Haggai 1 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Haggai 1

The Command to Rebuild the Temple

1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” 3 Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

The People Obey the Lord

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 the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD’s message, “I am with you, declares 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 Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Commentary

v1: The second year of Darius, see Ezra 4.24; see also Ezra 5.1; 6.14-15, where there is reference to the prophets who encouraged the work of rebuilding. The building has ceased, due to the decree of Artaxerxes.

There is also Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, of the line of King David; and Joshua, high priest, of the line of Aaron.

v2: The people have been taken in by an attitude of fatalism; they assume that events mean that the time is not right for rebuilding the temple. They fail to see that the delay is due to the work of their enemies. The challenge is now to move forward in spite of opposition.

v3-4: There is time for some things, but not others; the delay in building the temple has allowed the people the opportunity to build their "panelled houses." There is a challenge here to their priorities.

v5: "Give careful thought," or 'consider your ways.' This is the key thought of this small book; stand back, look at what is happening, see the spiritual reality behind the circumstances; compare 1 Cor 11.28.

v6: The Lord is not ignorant of their misplaced priorities; their efforts to enrich themselves have been futile, sowing seed, eating food, drinking, wearing clothes, earning wages; all futile.

v7: As in v5; the Lord is very gracious, giving the people opportunity to consider what is happening.

v8: Now is the time to put God's things first, to bring Him pleasure and honour.

v9-11: The people put their own interests first, and found their efforts in vain (v6); but this was God's doing, "What you brought home I blew away...I called for a drought." Their poverty is not just a result of natural circumstances, but the Lord's rebuke. Yet we see that God is merciful to His own, for He continued to preserve them and to provide for them.

v12: The leaders and the people joined in obeying what God said. They feared the Lord.

v13: The Lord's immediate encouragement, "I am with you," the promise of His presence. This is all they need to face the trials that lie ahead.

v14-15: They get on with the job, their spirits having been stirred up by the Lord. Note that their sins were sins of omission, neglecting to do what the Lord commanded. Now, some 23 days after Haggai began speaking to them, they press on with the work.