The People Make Excuses
Study note
It was the year 520 BC, the second year of King Darius of Persia. God sent a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the high priest. The people had been saying it was not the right time to rebuild the temple. God asked them a pointed question: how could they live in their own finished houses while His house sat in ruins?
1 During the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the LORD sent a message through the prophet Haggai. It was for Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and for Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
2 The Lord of Armies says: "These people keep making excuses. They say, 'It is just not the right time to rebuild the Lord's house yet.'" 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.
3 So the LORD sent another message through Haggai the prophet. Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 "Truly? Is it the right time for you to live in your own nicely finished houses while God's house sits here in a pile of rubble?" Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?
Think About How Your Life Is Going
Study note
God told the people to take a hard look at their lives. They were working hard but had little to show for it. They planted much but harvested little. They never had enough food, drink, or clothing. Their wages seemed to disappear. God explained that this was happening because they had neglected His house while taking care of their own. He had held back the rain and the harvest as a result.
5 The LORD of Armies says, "Stop and take a hard, honest look at how your life is going." Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
6 "You plant many seeds, but your harvest is tiny. You eat, but it is never quite enough. You drink, but you are always thirsty. You put on clothes, but you still feel cold. The worker gets paid, but the money disappears like it fell through a hole in his pocket." Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
7 The LORD of Armies says, "Take a hard, honest look at how your life is going." Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
8 "Go up into the mountains and bring back lumber. Build the temple! That will make me happy, and I will be honored," the LORD says. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
9 "You expected a great harvest, but you barely got anything. And when you brought it home, I blew it all away. Why?" asks the LORD of Armies. "Because my house is still in ruins while every one of you is busy fixing up your own house." Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
10 "Therefore the sky has held back its dew and the ground has held back its crops." Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
11 "I called for a drought on the land and the mountains — drying up the grain, the wine, the olive oil, and everything growing from the soil. The drought hit the people, the animals, and everything their hands tried to produce." And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
The People Obey and Begin Building
Study note
Unlike many times in Israel's history when the people ignored God's prophets, this time they listened. Zerubbabel, Joshua, and all the people obeyed God's message through Haggai. God encouraged them with a simple but powerful promise: 'I am with you.' Twenty-three days after the first message, the people began working on the temple.
12 Then Zerubbabel, Joshua the high priest, and all the rest of the people obeyed the LORD their God. They took the words of the prophet Haggai seriously, because the LORD their God had sent him. The people responded with reverence toward the LORD. 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.
13 Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, delivered the LORD's message to the people: "I am with you," the LORD declared. Then spake Haggai the LORD's messenger in the LORD's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
14 The LORD stirred up a fire in the hearts of Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the high priest, and all the people. They got up and started working on the house of the LORD of Armies, their God. And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
15 This happened on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, during the second year of King Darius. In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.