It's Time to Get to Work!

Return from Exile: Haggai 1.

Photo by Moritz Mentges on Unsplash

The Jewish people have become discouraged and have moved on to other “projects” since the construction of the temple ceased nearly sixteen years earlier (Ezra 4:23-24).

Perhaps an even bigger problem is that there seems to be no desire among the people to get back to rebuilding the temple. So, the LORD sends two prophets – Haggai and Zechariah – with a message for the nation: Rebuild the temple!

A Brief Overview of Haggai

We don’t know much about the life of Haggai. The temple was rebuilt through the people responding to his prophesying (Ezra 5:1; 6:14). I suppose if there’s anything about our lives that is remembered, the knowledge that what we did made a difference would be encouraging.

Haggai’s name means “festival” or “joyous one” (Truth Commentaries: Minor Prophets II, p. 259). Some believe that he may have been one of the older men who had seen Solomon’s temple (Ezra 3:10-13).

Homer Hailey noted, “The writing of Haggai is unlike that of his predecessors. Lacking in his work is the rhythm and rolling grandeur of Nahum, the poetry and charm of Habakkuk, or the fire of Amos. In comparison his work seems subdued and prosaic. But he was completely successful” (A Commentary on the Minor Prophets, p. 300). The prophet Haggai is yet another reminder that the LORD can use people with various personalities, styles, and education levels to accomplish His will.

Haggai emphasized that his message came from the LORD. Phrases like “thus speaks the LORD” appear twenty-six times in thirty-eight verses (2 Peter 1:16-21).

The book of Haggai can be divided into four sections, each section beginning with a month and day “the word of the LORD” came to the prophet.

• Haggai 1:1-15 – “In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month.”

• Haggai 2:1-9 – “In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month.”

• Haggai 2:10-19 – “On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius.”

• Haggai 2:20-23 – “And again the word of the LORD came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month.”

The Darius mentioned in this book is Darius I, son of Hystaspes, who reigned over all Persia from 522 to 486 B.C. Sayce described Darius I as “an able administrator as well as a successful general” (Hailey, A Commentary on the Minor Prophets, p. 300). He put down multiple revolts and brought more peace and stability to the Persian Empire.

Before him was Cambyses – also known as “Artaxerxes” (reigned from 529 to 522 BC). Cambyses is the one who ordered the rebuilding of the temple to stop (Ezra 4:17-24). He was the son of Cyrus the Great.

Cyrus the Great (reigned from 559 to 529 BC) was the one who proclaimed that the Jews could return home and rebuild (Ezra 1:1-4).

It is during the second year of King Darius (520 BC) that Haggai is sent by the LORD to the Jewish people with a simple, yet urgent message: Rebuild the temple!

What the People Said

In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, “Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.” ‘ “ (Haggai 1:1-2)

During the sixth month (this would be around August/September for us today), Haggai speaks the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua the high priest. Remember that during the seventh month was when many important feasts (for example, the Day of Atonement) took place (Ezra 3). The timing of Haggai’s prophecy is significant: God calls them to resume rebuilding the temple right before one of the most significant “worship months” of the year.

Haggai begins by restating the general view of the people toward the temple, which was, “The time’s not right yet to rebuild the temple.”

The temple construction project had lain dormant for nearly sixteen years, and there was no urgency or desire to resume the rebuilding. Complacency and indifference had a firm grasp on the people.

They had multiple “reasons” why they believed the time wasn’t right. There was the external opposition to worry about (Ezra 4). Internally within the nation, life was hard for them right now because the economy wasn’t great. “Not yet” can sound wise and appropriately cautious, but in this case, it was a mask for their spiritual indifference.

One of the great hindrances to the work of the Lord’s people throughout history has been complacency and indifference among His own people.

Indifference and complacency rarely show up saying, “I don’t care about God anymore.” It usually appears in statements like, “Let’s do that later,” or “When things slow down,” or “When life becomes less stressful.”

Sometimes the Lord’s church struggles with this. We stop pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones – especially when it comes to taking the gospel into our own communities and serving in our own communities. “The times not right,” or “we’ve got other things to worry about right now,” and a multitude of other excuses come forth from complacent and indifferent people.

Today, the word of the Lord still sounds forth, “It’s time to return to work!”

What the LORD Said

Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” (Haggai 1:3-4)

There is a bit of sarcasm in this rebuke of the people’s excuse. They were saying, “It’s not time,” and Haggai responds, “Ok, is it time for you to build and live in nice homes while the temple is in ruins?”

Paneled houses point to the homes having expensive wood panels, which shows up at other times in the homes of royalty and the wealthy (1 Kings 7:7; Jeremiah 22:14). They supposedly didn’t have time to rebuild the temple, and yet they had time to put time, energy, and money into upgrading their own houses? Wayne Jackson penned, “This was the generation of the ‘me first’ bunch” (The Prophets, p. 464).

Then the prophet continues by warning the people to “consider their ways.”

Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways! “You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.” (Haggai 1:5-6)

After identifying their complacency, Haggai urges the people to carefully consider their ways. They were putting so much effort into focusing on themselves, and yet they always lacked.

He points out all the problems they’ve had with their harvests and economy as a sign that God is withholding His blessings from them. This points to their failure to obey the LORD (Deuteronomy 28). Haggai helps the people see that all their failures were because they had lost sight of what was truly important.

Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the LORD.

“You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the LORD of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” (Haggai 1:7-11)

Rather than taking the time to panel their own houses, the nation needed to gather wood to rebuild the temple so the LORD would be pleased and glorified. While Solomon’s temple used the grand cedars from Lebanon, God tells them to use the best option available to them, which would have been locally available trees from the Judean hills.

The prophet calls on the people to think, “Why has God not been blessing your efforts?” They needed to consider why they had been so unsuccessful. Because they focused on themselves rather than obeying the LORD, He withheld His blessings from them.

Sometimes things are harder than they should be because our focus lies on ourselves, and not on God. We may not be as fruitful as we could be because we are more concerned about our own comfort and needs rather than what pleases God and glorifies Him.

How the People Respond

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 presence of the LORD. (Haggai 1:12)

Those who proclaim God’s word always wonder how people will respond, especially when sin and shortcomings have been pointed out. I’m sure Haggai was no different.

But in this moment, thankfully, we read about the people all obeying the word of God spoken through His prophet, and fearing the presence of the LORD. The obedience started “from the top down” – beginning with the leaders, Zerubbabel and Joshua, and all the people followed.

Upon seeing the obedience and reverence of His people, the LORD encouraged them.

Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, spoke the LORD’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you, says the LORD.” (Haggai 1:13)

When Joshua took over as the leader of the nation after Moses died, the LORD came to him and encouraged him by saying, “I am with you” (Joshua 1:1-9). Earlier, when the nation prepared to leave Mount Sinai, Moses said to the LORD, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth” (Exodus 33:15-16).

Just as with earlier leaders of the nation, God encouraged Zerubbabel and Joshua by telling them and the nation, “I am with you.” This is the same comforting message Jesus left with His apostles before He ascended back into heaven (Matthew 28:18-20).

So 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, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius. (Haggai 1:14-15)

Knowing that the LORD was with them caused the LORD to stir up the spirit of all the people – from the leadership on down – and they got to work rebuilding the temple of “the LORD of hosts, their God.” The work began on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. About three weeks after Haggai spoke God’s word to the leadership, the people were gathered in Jerusalem doing the work God commanded them to do.

After their complacency and procrastination had been called out, the people humbled themselves and got to work once again. The response of the Jewish people stands as a good example for the LORD’s church today.

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Previous Posts in the Return from Exile Series

Photo by Edu Grande on Unsplash

• An Overview of the Jewish Captivity and Return From Exile.

• The Proclamation of Cyrus the Great (Ezra 1).

• Who’s Going Home? (Ezra 2).

• Rebuilding the Altar and Laying the Temple Foundation (Ezra 3).

• Here Comes the Adversary (Ezra 4).

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