15<\/strong>. The A.V. is a little obscure. The verse may be rendered more clearly thus:<\/p>\n And now consider, I pray yon, from this day<\/strong> (the 24th day of the ninth month, on which the prophet was speaking, ver. 10 18) and upward<\/strong> (that is backward), from<\/strong> (the time when) not yet stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the Lord.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n This is the other limit from which the reckoning is to be made, the time when the foundation of the temple had been laid, but no further progress in building had taken place, no “stone upon stone” had been added. It answers to the clause in ver. 18, “from the time when the temple of the Lord was founded.”<\/p>\n 15 19<\/strong>. The great moral lesson of the Book is again inculcated. Let them fix their attention on the long period of their neglect of God and His House; the eighteen years that had intervened, between the laying of the foundation of the Temple and the 24th day of the ninth month of the second year of Darius, on which this prophecy was uttered. Let them lay to heart the fact that it had been throughout a period of distress and dearth, of gloom and darkness. Let them note the bright contrast, the plenty and prosperity, which their return to God and care for His House and worship should immediately introduce. “From this day will I bless you, saith the Lord.”<\/p>\n The period which they are to consider is first described in ver. 15 17, and then again, with a view to impress the lesson, in ver. 18, 19, the limits of time being now more clearly defined, and the promise of blessing introduced.<\/p>\n And now, I pray you – <\/B>Observe his tenderness, in drawing their attention to it , Consider from this day and upward. He bids them look backward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone, i. e., from the last moment of their neglect in building the house of God; from since those days were, or from the time backward when those things were, (resuming, in the word, from-their-being , the date which he had just given, namely, the beginning of their resuming the building backward, during all those years of neglect) one came to a heap of twenty measures. The precise measure is not mentioned: the force of the appeal lay in the proportion: the heap of grain which, usually, would yield twenty, (whether bushels or seahs or any other measure, for the heap itself being of no defined size, neither could the quantity expected from it be defined) there were ten only; one came to the pressvat to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, or perhaps fifty poorah, i. e., the ordinary quantity drawn out at one time from the press, there were, or it bad become twenty, two-fifths only of what they looked for and ordinarily obtained. The dried grapes yielded so little.<\/P><\/p>\n Hag 2:15<\/span><\/p>\n Consider . . . from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The house of God<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>These places of worship are strongholds of <\/strong>the religious principle of the community. The only thing in the form of religious sentiment which can do any good to the soul is that which recognises God, not as a mere existence, or mere abstraction, but as the author of life and blessing to all that live. This religious sentiment may become a religious principle. The religious sentiment, then, embracing the idea of obligation, is that which the service of this house is meant to inspire and cherish. What sort of an obligation must it <\/strong>be? If there is a God, He is a living person, standing in a certain relation to us, and having certain claims which must be answered. It is an obligation to lead respectable and decent lives. But is that high enough to reach up to God? The religious sentiment cannot be rightly felt except in the Christian way–by looking up to God as our Father with childlike confidence, united with awful veneration. When a man feels bound to form himself for holiness and heaven, then the religious spirit is intimately connected with the sweet influences of the house of God.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The object of the service of this house is to keep before the eyes of men a standard of character higher than they meet with in common business and care. Every one who cares to cherish the religious sentiment in himself loves the service of the house of God. Our great care should be that our house for <\/strong>God answers the purpose for which it is set apart,–that of awakening and confirming religious principle in those who worship within its walls. Without this, the building will cumber the ground; with it, it will become in very deed the house of God, and the gate of heaven. (W. B. O. Peabody, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n And now; <\/B>furthermore consider. <\/P> I pray you:<\/B> he affectionately entreats them to observe. <\/P> From this day; <\/B>this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, Hag 2:10<\/span>. And upward, through past years; trace year after year, and your successes and disappointments in them, observe all years past before you would set upon the rebuilding of the temple after you had intermitted it; some years passed, ten, or fifteen, or twenty, or forty, (or more say some,) between your surceasing from the work and beginning to rebuild. <\/P> Before a stone was laid upon a stone; <\/B>the prophet meaneth either before they began to lay one stone upon another in the foundation laid in Cyruss time, or before they began to lay the foundation of the walls of the courts and outward edifices. <\/P> In the temple; <\/B>either strictly taken for the house of God, or more largely for the rest of the buildings about the house: this tacitly reproves their sloth; it was the temple they neglected, which they did long for in Babylon. <\/P> Of the Lord; <\/B>so much the greater their sin, for that it was the Lords temple was slighted. <\/P> <\/p>\n 15. consider<\/B>literally, “layit to heart.” Ponder earnestly, retracing the past “upward”(that is, backward), comparing what evils heretofore befell youbefore ye set about this work, with the present time when you haveagain commenced it, and when in consequence I now engage to “blessyou.” Hence ye may perceive the evils of disobedience and theblessing of obedience.<\/P><\/p>\n And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward<\/strong>,…. This being their case, and they so polluted with sin, particularly through their neglect of building the temple; they are most earnestly and importunately entreated to “lay” it “to their hearts”, to ponder it in their minds, and thoroughly consider how it had fared with them from this twenty fourth day of the ninth month, in which the prophet was sent unto them to encourage them in their work, and upwards or backwards, for some years past: even<\/p>\n from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord<\/strong>: the foundation of the temple was laid quickly after the Jews returned from Babylon, upon the proclamation of Cyrus, Ezr 3:10<\/span> but, through difficulties and discouragements they met with, they desisted from the work, and went no further; a stone was not laid upon it; or, as the Targum, a row, or course upon course, until this time: and now all the intermediate space of time between the first laying the foundation of the temple, and their present going to work upon it, the prophet would have them take particular notice of; how it had been with them, as to their outward circumstances; whereby it would appear, they had sinned, and the Lord had been offended with them.<\/p>\n The prophet explains these words in Hag 2:15-19<\/span> by representing the failure of the crops, and the curse that has hitherto prevailed, as a punishment from God for having been wanting in faithfulness to the Lord (Hag 2:15-17<\/span>), and promises that from that time forward the blessing of God shall rest upon them again (Hag 2:18<\/span>, Hag 2:19<\/span>). Hag 2:15<\/span>. “And now, direct your heart from this day and onward, before stone was laid to stone at the temple of Jehovah.<\/em> Hag 2:16<\/span>. Before this was, did one come to the heap of sheaves of twenty-(in measure), there were ten: did he come to the vat to draw fifty buckets, there were twenty.<\/em> Hag 2:17<\/span>. I have smitten you with blasting, and with mildew, and with hail, all the work of your hands; and not one of you (turned) to me, is the saying of Jehovah.” <\/em> The object to which they are to direct their heart, i.e., to give heed, is not to be supplied from Hag 1:5<\/span>, Hag 1:7<\/span>, “to your ways” (Ros. and others), but is contained substantially in Hag 2:16<\/span> and Hag 2:17<\/span>, and is first of all indicated in the words “from this day,” etc. They are to notice what has taken place from this day onwards. , lit., upwards, then further on. Here it is used not in the sense of forwards into the future, but, as the explanatory clause which follows (from before, etc.) clearly shows, in that of backwards into the past. Mitterem <\/em>, literally “from the not yet of the laying … onwards,” i.e., onwards from the time when stone was laid upon stone at the temple; in other words, when the building of the temple was resumed, backwards into the past; in reality, therefore, the time before the resuming of the building of the temple: for min<\/em> and mitterem <\/em> cannot be taken in any other sense than in the parallel which precedes it, and which follows in Hag 2:16<\/span>. The objection which Koehler raises to this cannot be sustained. , from their existence (backwards). Most of the modern commentators take the suffix as referring to a noun, yamm <\/em> (days), to be supplied from Hag 2:15<\/span>; but it appears much simpler to take it as a neuter, as Mark and others do, in the sense of “before these things were or were done, viz., this day, and this work of laying stone upon stone,” etc. The meaning is not doubtful, viz., looking backwards from the time when the building of the temple was resumed, in other words, before the point of time. commences a new sentence, in which facts that they had experienced are cited, the verb being used conditionally, and forming the protasis, the apodosis to which is given in . If one came to a heap of sheaves of twenty measures ( s e ‘ah <\/em> is probably to be supplied: lxx ), they became ten. A heap of sheaves ( aremah <\/em> as in Rth 3:7<\/span>), from which they promised themselves twenty measures, yielded, when threshed, no more than ten, i.e., only the half of what they expected. They experienced just the same at the pressing of the grapes. Instead of fifty buckets, which they expected, they obtained only twenty. Yeqebh <\/em> was the vat into which the juice flowed when pressed out of the grapes. Chasaph <\/em>, lit., to lay bare, here to draw out, as in Isa 30:14<\/span>; and purah <\/em>, in Isa 63:3<\/span>, the pressing-trough, here a measure, probably the measure which was generally obtained from one filling of the wine-press with grapes (lxx ). Hag 2:17<\/span> gives the reason why so small a result was yielded by the threshing-floor and wine-press. Jehovah smote you with blasting and mildew. These words are a reminiscence of Amo 4:9<\/span>, to which passage the last words of the verse also refer. To the disease of the corn there is also added the hail which smote the vines, as in Psa 78:47<\/span>. ‘Eth kol<\/em> – maaseh <\/em>, all the labour of the hands, i.e., all that they had cultivated with great toil, is a second accusative, “which mentions the portion smitten” (Hitzig). The perfectly unusual construction does not stand for , non fuit in vobis qui <\/em> (Vulg.), nor is used for , “with you;” but either stands for , the suffix which was taken as a verbal suffix used as an accusative being resolved into the accusative (cf. Ewald, 262, d<\/em>); or it is the accusative used in the place of the subject, that is to say, is to be taken in the sense of “as regards,” quoad <\/em> (Ewald, 277, p. 683): “as far as you are concerned, there was not (one) turning himself to me.” , to me, sc. turning himself or being converted; though there is no necessity to supply , as the idea is implied in the word , as in Hos 3:3<\/span> and 2Ki 6:11<\/span>.<\/p>\n I am under the necessity of joining all these verses together, for the Prophet treats of the same thing: and the import of the whole is this—that the Lord had then openly punished the tardiness of the people, so that every one might have easily known that they acted very inconsistently in attending only to their private concerns, so as to neglect the Temple. The Prophet indeed speaks here in a homely manner to earthly men, addicted to their own appetites: had they really become wiser, or made greater progress in true religion, he might have addressed them differently, and would have no doubt followed the rule mentioned by Paul, <\/p>\n ‘<\/p>\n We speak wisdom among those who are perfect.’ (1Co 2:6<\/span>.) <\/p>\n But as they had their thoughts fixed on meat and drink, and were intent on their private advantages, the Prophet tells them what they could comprehend that God was angry with them, and that the proofs of his curse were evident, as the earth did not produce fruit, and they themselves were reduced to want. We hence perceive the object of the Prophet: but I shall run over the words, that the subject may become more evident. <\/p>\n Lay it, he says, on your heart. Here the Prophet indirectly condemns their insensibility, as they were blind in things quite manifest; for he does not here direct their thoughts to heaven, nor announce deep mysteries, but only speaks of food and daily support. Since God, then, impressed clear marks of his wrath on their common sustenance, it was an intolerable stupidity in them to disregard these. And the Prophet often repeats the same thing, in order to shame the Jews; for their tardiness being so often reproved, ought to have made them ashamed. Lay it on the heart, he says; that is, Consider what I am going to say; from this day and heretofore, (153) he says, before a stone was laid on a stone; that is, from that day when I began to exhort you to build the Temple, consider what has happened to this very day. <\/p>\n Then he adds, Before ye began, he says, to build the Temple, was it not that every one who came to a heap of twenty measures found only ten? that is, was it not, that when the husband men expected that there would be twenty measures in the storehouse or on the floor, they were disappointed? because God had dried up the ears, so they yielded not what they used to do; for husband men, by long experience, can easily conjecture what they may expect when they see the gathered harvest; but this prospect had disappointed the husband men. God, then, had in this case given proofs of his curse. Farther; when any one came to the vat, and expected a large vintage, had he not also been disappointed? for instead of fifty casks he found only twenty. <\/p>\n He afterwards adds, I have smitten you with the east wind: for שדפון, shidafun, is to be taken for a scorching wind; and the east wind proved injurious to Judea by its dryness. So also ירקון, irkun, is mildew, or a moist wind, from which mildew proceeds; for we know that corn, when it has much wet, contracts mildew when the sun emits its heat. As to the meaning of the Prophet there is no ambiguity, for he intended to teach them that they were in various ways visited, that they might clearly perceive that God was displeased with them. He then mentions the hail: for when famine happens only from the cold or from the heat, it may be ascribed to chance or to the stars: but when God employs various scourges, we are then constrained to acknowledge his wrath, as though he were determined to awaken us. This is the reason why the Prophet records here various kinds of judgements. And he says, In every work of your hands. Some read, And every work, etc., which is improper; for they were not smitten in their own bodies, but in the produce of the earth. Then he adds, And you returned not to me, that is, “During the whole of that time I effected nothing, while I was so often and in such various ways chastising you. And yet what good has the obduracy of your hearts done you? ye have not returned to me.” <\/p>\n Lay it, he says, on your heart from this day, and heretofore, etc. He repeats what he had said, even from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. We have seen before, that the Prophet was sent on that day to reprove the people for their sins. Lay it then on your heart, he says, from this day, etc. We see how emphatical is this repetition, because in things evident the Jews were so insensible that their want and famine could not touch them: and we know that there is no sharper goad to stimulate men than famine. Since then the Lord snatched away their food from their mouth, and they remained inattentive to such a judgement, it was a sure evidence of extreme stupidity. It is on this account that the Prophet often declares, that the Jews were extremely insensible; for they did not consider the judgements of God, which were so manifest. He now subjoins, Is there yet seed in the barn? Jerome reads, in the bud; and the probable reason why he thus rendered the word was, that he thought that the clauses would not correspond without giving the meaning of bud to מגורה, megure; but, as I think, he was mistaken. The Hebrews propose what I cannot approve, for some of them read the sentence as an affirmation, For there is seed in the barn; because they dared not to commit the seed to the ground in their state of want. And others read it as a question, as though he had said, that the time of harvest was far off, and that what they had remaining was so small that it was not enough to support them. But, in my judgement, the seed refers not to what had been gathered, but to what had been sown. I therefore doubt not but that he speaks of God’s blessing on the harvest which was to come after five months, to which I shall presently refer. Some, indeed, render the words in the past tense, as though the Prophet had said, that the Jews had already experienced how great the curse of God was; but this is a forced view. The real meaning of the Prophet is this, Is there yet seed in the barn? that is, Is the seed, as yet hid in the ground, gathered? <\/p>\n He then adds affirmatively, neither the vine, nor the fig tree, nor the pomegranate, nor the olive had yet produced any thing; for it was the ninth month of the year; and the beginning of the year, we know, was in the month of March. Though then they were nearly in the midst of winter, they remained uncertain as to what the produce would be. In the month of November no opinion could be formed, even by the most skillful, what produce they were to expect. As then they were still in suspense, the Prophet says, that God’s blessing was in readiness for them. What he had in view was, to show that he brought a sure message from God; for he speaks not of a vintage the prospect of which had already appeared, nor of a harvest when the ears had already made their appearance. As then there was still danger from the hail, from scorching winds, and also from rains and other things injurious to fruit and produce of the land, he says, that the harvest would be most abundant, the vintage large, that, in a word, the produce of the olive and the fig tree would be most exuberant. The truth of the prophecy might now be surely known, when God fulfilled what he had spoken by the mouth of his servant. I now return to the subject itself <\/p>\n As I have before observed, the Prophet deals with the Jews here according to their gross disposition: for he might in a more refined manner have taught the godly, who were not so entangled with, or devoted to, earthly concerns. It was then necessary for him to speak in a manner suitable to the comprehension of the people, as a skillful teacher who instructs children and those of riper age in a different manner. And he shows by evidences that the Jews were unthankful to God, for they neglected the building of the Temple, and every one was diligently and earnestly engaged in building his own house. He shows by proofs their conduct,—How? Whence has it happened, he says, that at one time your fruit has been destroyed by mildew, at another by heat, and then by the hail, except that the Lord intended thus to correct your neglect? It then follows, that you are convicted of ingratitude by these judgements; for you have neglected God’s worship, and only pursued your own private advantages. This is one thing. <\/p>\n The latter clause contains a promise; and by it the instruction given was more confirmed, when the people saw that things suddenly and unexpectedly took a better turn. They had been for many years distressed with want of sustenance; but, when fruitfulness of a sudden followed, did not this change manifest something worthy of their consideration? especially when it was foretold before it happened, and before any such thing could have been foreseen by human conjectures? We see then, that the Prophet dwells on two things,—he condemns the Jews for their neglect, and proves that they were impious and ungrateful towards God, for they disregarded the building of the Temple; and them, in order to animate them and render them more active in the work they had begun, he sets before them, as I have said, what had taken place. God had, indeed, abundantly testified, by various kinds of punishment that he was displeased with them: but when he now promises that he would deal differently with them, there hence arises a new and a stronger evidence. <\/p>\n But some one may here raise an objection and say, that these evidences are not sure or unvaried; since it often happens, that when people devote themselves faithfully to the service of God they are pressed down by adverse events; yea, that God very often designedly tries their faith by withholding from them for a time his blessing. But the answer to this may be readily given: I indeed allow that it often happens that those who sincerely and from the heart serve God, are deprived of earthly blessings, because God intends to elevate their minds to the hope of eternal reward. God then designedly withdraws his blessing often from the faithful, that they may hunger and thirst in this world; as though they lost all their labor in serving him. But it was not the Prophet’s design to propound here an evidence of an unvarying character, as he counted it sufficient to convince the Jews by experience, that nothing prevented them from acknowledging that their avarice displeased God, except their extreme stupidity. The Prophet then does here reprove their insensibility; for, while they greatly labored in enriching themselves, they did not observe that their labor was in vain, because God from heaven poured his curse on them. This then might have been easily known by them had they not hardened themselves in their vices. And what the Prophet testifies here respecting the fruitful produce of wine, and corn, and oil, and of other things, was still, as I have said, a stronger confirmation. <\/p>\n Now, if any one objects again and says—that this was of no value, because a servile and mercenary service does not please God: to this I answer—that God does often by such means stimulate men, when he sees them to be extremely tardy and slothful, and that he afterwards leads them by other means to serve him truly and from the heart. When therefore any one obeys God, only that he may satisfy his appetite, it is as though one labored from day to day for the sake of wages, and then disregards him by whom he has been hired. It is certain that such a service is counted as nothing before God; but he would have himself to be generously worshipped by us; and he loves, as Paul says, a cheerful giver. (2Co 6:7<\/span>.) But as men, for the most part, on account of their ignorance, cannot be led at first to this generous state of mind, so as to devote themselves willingly to God, it is necessary to begin by using other means, as the Prophet does here, who promises earthly and daily sustenance to the Jews, for he saw that they could not immediately, at the first step, ascend upwards to heaven; but it was not his purpose to stop short, until he elevated their minds higher. Let us then know, that this was only the beginning, that they might learn to fear God and to expect whatever they wanted from his blessing, and also that they might shake off their stupor, under which they had previously labored. In short, God deals in one way with the rude and ignorant, who are not yet imbued with true religion; and he deals in another way with his own disciples, who are instructed in sound doctrine. When I say that the Prophet acted thus towards the Jews, I speak not of the whole nation; but I regard what we have observed at the beginning of this book—that the Jews cared for nothing then but to build their own houses, and that there was no zeal for religion among them. As then the recollection of God was nigh buried among them, the Temple being neglected, and every one’s anxiety being concentrated in building his own house, we hence learn how grossly earthly their affections were. It is therefore no wonder that the Prophet treated them in the manner stated here. Let us proceed – <\/p>\n (153) Supra , [ מעלה ]; “upward,” Newcome; “backward,” Henderson; “forward,” Secker. The last refers to 1Sa 16:13<\/span>, and 30:25, as the only places besides here and in verse 18, where it is applied to time: and clearly in Samuel it means “forward,” or hereafter. It means the same when applied to age, Num 1:20<\/span>, and when applied to place, Deu 28:43<\/span> <\/p>\n If we retain this meaning, we must consider this verse, and its repetition in verse 18, as the commencement of a sentence, which is completed at the end of verse 19, as intervening clauses. Then the passage would be as follows— <\/p>\n 15. And now take, I pray, notice; From this day and forward, From the time of setting a stone on a stone In the Temple of Jehovah, <\/p>\n 16. From the time you came to a heap of twenty, And it was ten, And came to the vat to draw fifty measures, And there were twenty; <\/p>\n 17. I smote you with blight, and with mildew, And with hail, even all the work of your hands; But ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah;— <\/p>\n 18. Take, I pray, notice; From this day and forward, From the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, From the day in which was founded The Temple of Jehovah;—take notice; <\/p>\n 19. Is yet the seed in the granary?— And as yet the vine and the fig tree, And the pomegranate and the olive, it hath not borne;— From this day will I bless you. <\/p>\n I prefer “Take notice,” or, “mark,” to “consider,” as the meaning of [ לבבכם שימו ], “set or fix your heart.” In favor of “your” instead of “their” in verse 16, there are three MSS.; and it is more consistent with the context. The expression literally is, “From your being to come,” i.e from the time in which you came, and found out the deficiency. “Fifty measures;” [ פורה ] is rendered by the Septuagint μετρητὰς— “baths;” by Jerome, “ Lagenas —flagons.” The word means here evidently a vessel to measure the wine from the vat; what quantity it contained is not known. It is here in the singular number, while the numeral, “fifty,” is in the plural; deugain , which literally in English is, “ten measure and forty.” In verse 17, “even all the work of your hands,” is in apposition with “you,” and explanatory of it, according to what we often find in the Prophets; for by “you” was meant their “work,” and not themselves personally. “But ye turned not to me,” literally, “But ye not to me;” perhaps the meaning is, “Ye ascribed it not to me,” that is, the judgment previously mentioned, or, “Ye attended not to me:” but the verb [ שבתם ] is commonly thought to be understood. See Amo 4:9<\/span>. The question in verse 19 is to be taken negatively, to correspond with the negative declaration in what follows.— Ed. <\/p>\n CRITICAL NOTES.]<\/strong> <\/p>\n Hag. 2:15<\/span><\/strong>. Consider<\/strong>] Review of their condition from the present specific time to the period before resumption of workto connect their distress, then suffered, with their unfaithfulness. They had ten<\/em> measures when they expected twenty;<\/em> twenty vessels instead of fifty from the press-vat; they were smitten with two blights of corn which were predicted as chastisements for disobedience (Deu. 28:27<\/span>; Amo. 4:9<\/span>); yet none turned<\/em> to God. <\/p>\n Hag. 2:18<\/span><\/strong>.] Resumed from Hag. 2:15<\/span>, after Hag. 2:16-17<\/span>, that the blessing in Hag. 2:19<\/span> may stand in the more marked contrast with the curse in Hag. 2:16-17<\/span> [Fausset<\/em>]. <\/p>\n Hag. 2:19<\/span><\/strong>.]<\/strong> After an appeal to lay to heart past times, in which blessings had been withheld, they must now fix their eyes upon the time now beginning. It is winter (Hag. 2:10<\/span>); the seed, only just committed to the earth, was not yet in the barn. No fresh leaves on the fruit-treesvine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olivebut ye have begun again to build; from this day forward I will hasten to bless you [Wordsworth<\/em>]. <\/p>\n GODS RELATION TO MEN DETERMINED BY THEIR CONDUCT.Hag. 2:15-19<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n The people are bidden to review their condition from the present time to the period preceding the resumption of the temple. The time when the work was resumed is specified here, because it was the turning-point of their fortunes. Their condition before that event is recalled for their contemplation, that it might connect their distress then suffered with their unfaithfulness; and the brief period succeeding their return to obedience is included, because they could not so soon recover from their embarrassments, no harvest having yet intervened [Lange<\/em>].<\/p>\n I. If duty be neglected men are punished<\/strong>. If we repudiate what is due to God, we expose ourselves to danger. Without the controlling influence of duty the wisest and strongest go astray. <\/p>\n 1. They are fruitless in their labour<\/em> (Hag. 2:17<\/span>). I smote you in all the labours of your hands. To the disease of the corn we have the hail, which smote the vines. The grape for the rich, and the fig for the poor, were smitten by the judgment of God (Psa. 78:47<\/span>). <\/p>\n 2. They are disappointed in their hopes<\/em> (Hag. 2:16<\/span>). The heap of sheaves when threshed only yielded half of what they expected. The juice of the grapes gave not the usual measure. Gods curses are upon mens labours, if they care not for his work and honour. The Lord shall smite thee with blasting and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. <\/p>\n II. If duty be performed men are blessed<\/strong>. As the consequence of repentance and obedience the Jews had a prospect of rich and speedy blessings. <\/p>\n 1. Blessed from the day of amendment<\/em>. From this day will I bless you (Hag. 2:19<\/span>). God blesses more readily than we think. The day of return to him is the day of rejoicing for us. Temporal blessings shall be followed by spiritual, and we shall prove that Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. <\/p>\n 2. Blessed beyond former abundance<\/em>. The vine and olive, which had borne little or nothing, would produce from that day more abundantly. The earth would yield its increase, and God would bless them beyond all probability and degree. Thus do we learn that rewards or chastisements come to man according to his conduct towards God. That natural laws serve for moral discipline, and that whoso is wise will observe these things. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land (Isa. 1:19<\/span>; Zec. 8:9-12<\/span>).<\/p>\n CONSIDERATION OF DIVINE CHASTISEMENTS<\/p>\n Gods dealings may be seen and felt by all, without being understood. Hence men need constantly to be stirred up to consider them. Now, I pray you to consider from this day.<\/p>\n I. Consider the cause of chastisement<\/strong>. Gods anger rested upon them when they neglected their spiritual interests. We assign any cause for sufferings rather than our sins. Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee. <\/p>\n II. Consider the time of chastisement<\/strong>. <\/p>\n 1. The past<\/em>. From before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord (Hag. 2:15<\/span>). <\/p>\n 2. The present<\/em>. From this day. Think of the evils which befell you before you set to work, and remember the blessings promised from the day of its commencement. A true understanding of the past is often the best preparation of the future. <\/p>\n III. Consider the source of chastisement<\/strong>. I smote you with blasting (Hag. 2:17<\/span>). Men do not recognize Divine agency in the government of the world. The Jews were sensible of their calamities, but did not inquire seriously into the cause of them. Tully thought that God had nothing to do with rain and dew, and ordinary occurrences in life. Science dethrones God, and assigns nature to inflexible laws or infinite power. But all things are upheld by Gods power (Heb. 1:3<\/span>), and made subservient to his purpose. Fire and hail, snow and vapour, stormy wind fulfilling His word. <\/p>\n IV. Consider the aggravations of chastisement<\/strong>. Yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord (Hag. 2:17<\/span>). Affliction will harden the heart if Gods purpose be not discovered in it. Impenitence will be a ground of further controversy. The more men revolt, the more will they be smitten (Isa. 1:5<\/span>). The people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts.<\/p>\n Though wood and awed,<\/p>\n Blessd and chastised, a flagrant rebel still! [Dr Wardlaw<\/em>].<\/p>\n HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES<\/em><\/p>\n Hag. 2:15<\/span>. The retrospect<\/em>. <\/p>\n 1. Its beginning. With the resumption of work. Its direction. From this day and upward (i.e.<\/em> backward). Literally, from the not yet of the laying onwards, i.e.<\/em> onwards from the time when stone was laid upon stone at the temple; in other words, when the building of the temple was resumed, backwards into the past [Keil<\/em>]. <\/p>\n 3. Its design. To learn the evils of disobedience, and the blessings of obedience.<\/p>\n Hag. 2:17<\/span>. Divine chastisements<\/em>. <\/p>\n 1. In their intention to bring back to God. Hag. 2:19<\/span>. It was winter. No seed in the barn and no signs of a crop, much less of safe ingathering. Yet from this day will I bless. <\/p>\n 1. Gods blessing immediate<\/em>. From this dayas soon as you return to me and my work. <\/p>\n 2. Gods blessing certain<\/em>. No visible sign in natureevery appearance against it. But the promise is sureinfinitely to be preferred even in prospect, to the worlds best things in possession [Fausset<\/em>]. God is so sovereign and absolute a Lord of all things, and hath times and seasons, blessings and cursings, so in his hands, that he may undertake to do things whereof there is no visible probability or certainty in the second causes, and can certainly perform them; therefore doth he undertake to bless them, when second causes and the season could speak no such thing [Hutcheson<\/em>].<\/p>\n ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2<\/p>\n Hag. 2:15-19<\/span>. From this day<\/em>. Live much in a short time. Redeem the time, and repair thy omissions in some manner, by redoubling thy diligence. Let the book of thy life, the book that must be opened at the last day, be full of sense and worthy matter: let there be no void spaces and empty gaps (idle words and idle hours are such) in it; let every page of it, every day, be filled with what is significant, intelligible, rational, and worthy to be transcribed and copied out by others [Dr Worthington<\/em>].<\/p>\n Consider<\/em>. Things are not to be done by the effort of the moment, but by the preparation of past moments [Cecil<\/em>].<\/p>\n Hag. 2:17-19<\/span>. Mildew<\/em>. Thorns and thistles were brought forth from the earth as a judgment for disobedience; serpents and savage beasts became evil to man or to each other for the same cause. Every hour reminds us of our fallen condition; but God has so tempered mercy with judgment, that even the natural world calls the sinner to repentance, but not to despair [Brewer<\/em>].<\/p>\n These worlds had never been, hadst thou in strength (15) From this day and upward<\/strong>i.e.,<\/em> backward.<\/p>\n Before a stone was laid<\/strong> . . .Alluding to the recent resumption of building, not to the laying of the foundations fifteen years previously.<\/p>\n 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:<\/p>\n Ver. 15. And now, I pray you, consider<\/strong> ] Heb. Lay it upon your heart, as Hag 1:5<\/span> ; See Trapp on “<\/em> Hag 1:5 “<\/em> The often repetition of this precept sets forth, 1. The necessity of the duty pressed. 2. Their singular stupidity, that were no more affected with such manifest marks of God’s wrath upon them; no, though he had even snatched the meat out of their mouths, and kept them hunger-starved, which is the way of taming the most untameable creatures. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n From this day and upward<\/strong> ] To the end that when I shall have blessed you with greater plenty, as Hag 2:19<\/span> , ye may recognize your sins, the cause of your calamities, and, remembering (as Jacob did his baculinam paupertatem,<\/em> Gen 32:10 ) your former penury, you may thankfully cry out with that noble Iphicrates; From how hungry to how plentiful an estate am I raised ( )! Let a profane Demetrius attribute such a change as this to blind fortune, saying, E . But let all saints sing with holy Hannah, “They that were full have hired themselves out for bread; and they that were hungry ceased. The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich; he bringeth low, and lifteth up,” 1Sa 2:5<\/span> ; 1Sa 2:7<\/span> . <\/p>\n <\/p>\n From before a stone was laid upon a stone<\/strong> ] i.e.<\/em> Before there was any hand set to the work of rebuilding the temple, which was interrupted for many years, after the return from Babylon. See Ezr 3:8<\/span> ; Ezr 5:2<\/span> .<\/p>\n consider. See note on Hag 1:5. <\/p>\n from this day. The day of the prophet’s message. <\/p>\n upward = above, as to place; backward, as regards time; as explained. Referring to past time, before the foundation was laid. See the Structure (and “if”); and note on Hag 2:19. <\/p>\n consider: Hag 2:18, Hag 1:5, Hag 1:7, Psa 107:43, Isa 5:12, Hos 14:9, Mal 3:8-11, Rom 6:21, 1Co 11:31 <\/p>\n from before: Ezr 3:10, Ezr 4:24 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Deu 16:10 – according Job 34:27 – would Pro 21:29 – he directeth Heb 3:1 – consider<\/p>\n Hag 2:15. This verse asks them to take a view of the ir history going back to the time before any work had ever been done on the temple.<\/p>\n Hag 2:15-17. And now, consider from this day, &c. Reflect on what has happened to you, from the time that a stop was put to the building of the temple, after the first foundation of it was laid, till you began again to rebuild it. And upward Or, forward. He had bid them look back, Hag 1:5; Hag 1:7; now he bids them look forward. Since those days All the time the temple lay neglected. When one came to a heap Namely, of corn, which seemed likely to produce twenty measures; there were but ten Only half the quantity expected was found to be produced, through the poverty of the ear. The verse, it must be observed, according to the present rendering, is very elliptical; but if the first clause be explained by the second, which it ought to be, the sense will clearly appear to be this: When one came to a heap for twenty measures; that is, when a person came to a heap of corn on his floor, either of sheaves unthrashed, or of corn unwinnowed, and expected that it would have produced twenty measures after it was thrashed and winnowed, to his great disappointment he had but ten out of it. Such also was the case of those who came to draw out fifty measures of wine from the wine-press. I smote you with blasting <\/p>\n Burning and scorching winds; and with hail Which even in cold countries many times destroys corn, fruits, and trees, by its violence; but in those hot countries does it much oftener. In all the labours of your hands In all that you sowed or planted; yet ye turned not to me Ye did not lay my judgments to heart, nor consider that they were inflicted for your sin, in neglecting to rebuild my temple, and restore my worship in it.<\/p>\n 2:15 And now, I pray you, consider from this {h} day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:<\/p>\n (h) Consider how God plagued you with famine before you began to build the temple.<\/p>\n The people needed to give careful consideration to something again (cf. Hag 1:5; Hag 1:7). They needed to remember that before they began to obey the Lord by rebuilding the temple (Hag 1:12) they had been disobedient to the Mosaic Covenant (cf. Hag 1:5-11). The Lord’s punishment for their covenant unfaithfulness had been greatly reduced harvests. Their grains had decreased by 50 percent and their grapes by 60 percent.<\/p>\n 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: 15. The A.V. is a little obscure. The verse may be rendered more clearly thus: And now consider, I pray yon, from this day (the 24th day of the … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Haggai 2:15”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
2. In their results, yet ye turned not. This result grievous to God, and sorrow to men. Not being untutored in suffering, I learn to pity those in affliction [Virgil<\/em>].<\/p>\n
Been less, or less benevolent than strong.
They are thy witnesses, who speak thy power
And goodness infinite [Cowper<\/em>].<\/p>\nFuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"