Deeper Commentary
Haggai Chapter 1
Haggai 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month- The many restoration prophecies had stated that the Jews would return from Babylon after Babylon had fallen and restore God's Kingdom in Judah under a Messianic ruler. Ez. 40-48 contains commands more than predictions of how a temple system would be rebuilt, with a "Prince" who was also a priest as the Messianic leader. They would repent and enter a new covenant which would replace the old covenant. Tragically, most of the Jews preferred the soft life of Babylon, and those who did return were impenitent and are revealed by Haggai, Malachi, Ezra and Nehemiah as seeking their own personal gain from emigration to Judah. And so the prophecies were rescheduled and reapplied. There is an element to which they will come literally true in the last days when latter day Babylon falls, a remnant of Judah repent, and the Lord Jesus returns to earth to re-establish God's Kingdom on earth based in Israel. But they are also reinterpreted in many New Testament passages which allude to the restoration prophecies, being reapplied to Christian believers entering the new covenant and coming out of 'Babylon' in a more spiritual sense.
Some exiles did return and began rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple. But they were several times interrupted by seemingly invincible opposition from the local peoples and the king of Persia. But through the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah, the exiles were encouraged to keep on keeping on, and against all odds, a temple was rebuilt (Ezra 5:1; 6:14). So we should not read Haggai and Zechariah as merely droning on against the Jews and not getting very far. It was due to their inspired words that the discouraged, spiritually weak people of God were inspired to rise up and do the work of God's Kingdom, and succeed with every man's hand against them. In this is their abiding value to us. There is however the repeated theme of wasted potential- so much could have happened at that time, even the re-establishment of God's Kingdom in the form of the kingdom of Israel, replete with a Messianic ruler. But it didn't, because of short termist, self-satisficing attitudes, a failure to look beyond the immediate and personal to a far bigger picture.
The Word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet- Literally, 'by / in the hand of', a classic statement of Biblical inspiration.
To Zerubbabel- Haggai is addressed specifically to two men, Zerubbabel and Joshua ['Jesus'], who could have been the Messianic rulers at the time of the restoration. They both let the baton drop. It's a sad story of not using huge potential which is there in God's plan for men. He is also called Sheshbazzar in Ezra 1:8; 5:14, 16; Sheshbazzar was probably his Chaldean name; just as Daniel was called Belteshazzar.
Is. 53:2 speaks of Messiah, in a restoration context beginning in Is.
52, as ‘growing up’, the same word used to describe the ‘coming up’ from
the dry ground of Babylon. This potential Messiah was Zerubbabel, but one
wonders whether when he failed to fulfil the prophecies, there was the
possibility that another man could have fulfilled his role. Nehemiah ‘came
up’ from Babylon, and was “the servant” who ‘prospered’ Yahweh’s work
(Neh. 1:11; 2:20), just as the servant prophecies required (Is. 53:10;
48:15); and he was thereby the redeemer of his brethren (Neh. 5:8). He
encouraged the singing of praise on the walls of Zion (Neh. 9:5; 12:46),
surely in a conscious effort to fulfil the words of Is. 60:18- that Zion’s
gates in Messiah’s Kingdom would be praise. He was “despised” as Messiah
would be (Neh. 2:19; Is. 53:3 s.w.). He entered Jerusalem on a donkey, as
Messiah would (Neh. 2:12 cp. Zech. 9:9); and Neh. 2:16 sounds very much
like “of the people there was none with me” (Is. 63:3). The Gentiles round
about came to sit at Nehemiah’s table to eat and drink (Neh. 5:17), just
as Isaiah had prophesied could happen on a grander scale at the
restoration of the Kingdom. One wonders if the potential fulfilment of the
Messianic prophecies was transferred to him? And yet Nehemiah
returned to Babylon at least once, and there is no record that on his
second visit he stayed on, but rather, the implication seems to be, he
returned again to the service of Babylon. The total lack of Biblical
information about his later life may reflect this disappointing decision.
This train of thought enables us to appreciate the joy and pleasure which
the Father had when finally His beloved Son lived up to all that He sought
and expected.
And yet according to Jewish tradition, Nehemiah’s real name was
Zerubbabel, the branch (Sanhedrin 38a)- perhaps the same
Zerubbabel as mentioned in Haggai and Zechariah. The Hippolytus Chronicle
7:3:37 even claims Nehemiah was a direct descendant of David and in the
direct kingly line. His name, ‘comfort of Yahweh’, invites us to see him
as the potential fulfilment of the Is. 40:1,2 prophecy about a Messiah
figure arising to the exiles, giving them God’s comfort. At the time of
Judah's redemption, while the temple had been trodden down by her enemies,
the promised Messiah figure of Is. 63:1-3,18 was to come from Edom and
Bozrah - both code names for Babylon. The words "Bozrah" and "Babylon"
have similar root meanings ('high / fortified place'). And he was to
lament how the people of Judah were not with him- "of the people there was
none with me". But this is the very spirit of Nehemiah, when he returns to
Jerusalem from Babylon and looks around the 'trodden down' city at night,
not telling the people of the Jews about his inspection- i.e. the people
were not with him (Neh. 2:11-16).
Son of Shealtiel- The Salathiel of Mt. 1:12; Lk. 3:27. He was directly in the Messianic line and could have therefore legitimately been the king of Judah. His father is called Pedaiah in 1 Chron. 3:17,19- presumably he was adopted by his uncle Salathiel on the death of his father.
Governor of Judah- Sheshbazzar / Zerubbabel was the one given the temple vessels, appointed "governor" of Judah and who laid the foundation of the temple (Ezra 5:14-16).
And to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying- The Divine intention was that Zerubbabel was to be the king in the line of David, and Joshua ['Jesus'] the high priest.
Haggai 1:2 This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The
time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built’-
They
reasoned that “the time” of which Jeremiah spoke hadn’t come- even though the
temple had miraculously been enabled to be rebuilt, for no human benefit
at all to Cyrus (Isaiah 45:13 “not for price nor reward”). They felt that
all the prophecies were “marvellous” in the sense of something incapable
of concrete fulfilment in their experience (Zechariah 8:6). This is why
they are rebuked them for saying “the time is not come…that the Lord’s
house should be built”. They didn’t want the prophecy to be fulfilled,
because it would mean ‘going up’ from their ceiled houses- both in Babylon
and in the farmsteads they had built in Judah- to build the temple.
The context of this, according to Ezra 5:1, was of the people losing heart in the rebuilding because of the opposition from the Samaritans and the temporary ban on the work from Babylon. They argued: 'We'll do God's work if we get the chance, but this ban is clearly a sign from God not to go ahead'- when really it was their self-satisfaction with their "ceiled houses" (:4) that made them give up so easily. But the Angels were eager to go ahead! The paltry excuses for shirking the Lord's work today are no better. As ever, they stem from the apathy born of materialism, but are wrapped up in pseudo-spiritual reasoning.
The exiles asked for ‘deliverance’- but they
redefined ‘deliverance’ as meaning being allowed to live prosperously in
the land of their captivity (Baruch 1:12 cp. 2:14), rather than being
delivered from Babylon and returning to Judah. In a way, the book of
Esther shows how God heard this prayer. But the book of Esther therefore
has a sad ending, with the Jews prosperous, loved and respected, and even
further away from returning to the land. Indeed, Baruch 2:21 records them
misquoting Jer. 27:12 about the need to obey the King of Babylon during
their captivity, and understanding this as meaning they were to remain in
Babylon! Baruch 6:2 is perhaps the most serious example of misquoting and
wilfully misunderstanding God’s word. Here, Baruch [as Jeremiah’s scribe]
changes the prophecy of Jer. 29:10, that Israel were to be 70 years in
Babylon and then return: “When you reach Babylon you will be there many
years, a period seven generations long, after which I will bring you
back”. The 70 years are turned into seven generations. This was precisely
the mindset spoken against in Haggai 1:2, whereby the Jews reasoned that
the time had not yet come to rebuild the temple. “The time” referred to
the time spoken of by Jeremiah- but Baruch had re-interpreted the 70 years
as meaning seven generations. And yet all this was done with a
surface-level reverence for God’s word- the exiles considered themselves
blessed because they had God’s law (Baruch 4:4). Indeed, much of Baruch is
a condemnation of idols and a demand to worship Yahweh.
Haggai 1:3 Then the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying-
We may at times wonder whether anything, even God's word, has the power to
shift human complacency. But at least some responded to Haggai: "the
elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of
Haggai the prophet" (Ezra 6:14). Haggai was addressed specifically to
Zerubbabel and Joshua, the elders; and initially they did respond.
Haggai 1:4 Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled
houses, while this house lies waste?- As explained on :1, this
prophecy was addressed specifically to Zerubbabel and Joshua, the
elders. We can conclude that they particular were living in luxurious
houses, focused upon their house rather than God's. And that is an abiding
challenge to us all, especially noting that the Hebrew idea of "house"
refers to a family as well as a building.
Is. 60:7 prophesied that God would “glorify the house
of my glory”. But this was in fact a conditional prophecy, capable of
fulfilment through the freewill efforts of the returning exiles. For they
were empowered by Artaxerxes “to beautify [s.w. “glorify”] the
house of the Lord” (Ezra 7:27). All their efforts to glorify / beautify
the house, therefore, would have had God’s special and powerful blessing
behind them. But was the house ultimately glorified? No- for Israel would
not. They got sidetracked by beautifying their own homes, building “cieled
houses” for themselves (Hag. 1:4 AV). The word for “cieled” or "paneled"
occurs in 1 Kings 6:9; 7:3,7 to describe the roofing of the first temple-
which they were to be rebuilding, rather than building their own houses.
The glory would have entered the house of God’s glory as it did at the
inauguration of the first temple (2 Chron. 7:1-3). Ezekiel prophesied that
ultimately the glory would fill the temple as it had done then (Ez.
43:4,5). But God’s prophesy of this in Is. 60:7, that He would glorify His
house, meant that He was prepared to work through men to glorify it. The
fulfilment of Ezekiel’s vision of the cloud of glory entering the temple
again could have been fulfilled if the exiles had done what Artaxerxes
empowered them to do- to glorify the house of glory. And so the fulfilment
was delayed. The glory of the temple the exiles built was tragically less
than the glory of the first temple; and so it would only be in the last
day of Messiah’s second coming that the house shall truly be filled with
glory (Hag. 2:3,7,9). And the lesson ought to be clear for us, in the
various projects and callings of our lives: it becomes crucial for us to
discern God’s specific purposes for us, and insofar as we follow His
leading, we will feel a blessing and power which is clearly Divine.
Haggai 1:5 Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider
your ways- "Consider" is a key word in Haggai (s.w. :7; 2:15,18). To
'set our heart upon' (Heb.) our "ways" is difficult- self-examination
doesn't come easy to any of us. Ultimately the exiles didn't go in God's
ways, their "thoughts" and "ways" of thinking were not God's- when they
should and could have been (Is. 55:8,9; the later chapters of Isaiah are a
lament that the returned exiles would not go in God's way). The root cause
for the failure was right in the heart- they were not spiritually minded,
God's passion for His Kingdom was not theirs. The spiritual intention of
the exile had been that Judah would consider their "ways" (Ez. 20:43,44;
36:31). They hadn't done this, and therefore those who returned did so
from motives of personal improvement rather than spiritual desire for the
things of the Kingdom- as :6 now laments.
Haggai 1:6 You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you
don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe
yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put
them into a bag with holes in it-
In
the context of the restoration from Babylon, Ezekiel and Zech. 8:12 prophesied: “For
the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the
ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and
I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things”. But
we know that in reality, Judah were not obedient to the heavenly vision of
Ezekiel, and therefore Judah’s agriculture was
not
blessed in this way; the vines cast their fruit, and the fruit of the
ground was destroyed (Hag. 1:6,11; Mal. 3:10,11). The reason was that
Zech. 8:12 was conditional- upon Zech. 8:16,17: “These are the things that
ye shall do [i.e. to bring these prophecies about]; Speak ye every man the
truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your
gates: And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his
neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate,
saith the LORD”. But Judah abused each other, and didn’t fulfil the
conditions for the prophecy.
Haggai 1:7 This is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways-
See on :5. "Ways" can refer to literal roads.
Judah were commanded to return from Babylon in Jer. 31:21: “Set
thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward
the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O
virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities”. The same
command to flee from the land of the north [Babylon] is to be
found in Isaiah 48:20; Jer. 51:6; Zechariah 2:6; and they were
to “get thee up to the high mountain” (Isaiah 40:9),
using the same word about Judah ‘going up’ from Babylon to
Israel. "A woman shall compass a man" (Jer. 31:22) suggests
that the woman, Judah, were to take the initiative with God by
mapping out the roads they would take back to Zion- the
suggestion could be that the 70 year period of captivity could
have been shortened had Judah taken the initiative.
Haggai 1:8 Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house-
The majority of Judah remained in Babylon. And the
majority of those who did return, only did so in order for
purely personal benefit- of having their own house and land.
They ‘went up’ to the land, but not to Zion. With reference to
Isaiah 40:9 [ “get thee up to the high mountain”]Haggai exhorted them: “Thus saith the LORD of
hosts; Consider your ways. 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. Ye looked for
much [i.e. they expected the promised Kingdom blessings], and,
lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow
upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house
that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house”. Their
focus was on their own lands and farms rather than the glory
of Zion (as Nehemiah 13:10,11). They stood related to the
things of God’s kingdom, but never ventured beyond their own
personal self-interest. They would not accept that God
manifestation rather than human salvation and pleasure was the
essential purpose of their God.
I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, says Yahweh- The idea of God ‘accepting’ or taking pleasure in Israel is found in Ez. 43:27; when the temple was built and the sacrifices offered, “I will accept you”. If Judah resumed building the temple according to Ezekiel’s plan, “I will take pleasure” in it, God offered. They should be more committed to building the temple “that I may appear in my glory” (RSV). The glory of Yahweh as described at the end of Ezekiel could have appeared in Haggai’s time- but this wonderful possibility was held back by Israel’s petty minded, self-satisficing laziness. The same word is used in Ez. 43:27- then, when the temple of Ezekiel was built, Yahweh would “accept / take pleasure in” His people and temple. But because they built and served Him with such a mean spirit, He did not “accept” them at that time (Mal. 1:10,13 s.w.). Note how Hag. 1:8 describes the need to go up onto the mountain and build the temple- as if to recall attention to Ezekiel’s opening vision of the temple as built on a mountain. But Judah would not, and therefore the Kingdom blessings of corn, new wine and oil, as well as fruitfulness on the mountains, were all withheld (Hag. 1:11).
Haggai's criticism of the returnees is more understandable if we
understand that most of them were the poor, who hadn't 'made it' in
Babylon. It would be fair to infer that only the poor Jews returned from
Babylon. The record in Ezra 2:64-70 speaks of 42,360 people returning,
along with 7,337 servants and 200 singers, making a total of 49,837. And
yet only 8,100 animals went with them to transport them. This means that
many would have walked. They carried 5,400 vessels for use in the temple-
so the picture could be that their more wealthy brethren laded them with
goods, but only the poor returned. Further, the list of towns of origin in
Ezra 2 suggests it was mainly those who had originally lived in peripheral
villages who returned, rather than the inhabitants of Jerusalem and larger
cities.
Haggai 1:9 You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and
when you brought it home, I blew it away- The people expected "much" harvest, and were
disappointed at the poor yields in Palestine. This would confirm the
suggestion that many of those Jews who did return from Babylon were
amongst the poor in Jewish exile society, and returned in home for
personal betterment- rather than because they wished to obey the call of
the prophets and establish God's glory in the land. That's a sober warning
for all of us who may go through an external appearance of zeal for our
God, whilst having very selfish and human motives underneath. Why, e.g.,
does a young woman so zealously attend church? Is it to worship God and
build up His family... or because she perceives it as a potential meeting
place with 'Mr. Right'? And so the examples could be multiplied.
Haggai 1:10 Therefore for your sake- Perhaps specifically the
selfishness of Zerubbabel and Joshua led to a drought which affected many.
This is the problem with sin- it affects others, and we learn from the
account of Adam and Eve.
The skies withhold the dew, and
the earth withholds its fruit- This is exactly the language of 1 Kings 8:35, which said that in such case,
the people were to repent and pray towards the temple in Zion! But they
didn't want to build that temple, they wanted rather to build up their own
glory and homesteads. All things could've worked so wonderfully together
for good; but they didn't want to participate in the program God had
arranged, and so instead a downward spiral kicked in.
Haggai 1:11 I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on
the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground brings
forth, on men, on livestock, and on all the labour of the hands-
These are all aspects of the promised Messianic Kingdom which could have
come about at the restoration (e.g. Joel 2:19,24; Jer. 31:12). The very
same sequence of words occurs in Neh. 5:11; 10:37,39; 13:5- instead of
giving those things to Yahweh, the Jews stole them from each other, and
jibbed about paying them as tithes to Him. And thereby they precluded the
possibility of Yahweh richly blessing all His people with those very same
things in a Kingdom setting. As with all those who are rejected from God’s
purpose, they effectively rejected themselves from His Kingdom by their
behaviour, rather than Him rejecting them Himself.
Haggai 1:12 Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son
of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed
the voice of Yahweh, their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as
Yahweh, their God, had sent him; and the people feared Yahweh- see on
Jer. 23:18,22. This was a commendable humility, for it is hard for leaders
to repent. It seems that they didn't maintain this level of intensity of
repentance, but all the same, God responded positively to them at that
time, in response to their repentance of that moment.
Even amongst those who returned to the land, only a minority wished to take their spiritual possibilities seriously. The returned exiles are called "this people" (Hag. 1:2; 2:14) or "the people of the land" (Hag. 2:4), but only "the remnant of the people" actually responded to the call of the prophets like Haggai who encouraged them in the work and vision of what was possible.
Haggai 1:13 Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger- An example of
malak referring not only to supernatural beings ["Angels"] but to
men; references to 'sinning Angels' must be understood as referring
therefore to men and not heavenly beings. Haggai is presented as the
mediator, taking the message of repentance to God, and Him sending Haggai
back to the people with a message. The Messiah figure was to be
accompanied by a messenger, "the messenger of the covenant" (Mal. 3:1);
and Haggai could have been that to Zerubbabel, whilst he was willing to
live up to the call to be the Messianic figure of that time. But he
failed, and so the prophecies of the restoration with their Messianic
figure and his messenger were reapplied to the Lord Jesus, who was
heralded by John the Baptist as the "messenger".
Spoke Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, I am with you, says Yahweh- The allusion is to the repeated promises that "I will be with you" in leaving Egypt and going in to possess the promised land and establish God's Kingdom there (Num. 14:43). This is what could have happened had the exiles left Babylon and returned to the land wishing to fulfil the restoration prophecies.
Haggai 1:14 Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of
Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of
Jehozadak, the high priest- In response to their desire to respond to
the call for repentance, God stirred up their spirit / mind. He can work
directly on the human heart, giving us attitudes and ideas; and He does so
especially in response to our desire for this. Here we have a classic Old
Testament example of the work of God's Spirit on human hearts, which
becomes such a characteristic of New Testament Christianity. The same word
is used of how He stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to allow the exiles to
return (Ezra 1:1), and also the spirits of the exiles who decided to
return (Ezra 1:5). Although their motives were on one hand not right, God
also worked on their hearts. Human motivation is complex, but God worked
there, confirming them as needed. It seems that the stirring up of spirit
occurred when they left Babylon, and now again once they had flagged. It
is similar to the New Testament idea of being filled up with the Spirit,
as if there are moments of filling and refilling. And this stands true to
our spiritual experience.
And the spirit of all the remainder of the people; and they came and worked on the house of Yahweh of Armies, their God- As noted on :12, only a remnant of the people left Babylon and of them, only a remnant repented.
Even with Ezekiel’s prophecies behind him concerning “the prince”,
Zerubbabel was easily discouraged in the rebuilding, and needed the
prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah to encourage him again. He kept the
feast of tabernacles (Ezra 3:4) but without dwelling in booths (Neh.
8:17)- i.e., half heartedly. He could have been Messiah, perhaps-
he may well have been age 30/33 at the time of the restoration (Mt.
1:12,13). When Judah returned, they could have entered into the new
covenant, featuring “nobles [an intensive plural, meaning ‘the great
noble’]… and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them” (Jer.
30:21). Zerubbabel the Governor could have fulfilled this; but he flunked
out. Yet God lifted up his spirit a second time (Hag. 1:14 cp. Ezra 1:5);
he was given a second chance, such was God’s enthusiasm that he should
achieve what was potentially possible for him. But again, he failed. He
saw the glory of Babylon as more attractive than the hard work required to
bring about Yahweh’s eternal glory in Zion. It is noteworthy how God
worked through this man’s failures, and desired to give him (and all
Israel) further opportunities. See on Zech. 5:11; 11:17 for evidence of
Zerubbabel's return to Babylon.
Haggai 1:15 In the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month,
in the second year of Darius the king- It took 23 days for the whole
process of appealing for repentance, repentance and then Divine stirring
up of the minds of Zerubbabel. This seems to connect with how an Angel caused the 21
day - year delay in the rebuilding (Dan. 10:12,13; Zech. 3:1 etc. ); that was maybe representing the apathy of the Jews as well as the opposition of the Samaritans in the court of Heaven. The two Angel chariots sent to overcome this opposition (see notes on Zech. 6) would therefore have tried to influence the Jews to be more genuinely committed to Zion's cause. Part of their work was in the inspiring of Haggai's words (note the many references to "the Lord of Hosts" in Haggai). Again, the context of Ezra 5:1 must be remembered- Haggai prophesied to encourage the people during the 21 year cessation of the rebuilding (details in Ezra 4).
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