Haggai: “Introduction And Exegesis Of The Book”

By

Jim Bomkamp

Back          Bible Studies                Home Page

 

1.                  INTRO:

 

1.1.            This graph depicts the timeline of the Old Testament, and note that where the book of Haggai lies is that period just after the 70 year Babylonian Captivity, or roughly from 600BC to 500BC:

 

 

1.2.            Background:

 

The people of Judea, the southern kingdom, had been taken captive by the Babylonians around 586BC.  The fifth chapter of the book of Daniel tells us the story about how that during the 70 years of Israeli captivity that Persia conquered Babylon without firing a shot.  The handwriting on the wall at the party held by Belshazzar declared that the take over was a judgment against Babylon, and it occurred because they had taken Judea captive (even though they were doing so by the Lord’s doing).

 

In Isaiah 44:28, Isaiah prophesied about King Cyrus of Persia a hundred years before his reign that he would be the one who would declare that Jerusalem and the Jewish temple would be rebuilt:  “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”  Josephus, the Jewish historian of the first century wrote that Cyrus had the prophesy about himself read to him and this led him to realize that he was called fulfill the prophesy. 

 

Cyrus made a declaration that the Jews who desired to return to their homeland could return and rebuild their temple, and this would all be done at Persia’s expense.  There were three companies sent out by Cyrus, and his successors who ruled Persia: 

 

1)    Zerubbabel was sent to rebuild the temple.

2)    Ezra was sent to rebuild the city and was a priest and a reformer.

3)    Nehemiah was sent to rebuild the wall around the city of Jerusalem.

 

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah lists the approx. 50,000 people’s names who returned because undertaking the very ardous and dangerous 4 month journey (900 miles) back to Israel, while carrying supplies, to rebuild the city, temple, and wall qualified them to be heroes before the Lord.

 

The people under Zerubbabel’s leadership were originally about the business of rebuilding of the Temple, but soon they ran into some very significant opposition in the form of very powerful men, and after a few years they succumbed to fear and ceased to work on the Temple.  For about 10 years they built their own houses and concentrated upon nurturing their own personal lives and desires. 

 

Haggai received a word from the Lord that the reason why the people’s crops failed and their resources constantly dwindled was because they had abandoned the work that the Lord had given them to do.  They had been commissioned before the Lord to rebuild the temple and had left depending upon God’s promises that they would return and successfully rebuild the city and temple.  But, they had given up.  Now, they needed to repent and get back to their originally calling and commission, and Haggai is told that the Lord will be with them and give them success in their endeavor.  However, they must take courage in this word from God and have no fear, in order to see it fulfilled.

 

1.3.            Contemporary Application:

 

Today, in our world we in the church are facing similar formidable circumstances.  The church has gotten away from the things that it was called to be and to do, its commission.  It just may be that the reason why America’s economy has recently collapsed and there seems to be no way to rectify it and put every company upright is because God is finally bringing judgment to the church.  The scripture has said that judgment will begin with the house of God, and it appears that in America virtually everyone is being humbled and stretched financially in every direction.  I submit to you that perhaps the recent tribulations that have been coming upon our American economy with its collapse are occurring because this judgment is beginning.  The church needs to wake up, and we in the church need to realize that the only hope for our country is for the church to get back on track and get back to the basics in fulfilling the Great Commission. 

 

2.                  VS 1:1-11  - “1 In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” ’ ” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?” 5 Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! 6 “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.” 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! 8 “Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord. 9 “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. 10 “Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 “I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.”” – The word of the Lord comes to the prophet Haggai during the second year of the reign of Darius, and the word is that the reason for the crops of the children of Israel not yielding a plentiful harvest, drought being in the land, and their wages going right through their hands is because they have gotten away from what they were called to do in rebuilding the temple.

 

2.1.            Cyrus had not reigned long.  After his reign Darius was made to be king.  He continued Cyrus policy of allowing captive peoples to return to their lands and helping them financially in re-establishing their temples and religions.

 

2.2.            The children of Israel are asked to consider their ways and whether or not the Lord was indeed disciplining them and causing their calamities to come upon them.

 

2.3.            Is not the church in America today being disciplined by the Lord because of getting away from their calling and commission?  So many churches today do not teach God’s word, many churches no longer believe in the inspiration and authority of scriptures, and evangelism, prayer, and worship are not really even a part of the mission of many churches.

 

3.                  VS 1:12-15  - “12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people showed reverence for the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke by the commission of the Lord to the people saying, “ ‘I am with you,’ declares the Lord.” 14 So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.” – Haggai is told by the Lord to tell the children of Israel that the Lord will be with them, and this stirs Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest, and all of the children of Israel, to get back about the business of rebuilding the temple of the Lord

 

3.1.            All that Zerubbabel and the children of Israel needed to hear in order to be revived and go back to their work on the temple was that the Lord would be with them.  As they committed themselves to getting back to His work the Lord would be with them. 

 

3.1.1.      Is it not enough for us to face any feat or foe to know that the Lord will be with us?  When we know that God will supply our need, energize and empower our labor, and be by our side, then we can endure anything in obedience to God, and have victory in our every circumstance.

 

3.2.            We Christians today can take heart also that though we face formidable circumstances and fiery spiritual warfare, that the Lord will be with us as we are committed to fulfilling His will and calling for our lives.

 

4.                  VS 2:1-5  - “1 On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying, 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people saying, 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison? 4 ‘But now take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the Lord of hosts. 5 ‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’” – The Lord tells Haggai to speak to Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest and tell the to take courage and not to fear, as they remember the temple as it was in its former glory

 

4.1.            The Lord would be with Zerubbabel and the children in their endeavors for the Lord in rebuilding His temple, but only if they were to be courageous and not again give in to their fear.  The Lord promised He would be with them and thus fight their battles, and this was all of the encouragement that they needed.

 

4.2.            They had known that the Lord would be with them when they went back to rebuild the temple because Jeremiah 29 and other prophetic passages had proclaimed this.  However, they had taken their eyes off of the promises of God and gazed upon their circumstances.  Thus, they had become paralyzed with fear instead of proceeding on with the assurance that God would be with them.  Whenever we take our eyes off of the Lord to put them on our circumstances we will be overwhelmed in the same way.  We as God’s people must learn to keep our eyes upon the Lord and the promises that He has given to us, for doing this we shall always walk in faith and be courageous in completing that which He has called and commissioned us to do.

 

4.3.            We in the church must also be careful to trust God and be courageous in fulfilling the Great Commission.  We should read the stories about the Lord miraculously providing for the widow of Zarepath, or about the ravens feeding Elijah, etc.  America may go through a great financial collapse but the Lord promises that He will provide all of our needs.  

 

4.4.         When I was in Bible college, one day a friend name Mike from the college invited me to go with him to a men’s Bible study that he held every week at a prison that is on the north side of Phoenix.  I agreed to go thinking it would be an interesting experience.  The prison was about a 25-30 minute drive down the freeway from our college.  As we were driving that day, we were about ¼ of the way to the prison and I happened to glance at the fuel gage on his car and noticed that it was at or below E.  I told Mike that we better get gas or we will run out.  He told me that he didn’t have any money for gas, and that he was living on next to nothing, but every week he would get in his car even if it was out of gas, and he would trust that the Lord would get him there.  He had never ran out of gas yet he told me.  The Lord always miraculously provided the fuel for this guy to go and to minister to the prison inmates, and He did that day as well.  Mike is a pastor today and I still stay somewhat in touch with him.

 

5.                  VS 2:6-9  - “6 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. 7 ‘I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. 8 ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts. 9 ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the Lord of hosts.”” – The Lord tells Haggai that the Lord is going to shake the heavens and the earth and that the nations will come and bring their wealth to fill the house of the Lord and that the latter glory will be greater than the former, and that the Lord will give peace to the house

 

5.1.            I believe that this prophesy points forward to the temple of the Millennial reign of Christ when all of the nations shall come and bring their wealth to the house of the Lord.

 

5.2.            The Lord is giving vision to the children of Israel here.  They needed to have a vision of the greatness of what God was going to achieve in time through them and their nation.  Then, they would be able to work in humble circumstances building the temple from the ground up.

 

5.3.            We in the church need to realize that though our church may be small that as we are faithful to our calling and commission that the Lord will bless our work and in His time do through our lives and our fellowship all that He wants to do.  He will bless us greatly for our faithfulness to the task and use our lives greatly for His kingdom.  

 

6.                  VS 2:10-14  - “10 On the twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Ask now the priests for a ruling: 12 ‘If a man carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with this fold, or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’ ” And the priests answered, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean from a corpse touches any of these, will the latter become unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai said, “ ‘So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.” – The Lord asks Haggai two rhetorical questions pertaining to holiness and being unclean

 

6.1.            The Lord illustrates the fact that uncleanness and sinful hands than have not been sanctified and cleansed defile those they come into contact with, just like what would happen if someone touched a corpse.

 

6.2.            Likewise, a person who is carrying something that is dedicated to the Lord does not make the person it touches holy.  You can’t become holy by being around God’s working or others that are holy.  You have to become sanctified and cleansed yourself in order to become holy.  Each person is responsible for his being holy and sanctified to the Lord.

 

7.                  VS 2:15-19  - “15 ‘But now, do consider from this day onward: before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the Lord, 16 from that time when one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, there would be only ten; and when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there would be only twenty. 17 ‘I smote you and every work of your hands with blasting wind, mildew and hail; yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the Lord. 18 ‘Do consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the Lord was founded, consider: 19 ‘Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you.’ ”” – The Lord promises that though they had previously not prospered in the things that they had done that beginning now the Lord would begin to bless them

 

7.1.            As the children of Israel committed themselves to the Lord’s work and calling for their lives He promises that He will then begin to bless them and their work.  They would become fruitful for the Lord.

 

7.2.            The Lord asks us in the church today to test Him and see if when we are faithful to the Lord if He will not in fact bring blessing to our lives and use us mightily in this world.

 

8.                  VS 2:20-23  - “20 Then the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, ‘I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 ‘I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down, everyone by the sword of another.’ 23 ‘On that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ ” declares the Lord of hosts.” – The Lord tells them that in future that the Lord will over thrown the nations and the power of the kingdoms and the nations who are Israel’s enemies, and that He will bless Zerubbabel for He has chosen him and He will make a signet ring for him

 

8.1.            I believe that this again speaks of the future, in particular the Battle of Armageddon in the book of Revelation.  The Lord is again giving Zerubbabel a vision to shoot for to encourage him in the here and now in his work in rebuilding the temple.  The Lord tells Haggai that all of the nations will be overthrown as Israel is raised up to be the nation and place of God’s throne as the Millennial reign of Christ is ushered in.

 

8.2.            Zeruabbabel is a special person to the Lord for the Lord has called him.  Because he is going to be faithful in the work he is being called for, when Christ establishes His reign Zerubbabel will reign with and represent Him, and thus he will carry the Lord’s signet ring which signifies His authority.

 

8.3.            The Lord promises us in the church in His words to the churches that if we are overcommers in the here and now that when He establishes His kingdom that we will sit on His throne and reign with Him.

 

9.                  CONCLUSIONS:

 

9.1.            As we in America today are in trying and dangerous circumstances today, much like those facing the people during Haggai’s day, in which the church is being judged and purified, we need to get back to our calling and commission, get back to the basics of why we are here on earth.  We need to not react in fear to an uncertain future nor pull back from what God has called us to do in preaching the gospel to all creation, and making disciples of all nations.

 

9.2.            We in the church today need to take heart and recognize that as we are committed to the things that the Lord has given us to complete, namely the Great Commission, that He will be with us.  As we are with His plan, He will provide all that we need, protect us, and grant us great fruit in souls won for Him.

 

Back          Bible Studies                Home Page