The
Book of Haggai
The Book of Haggai (meaning my holiday), was written around 410 B.C. in the second year of Darius (Hystaspis), sixteen years after the decree of Cyrus. Haggai was the first prophet by whom "God spoke" after the return. (Hebrews 1:1). Scarcely anything is known of Haggai's personal history. He may have been one of the captives taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. After the return of the Jews to Judah, the work of rebuilding the temple had been put to a stop through the intrigues of the Samaritans. After having been suspended for eighteen years, the work was resumed through the efforts of Haggai and Zechariah. They exhorted the people, which roused them from their lethargy, and induced them to take advantage of a change in the policy of the Persian government under Darius the Great.
Haggai 1
Hag 1:2 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. The Lord of Heaven's Armies says: The people are saying, "The time has not come yet to rebuild the house of the Lord."
Hag 1:3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying. The Lord sent this message to the prophet Haggai.
Hag 1:4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? This word cieled is (paneled or wainscotted), i.e. fancy houses. In other words, why are you living in luxurious houses while My house lies in ruins?
Hag 1:5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Look at what has happened to you and what your doing.
Hag 1:6 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. You planted plenty but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but still thirst. You put on clothes, but are still cold. You wages disappear like you have holes in your pockets. Sound familiar? Just like these people, if your priorities are in the wrong place, God knows how to get your attention. "Look at this country today." For the most of us, the more we earn, the deeper we go into debt. Remember what Jesus said in (Matthew 6:19-21), Don't let your heart or mind think your salvation depends upon money or material things. Build your works in Heaven... Your works, good deeds or (righteous acts) if you will, are the only things that will follow you to Heaven. (Revelation 14:13). If your treasures are in Heaven your heart will be there too.
Hag 1:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Again, look at what has happened to you and what your doing.
Hag 1:8 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. Go into the hills and bring down the timber, and rebuild My house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord.
Hag 1:9 Ye looked for much, 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. You hoped for rich harvest, but they were poor. When you did bring your harvest home, it blew away. Why? Because you let God's house lie in ruins, while you build up your own fine houses.
Hag 1:10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. It's your own fault that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops. (Leviticus 26:19, Deuteronomy 28:23-24, Hosea 2:9).
Hag 1:11 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. The Lord has called for a drought on the fields and hills to wither the grain and grapes and all the crops. A drought to starve the livestock and to ruin everything you have worked for. "All because they did not have their priorities in the proper order." The same goes for us today. Our priorities should be putting God first in out lives. (Matthew 6:33), The King and His Dominion. Take action and seek the truth of His Word and make Him first in your life, and He will take care of you.
Hag 1:12 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. Now finally when they heard what Haggai the prophet was saying, the whole remnant of God's people began to obey the message from the Lord.
Hag 1:13 Then spake Haggai the LORD'S messenger in the LORD'S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD. Haggai reinforces his message from the Lord saying to the people: "The Lord says; I am with you."
Hag 1:14 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. Then the Lord sparked the enthusiasm (stirred up the spirit), of the whole remnant of His people and they began to work on the house of their God. (Ezra 5:2, Ezra 5:8, Nehemiah 4:6).
Hag 1:15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king. They finally responded on September 21 of the second year of King Darius's reign.
Haggai 2
Hag 2:2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, Speaking again to the remnant of God's people who were in the land.
Hag 2:3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Does anyone remember how the temple looked before in all its splendor? How does it compare now? Ezra 3:12, Ezekiel 7:20), which should bring our attention to what Christ said in: (Luke 21:5-6), In the end times at His return in the second advent, not one stone will be left one upon another, they shall all be thrown down.
Hag 2:4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts: The Lord says be strong to Zerubbabel, Joshua son of Jehozadak the high priest and you remnant of the people. (The Lord is with them now so there is no reason for them not to be strong in their faith). The same applies to us today. "When the Lord is with you, who can be against you." (God takes care of His own).
Hag 2:5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. The Lord is telling them that His Spirit (the Holy Spirit), is with them, just as when He promised when they came out of Egypt. "Don't be afraid." (Nehemiah 9:20).
Hag 2:6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; Coming straight from the Lord of Heaven's Armies: In a little while I will shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. "There had been a shaking before; but this one would be extreme and final." (Hebrews 12:26-27), He will not only shake the earth in the end times, but will shake the heavens also. (Isaiah 13:13, Joel 3:16). All earthly things since creation will be shaken and removed, and only the unshakable things will remain. "The Word remains forever." (Matthew 24:35, II Peter 3:10-11). All evil will be gone and only good will remain. "It refers to the great tribulation." (Matthew 24:29-30), the coming of the Son of Man at His return. (By the way, have you noticed an excessive amount of tornados and earth quakes around the world lately)?
Hag 2:7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. I will shake "all the nations," and the treasures of all the nations (i.e. the elect of all the nations), will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, "says the Lord of Heaven's Armies." This refers to the future millennial Sanctuary of Ezekiel, as it follows after the great shaking of this verse and (Revelation 6:12-17). Remember "Revelations Chapter 1 verse 10" this is the Lord's Day, and the wrath of the Lord has come. Who will survive It? There is two tribulations. The tribulation of antichrist which comes first (know as the pre-tribulation), and then the tribulation of the real Christ. The first tribulation we stand against the antichrist and if you are in Christ, you do not need to worry about the second tribulation, Christ is not coming to harm you.
Hag 2:8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. All the silver and gold is Mine, says the Lord. (Isaiah 2:7, Isaiah 60:9).
Hag 2:9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts. The future of this Temple will be greater than it's past glory. "In this place I will bring peace." (Isaiah 9:6, Zechariah 9:9-10).
Hag 2:10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, On December 18th of the second year of King Darius's reign, the Lord sent another message to the prophet Haggai.
Hag 2:11 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, Ask the priests this question about the law: Reference to (Leviticus 10:10-11, Deuteronomy 17:11, 33:10).
Hag 2:12 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 meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. If you are carrying some meat from a holy sacrifice in a priest robe and the robe brushes against another food, will it also become holy? The priest replied, "No." (Reference to Leviticus 6:27).
Hag 2:13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then Haggai asked, "If someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then touches any of these foods, will the food be defiled?" The priests answered, "Yes." (Leviticus 22:4).
Hag 2:14 Then answered Haggai, and said, 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. Haggai responded, "That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the Lord. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled by their sin. In other words: They were offering sacrifices for sins, but they weren't repenting of their sins. Because of this, their sacrifices were not "holy", but "Unclean." This kind of reminds me of a pew potato. One who goes to church and goes through the motions, but never really studies the Word to get to know the truth to build their relationship with God. (If you are going to do the work of the Lord, we must not neglect our personal relationship with Him).
Hag 2:15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD: Look what went on before you began to lay the foundation of the Lord's Temple. (Referring to past time, before the foundation was laid). "Things were not so good."
Hag 2:16 Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. During those days you hoped for twenty bushel's of crops but only harvested ten. You expected to draw fifty gallons from the winepress, but you only found twenty. (Production was down 50% before the temple construction was restarted).
Hag 2:17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD. I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy your crops and everything you worked so hard for to produce. But, you still refused to return to Me, says the Lord. Reference to: (Deuteronomy 28:22).
Hag 2:18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD'S temple was laid, consider it. Think very carefully about this day when the foundation of the Lord's Temple was laid. (i.e. from this time, subsequently, things would be different, and Yahveh would bless them, as promised).
Hag 2:19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you. I am giving you this promise while the seed is still in the barn. "You have not harvested yet and your crops have not produced their crops, but from this day forward, I will bless you." What did God want from them? For them to seek the "Kingdom of God." (Matthew 6:33), The King and His Dominion. Take action and seek the truth of His Word and make Him first in your life, and He will take care of you.
Hag 2:20 And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, The second message to Haggai on this same day.
Hag 2:21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; Tell Zerubbabel, I am about to shake the heavens and earth. (Hebrews 12:26-27), He will not only shake the earth in the end times, but will shake the heavens also. (Isaiah 13:13, Joel 3:16, Haggai 2:6-7). All earthly things since creation will be shaken and removed, and only the unshakable things will remain. "The Word remains forever." (Matthew 24:35, II Peter 3:10-11). All evil will be gone and only good will remain.
Hag 2:22 And I will overthrow the throne of 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. I will overthrow royal thrones and destroy the power of the heathen (nations), and overturn their chariots and riders. The horses will fall, and their riders will kill each other. (Zechariah 14:3, Micah 5:10, Matthew 24:7), The end is coming soon and has already started. We are now experiencing famines, plagues, and earth quakes in many places like never before. (It's happening around the world already). We must also keep in mind that the famine in the end times is for hearing the Word of God. (Amos 8:11). This is another bench mark for the end times, because people are starving for the truth of Gods Word.
Hag 2:23 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts. But when this happens, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, I will honor you, Zerubbabel. I will make you like a signet ring on My finger. "I have chosen you. I the Lord of Heaven's Armies, have spoken." (Isaiah 42:1, Zechariah 4:6-14, Zechariah 6:13). It seems evident that the Messiah is here described under the name of Zerubbabel, as elsewhere under that of David, whose kingdom, after these mighty convulsions, should supersede all others. "The Chosen One." Referring to the true Prince and Governor of: (Isaiah 9:6-7), "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
Barton