You may postpone something for good reason. But postponement can also be due to procrastination. In Haggai 1 the prophet summons God’s people to reexamine their priorities and to stop procrastinating.
Don’t procrastinate! Listen to God’s prophet. Haggai prophesied during the restoration from exile. Haggai’s name means “festival.” He may have been born during one of the great feast times. He functioned along with Zechariah, during the time that Israel had returned after captivity. The first day of the sixth month of the second year of King Darius was August 29, 520 BC. Although the first returning exiles had started rebuilding the temple, the work had been interrupted. Haggai and Zechariah were instrumental in its resumption, Ezra 5:1, 2; 6:14. If Haggai 2:3 implies that the prophet had seen Solomon’s temple, he must have been in his 70’s at this time. Israel in Haggai’s day resembles the church today. God’s people were few and faced overwhelming opposition.
Haggai 1:1, 2 are directed to the leaders, Zerubbabel, the governor, grandson of King Johiachin, and Joshua, the high priest. This message summarizes the attitude of the people. It uses language that assumes the people are not present. Haggai 1:3, 4 addresses the people themselves. The message concerns the attitude which had been summarized in verse 2. Haggai served as a spokesman for the Lord. He conveyed God’s message to his people (whether addressing the rulers or the people at large). The Spirit who inspired Haggai intended his words for the church of all ages, and thus this little collection of his prophecies was included in Scripture. It is the Word of the Lord addressed to you as much as it was to Israelites in 520 BC. The Lord is identified here as the Lord of Hosts, often translated, the Lord Almighty. It is a reference to the sovereign power of God who commands.
Get your priorities straight. There seemed to be good reasons for delay in rebuilding the temple. The people had made a good start on rebuilding the temple, which had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezer. When Cyrus issued his decree returning the people to the land in 538 BC, one of his purposes was that they might rebuild the temple, Ezra 1. The people made a good start, Ezra 3:7–13, but the work had ground to a halt. Surrounding enemies raised political opposition, Ezra 4:1–5, 24. For 15 years the temple stood, apparently only as a restored foundation. The people had intentions of returning to the task, but believed the time was not appropriate, Haggai 1:2. Royal opposition had arisen, and they may have shared the idea of their neighbors that temple-building was a kingly activity. Their own numbers were few. They had their own houses to work on. (Verse 4 may refer to richly paneled ceilings — a sign of wealth, or may simply be talking about putting roofs on their homes.) In any case, they had decided that they could be active about building and restoring their own homes, but the house of the Lord was something that could wait. Some may have been waiting for the Messiah to come and rebuild the temple. theirs was not an age of glory. It can be easy to look upon serving the Lord as something you will do when you are better prepared, have had more training, have read one more book, etc. The prophet summons you to prompt obedience. Now is the time to focus on the presence of the Lord. Haggai’s message could be summarized, if you’re not willing to make the Lord a priority now, you never will. This prophecy is not primarily a plea for offerings for building funds. To treat it that way is to blunt it’s edge. Rather, the prophet summons you to recognize that serving God has to dominate all of your life. You cannot postpone that.
Think! Focus on your covenant God. Give careful thought to your ways. The Lord himself is speaking to you. Israel never had quite enough. Recognize that something is drastically wrong with this world. See God’s hand in your afflictions. God’s action lies behind the frustration. Pay attention to what the Lord requires. Recognize that not all suffering is the direct result of particular sin, John 9:1–3, but all suffering grows out of sin and its curse, and ought to point us to the hope of restoration, Romans 8:20, 21. Israel’s problems recall the covenant curse. The blessings the Lord has promised for covenantal obedience contrast with the current situation of Israel, Deuteronomy 7:13–15. The afflictions through which the people were going should have recalled the stern warnings of Deuteronomy 28:15–24. More recently the covenant curse had been reiterated by the prophets, Jeremiah 7:20.
Honor God in his house. Drought has its origin in the temple ruin. The Lord had specifically commanded Israel to worship at the place he would choose, Deuteronomy 12:17–19. The feasting at the temple would be a sign of God’s covenantal blessing on his people. Adverse circumstances are not an excuse for disobedience, but rather a reason to obey. Focus on the Lord’s house. Haggai summoned Israel to renew the work of building the temple. God calls you to keep him and his worship central. Rejoice in God’s glory. God actually takes pleasure in his house. Yes, the curses of the covenant had come upon Israel. But the very temple, which they were delaying to rebuild, contained the way of dealing with that curse. The altar of the temple was where, symbolically, the curse on sin was transferred to the animal, whose life was then offered on the altar. God is honored in your worshiping him. God makes his glory known. The Tabernacle first, and then the Temple, were places where God made his presence visible. This is where he causes his name to dwell. It is a theophany. Those building have now, according to 1 Peter 2, been replaced with something made of living stones. You are God’s temple.
“When Solomon dedicated this temple, it was filled with ‘the glory of the Lord,’ which was none other than God making manifest that this was the place where he had chosen to dwell (1 Kings 8:10–12). Later, Solomon interpreted this sacred space of God’s glorious dwelling to be the ‘house’ that is ‘called by your Name’ and was ‘build for our Name’ (1 Kings 8:41–45). Thus, God’s glorious presence and name in the temple are virtually the same, which is a natural equation, since it is common in the OT that the name off a person represented that person’s essential character, and thus notion is particularly applicable to God’s name.
“God says that the exile and promised restoration were for ‘the sake of My name,’ and ‘For My own sake… my glory I will not give to another’ (Isa. 48:9–11). Part of the restoration was the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, which, again, was to glorify God: ‘Rebuild the temple that I may be… glorified” Hag. 1:8).”
G. K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, pp. 959–60
Obey! Obey the voice of your God. The Lord stirs your heart. What had changed? Circumstances looked no more favorable for the task of reconstructing the temple than they had a month earlier. The Lord stirred up the spirit of the leaders and of the whole remnant. Their obedience grew out of the Lord’s sovereign work in their hearts. Note the parallel to Ezra 1:5. By nature you are dead in sin. Change comes, not from within you, but from the resurrecting power of God that changes your heart and spirit, Ephesians 2:1–10. The stirring that you need comes only from the Spirit, whom Christ, as the triumphant remnant, poured out upon the church. Notice that God requires what he alone can provide. And he does provide it! Philippians 2:12,13.
“God does not form new souls in us when he draws us to his service, but changes what is wrong in us; for we should never be attentive to his word, were he not to open our ears, and there would be no inclination to obey, were he not to turn our hearts; in a word, both will and effort would immediately fail in us, were he not to add his gift of perseverance.”
John Calvin, Commentary on Haggai
Work in God’s presence. The term “remnant” includes all who survived to be the true people of God. These are the people who do not ignore the voice of the Lord, but rather obey it. They acknowledged their own sinfulness. These are the people who fear the Lord. This is a holy awe, even terror, a recognition that you are a sinner in the presence of a holy God, Deuteronomy 5:5. The people recognized that the drought and other problems were due to God’s judgment. They had withheld the honor due God. As you look at the remnant, recognize that Christ is the true remnant. The nation had become a remnant. The process of narrowing would continue, for even the remnant would prove less than faithful. Ultimately Israel would reject the Stone, would cast out the Son. In the last analysis, it is only the Messiah who is truly faithful, only he who renders perfect obedience. But he, as the true remnant, acted as your representative. He obeyed in your behalf. In him the remnant again broadens to include all who live in covenant fellowship with their God. The people obeyed because God was with them, Haggai 1:13. This is Emmanuel, God with us!
Consider your ways, particularly the frustrations and problems in your life. Check for specific areas in which you may need to repent. But see all of the suffering and futility of life as a call to renewed covenant fellowship with your God.