Bible Commentaries
Haggai 1

Verses 1-23

XXVI

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE POSTEXILIAN PROPHETS AND AN INTERPRETATION OF HAGGAI

Haggai

We now take up the prophets of the last period of Israel’s history as found in the Old Testament, the period after the return from exile, the restoration, and of the many books on this period, we name the "Bible Atlas," by J. H. Huribut, the "Pulpit Commentary," and The Minor Prophets by Pusey.

There were three prophets after the Restoration: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The last pre-exilian prophet was Habakkuk, about ninety years before the postexilian prophets come on the scene, but in the meantime there were three exilian prophets, viz: Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.

To understand these prophets we must first of all look at the historical situation, as follows: The kingdom of Israel was now under Persian rule. That rule lasted from about 538-332 B.C. It began when Cyrus captured the city of Babylon and thus became master of all western Asia. It ended when Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont, defeated the Persian king, and thus put an end to the great Persian Empire, and spread Greek civilization throughout all western Asia. During that period of a little over two hundred years, the Israelites were in subjection to the kingdom of Persia and were a vassal state. Doubtless all that time they paid an annual tribute to their overlord. They never enjoyed national freedom until the time of the Maccabees. It was 537 or 536 B.C. when Cyrus, after his great conquest north and west of Babylonia, marched upon that city which had been for half a century the center of the world. All nations had bowed to Babylonia during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and for a short period following the succession of his son, Merodach, Cyrus, one of the greatest and most remarkable conquerors of all history, advanced upon the city, and according to his own inscription on a cylinder which has been discovered, the city opened its gates and surrendered itself to him while King Nabonidus fled. We have also an inscription which has been recorded by Nabonidus himself, telling us the same story: that Cyrus captured Babylonia without striking a blow. They opened the gates to him.

In about 536 B.C. Cyrus issued his decree that the Israelites who were in Babylonia might return to their native land and rebuild their Temple. He may have been moved or actuated by humane motives, for he was one of the most humane of all monarchs of Oriental and ancient history. He thus allowed any of those Israelites who longed to return to have their desires fulfilled. Whatever motive actuated him, he gave the decree which is recorded in Ezra 1.

The decree permitted all the Jews who wished to return, compelling none whatever to go contrary to their wishes, granting them the privilege of taking all of their property with them, asking that gifts might be given by their friends, and Cyrus sent back all the vessels of the Temple, which Nebuchadnezzar carried away. The decree granted them the privilege of returning to rebuild their Temple. This was their chief purpose.

That return occurred somewhere about 536 B.C. Their Journey lasted several months. It was a large company, fifty thousand or more, with a great deal of wealth, and doubtless Was in many respects a very joyous return. This is the fulfilment of the great prophesies of Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

We can imagine something of the joy and gladness of the nation. But when they arrived home, they found that all those glowing prophecies were yet to be fulfilled, regarding the land, the city, and the Temple, for Jerusalem was a heap of ruins; the city was as it was when Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers destroyed and burned it. The land was largely depopulated and almost barren and their sacred Temple with all its magnificence, which had stood for about four centuries, was left with scarcely one stone upon another. They were to begin anew the civilization of the land, to begin at the very bottom, the very foundation of a new national life and existence. But they had one great advantage, they had all the traditions and laws and prophecies of the past. They had a marvelous inspiration in those prophetic writings.

Their first aim was to build an altar on the site of the old altar built by Solomon, and there offer up their sacrifices and observe the Feast of Tabernacles. They began to lay the foundation of the Temple very soon afterward, and we saw something of the strange scene that occurred as they laid that foundation, how the old men wept aloud and the young men shouted for joy, the voice of shouting and the voice of weeping were heard afar off.

But trouble very soon arises. The Samaritans from the north, the mixed race of people that had been deported by Sargon and Shalmaneser, wanted to become Jews to help in building the Temple, wanted to mix with this colony and be one with them. They met with a curt refusal; a refusal, justified by Jeremiah and Ezekiel; it would have meant the ruin and the collapse of the national life if they allowed this strange blood and this strangely mixed religion to be mingled with their own. Their very existence depended upon their separateness. As the result of their refusal, they incurred the lasting enmity of the Samaritan peoples. We call them Samaritans, but strictly speaking they were not really Samaritans at this time, because they had not received that name with all its implications. That enmity lasted all through the period of reconstruction, and it is not dead yet. It will not die until the last Samaritan is dead.

They succeeded in stopping the work of rebuilding the walls of the Temple, and from what Haggai says, it seems that they succeeded in stopping that building by preventing them from bringing up the timbers from Joppa. Cyrus’ decree permitted them to get the timbers necessary to the rebuilding of the Temple from the mountains of Lebanon, and they had to be brought by raft to Joppa and thence to Jerusalem, and it seems quite probable that the Samaritans succeeded in stopping them from bringing up that timber and hence they could not go on with the building of the Temple.

Sixteen years passed, and nothing more was done toward the rebuilding of that sacred structure, but during that time they were not idle; being defeated in their purpose of building the Temple they set to work to organize the community. They probably restored a great many of the houses in Jerusalem, and many of the houses and villages in Judah; they erected houses of their own, they laid the foundations for a new community. Some of them were not only building themselves houses, but ceiling them with beautiful cedar with carvings. They were beginning to gather some luxuries around them, and they seemed to be largely satisfied with the altar upon which they could sacrifice, and with their progress in reshaping and establishing the new community, and they settled down apparently to take it easy. The difficulties had evidently frightened them out of all thought of going on with the work; they were occupied with their own affairs, rather than with the affairs of the Temple.

In about 529 B.C. Cyrus, being killed in battle, was succeed-ed by his son, Cambyses, who invaded Western Asia as far as Egypt and doubtless Israel felt some effect of that invasion. Cambyses committed suicide and was succeeded by a usurper who in turn was killed by the nobles who conspired against him, the chief of whom was Darius, who succeeded this usurper on the throne of the Persian Empire about 521 B.C. He was a man of noble character, though not as humane and successful as Cyrus the Great, yet he was one of the greatest men of his age. As soon as Be came to the throne, the world which then constituted the Persian Empire, was convulsed with revolts and insurrections and rebellions, in attempts to throw off the yoke of Persia. Darius was engaged for four years in quelling these revolts, and finally succeeded in subjugating them and reducing his empire to order. It was during that time, when Darius was busy quelling these revolts which threatened to dissolve and destroy the Persian Empire, that this prophecy was spoken.

We take up these prophets in order. Haggai was the first. The name is derived from the Hebrew word which means "a feast," or belonging to a feast. It is a peculiar name, occurring nowhere else. It is altogether likely that he was an exile who returned with the company. Whether he was an old man or not we cannot say. Some say that he was one of those who had been deported, had lived fifty years in exile in Babylon and returned with the first company. The problem before Haggai was to arouse the people to build the Temple. They need a temple as the center of their national and religious life. Because of the difficulties that had come through the Samaritans, and because of the intrigues against them at the royal court of Persia, the people had ceased to work at the building. They reached the conclusion that the time had not yet come, saying, "We can get along without it. We have lived during the exile without it, and fifteen years after we reached our land we did without it, and we can manage to get along. As long as these difficulties are in the way we will not trouble ourselves about building the temple." At this juncture two prophets appear on the horizon, Haggai, who comes first, then Zechariah. About the year 520 B.C. Haggai preaches his first sermon. It is a plain, simple, direct address to the hearts of his hearers.

A fine outline of Haggai is the following:

HAGGAI – THE DUTY OF COURAGE
I. First Address, Haggai 1:1-15, year of Darius, Haggai 2-6-1.

II. Second Address, Haggai 2:1-9, year of Darius, Haggai 2-7-21.

III. Third Address, Haggai 2:10-19, year of Darius, Haggai 2-9-24.

IV. Fourth Address Haggai 2-20-23 year of Darius. Haggai 2-9-24.

His first prophecy was a call to build the Temple, Haggai 1. The first verses give us the exact date: In the second year of Darius the king, 520 B.C., in the sixth month, corresponding to our September, the first day of the month, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest. He speaks to the leaders. There is no mention of his preaching to the people, yet no doubt there were many exiles present, but he is speaking specifically to the leaders. Notice, it is the first day of the month when they were celebrating the Feast of the New Moon, which feast was observed at the beginning of each month in the year. There was, probably, an assembly in Jerusalem, and on that occasion Haggai received his first message and appeared before them.

His first remarks are a reply to the people’s excuse. The second verse tells us: "Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house shall be built." The margin puts it better, "The time is not come for Jehovah’s house to be built." In answer to that excuse the word of Jehovah comes to Haggai the prophet and he put the question: "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? Now, therefore, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways." Then he portrays their condition and gives the cause of it: They had sown much and brought in little; had eaten but they had not enough; they drank, but were not filled; they were clothed, but were not warm; they earned wages, but put it into a bag with holes. Why all this dissatisfaction? Why were things not going right? They were attending to their own houses and their own affairs, and not Jehovah’s. Instead of these things creating this excuse for them, they gave the very reason why they should exert themselves for God’s cause. "Thus saith Jehovah, Consider your ways."

Then he gives a call to the people to build the Temple (Haggai 1:7-11). Haggai here tells them exactly what they ought to do: "Go up to the mountain [hill-country] and bring wood, and build the house." What hill country does he refer to? Some think he refers simply to the hill country of Judah, but it evidently means the hill country of Lebanon, where the great timbers were secured that were used to build Solomon’s Temple, and where they went to secure the timber to build the Temple. They have all the stone necessary; there were plenty of stones round about Jerusalem to build the Temple. "I will take pleasure in it, saith Jehovah." He took pleasure in the house of Solomon, came and filled it with his presence when Solomon dedicated it, and promises now if they will build the house, he will take pleasure in it, and he will be glorified just as he was glorified when Solomon’s Temple was built.

He continues his admonition in Haggai 1:9: "Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little [referring to the crops and products of their vineyards]; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it." The margin says, "I did blow it away." In some way it was wasted and they did not derive the benefit. Why this drought? "Because of my house that lieth waste, while ye run every man unto his own house. . . . For your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholdeth fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the grain, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon the men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands." That was the cause of the drought. People now explain it by various natural causes; the weather bureau and the weather prophets have a theory. But Haggai says, "It is because of your neglect of God’s house; ye have been attending to your own affairs." I would rather trust the insight of God’s prophet than the weather prophet.

The effect of this appeal was good. They hearkened to Haggai the prophet, both Zerubbabel and Joshua and all the remnant of the people with them, and they obeyed the voice of Jehovah their God and all the words of Haggai the prophet, and the people did fear before Jehovah. Haggai calls himself the Lord’s messenger and when he came unto the people he brought this great encouraging word (Haggai 1:13): "I am with you, saith Jehovah." As one great man has said, "The best of all is, God is with us." And this is the gracious promise of Haggai to the people. As a result Jehovah stirred up the spirit of the leaders and the remnant of the people, and they came, and did work on the house of Jehovah, and they began to work exactly twenty-three days after Haggai preached to them his first sermon. The date of this sermon is "the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king."

We have the second prophecy of Haggai in 2:1-9, the subject of which is "The Glory of the New Temple." The exact date of this is given also, the twenty-first day of the seventh month. This was preached to the leaders and the people, and to meet an occasion which frequently comes in connection with building a new house, especially when the old one has been a magnificent structure, and when the people are not able to build one fully as large and magnificent. The people had begun to lay the foundation, and this afforded opportunity for comparisons to be made. There were some people there who remembered the old Temple, and they thought about the good old times and the good old building that they had before, and they began to make comparisons, and any man who has helped to erect a church knows the danger of discussion when a church building goes up.

Haggai directs himself to the occasion: "Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes as nothing?" Here is the criticism. But the prophet says, "Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith Jehovah, and work; for I am with you, saith Jehovah of hosts." Now the prophet gives a great promise. He said that the time would come when this Temple would be glorified beyond that of Solomon’s Temple for, "Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land: and I will shake all nations; and the desirable things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts." The explanation is found in Haggai 2:8: "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace." A great promise, a great inspiration! No wonder that Zerubbabel and Joshua went to work with, greater zeal, largely as a result of Haggai’s prophesying.

The third prophecy of Haggai is in Haggai 2:10-19, the burden of which is the cause of their calamities and the promise of blessing. This occurred in the ninth month, just two months after the previous one and on the fourth and twentieth day of the month. Haggai comes forward with a new and fresh argument to incite them to activity. He raises a question here and it is a question as to the relative infectiousness of evil or of good: "Ask now the priests concerning the law saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any food, shall it become holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean." The question is based on the ceremonial law and customs. It is like this: A holy garment touching a piece of furniture will not make that holy, but an unclean garment touching anything will make it unclean. In other words, evil is more infectious than good.

Now what does Haggai mean? Is he simply playing with words? No, he is illustrating a great principle here. People are affected by evil much more readily than by good. This principle Haggai applies to these people. They had been in touch with things unclean; had been without their Temple; had been in the condition of pollution without their sacrifices. It is summed up in Haggai 2:14: "So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean." In other words, their acceptance before God did not depend upon their place in the Holy Land, but upon their actual state of holiness before him. Then he goes on to discuss his dealings with them and the result upon their economic and religious life which had been very unsatisfactory. They had been under a curse, but they are on the threshold of a great blessing (Haggai 2:15-19).

The fourth prophecy is found in Haggai 2:20-23, the burden of which is the restoration and the establishment of the throne of David through Zerubbabel. This is the same day on which the third one was given. This is addressed directly to Zerubbabel, the governor, the descendant of the line of David, the true, lawful heir to the throne. It is a gracious promise bringing before Zerubbabel something of the glories predicted by Jeremiah and Ezekiel, when they spoke about the prince of the house of David that should sit upon the throne forever. He encourages Zerubbabel and says, "I will shake the heavens and the earth: and I will overthrow the throne of the kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen: and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one, by the sword of his brother."

The background of this prophecy is those insurrections which convulsed all the world at the succession of Darius, and which it took him four years to quell. Haggai 2:23 says, "In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith Jehovah, and I will make thee as a signet," which means that he will be God’s lawful representative, and God will delegate to him rulership, kingship and authority. The signet ring represented several things, viz: an irrevocable testimony, a delegate power, as God delegated his power to Zerubbabel. God delegated royal and divine authority to Zerubbabel, the legal heir of the throne of Israel. There was here a great promise of peace.

The fulfilment of this prophecy of Haggai did not take place fully in his day. The Persian Empire was re-established and the Jews, for over four hundred years, remained a little, obscure nation; a great conflict took place between Persia and Greece, when the battle of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and others were fought. But Haggai’s prophecy revived the old hope of the messianic age in Israel, and started Judaism with that hope burning strong in their breasts. These prophecies were fulfilled at the coming of the Messiah, and the establishment of his reign.

There are two distinctive messianic prophecies in this book, viz: (1) The greater glory to the temple, Haggai 2:6-9; (2) David’s throne through Zerubbabel, as a representative of David, Haggai 2:21-23. There is also one quotation from the book in the New Testament, viz: Hebrews 12:26 is a quotation of Haggai 2:6, and is there applied to the final shaking of all material things. Star-ting with Sinai, we have a perspective of prophecy, the shaking of Sinai forecasting God’s shaking in Zerubbabel’s day, the shaking in Zerubbabel’s day forecasting Christ’s day and that in turn forecasting the shaking at Christ’s second advent.

There are three great lessons of the book: (1) The influence of God’s preachers in forward kingdom movements, as great things in God’s kingdom have always been accomplished by the instrumentality of great leaders; (2) The importance of God’s work is paramount to everything else, which is illustrated in the saying of our Lord, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things (food, clothes, houses, etc.) shall be added unto you." (3) the necessity of a vision. They saw through the prophet’s pictures, the future glory of Israel and were stimulated to activity commensurate with the task in hand.

QUESTIONS

1. Who were the postexile prophets?

2. Who was the last pre-exile prophet, how long after he prophesied before these prophets came on the scene, and what prophets came in during the exilian period?

3. What was the historical situation in the time of these postexile prophets?

4. Who was Haggai, what was his problems and what, in general, the date of his prophecies?

5. What was the general character of his prophecies?

6. Give an outline of Haggai showing the addresses and the date of each.

7. To whom was his first address directed primarily?

8. What excuse had the people offered for their failure, what was the meaning of it, and what was this prophet’s reply?

9. What condition does he describe to them and what reason does he assign for such condition?

10. What call does he then give to the people and what incentive does he hold out to them to go forward?

11. What was the response to this appeal and what the result?

12. What was the subject of his second address and to whom was it addressed?

13. What contrast does the prophet here make, what the occasion for it, what promise did he then give respecting the Temple and what the fulfilment of it?

14. What was the burden of the third address, what analogy does he draw from the Law and what was his great lesson for the people?

15. What punishment cited and what blessing now promised?

16. What was the burden of the fourth address, what was the glorious promise here and what was its fulfilment?

17. What two distinctively messianic prophecies in this book?

18. What quotations from this book in the New Testament and what is its application there?

19. What are the great lessons of this book?