongst the people. A festal sacrifice was offered (Numbers 28:11-4), and a solemn assembly of the people at the sanctuary took place (Isaiah 1:13; 2 Kings 4:23). On this occasion, therefore, we may suppose the people as gathered together on the site of the temple, the bare foundations of which silently testified against their inertness, and the prophet appearing amongst them, addressing words of stem reproof to them, and then bidding them without longer delay go to the mountains and fetch the cedars, and build forthwith the house for God. Such he declared to be the will of God, obedience to which, on their part, would yield pleasure to the Most High, and bring glory to his Name, and would result in the promotion of their own temporal and spiritual well being (verse 8).—S.D.H.
The house of the Lord lying waste.
The temple was designed to be the centre of hallowed influence to the Jewish nation. It was the recognized dwelling place of God, the shrine where, in bright symbol, his glory, was specially revealed. The pious Jew rejoiced to repair to it, and wherever his lot might be cast he looked towards it with ardent and longing desire. The desecration of it by the introduction of idolatrous practices into its courts had materially contributed to the nation's collapse. It was of the utmost importance, therefore, that the work of its restoration should be pressed forward with all zest, now that the captives bad been permitted to return, and at first it seemed as though this course would have been pursued, but unhappily they soon allowed their zeal to flag, and year after year passed by and nothing was done. The house of the Lord lay "waste." The Divine Teacher, when he came to usher in a new dispensation, declared that God is a Spirit, and is to be worshipped "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23, John 4:24). He taught that place has but little to do with worship, and that there is no spot we may not consecrate by our praises and prayers, and render to us "hallowed ground." Still, he constantly resorted to the temple, and we read of his apostles how that they went up to the temple "at the hour of prayer" (Acts 3:1). The erection and maintenance of Christian sanctuaries is most thoroughly in harmony with his will, and is calculated to promote the truest interests of the race. Close all such sanctuaries, and
(1) good men would be left to sigh for the holy fellowship they had lost;
(2) spiritual darkness would steal over the land;
(3) the streams of true benevolence would rapidly diminish;
(4) men in general, losing sight of the common relationship they sustain to the Eternal, would also overlook the interest they ought to feel in each other's weal;
(5) iniquity would pass unreproved, and vice unchecked. As lovers of God, our country, and our fellow men, we do well to sustain Christian sanctuaries, and not to allow them to "lie waste." Notice, "the house of the Lord" may "lie waste"—
1. IN THE SENSE OF THE MATERIAL STRUCTURE BEING NEGLECTED. There should be correspondence in respect of beauty and adornment, comfort and cleanliness, between the houses in which we live and the sanctuary in which we meet for worship, and where this is lacking, the want indicates a wrong state of mind and heart.
II. IN THE SENSE OF ITS PECUNIARY RESOURCES BEING OVERLOOKED, AND THERE BEING THUS STRAITNESS IN RESPECT TO MEETING THE EXPENSES NECESSARILY INCURRED IN ITS MAINTENANCE. Giving should be regarded as an act of worship. "Bring an offering, and come into his courts" (Psalms 96:8). Contributions for the maintenance of the worship of God ought not to be regarded in the light of charitable gifts, but as the discharge of bounden obligation.
III. IN THE SENSE OF ITS SEATS BEING UNOCCUPIED. There is far too much of "waste" in this respect. The growing habit of attending only one of the services on the sabbath, and none during the week days, needs to be checked Personal influence should be brought more to bear upon the inhabitants of a locality with a view to securing their presence. "Come, let us go up to the house of the Lord" (Psalms 122:1).
IV. IN THE SENSE OF THE EXERCISES CONDUCTED THEREIN BEING MARKED BY BALDNESS AND INEFFICIENCY. The services should be marked by culture, variety, heart; the worshippers should throw their whole souls into all its engagements, and render each part of the service "heartily" and as "unto the Lord."
V. IN THE SENSE OF PAUCITY OF SPIRITUAL RESULTS. With a view to the prevention of this, let us "pray for Jerusalem," that its services may yield comfort to the mourning and guidance to the perplexed, and that through these the cold in heart may regain the fervour of their "first love," and "the dead in trespasses and sins" be quickened to a new and heavenly life. "Save now, O Lord; O Lord, we beseech thee send us now prosperity" (Psalms 118:25); "Repair the waste places of Zion" (Isaiah 58:12); "Build thou the walls of Jerusalem" (Psalms 51:18).—S.D.H.
The hearty response.
The human spirit is so backward in respect to the performance of the duties and the fulfilment of the obligations it is under in relation to the higher life, that it requires stimulus, and acts of renewed dedication to the service of God cannot fail to be spiritually helpful. There are moments in life when we become specially impressed as God's servants with a sense of his claims to our most devoted service, and when holy emotions rise within us, moving us to a more unreserved consecration of ourselves to his service. And we do well to make these impressions permanent by placing upon them the stamp of holy. resolution. It is wonderful how soon, if we do not take this course, these impressions and emotions vanish. We should therefore foster all holy impulses, and take advantage at once of all emotions and aspirations which would constrain us to render to the Lord our God a truer service than we have rendered in the past. Such impressions are buds we should not nip, sparks of heavenly fire we should not extinguish, the breathings of God's own Spirit, from the influence of which it is at our peril that we remove ourselves. The interest in these closing verses (12-15) lies in that they present to us a bright example of this wise course being pursued. The earnest address of the aged seer touched the hearts of his hearers; they became painfully conscious of past omission and shortcoming and neglect of duty, and were led to consecrate themselves anew to the service of him who had brought them up out of captivity and to their own land.
I. THE SPIRIT THAT WAS CHERISHED.
1. It was the spirit of obedience. "They obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet" (verse 12).
2. It was the spirit of reverential fear. "And the people did fear before the Lord" (verse 12). "Whom God would make strong for his service he first subdues to his fear."
3. This obedient and devout spirit was cherished by all. Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the high priest, and all the remnant of the people alike made this full surrender of themselves to the service of their God (verse 14).
II. THE EFFECTS THAT FOLLOWED.
1. The Divine favour was experienced. Haggai was again commissioned to speak to them in the name of the Lord, and to say to them for God, as his messenger, "I am with you, saith the Lord" (verse 13). The abiding sense of God's presence with them had made the heroes of their nation the men they were. Moses could face the whole Israelitish tribes when they were murmuring against him and against Aaron; David could confront the mail-clad Goliath; Daniel could be steadfast in the performance of his religions duties despite the lions; Ezekiel could utter burning denunciations against ungodly nations;—because they realized in their inmost hearts the consciousness of the presence and power of God. And now this same presence was pledged to them, and in the Divine might they would be able to overcome every obstacle. The promptness with which this assurance was given is instructive. "God is waiting to be gracious, and will meet the returning wanderer even before his hand has begun the work of service."
2. The spiritual life was quickened. "The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel," etc. (verse 14). He gave new life to them all, so that they were ready with zeal and alacrity and with holy courage to do his bidding.
3. The good work was advanced. "And they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God" (verse 14)—S.D.H.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS
Duty revealed.
"In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, "This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." Haggai is the first of the three prophets who lived and taught after the restoration t the Jews from the Babylonian captivity. It is generally supposed that he returned with the Hebrew exiles under Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest, in the year B.C. 536. He prophesied in the reign of Darius Hystaspes, who ascended the Persian throne B.C. 521. He and Zechariah were employed by Jehovah to excite and encourage the Jews to the rebuilding of the temple. This book consists of four messages, which were delivered in three months of the year B.C. 620, and all refer to the work of temple restoration. His style, being somewhat interrogatory, has much vigour and vehe mence. The grand subject of this whole chapter is duty—duty revealed, duty postponed, duty vindicated. Those two verses direct us to the revelation of duty. Here we have:
1. The time of its revelation. Every duty has its time, every true work has its hour. Woe to us if that hour is neglected!
2. The organ of its revelation. "Came the word of the Lord by Haggai. God speaks to humanity through individual men whom in sovereignty he appoints. In all ages there are certain great men through whom God speaks to the world. They are his messengers.
3. The order of its revelation. Haggai had to deliver the message to men nearest to him, with whom he was most identified, and the men, too, who had the most power in influencing others. To the greatest man in the state, Zerubbabel; to the greatest man in the Church, Joshua. I make two remarks as suggested by this subject.
I. DUTY IS THE BURDEN OF DIVINE REVELATION. The great purpose of Haggai's mission was, in the name of God, to urge his countrymen to the fulfilment of a work which was morally incumbent on them, viz. the rebuilding of the temple. It was the purpose of God that the temple should be rebuilt, and he required the Jews to do that work. He could have restored the structure by a miracle or by the hands of others; but he imposed the building of it on the Jewish people for reasons best known to himself. What was the burden of Haggai's mission is in truth the burden of the whole Divine revelation—duty. It contains, it is true, histories of facts, effusions of poetry, discussions of doctrine; but the grand all-pervading substance of the whole is duty; its grand voice teaches, not merely to believe and feel, but to do; it regards faith and feeling as worthless unless taken up and embodied in the right act. It presents the rule of duty, it supplies the helps to duty, it urges the motives to duty. This fact shows two things.
1. That the Bible studies the real well bring of man. According to our constitution, our strength, dignity, and blessedness consist, not merely in our ideas and emotions, but in our settled character. But what is character? Not an assemblage of beliefs and emotions, but an assemblage of acts add habits.
2. That unpractised religion is spurious. There is the religion of creed, of sentimentality, of sacerdotalism, of routine. These are all spurious; it is the doer of the Word that is blessed; it is the doer of the Divine will that God approves. "Every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not," etc. (Matthew 7:26).
II. DUTY IS INCREASED BY SOCIAL ELEVATION. This is implied in the circumstance that Haggai went directly with the message from God to the most influential men in the state, to "Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest." The former was one of the head men in the state, the commander-in-chief at the head of the Jews in their return from their captivity in Babylon; the latter was the head man in the Church, he was the high priest. It was the duty of all the Jews to set to the work; but the obligation of these men, on account of their high position, had an increased force. These men had greater opportunities of knowing the Divine will, and greater facilities for carrying it out. The influence of men in high position is a great talent that God requires to be used. This fact serves two purposes.
1. To supply a warning to men in high places. The man who is in a high position, and disregards his great responsibilities, is more an object of pity than envy. "Unto whom much is given, of him much will be required." Elevated positions in life invest men with an immense social power—power which God intended to bless, but which is often used to curse men.
2. A lesson to ministers. Let the ambassadors of Heaven carry their messages first, if possible, to men in authority. Do not be afraid; none need your message more; none, if they receive it in faith, can render you better assistance in the great work of spiritual reformation. It is common to lecture the poor on duty. How seldom the Divine voice of duty is made to ring into the hearts of men in authority and power!—D.T.
Duty adjourned.
"Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your celled houses, and this house lie waste. The seventy years of the Babylonian captivity had passed away. The Babylonian empire had fallen; and Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire, gave the Jews permission to return to their land, slid commanded them to rebuild the temple of Jehovah in Jerusalem. Hence fifty thousand captives, with their menservants and maidservants, went forth, led by Zerubbabel and by the high priest Joshua, to their own lands. Forthwith on their arrival they commenced restoring the altar of burnt offering and re-establishing. the sacrifical worship, and began to lay the foundation of the new temple. The Samaritans speedily inferrered and impeded their progress. Because the chiefs of Judah would not accept their cooperation in the undertaking they set themselves to the work of obstruction. They made the hand of the people of Judah idle, as we read, in frightening them while building, and hiring counsellors against them to frustrate their design, so that the work at the house of God at Jerusalem ceased and was suspended until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia (Ezra 4:24). Hereupon the zeal of the Jews so cooled down that they relinquished the work altogether, and simply began to provide for their own necessities and to build their own houses, Hence Heaven employs Haggai to rouse them, again, from their, wickedness. The subject of verses is the adjournment of duty The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. They do not question the desirableness or the obligation of the work. This indeed seems to be assumed. During the Captivity, we are told elsewhere that they. hanged their harps upon the willows, and wept when they "remembered Zion." Often, perhaps, in those circumstances did they resolve, should they ever be restored, to rebuild that temple which was the glory of the land; but now that they are there on the spot, and the ruins lying before them, their ardour is cooled, and they say, "The time is not come." We see three evils coming out here, which, perhaps, are always connected with the adjourment of duty,
I. COWARDICE. They did not say," We will not build the temple, we Will leave it to remain in ruins;" they were too cowardly for that, Their consciences rendered them incapable of making, such a decision. Men who neglect duty are too cowardly to say, "We will never attend to it, we will never study the Scriptures, worship God."
1. Sin is cowardice.
2. Sin is cowardice because conscience, the truly heroic element, is ever against it.
II. SELFISHNESS. What was it that prompted them to adjorn this duty? The answer is at hand, Selfishness. "Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?" They set to work for their own private interests. Virtually they said, "We must build houses for ourselves first, for all is in ruin about us; we must cultivate our own land first; we must attend to our own business, and after all that is completed we will see to the temple."
1. Selfishness is a perversion of self-love.
2. Selfishness is fatal to self-interest.
III. PRESUMPTION. "The time is not come." How did they know that? Were they judges of time and seasons? Had they the hardihood to suppose that circumstances can set aside or modify our obligations? "Go to, now, ye that say, Today and tomorrow" (James 4:13).
1. Such presumption is always guilty. It implies that we know better than our Maker about times and season.
2. Such presumption is always perilous. It treads upon an awful precipice. - D.T.
They were selfish motives that brought secular disasters to the Jews now. The verses teach us that duty is vindicated by the Divine government. We offer two remarks here.
I. THAT THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT RECOGNIZES THE SELFISH MOTIVES THAT ACTUATE MEN. Men are governed in everything by motive. Motive is the mainspring that keeps the world in action; motive is the fountain from which all the streams of life proceed; motive is the germ from which springs every branch and leaf of the great tree of character. We judge each other from appearance; God, from motives. God sees theft, blasphemy, and all other crimes where they have never been expressed in words or acts. This Divine inspection of motives argues three things.
1. The necessity of moral reformation in the world. If all pertaining to human life springs from motive, and the motives of the world are depraved, then the grand necessity of the world is reformation. Knowledge, civilization, refinement, social older, mercantile prosperity, wholesome legislation,—these will be of no real service where the motives are bad. Hence the great Reformer has said, "Ye must be born again." To accomplish this reformation is the great aim of the gospel. It is the fire to burn up false motives, it is the axe to strike the upas at the roots.
2. The necessity for attending more to the spiritual than the formal in the Church. It is not conformity to standards of faith, however scriptural, attention to rituals, however aesthetic and impressive, the repetition of prayers, however beautiful in language, devout in sentiment, and correct in doctrine; it is not, in fact, in any externalism that religion consists or that God delights; it is in holy motive. "Neither circumcision.; nor uncircumcision," etc. (Galatians 5:6). In all true worship man is at once the temple, the sacrifice, and the priest. When will the time come that men shall regard the Church, not as a piece of timber carved into certain forms by the hand of art, remaining the same from age to age, but as a living tree, working itself by the power of its own life into living forms with every season that passes, over it?
3. The possibility of solemn disclosures on the last day. Here men conceal their real hearts from each other. We only know each other after the flesh. Sometimes here Providence takes off the mask from those whom we thought friends, and we recoil from their hideousness with horror. At the last day all will be uncovered. "The hidden things of darkness will be brought to light" (1 Corinthians 4:5). What a revelation on that day!
II. THAT THE DIVINE GOVERNOR AVENGES THE SELFISH MOTIVES OF ACTION. "Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little." The passage shows two ways in which God opposes the labour of selfish men.
1. He neutralizes the results of their labour. "I will blow upon it." The man may realize the means which he thought would make him happy; God will hinder it from doing so. One selfish man may get wealth in abundance; another may acquire vast treasures of knowledge; another, immense power in society; yet in all cases there may be unhappiness, because God "blows" upon the whole. In fact, nothing can make a selfish man happy.
2. He renders ineffective the materials of their labour. Labour always employs three things—agent, instrument, and materials. The materials of labour are here specified—"light," "air," "water," "earth." On these men operate. Out of these we weave our clothing, of them we construct our dwellings. God acts upon these and renders them all ineffective for happiness. "Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land."
(1) God directs the universe; not necessity, not chance.
(2) God directs the universe for mind.
(3) God directs the universe so as to meet the state of every heart. "To the pure all things are pure."—D.T.