Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Haggai 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.
2. speaketh ] Lit. saith, the same word as throughout the verse.
this people ] possibly used as a term of reproach: comp. ch. Hag 2:14; Isa 8:11-12.
the time is not come ] Lit., not time to come. The sentence is evidently elliptical, and there is much difference of opinion as to what should be supplied. The simplest way of taking it appears to be, “it is not (yet) the time (for it, i.e. the matter in hand, or proposed undertaking) to come.” Then what that matter or undertaking is, is explained in the next clause, “the time of the House of Jehovah, for it to be built.” The LXX., however, and other Ancient Versions render, The time is not come for the Lord’s house to be built. R. V. margin.
It has been thought by some, that in saying the time was not come the Jews meant to allege, that the seventy years of desolation which had been predicted were not yet fulfilled. But if that had really been the case their excuse would have been valid. “There was indeed,” as Pusey observes, “a second fulfilment of seventy years, from the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar, b.c. 586, to its consecration in the sixth year of Darius, b.c. 516. But this was through the wilfulness of man prolonging the desolation decreed by God, and Jeremiah’s prophecy relates to the people not to the temple.” It is clear from the sharp rebuke here administered, and from the severe judgments with which their procrastination had been visited (ver. 6, 9 11), that the excuse was idle and the delay worldly and culpable.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say – Not Zerubbabel or Joshua, but this people. He says not, My people, but reproachfully this people, as, in acts, disowning Him, and so deserving to be disowned by Him. The time is not come, literally It is not time to come, time for the house of the Lord to be built . They might yet sit still; the time for them to come was not yet, for not yet was the time for the house of the Lord to be built. Why it was not time, they did not say. The government did not help them; the original grant by Cyrus Ezr 3:7 was exhausted; the Samaritans hindered them, because they would not own them, (amid their mishmash of worship, worshiping, our Lord tells them Joh 4:22, they know not what), as worshipers of the same God. It was a bold excuse, if they said, that the 70 years during which the temple was to lie waste, were not yet ended.
The time had long since come, when, 16 years before, Cyrus had given command that the house of God should be built. The prohibition to build, under Artaxerxes or Pseudo-Smerdis, applied directly to the city and its walls, not to the temple, except so far as the temple itself, from its position, might be capable of being used as a fort, as it was in the last siege of, Jerusalem. Yet in itself a building of the size of the temple, apart from outer buildings, could scarcely so be used. The prohibition did not hinder the building of stately private houses, as appears from Haggais rebuke. The hindrances also, whatever they were, had not begun with that decree. The death of Pseudo-Smerdis had now, for a year, set them free, if had they had any zeal for the glory and service of God. Otherwise, Haggai would not blamed them. God, knowing that He would bend the heart of Darius, as He had that of Cyrus, requires the house to be built without the kings decree. It was built in faith, that God would bring through what He had enjoined, although outward things were as adverse now as before. And what He commanded He prospered Ezra 56.
There was indeed a second fulfillment of 70 years, from the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar 586 b.c., to its consecration in the 6th year of Darius 516 b.c. But this was through the willfulness of man, prolonging the desolation decreed by God, and Jeremiahs prophecy relates to the people not to the temple.
The prophet addresses his discourse to the chiefs (in Church and state) and yet accuses directly, not their listlessness but that of the people, in order both to honor them before the people and to teach that their sins are to be blamed privately not publicly, lest their authority should be injured, and the people incited to rebel against them; and also to shew that this fault was directly that of the people, whom he reproves before their princes, that, being openly convicted before them, it might be ashamed, repent, and obey God; but that indirectly this fault touched the chiefs themselves, whose office it was to urge the people to this work of God . For seldom is the prince free from the guilt of his subjects, as either assenting to, or winking at them, or not coercing them, though able.
Since also Christians are the temple of God, all this prophecy of Haggai is applicable to them . When thou seest one who has lapsed thinking and preparing to build through chastity the temple which he had before destroyed through passion, and yet delaying day by day, say to him, Truly thou also art of the people of the captivity, and sayest, The time is not yet come for building the house of the Lord. Whoso has once settled to restore the temple of God, to him every time is suited for building, and the prince, Satan, cannot hinder, nor, the enemies around. As soon as being thyself converted, thou callest upon the name of the Lord, He will say, Behold Me . To him who willeth to do right, the time is always present; the good and right-minded have power to fulfill what is to the glory of God, in every time and place.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. The time is not come] They thought that the seventy years spoken of by Jeremiah were not yet completed, and it would be useless to attempt to rebuild until that period had arrived. But Abp. Usher has shown that from the commencement of the last siege of Jerusalem unto this time, precisely sixty-nine years had been completed.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thus speaketh, by way of reproof, and to awaken the drowsy Jews; he who knew their heart tells them what they both thought and spoke.
This people, whom mercy preserved in, redeemed out of Babylon, and brought into their land on purpose to build the temple. This people, whom Cyrus by proclamation sent to do this, who seemed to long for a temple when they were in Babylon.
Say; discourse thus among themselves, and discourage all that were forward. The time is not come; the proper season of rebuilding the house of God seems to be not come, for since the prohibition by Cambyses in the days of Cyrus, and through all the time of Cambyses, and in the first year and part of the second of Darius, we have no commission to do it, but are required not to do any thing in this affair without further order, Ezr 4:21.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. the Lord of hostsJehovah,Lord of the powers of heaven and earth, and therefore requiringimplicit obedience.
This people“This”sluggish and selfish “people.” He does not say, Mypeople, since they had neglected the service of God.
The timethe propertime for building the temple. Two out of the seventy predicted yearsof captivity (dating from the destruction of the temple, 558 B.C.,2Ki 25:9) were yet unexpired;this they make their plea for delay [HENDERSON].The seventy years of captivity were completed long ago in the firstyear of Cyrus, 536 B.C.(Jer 29:10); dating from 606B.C., Jehoiakim’scaptivity (2Ch 36:6). Theseventy years to the completion of the temple (Jer25:12) were completed this very year, the second of Darius[VATABLUS]. Ingenious inexcuses, they pretended that the interruption in the work caused bytheir enemies proved it was not yet the proper time; whereastheir real motive was selfish dislike of the trouble, expense, anddanger from enemies. “God,” say they, “hath interposedmany difficulties to punish our rash haste” [CALVIN].Smerdis’ interdict was no longer in force, now that Darius therightful king was on the throne; therefore they had no real excusefor not beginning at once to build. AUBERLENdenies that by “Artaxerxes” in Ezr4:7-22 is meant Smerdis. Whether Smerdis or Artaxerxes Longimanusbe meant, the interdict referred only to the rebuilding of the city,which the Persian kings feared might, if rebuilt, cause them troubleto subdue; not to the rebuilding of the temple. But the Jewswere easily turned aside from the work. Spiritually, like the Jews,men do not say they will never be religious, but, It is not time yet.So the great work of life is left undone.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts,…. Of armies above and below; whom all ought to reverence, honour, and obey; who was able to support his people in building his house, and protect them from their enemies, which should have been an encouragement to them; and to punish them for their neglect of it, which might have deterred them from it. This preface is made, to show that what follow were not the words of the prophet, but of the Lord; and therefore to be the more regarded, and the truth of them not to be doubted of:
saying, This people say; repeating the words of the people of the Jews to Zerubbabel and Joshua, that they might observe them, and the wickedness and ingratitude in them. “This people”, lately brought out of the captivity of Babylon, and loaded with various blessings and benefits; and not a few of them, but the generality of them, the body of them, expressed themselves after this manner, when pressed to build the temple:
The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built; suggesting that the seventy years of Jerusalem and the temple lying in ruins, reckoning from the destruction of them in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, were not yet fulfilled; or rather intimating that it was not the time in Providence, since they had been forbid and hindered in former reigns from going on with the work; or, since it had been a time of famine and distress with them, it was not a time fit and convenient to carry on such a service; and though they did not lay aside all thoughts of it, yet they judged it right and proper to defer it to a more convenient time, when they were better settled, and in a better capacity to engage in it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The prophet begins by charging the people with their unconcern about building the house of God. Hag 1:2. “Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: This people saith, It is not time to come, the time for the house of Jehovah to be built.” , iste populus, not my people, or Jehovah’s people, but hazzeh (this) in a contemptuous sense. Of the two clauses, ( a) “It is not time to come,” and ( b) “The time of the house of Jehovah,” the latter gives the more precise definition of the former, the (to come) being explained as meaning the time to build the house of Jehovah. The meaning is simply this: the time has not yet arrived to come and build the house of Jehovah; for in this connection signifies “not yet,” as in Gen 2:5; Job 22:16. A distinction is drawn between coming to the house of Jehovah and building the house, as in Hag 1:14. There is no ground, therefore, for altering the text, as Hitzig proposes, inasmuch as the defective mode of writing the infinitive is by no means rare (compare, for example, Exo 2:18; Lev 14:48; Num 32:9; 1Ki 13:28; Isa 20:1); and there is no foundation whatever for the absurd rendering of the words of the text, “It is not the time of the having arrived of the time of the house,” etc. (Hitzig).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
They who think that seventy years had not passed until the reign of Darius, may from this passage be easily disproved: for if the seventy years were not accomplished, an excuse would have been ready at hand,—that they had deferred the work of building the Temple; but it was certain, that the time had then elapsed, and that it was owing to their indifference that the Temple was not erected, for all the materials were appropriated to private uses. While then they were thus taking care of themselves and consulting their own interest, the building of the Temple was neglected. That the Temple was not built till the reign of Darius, this happened, as we have said, from another cause, because the prefects of king Cyrus gave much annoyance to the Jews, and Cambyses was most hostile to them. But when liberty was restored to them, and Darius had so kindly permitted them to build the Temple, they had no excuse for delay.
It is however probable that they had then many disputes as to the time; for it may have been, that they seizing on any pretext to cover their sloth, made this objection,—that many difficulties had occurred, because they had been too precipitate, and that they had thus been punished for their haste, because they had rashly undertaken the building of the Temple: and we may also suppose that they took another view of the time as having not yet come, for easily might this objection occur to them,—“It is indeed true that the worship of God is deservedly to be preferred to all other things; but the Lord grants us this indulgence, so that we are allowed to build our own houses; and in the meantime we attend to the sacrifices. Have not our fathers lived many ages without a Temple? God was then satisfied with a sanctuary: there is now an altar erected, and there sacrifices are offered. The Lord then will forgive us if we defer the building of the Temple to a suitable time. But in the meantime every one may build his own house, so that afterwards the Temple may at leisure be built more sumptuously.” However this may have been, we find that true which I have often stated,—that the Jews were so taken up with their own domestic concerns, with their own ease, and with their own pleasures, that they made very little account of God’s worship. This is the reason why the Prophet was so greatly displeased with them.
He declares what they said, This people say, The time is not yet come to build the house of Jehovah (132) He repeats here what the Jews were wont to allege in order to disguise their sloth, after having delayed a long time, and when they could not, except through consummate effrontery, adduce anything in their own defense. We however see, that they hesitated not to promise pardon to themselves. Thus also do men indulge themselves in their sins, as though they could make an agreement with God and pacify him with some frivolous things. We see that this was the case then. But we may also see here, as in a mirror, how great is the ingratitude of men. The kindness of God had been especially worthy of being remembered, the glory of which ought to have been borne in mind to the end of time: they had been restored from exile in a manner beyond what they had ever expected. What ought they to have done, but to have devoted themselves entirely to the service of their deliverer? But they built, no, not even a tent for God, and sacrificed in the open air; and thus they wilfully trifled with God. But at the same time they dwelt at ease in houses elegantly fitted up.
And how is the case at this day? We see that through a remarkable miracle of God the gospel has shone forth in our time, and we have emerged, as it were, from the abodes below. Who does now rear up, of his own free-will, an altar to God? On the contrary, all regard what is advantageous only to themselves; and while they are occupied with their own concerns, the worship of God is cast aside; there is no care, no zeal, no concern for it; nay, what is worse, many make gain of the gospel, as though it were a lucrative business. No wonder then, if the people have so basely disregarded their deliverance, and have almost obliterated the memory of it. No less shameful is the example witnessed at this day among us.
But we may hence also see how kindly God has provided for his Church; for his purpose was that this reproof should continue extant, that he might at this day stimulate us, and excite our fear as well as our shame. For we also thus grow frigid in promoting the worship of God, whenever we are led to seek only our own advantages. We may also add, that as God’s temple is spiritual, our fault is the more atrocious when we become thus slothful; since God does not bid us to collect either wood, or stones, or cement, but to build a celestial temple, in which he may be truly worshipped. When therefore we become thus indifferent, as that people were thus severely reproved, doubtless our sloth is much more detestable. We now see that the Prophet not only spoke to men of his age, but was also destined, through God’s wonderful purpose, to be a preacher to us, so that his doctrine sounds at this day in our ears, and reproves our torpor and ungrateful indifference: for the building of the spiritual temple is deferred, whenever we become devoted to ourselves, and regard only what is advantageous to us individually. We shall go on with what follows tomorrow.
(132) The words literally are,—
This people say, Not come is the time, The time for the house of Jehovah to be built.
—
Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) The time is not come.Better (unless we alter the received text), It is not yet time to comei.e., it is not yet time to assemble and commence preparations for building. It is not stated on what grounds the people based this assumption; but probably they palliated their indifference to religion by a pretended dread of Persian hostility. Darius, however, unlike his predecessor Artaxerxes, gave the enemies of the Jews no countenance when a report was actually made to him on the subject. (See Ezra 5, 6)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
YHWH’s Grievance With His People ( Hag 1:2-11 ).
In a series of consecutive prophecies YHWH’s grievance with His people is established, and the call comes to build the Temple. For YHWH knows that until the Temple is built they will not feel themselves to be one people, and the exiles far from home will see no reason to return.
Hag 1:2
‘Thus speaks YHWH of hosts, saying, “This people say,
It is not the time to come,
The time for YHWH’s house to be built.
His message was simple. The people were simply saying that the time had not yet come to build the house of YHWH. Initial work had ceased on it twenty years before, and as far as they were concerned it would have to wait its time. Life was at present too hard. But he is saying that it was time that they thought again, for they were not behaving like true people of God. That indeed is why He refers to them indirectly as ‘this people’ rather than ‘His people’.
It would appear that what God was trying to do through him was to arouse the people from their apathy and listlessness, and from their grinding toil and give them something to aim at. He was seeking to refocus their attention on the future that He had promised them if only they were faithful to Him. But it was a future hope that had clearly been lost along the way. For we must remember that from their knowledge of their past history these men should have known the importance of having a spiritual sanctuary around which to gather. Its aim would be to serve as a focal point for bringing back the distant exiles, and thus re-establishing the people of God. But they had lost their vision.
Notice the continual emphasis on the Name of YHWH and His words in these first few verses. The name is found once in Hag 1:1, twice in Hag 1:2, once in Hag 1:3, once in Hag 1:5, once in Hag 1:7, once in Hag 1:8 and once in Hag 1:9. And on four of these occasions it is as ‘YHWH of hosts’, the One Who has authority over the hosts of Heaven and earth and all that is in them. It was important that they should recognise Who it was Who was there, ready to act, and Who it was Who was speaking to them.
Hag 1:3-4
‘Then came the word of YHWH by Haggai the prophet, saying,
“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your roofed (panelled) houses,
While this house lies waste?”
Haggai again comes with a message from YHWH. This time the emphasis is on the fact that each of them has his own roofed house, while YHWH’s worship is conducted out in the open, and there is nowhere to satisfactorily store the religious vessels, because His house lies waste. It is just an empty ruin. No doubt they were stored in tents or sheds et up around the altar.
Some translate as ‘panelled’ and see them as living in some kind of luxury, which would contrast with how they were treating YHWH, but others point to the evidences of poverty and struggle and translate simply as ‘roofed’. Even the simplest house had to have a roof. (The word itself means ‘a covering’).
It was, of course, true that they had returned with a good amount of silver and gold (Ezr 1:6), but that may well have been spent on the preparations for the Temple which had come to nothing (Ezr 3:7). Perhaps on the other hand they had used the cedar from Lebanon to panel their houses. Either way what follows dose not depict them as living in luxury.
Hag 1:5-6
‘Now therefore thus says YHWH of hosts:
“Consider your ways.”
“You have sown much, and bring in little,
You eat, but you do note have enough,
You drink, but you are not filled with drink,
You clothe yourselves, but there is none warm,
And he who earns wages, earns wages to put it into a bag with holes.”
So now YHWH calls on them to consider what has been their experience in the last few years. They have sown much seed, but it has brought little reward, they have eaten but never had enough, wine was sparse with not enough to satisfy, water was short and not easily available, their threadbare clothing was insufficient to keep them warm, and any wages that they earned disappeared as quickly as if they had put it into a bag full of holes (a first indication of the use of actual money in the Old Testament). The very descriptions bring out the destitution that they were experiencing. Life was unquestionably very hard.
Hag 1:7-8
‘Thus says YHWH 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,” says YHWH.
Note the repetition of the command to consider their ways. But this time it was in order to tell them to think about their ways positively (contrast Hag 1:5), and to go up to the hill forests, and collect wood with which they can build His house. Then, He promises, however meagre the product, He will take pleasure in it and will be glorified by it, for it will be a house built at cost to themselves, and as a confirmation of the covenant, and will turn many eyes towards Him. Alternately the point might be that He will be glorified, if they are obedient, by the coming of the Messiah. In other words this was a first step towards their messianic expectations.
We need no such house, for our focus is fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ, but the underlying demand is the same, that we are willing to engage in building up His body, the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1Co 3:10-16), by our personally costly and sacrificial efforts (Rom 12:1-2).
Hag 1:9-11
“You looked for much, and, lo, it came to little;
And when you brought it home, I blew on it.
Why?” says YHWH of hosts.
“Because of my house which lies waste,
While you run every man to his own house.
Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew,
And the earth withholds its fruit.
And I called for a drought on the land,
And on the mountains, and on the grain,
And on the new wine, and on the oil,
And on that which the ground brings forth,
And on men, and on cattle,
And on all the labour of the hands.”
God now repeats in more depth what He has already said, that their sad condition is partly due to the fact that they have neglected Him and His house. They had looked hopefully for much, but all that they had received had been little. And even that had been ravaged by high winds. Or the ‘blowing’ might simply refer to some other activity of God which affected their stored goods. And why had He done it? ‘Because of My house which lies waste while you run every man to his own house.’
This was why the rain and dew had not come, this was why the earth had not been fruitful, this was why everything was affected by drought. Thus there had been a shortage of food, wine, oil and water. And all had suffered, both man and beast.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hag 1:2. This people say, The time is not come The Jews said this, not because they denied that the seventy years were completed, after which the prophets had foretold that the temple should be rebuilt,for it was extremely easy to compute those years; but, because they feared the king of Persia, and were greater time-servers, than believers in God. See Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1233
CONSIDERATION OF OUR WAYS ENFORCED
Hag 1:2-5; Hag 1:12. Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lords house should be built. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts; Consider your ways..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.
ALL the preceding prophets prophesied either before or during the Babylonish captivity: but Haggai, and the two who follow him prophesied after the return of the Jews from Babylon. What space of time Haggai continued to prophesy, we know not: but all his prophecies which are come down to us were delivered in the short space of two months. His principal office, in which he was soon joined by the Prophet Zechariah, seems to have been to stir up the Jews to rebuild their temple, and to assure them, that, however inferior to the former temple it might be in their eyes, it should in reality far surpass that in glory. In reference to their neglect, he reproves them with just severity; and shews them, that already had God inflicted his judgments on them on account of it; but assures them at the same time, that, if they will recommence and prosecute the work with diligence, his blessing shall be visibly poured out upon them [Note: Hag 2:15-19.].
In discoursing on this subject, we will notice,
I.
The conduct reproved
They had begun to build the temple about sixteen years before; but having been stopped by an edict from Artaxerxes, they had desisted, and had attended only to their own personal accommodations. But the Persian monarch was now dead; and they ought therefore to have availed themselves of that circumstance, and to have proceeded with the work. A whole year had elapsed, and they had not even thought of resuming the pious labour: they were even well pleased with the obstacle that had been put in their way; and satisfied their consciences with saying, that the Lords time for rebuilding the temple was not yet come. They did not say that they would never execute that work; but they justified their present neglect of it by this vain excuse.
Now this is precisely what we ourselves are prone to do,
1.
In reference to Gods temple which is to be erected in the world
[The Church is his temple, the habitation of God through the Spirit; and on the whole face of the globe is it one day to be erected. But when we call on persons to arise and work, they answer, The Lords time is not come. They see many difficulties to be surmounted; and, instead of regarding them as occasions only for calling forth their zeal, they consider them as indications that God does not require the work itself to be performed; thus making the dispensations of his providence a cloak for their own supineness. In reference to the conversion of the Jews in particular, this excuse is offered by many; and offered with as much confidence, as if they were acquainted with all the counsels of the Deity, and knew exactly all the times and the seasons which the Father has reserved in his own power. But this excuse of theirs is nothing more nor less than a plea for inactivity, and an acknowledgment, that they are altogether indisposed for the exertions which they are called to make in this sacred cause.]
2.
In reference to the temple which is to be erected in our own hearts
[Believers are temples of the Holy Ghost: Christ dwells in their hearts by faith: the Father too dwelleth in them, and they in him: and such temples all of us are called to be. But when persons of every description are urged to consecrate themselves entirely to the service of their God, they reply, as with one consent, The time is not come. They will not say, No; God never shall dwell in me; but, acknowledging it to be their duty to surrender up themselves to him, they think themselves excused from it by some providential impediment: one is too young to engage in such holy services as yet: another is too much immersed in business to afford the time: another is for the present afraid of offending some earthly superior: and thus, like the persons invited to the wedding in the Gospel, they all, on some frivolous pretext or other, unite in saying, I pray thee have me excused.]
But how vain such excuses are, may be seen by,
II.
The reproof administered
This consists of two parts; an expostulatory appeal, and a solemn admonition: Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways.
We then in like manner make our appeal to you
[Have you time for yourselves, and not for God? for your bodies, and not for your souls? for the affairs of this short transitory life, and not for those of eternity? Is it thus that ye have been taught of God; to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness last? and to mind your own things only, and not the things of Jesus Christ [Note: Php 2:21.]?Was this a just return from those who had been delivered from their captivity in Babylon? and, if not from them, is it from you, who have been redeemed by the blood of Gods only dear Son from a bondage infinitely more tremendous, a bondage to sin and Satan, death and hell? Judge ye, whether it becomes you to be seeking your own carnal ease, interest, and pleasure; and to be neglecting the work of God, and the welfare of your immortal souls? Only let conscience deliver an unbiassed testimony, and we consent that you shall be judges in your own cause.]
To you also we offer this salutary admonition
[Consider your ways. Twice is this repeated by the prophet [Note: ver. 5, 7.]: and repeatedly should it be urged on all who are guilty of the conduct before described.
Consider your ways,in order to your humiliation. Look back, and see, how highly criminal they have been. The more fully you call them to remembrance, and the more distinctly you view them with all their several aggravations, the more you will see cause to humble yourselves before God in dust and ashes
Consider your ways, in order that you may see what indignation they have already excited in the bosom of an avenging God. The Jews were referred to the judgments which God in his providence had inflicted on account of their sin, as proofs of his heavy displeasure [Note: ver. 911.]: and, if we could with equal certainty be informed of the reasons of those chastisements which God from time to time has inflicted on us, either publicly in common with the whole land, or privately in our several persons and families, there can be no doubt but that we should find our sins to have been the root and ground of all. But without such infallible information from above, we should not presume to interpret the dispensations of Providence in this way, except in our own particular case; and even then we should do it with great caution and diffidence. Nevertheless in many instances we may clearly read our sin in our punishment. We have preferred the cares and pleasures of the world; and we have been given over to a worldly mind: we have been impenitent; and have been delivered up to hardness of heart: we have disregarded the gracious visits of our God; and he has withdrawn himself from us altogether: he has left us to be filled with our own devices, and to eat of the fruit of our own ways.
Once more; Consider your ways, in order to the amending of them in future. To this the Jews were called [Note: Hag 2:4.]; and to this we also are called: and without this, all consideration of our ways would be to no purpose Determine then, with David, not to give sleep to your eyes, or slumber to your eye-lids, till your hearts are become a temple for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob [Note: Psa 132:4-5.].]
Happy the prophet who executed his office with such fidelity! and happy the people who were favoured with such a monitor! may our testimony also correspond with his in,
III.
The effect produced
Great and instantaneous was the change wrought on their minds
[The remnant of the people, from the highest to the lowest, all obeyed the voice of the Lord, and of the prophet whom he had sent unto them. They all began to fear the Lord, and in little more than three weeks actually commenced the work to which they were called [Note: ver. 14.]. O that such a change also might be wrought in us! O that our governors also, both in Church and State, might obey the call; and that all classes of the community would begin, as with one heart and one mind, to serve the Lord; first, to get their whole souls sanctified unto the Lord; and then, to promote his glory through-out the world! ]
Great also was the encouragement instantly afforded them by God himself
[No sooner did they evince a desire to comply with Gods command, than God commissioned his prophet to say to them, I am with you, saith the Lord [Note: ver. 13.]. And no sooner did they set about the work, than God called them to notice the very day, and pledged himself from that hour to bless them [Note: Hag 2:15-19.]. Yea, even the very day of their change did God himself register, not only in the book of his remembrance in heaven, but in the written records of his prophet on earth: In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king [Note: ver. 15.]. O that this present year of our king might be so marked! yea, that this very day might be so registered, as the season of a remarkable conversion of our souls to God! Be assured, that, if only one amongst us should now begin to obey his call, and to turn from earthly vanities to the Lord our God, it should not be overlooked, nor should it be forgotten in the eternal world. The very angels in the presence of God would shout for joy: and if they would notice it with such delight, we may be well assured that our God and Saviour, at whose call we turn, will not he regardless of so blessed an event.]
Conclusion
[The time will come when you will deeply regret that you have wasted the present hours in frivolous pursuits. Your past ease, and pleasure, and vanities, of whatever kind they have been, where are they? What fruit of them all have you at this time? Compare them with one single hour that has ever been spent in penitential sorrow: Is there any comparison as to the satisfaction they have left behind them?
Again: For what end is your time now allotted you by God? Is it for no higher purpose than to advance your temporal interests? Is there no work that you have to do for him, and none for your own souls?
Again: Will it not be a bitter subject of regret to yon in a dying hour, that the day in which you might have worked is passed away; and that the night is arrived when no man can work?
To all then, I say, in the name of the Most High God, Consider your ways. Consider the evil of them, that you may see your guilt; consider the fruit of them, that you may bewail your folly; consider the commands of God relating to them, that you may amend them henceforth, and obtain from God the blessings reserved for you in the eternal world.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Ver. 2. Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying ] This title is oft used in these three last prophecies (eighteen different times in that eighth of Zechariah) because, being to build, they had many enemies; therefore had need of all encouragement. And Jerome, in his prologue, noteth it as an act of great courage in Haggai and Zechariah that, against the edict of King Artaxerxes (or Cambyses) and the oppositions of Sanballat, and other potent adversaries, they should stir up the people to build the temple; and as an act of heroic faith in the prince, priest, and people, to set upon the work, and finish it, “Not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts,” Zec 4:6 . See more of this title. See Trapp on “ Mal 3:17 “ Doct. 1.
This people say
The time is not come, the time, &c. the LORD of hosts. See note on 1Sa 1:3.
This People. Not Zerubbabel or Joshua.
time. Repeated here and in Hag 1:4 for emphasis.
not. Septuagint reads “not yet”.
This: Num 13:31, Ezr 4:23, Ezr 4:24, Ezr 5:1, Ezr 5:2, Neh 4:10, Pro 22:13, Pro 26:13-16, Pro 29:25, Ecc 9:10, Ecc 11:4, Son 5:2, Son 5:3
Reciprocal: Hag 1:8 – and build Mat 6:33 – seek Mat 8:21 – suffer Mat 25:18 – and hid Mat 26:8 – To Luk 9:59 – suffer Act 24:25 – when
Hag 1:2. This verse reveals the excuse that was given by the people why they were not going on with the work of the temple. It was the ageold attempt at defence by saying it was not the right time yet, or that “there is plenty of time yet.”
Hag 1:2-4. This people say, The time is not come, &c. They had no just cause for saying this; but their own private concerns and conveniences (as appears from what follows) employed all their thoughts, and they preferred them to the rebuilding of the temple. Then When the people were thus sluggish, made excuses, and delayed the work; came the word of the Lord to Haggai To reprove them for their neglect, and excite them to their duty. Is it time for you, &c. You think it full time to build your own houses: you judge it seasonable enough to lay out much cost on adorning them; what pretence then can you make, that it is not seasonable to build my house? Ought not that first to be set about, and the ornamenting of your own houses to be left till afterward? The reproof here given seems to allude to the different spirit with which David was actuated, Psalms 132., who vowed that he would not come into the tabernacle of his house, &c., until he found out a place for the Lord. It certainly argues a contempt of God, when men give the preference to themselves before him, or think no cost or grandeur is too much for themselves, but the meanest accommodation good enough for the service of God. It is true an humble and devout mind is the only temple which God delights to dwell in; and he dwells not in, nor regards, temples made with hands; but yet, for the public solemnization of his worship, and as an outward testimony of mens respect toward him, it is proper that places should be erected for, and appropriated to his worship; which places ought not to be neglected, but made as decent and becoming the design of their erection as the circumstances of things will admit of.
Hag 1:2. Read mg.
Hag 1:3. is a superfluous editorial addition.
Hag 1:4. A cieled house was one lined with timber, ordinary houses being left as rough inside as outside. This house means the whole Temple area, as is evident from Hag 1:14; Hag 2:3-9.
Hag 1:5. Consider your ways: means take notice of your experiences. In Hag 1:5 Haggai exhorts the people to reflect on their past experiences (described in Hag 1:6) and in Hag 1:7 on what will be the experiences of the future, viz. the greater prosperity which will result from the building of the Temple. In the past, hopes have always been disappointed, and the Lord has blown upon, i.e. bewitched the produce of the land.
Hag 1:7 f. should be placed after Hag 1:11.
1:2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time {c} that the LORD’S house should be built.
(c) Not that they condemned the building of it, but they preferred policy and personal profit to religion, being content with small beginnings.
Haggai announced that his message came from Yahweh of armies, Almighty Yahweh. This title appears 14 times in Haggai and 265 times in the Hebrew Bible. "Yahweh" occurs 34 times in the 38 verses of Haggai. The Lord told Zerubbabel and Joshua that the Israelites were saying that the time was not right to rebuild the temple. By referring to them as "these people" rather than "my people," the Lord was distancing Himself from them. Construction on the temple had begun 16 years earlier but had ceased due to opposition from the Israelites’ neighbors who were mostly Samaritans (Ezr 3:8-13; Ezr 4:1-5; Ezr 4:24). When the Jews considered resuming construction, most of them said it was not yet the right time. Contrast David’s great desire to build a house for the Lord (2Sa 7:2). Their decision may have rested on the continuing threat from their neighbors. Or perhaps they felt that to finish the temple then would violate Jeremiah’s prediction of a 70-year captivity (Jer 25:11-12; Jer 29:10). Another possibility is that they thought God Himself would finish it (Ezekiel 40-48). [Note: See R. G. Hamerton-Kelly, "The Temple and the Origins of Jewish Apocalyptic," Vetus Testamentum 20 (1976):12.]
"To refuse to build the [Lord’s] house was at best saying that it did not matter whether the Lord was present with them. At worst it was presuming on divine grace, that the Lord would live with his people even though they willfully refused to fulfill the condition of his indwelling that he had laid down." [Note: Motyer, p. 974.]
"The need to rebuild is urgent, because temples in their world are the center for administering the political, economic, judicial, social, and religious life of the nation. In other words, rebuilding I AM’s temple would symbolize his rule over the life of his people and his prophesied rule of the world (cf. Zec 1:14-17)." [Note: Bruce K. Waltke, An Old Testament Theology, p. 846.]
Today many Christians do not do God’s will because they feel the time is not precisely right.
"Too often we make excuses when we ought to be making confessions and obeying the Lord. We say, ’It’s not time for an evangelistic crusade,’ ’It’s not time for the Spirit to bring revival,’ ’It’s not time to expand the ministry.’ We act as though we fully understand ’the times and the seasons’ that God has ordained for His people, but we don’t understand them (Act 1:6-7)." [Note: Warren W. Wiersbe, "Haggai," in The Bible Exposition Commentary/Prophets, p. 441.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)