INTRODUCTION
Haggai was another minor prophet that had a mighty message. There
is no rank distinction of the
major or minor prophets. The reason one is referred to as a minor
prophet it not a reproach or slight.
The length of the material written is the basis of the distinction
of minor or major prophets. The major
prophets wrote more material and the minor wrote smaller books.
The Old Testament is to instruct us in the custom, history and the blessings
of faithfulness.
The Old Testament is not our law but is for our learning.
Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime
were written for our learning,
that through patience and through comfort of the scriptures we might have
hope.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Babylonian exile is over at the time of this book being penned.
Those that returned from Babylon
which is located in present day Iraq had a great task before them.
The exiles that returned were to rebuild the temple that Nebuchadnezzar
destroyed and violated
70 years earlier.
The people had been complacent and slow in doing the will of God.
16 years had passed since their arrival
and the temple was still not finished. They were more involved
and interested in their business and personal
ventures than to serve the Lord in rebuilding his house.
I think many in the church are like the Jews of old. We become
so bogged down in our things that we
let the Lord's work slip.
Haggai will deliver power lessons designed to stir the people and bring them to finish the temple of Jehovah.
The people needed a new commitment and zeal. Haggai would call them to holiness and faithfulness to God.
The people needed their faith rededicated and focused on the hope that
God offered them.
THE AUTHOR
The name Haggai seems to have its origin in the Hebrew word "Hag", which
denoted a festival or
something festive.
Haggay or Haggiah may have been named because he was born on a festival
of Jehovah.
The major feast such as Tabernacles perhaps was his birthday.
Haggai is mentioned by name 9 times.
Haggai 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king,
in the sixth month, in the first day of
the month, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel
the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak,
the high priest, saying,
Haggai 1:3 Then came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Haggai 1:12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua
the son of Jehozadak, the
priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Jehovah
their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their God had
sent him; and the people did fear before Jehovah.
Haggai 1:13 Then spake Haggai Jehovah's messenger
in Jehovah's message unto the
people, saying, I am with you, saith Jehovah.
Haggai 2:1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth
day of the month, came the
word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Haggai 2:10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth
month, in the second year of Darius,
came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Haggai 2:13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean
by reason of a dead body touch any of these,
shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
Haggai 2:14 Then answered Haggai and said, So is this people,
and so is this nation before me,
saith Jehovah; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they
offer there
is unclean.
Haggai 2:20 And the word of Jehovah came the second time
unto Haggai in the four and
twentieth day of the month, saying,
The contemporary book of Ezra mentions Haggai in two references.
Ezra 5:1 Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah
the son of Iddo, prophesied
unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem; in the name of the God
of Israel
prophesied they unto them
Ezra 6:14 And the elders of the Jews builded and prospered,
through the prophesying
of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded and
finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according
to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
This prophet seems to have worked alongside of the younger prophet Zechariah.
The ministry of Haggai was one to spur the people to rebuild the temple primarily.
After Haggai returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel he dwelt in Jerusalem.
Some think he might have actually been born in Judah before the captivity of 586 B.C.
If the latter statement is true then Haggai would be about 75 as he prophesied to the people in about 520 B.C.
It is very likely he was born in Babylon during the captivity and returned
with the exiles in 536 B.C.
THE TIME PERIOD THAT HAGGAI PROPHESIED
In 538 B.C. Cyrus the ruler and King of Persia declared in a decree that the Jews could return and rebuild the temple.
God stirred up Cyrus to allow the Jewish people to return to their homeland.
2 Chron. 36:22-23 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of
Persia, that the word of Jehovah
by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the
spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout
all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus
king of
Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath Jehovah, the God of heaven,
given me;
and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whosoever there is among you of all his people, Jehovah his God be with
him,
and let him go up.
Ezra 1:1-8 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,
that the word of Jehovah by
the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the spirit
of
Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his
kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia,
All the kingdoms of the earth hath Jehovah, the God of heaven, given me;
and
he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whosoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and
let
him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Jehovah,
the
God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever is left,
in
any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver,
and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill-offering
for the house of God which is in Jerusalem. Then rose up the heads
of
fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites,
even
all whose spirit God had stirred to go up to build the house of Jehovah
which is
in Jerusalem. And all they that were round about them strengthened
their
hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and
with
precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. Also Cyrus
the king
brought forth the vessels of the house of Jehovah, which Nebuchadnezzar
had
brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put in the house of his gods;
even
those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the
treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
The seventy years of captivity and destruction was over. The time to resettle the contrite Jews had arrived.
All the Jews did not return from Babylon. Many elected to stay
in the foreign land. We would assume that
the most devoted Jews returned to their homeland. The number
was not great but it was sufficient.
The many Jews that elected not to return assisted those of their number
who went back to Jerusalem to
rebuild the city and the temple. Only a few 42,360 plus 7,337
servants, returned.
Ezra 2:64-65 The whole assembly together was forty and
two thousand three hundred and threescore,
besides their men-servants and their maid-servants, of whom there were
seven thousand
three hundred thirty and seven: and they had two hundred singing men and
singing women.
Their horses were seven hundred thirty and six; their mules, two hundred
forty and five;
their camels, four hundred thirty and five; their asses, six thousand seven
hundred and twenty.
And some of the heads of fathers' houses, when they came to the house of
Jehovah which is in
Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to set it up in its place:
Zerrubbabel returned with a group of these people and began work on the temple in 536 B.C.
Ezra writes of this time period and at the time Haggai lived and prophesied.
The Samaritans those who dwelt in the land, half-Jew and Assyrian offered
to join in the work of
rebuilding the temple.
Ezra 4:2 then they drew near to Zerubbabel,
and to the heads of fathers' houses, and
said unto them, Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as ye do;
and
we sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who
brought
us up hither.
The Jews refused the Samaritans because they were racially impure. The
Samaritans had also compromised
the faith by their corrupt teaching and worship.
Ezra 4:3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the
heads of fathers' houses of Israel,
said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us in building a house unto
our God; but
we ourselves together will build unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, as king
Cyrus the
king of Persia hath commanded us.
The Samaritans tried to stop the temple from being built by appealing to king Artaxerxes. Ezra 4:4-24
Because of the opposition of the Samaritans, the Jews became discouraged and depressed.
The trouble with the Samaritans was not all that the people faced.
Their crops failed and they faced many
hardships and difficulties in the land.
In 534 B.C. they ceased work on the temple and tried to compromise with their neighbors.
This is the background to which Haggai was called by God to reach out to his people in this prophetic book.
The book can be accurately dated by internal means and direct statements.
In this prophecy there are four messages dated by the calendar. Each
one reveals an excuse given by the
people for not working on the temple -- both their excuse and the real
reason behind that excuse
September 1, 520 B.C. is given.
Haggai 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the
sixth month, in the first day of
the month, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel
the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak,
the high priest, saying,
September 24, 520 B.C.
Haggai 2:1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth
day of the month, came the
word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying,
November 520 B.C.
Haggai 2:10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth
month, in the second year of Darius,
came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying,
After 15 years of inactivity the Jews were visited by the prophets and instructed to get back to work.
The work resumed in 520 B.C. and was finished in 516 B.C.
Ezra 6:15 And this house was finished on the third day
of the month Adar,
which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
Darius I was the King of Persia during the years of Haggai and Zechariah. This powerful ruler put down many nations that opposed him.
The Talmud mentions that the ark of the covenant and the Urim and Thummin
were not placed back
into the rebuilt temple.
Little is actually known of Haggai other than the few comments we have
made earlier.
.
THE MESSAGE OF HAGGAI
The message and prophecy of Haggai is "get busy and build the Lord's
house."
In Haggai's day the temple was a shadow of the true house of
God. These shadows (as we learn
in the New Testament) pointed toward the true house of God comprised
of believers, collectively, all
believers -- forming the great house of God, which is the church, the
place where God dwells
That is what God shows us in the worship of the Old Testament..
THE PREACHING OF HAGGAI
Haggai delivers four messages to these people -- all within the space
of about a year and a half, all
concerning the building of the temple.
Haggai delivered a series of sermons to the people to refocus their
faith.
Now God says that he wants them to see what the results are. Three times he says, "Consider...consider...consider."
Haggai 1:1-5 In the second year of Darius the king, in
the sixth month, in the first day of the month,
came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son
of Shealtiel,
governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest,
saying, Thus
speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, This people say, It is not the time
for us to come, the
time for Jehovah's house to be built. Then came the word of Jehovah by
Haggai the prophet,
saying, Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses,
while this house lieth waste?
Now therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider your ways.
Haggai points out the time of his prophesy, then rebukes the people
for not building the temple and
restoring the altar as God desired.
This prophecy was addressed to the civil governor and to the religious heads, Joshua and Zerubbabel.
The prophet repeats the excuse that the people gave for leaving the temple abandoned for 15 years.
They people were saying "Why, the time has not yet come". There has
been a mistake in figuring the 70
years that Jeremiah prophesied. There's no use doing anything now because
God is not ready yet."
God said the house should have already been built.
The sin of inactivity and not doing what we know to do plagues the church today.
James 4:17 To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
We need someone to rekindle a zeal within us to get busy doing the will and work of the Lord in the church.
The people said it is not time to build God's house, because they first had to make paneled houses for themselves.
Haggai 1:2 Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, This
people say, It is not the time for us
to come, the time for Jehovah's house to be built.
Every age has people more concerned with their comfort and desires than
doing what God
wants done for his cause.
The reason we are so unhappy is because we try to have everything to
live with but we have nothing
to live for.
The blessings of serving God outweighs any comfort or joy we may find in serving our own selves.
The prophet tells the people that they would never be happy, nor will they prosper unless they put God first.
Haggai 1:4-6 Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell
in your ceiled houses, while this house
lieth waste? Now therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider
your ways.
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.
The Lord still demands a total commitment from his people today.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first his kingdom, and his
righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you.
The way to have what you need in terms of physical food and material
shelter and the necessities of life
is to give your major concern and interests not to these earthly things;
but to advancing God's work.
That is what you are here for. You have a Father in heaven who knows
your needs, and is perfectly able
to supply them, and he will as long as your interest is first in his
work.
The people are rebuked for allowing the house of Jehovah to lie in waste
while they
saw to their own needs.
Haggai 1:1-6 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth
month, in the first day of the month,
came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son
of Shealtiel,
governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest,
saying, Thus
speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, This people say, It is not the time
for us to come, the
time for Jehovah's house to be built. Then came the word of Jehovah by
Haggai the prophet,
saying, Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses,
while this house lieth waste?
Now therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider your ways. 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.
God instructs Haggai to admonish the people and Haggai people urged
them to consider their ways.
The people needed to get busy building God's house.
And the great question that Haggai confronts us with is: how can we find time to advance our interests so eagerly, so carefully, so thoughtfully -- spending so much time thinking about advancing our own material gain and then excuse ourselves from the work of building the house of God by saying, "It isn't time yet"?
Haggai 1:7-11 Thus saith Jehovah 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, saith Jehovah. Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came
to little; and
when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith Jehovah of hosts.
Because of my house that lieth waste, while ye run every man to his own
house.
Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth
withholdeth its fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land,
and upon the
mountains, and upon the grain, 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 labor of the hands.
How embarrassing to have to hear Haggai tell them that they had neglected God and his temple.
Because of their attitudes they would be punished. God said
he would neglect them and had even sent
disaster after disaster upon them
Haggai 1:11 And I called for a drought upon the land,
and upon the mountains, and upon
the grain, 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
labor
of the hands.
We need to realize God is still in charge of the rain, sunshine and every other blessing we receive.
The message of Haggai had a effect upon the people. The people responded
by going back to work
on the temple
Haggai 1:12 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 Jehovah
their
God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their God had sent
him;
and the people did fear before Jehovah.
How long did the work last? Three weeks. And then it ground to a halt
again. Notice the calendar Haggai 2:1-3
This prophetic message from the man of God stirred up the spirit of leaders and people to take up the task of rebuilding.
Haggai 1:14-15 And Jehovah 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 did work on the house of Jehovah of hosts, Their God, in the four and
twentieth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius
the king.
Maybe people would wake up if they heard preaching like this today.
I still believe there is power in the
gospel to move man to do his will.
They might not have worked long but at least they were stirred up for these three weeks!
God stirred them up through the preaching of Haggai God
would like to stir up mankind today with
gospel preaching.
Haggai 1:12-13 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
Jehovah their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their
God had sent him; and the people did fear before Jehovah. Then spake
Haggai Jehovah's messenger in Jehovah's message unto the people, saying,
I am with you, saith Jehovah.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for
it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Haggai chapter 2
Haggai had another message to deliver to the people. Their disappointment grew upon seeing the foundation of the second temple. Sometimes we let past achievements discourage us.
The people grew discouraged and ceased work again. It is easy
to discourage people from the work of the Lord.
Haggai 2:1-3 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth
day of the month, came the
word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying, 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, Who is
left among
you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see it now?
is it not
in your eyes as nothing?
Now God was repeating what the people were saying. They had gotten started
and the temple had
begun to go up. There was a time of excitement until an old man came
down to watch the work. He
had been a child when they were carried captive into Babylon.
The old man had seen the temple of
Solomon in all its great glory, and as old men sometimes do, he was
living in the past.
He bascially said, "Do you call this a temple? I saw Solomon's
temple, and what you are building here is nothing
compared to that. All the gold and silver that was in that temple,
it was amazing! And you don't have any gold
or silver. How will you decorate this temple?"
The people became discouraged and said, " He's right. We don't have
any gold or silver. We don't have
anything to make this temple beautiful. What's the use? Why work?"
So they quit.
Because the people had such indifference to the temple God would give them another wake-up call.
Haggai told them that God will shake the earth.
Haggai 2:4-7 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith
Jehovah; and be strong,
O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all
ye people of the land, saith Jehovah, and work: for I am with you,
saith Jehovah of hosts, according to the word that I covenanted with
you when ye came out of Egypt, and my Spirit abode among you: fear
ye not. For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Yet once, it is a little
while, and
I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
When God says he will shake the heavens, the people, and the earth,
he is not speaking literally, but figuratively.
He means that he is going to rearrange the whole historical picture
This shaking resulted in filling the second temple with a greater glory than the glory of Solomon's temple.
God used Haggai to get them working once again. God's answer.
"Work, for I am with you. Don't worry
about the fact that things don't look as good as they ought, just work.
Haggai 2:5-9 according to the word that I covenanted with
you when ye came out of Egypt,
and my Spirit abode among you: fear ye not. For thus saith
Jehovah of hosts:
Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth,
and the sea,
and the dry land; and I will shake all nations; and the precious
things of all nations shall
come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts. The
silver is mine, and
the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts. The latter glory of this house
shall be greater
than the former, saith Jehovah of hosts; and in this place will I give
peace, saith Jehovah
of hosts.
The greater glory of the second temple would be that God will give peace. Those words were fulfilled.
Into that house one day came one who found it filled with money changers,
and overthrowing the tables,
he drove them out and said,
Matt. 21:13 You make my Father's house a den of robbers.
and he cleansed it and made it a place
of prayer. And he filled it with the glory of his teaching, standing in
the midst of it and
saying things such as people had never heard before.
Jesus utterly changed the whole life of that nation and every nation
in the world by what he said. And from
out of that house, changed and altered a little by Herod, there
went forth a glory that has never ceased.
Haggai 2:9 The latter glory of this house shall be
greater than the former, saith Jehovah of hosts;
and in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts
The man of God had another message the people needed to hear.
The word of God came to Haggai. The people worked but soon they quit again.
Haggai 2:10 in the four and twentieth day of the ninth
month, in the second year of Darius,
came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying,
.
Touching something that has been offered to God, holy or consecrated
flesh will not make the thing touched holy.
This was in accordance with the law of Moses. Moses said, where you
do not know what to do, go
ask the priest to declare the appropriate principle and then make an
application from that.
When you get into a situation that you do not know how to handle, go
to the word of God and get the principle
that covers that situation.
Haggai 2:12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt
of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread,
or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any food, shall it become holy? And
the priests
answered and said, No.
.
If an unclean things touches a clean thing, the clean thing is defiled,
or made unclean.
Haggai 2:13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by
reason of a dead body touch any of these,
shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
Sometimes the church tries to Christianize sin. We have our little
white lies, our gossip, division and luke-warm
attitudes and try to say its all right to be like this because we have
been baptized.
Some church members live like the devil all during the week and think
because they take the Lord Supper
everything is fine.
We try to make the world acceptable and brag about being members of
the church as if this will
make sin all right.
The nation of Israel was corrupted and what they touched was defiled.
What does he mean? If you read between the lines, you can see again what the people were saying.
They were saying, "Look, we've worked on the temple for two months.
You said the reason we were
having a hard time materially and physically was because we were not
working on the temple.
We worked on the temple now for two months, 21 days, and are still having
a hard time. They were the same
kind of people we are. They wanted instant results: "I straightened
everything out yesterday. Today everything
ought to be paradise.
Haggai 2:14-19 Then answered Haggai and said, So is this
people, and so is this nation
before me, saith Jehovah; and so is every work of their hands; and that
which they offer there is unclean. And now, I pray you, consider
from this
day and backward, before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of
Jehovah. Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures,
there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw out fifty vessels,
there
were but twenty. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with
hail in all the
work of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah. Consider,
I pray you,
from this day and backward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth
month, since
the day that the foundation of Jehovah's temple was laid, consider it.
Is the seed yet
in the barn? yea, the vine, and the fig-tree, and the pomegranate, and
the olive-tree have
not brought forth; from this day will I bless you.
Living in the promised land did not make the people pure. Sitting
in a church building doesn't make
one a Christian, anymore than sitting in a hen house makes one a chicken.
They were guilty in their failure to build the temple and they offered
sacrifices upon the altar that
corrupted the nation.
Deep pollution of sin going on for years will not be cured overnight?
Do not stop work just because you do not see instant results.
If you are doing the right thing, keep on
doing it and the results will come.
Haggai charged them to again take up the work of rebuilding.
HAGGAI PROPHESIED OF NATIONS BEING DESTROYED
Haggai warned of the destruction of other nations and of revolutions about to occur.
Haggai 2:20-22 And the word of Jehovah came the second
time unto Haggai in the four
and twentieth day of the month, saying, Speak to Zerubbabel, governor
of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow
the throne of kingdoms; and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms
of the
nations; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them;
and the
horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his
brother.
This was a time of peace throughout the world. The Medes and
Persian were in control and had no serious
threats or powerful enemies. Everyone was confident that all
was lovely and well.
Haggai told them about another power was about to be released, the Greek
Empire. Under Alexander
the Great, the Grecian's would shake up the world.
Haggai informs the people that Israel will be preserved and the coming wars would not destroy or overthrow the nation.
Haggai 2:23 In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts,
will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my
servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith Jehovah, and will make thee as a signet;
for I have chosen thee, saith Jehovah of hosts.
This passage is a Messianic passage fulfilled in Jesus the seed of David.
The message was given to the people as encouragement for the rebuilding of altar, temple, wall and city.
Alexander the Great, in his expansion of power, did not destroy Jerusalem
or the Jews. He was, to the contrary,
a friend to Israel. The prophecy of Haggai was proven to be completely
true.
God says, "Don't worry. I am going to reverse the whole order of things.
I will destroy the power of this kingdom. I will bring their chariots
to naught. I will break you loose from
the bondage of this people and I am going to take Zerubbabel, the man
who stands as the leader of the
people and make him a signet ring."
Zerubbabel was of the royal line, the line of David, and though these
words were not literally fulfilled
in Zerubbabel, they were spoken of his descendent Jesus of Nazareth.
In Jesus, God fulfilled all these words. He took the son of David and
made him a signet ring by which
all the nations shall ultimately be ruled.
Now in what way is all this a word to us? It is a word of encouragement
in a day of darkness,
a word of rising up and acting now. Build now. Do not wait. The work
of God needs to be done now.
Not next year. Not ten years from now.
Are your homes open? Are your lives ready? A great harvest field is
before us here and around the world.
Opportunities abound as they never have before.
Are we ready to build for the things of the Lord?
Haggai message is, don't give in. Keep serving and working for the cause
of the Lord.
CONCLUSION
Believe Jesus Christ is the son of God, John 8:24
Repent and turn from sin, Acts 3:19
Confess Christ with the mouth, Romans 10:10
Be baptized for the remission of sins, Acts 2:38
Live faithful unto death, Revelation 2:10
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