Haggai, The Prophet Of The Unfinished House

by L.B. Horne, Hamilton, Ontario | Category: The Minor Prophets | Aug 1969

The word of the LORD came to Haggai in 520 B.C., two years after the defeat of Gomates, the usurper, and the reinstatement of Darius Hystapes. It was addressed to the two men who held office in Jerusalem under the policy of self-government that Cyrus had initiated. The message was short, addressed specifically to the leaders, and set the model for the messages that followed. There is no indication in Scripture that Haggai was a member of the priestly family although there is an ancient tradition to this effect. Haggai's major concern was to stir up the people to build the house of God, to give God the right place. He promised, by the word of the LORD, that if their attitude was right, then God would be with them and would shake the nations on their behalf.

Haggai is very exact about the time when he received the messages and each one is dated in the second year of Darius, in the months of September, October and November. Ezra, in his history, recorded the work and effect of the prophet. The exiles who had returned to Jerusalem were having a hard time building up security and hope, many things were going wrong, and Haggai explained the reason. The fifth and sixth chapters of Ezra provide a background to the prophecy. After the accession of Darius, Haggai and Zechariah came to urge the people to renew the work that had been neglected since the exiles had arrived from Babylon with the direct purpose of rebuilding the Temple.

The book of Ezra tells the story of the journey of a large number of exiles, under Zerubbabel and Jeshua, followed about seventy-nine years later by a second group of about fifteen hundred men with Ezra. The first group had been much bigger and there must have been more hardship and difficulty in their experience than appears in the record. The problems of moving such a mass of people, of feeding and clothing and organising supplies, of helping them to find their place in the land and keeping peace with the people who had settled there, must have been considerable. Have a look at the map and see the route they would follow and the difficulties of the journey.

The organisation necessary for survival would have absorbed time and energy and left little time for luxury and ornament. They were not warmly welcomed by the new inhabitants who had been settled in Palestine and all of life was a struggle. One of the luxuries that was out of reach, in the view of the people, was the rebuilding of the house of the LORD. "It is not ... the time for the LORD's house to be built".

Haggai's main point is that there is no luxury about God's house. It is not something that we decide to afford when other needs have been met but must have absolute priority. It seems strange to describe the eternal God, who is all powerful and all love, as jealous, but He described Himself in that way to Moses (Exodus 20.5). Jealousy has a very negative connotation in contemporary usage. It is defined as suspicion or envy, but has a very different meaning in the context of God's character. It means "watchfully tenacious of rights," and God is jealous because recognition of His rights is essential to the well-being of His creation. He makes it clear that the whole man is a man who gives God first place.

Every man who lives his life above the level of complete mental confusion must establish a system of priorities. Many areas in life lay claim on time and energy. Every choice is based on the order of importance which a man has established in his mind. Happiness and fulfilment are rare because the system of priorities is wrong.

Elijah demanded from the widow in Zarephath the first cake, although it seemed as though starvation for herself and her son was part of the gift. The Jews in Jerusalem must have felt the same way about demands that they spend their time and energy rebuilding the Temple, yet God tells them that there can be no prosperity because the house lies in ruins.

The fact is, of course, that the exiles did start rebuilding the Temple in those difficult early days. They expended their resources in an initial enthusiasm. They gathered material, rebuilt the altar, and laid the foundation of the building. It was not until political opposition arose that the work ceased. What happened then was that the people learned to live with the fact, with the heaps of unused material and the altar standing lonely on the mountain, and turned to their own pursuits. They changed their view of life and put the Temple back behind other concerns. When somebody got troubled at the sight of work waiting to be done for the Lord they would shake their wise heads and say, "It is not the time".

We learn to live with failure, to get comfortable in its company, and there is always a reason why nothing is happening. We need renewal and to hear again the instruction, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God".

God does not experience failure. The struggling group of exiles were no threat in the political world. They were a nuisance to their neighbours but could not be accused of planning aggression or of dreaming territorial expansion. In fact, they were at the mercy of the occupying forces and owed their existence to the remarkable system of justice and law that the Persian Empire had developed. Yet God promises twice, very clearly, to shake the nations and destroy the kingdoms, and all for the glory of the despised little house that they were hesitating to build.

In response to Haggai and Zechariah, the work on the Temple recommenced. Instead of spending all their time in the fields, instead of overtime in their harvest, the people gathered at the Temple and, slowly but certainly, the work went on. They sowed less but the grain grew richer, they cultivated less but the vines yielded more. The barns were fuller and their hearts were less heavy and a nation of insecure settlers began to grow into a significant people who had to be reckoned with because they were fulfilling the role that God had given them in the day that He called Abraham.

The lesson of Haggai is not unique or fresh but it is very clear and specific, "Consider your ways. "

L.B. Horne, Hamilton, Ontario | Aug 1969
The Minor Prophets