Welcome to episode 4! Before we get started, if you haven’t listened to Episode 3 where we established our context for Haggai, go back and take a listen real quick! I also wanted to do a quick refresher the three questions we’ll ask as we study:
- What does this tell us about God?
- What did this mean to the original listeners?
- How will this change how I view myself and God?
We’ll also be on the lookout for how this section of scripture fits into the story of line of the Bible as well as look for our way to the Cross, keeping our eye out for glimpses of Jesus in the text.
So, let’s begin by reading. Haggai 1 verses 1-4
In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to bZerubbabel the son of cShealtiel, governor of Judah, and to dJoshua the son of eJehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” 3 Then the word of the LORD came fby the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 g“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while hthis house lies in ruins?
Ok, let’s just dive right into the text. First, we read some of those details we covered last week. We find the timeline - the second year of Darius - which is 520 BC and we also find the main characters - Haggai, Zerubbabel and Joshua.
There some important designations about all three of these men that we should notice.
First it says the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet. This statement is giving credibility to Haggai, explicitly saying that the words he is going to speak have come directly from the Lord. This is important because the Israelites must trust the prophet has some credibility if they are going to listen to them.
Next, we read that Zerubbabel is the governor and is the son of Shealtiel. In fact, we’ll see that Haggai will refer to Zerubbabel as son of Shealtiel over and over. And so this little detail is important for us to sit in for a minute.
If you have a study Bible, there’s probably a cross-reference next to Shaltiel’s name. If you follow it, you’ll find Sheltiels name listed in a genealogy. Sheealtiels was the son of Jeconiah who is called “the captive in 1 Chronicles 3 because Jeconiah was governor of Judah when it was overthrown by the Babylonian empire. So Zerubbabel is the grandson of this line. It’s important to note that the line that was once in power is reistablished through Zerubbel. Tuck this away in your minds because this will become really important as we keep reading through Haggai.
Then we read that Joshua is the high priest, the son of Jehozadak. If we look up Jehozadak, we’ll find that he was the high priest when the Babylonians came in and took captive Jerusalem and stole all the holy items out of the temple, eventually destroying it completely. This is important, because, like Zerubbabel, we see that God has reestablished the Levite line of high priest through Joshua, the descendant of Johozadak.
This theme of reestablishment is a key theme in the book of Haggai. Remember the audience? They are refugees who have returned to their war torn homeland tasked with rebuilding a whole society. And so the reestablishment of power in the same line as the previous Jerusalem is God’s faithfulness to save a remnant and establish his people. We’ll see this theme come up a few more times as we read on.
As we move on in the text, we get to hear the word from God given to Haggai. But before we read what he said, we should notice that little detail, “Thus says the Lord of hosts.” This identifier, lord of hosts, or God of angel armies, as it’s sometimes said, is a intentional descriptor by God. In fact, he repeats this about himself, the Lord of hosts, several times through the book. See if you can find how many!
By identifying as the Lord of hosts, God is highlighting his power and authority over the Jewish people in Jerusalem.
Let’s think about why this might be an important distinction God makes..
These people have spent the last 70 years being controlled by powers beyond their control. They’ve watched their lives, religion, location, everything, change, because of a dominating world power. It is likely ingrained in this generations mind who has lived 70 years in captivity that Persia is mighty and they are small and weak as they rebuild. But God reminds them of who they are by reminding them of who he is. HE is the lord strong in power, the lord of great armies. The lord strong to save. Stronger than any world power.
Ok, so this is what the Lord of Hosts says through Haggai:
The people say the time has not yet come to build the house of the Lord.
Remember the history of the exiles returned to Jerusalem? They actually came home 18 years earlier at the decree of Cyrus, kind of Persia. So why were they saying the time hadn’t come?
Their experience when they first returned may give us a clue. It’s recorded in Ezra. In Ezra chapter 3 we learn that our boys Zerubbabel and Joshua were there too, 18 years earlier. They were leaders then too. They were the ones credited with building the altar of the Lord. They did more than that, though. They arranged the Levites into the priesthood again, giving them jobs and reminding them of the rolls the priest should play in the temple. They gathered builders together to lay the foundation of the temple. Then Zerubbabel and Joshua held a big ceremony dedicating the temple to the Lord where the exiles cried and shouted for joy all at once representing the beautiful mix of sorrow for captivity, joy for the restoration, and reverence for God’s temple.
But then, the surrounding peoples had an issue. They kind of liked the Israelites being out of Jerusalem and didn’t want them to come back and take their land. So they sent a letter to an official protesting the building of the temple. And the official, without realizing the Israelites had been commissioned by Cyrus, sent people to force the Israelites to stop their building.
The Israelites had a false start. In the beginning, they exemplified great faith and vigor for rebuilding. But as soon as they came up against opposition, they gave up. And now, though all these years have passed, they are still saying, “it’s not the right time.”
Isn’t it so real that fear and opposition are powerful to keep us from obedience to God.
So the God of hosts goes on to say, Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins?
I want us to notice right away that in these two statements, the word house occurs 3 times. I think we should lean into that. Houses are an important theme in these first few verses of Haggai.
Here we see God setting up two opposing houses. Their paneled houses and his house, that lies in ruins. The picture we should take away here is that the Israelites are living in homes that are established, even beautiful. They have made place for themselves but have neglected the house of God. It’s not as if they didn’t have the resources, because they’ve built the own houses. It’s not as if they didn’t have man power. It’s not even that they didn’t have the time. The word of God through Haggai is helping the people get to the source of the issue which has much more to do with their heart than their homes.
The cross reference in my Bible led me to a really interesting and important place from this verse. It took me to two different verses by David.
The first is Psalm 132:4-6 where David writes:
3 “I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
4 I will not bgive sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I cfind a place for the LORD,
a dwelling place for athe Mighty One of Jacob.”
The second took me to 2 Samuel 7:1-3
Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD thad given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to uNathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell vin a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells win a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, x“Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”
If you remember from Old Testament history, the Ark of God is the Ark of the Covenant that God instructed Moses and the Israelites to build after their deliverance from Egypt. This was carried around by the Israelites wherever they went and was the place where God’s presence dwelt among the people. So this ark of God was a precursor to the temple.
It’s remarkable how similar the wording David used is to the wording used here in Haggai. David describes his house of cedar while the ark of God was in a tent. Haggai describes paneled houses while the house of God is in ruins.
David is credited with designing the first temple for God in Jerusalem and his son Solomon built it. It was a beautiful and opulent temple filled with gold and cedar. And Solomon’s temple was the one that stood until the Babylonian’s destroyed it. So it starts to make sense that the language here is similar because these two accounts are deeply connected. 2 Samuel is the building of the first temple. Haggai is the building of the second temple.
There is one primary difference however, and that’s the heart of David juxtaposed with the heart of the returned exiles. David is distressed that he is dwelling in riches while the holy things of God only have a tent. The people in Haggai say, it’s not time, I’ll get to that building later.
The story of David longing to build a temple for God was likely familiar to the hearts of the people. In fact, as Haggai recited these words from God, it’s likely that their minds would have gone to the precise verse we just read because 2 Samuel 7 is a significant chapter in the Old Testament. It recounts the covenant God made with David. In 2 Samuel 7, God tells David, he will in fact establish a house for David and give David a line that will never pass away. We call this the Davidic covenant.
Here’s a moment where we get to tie in the storyline of the Bible and find our way to the cross in the text. This covenant holds deep importance in the story line of the Bible because the line that will never pass away is a arrow that should point us straight to the cross, to Jesus, a man born int he line of the David, who would be the king even greater than David. The house of David, or the Davidic covenant, is fulfilled in Jesus.
So when God calls out the people for living in their paneled houses while his house lies in ruins, he’s calling our more than their lack of progress, he’s calling out the state of their heart. The heart of the people matters to God. If David noticed his lavish home the lowly state of God’s holy things, why didn’t these people? If David longed to build a house for God, why didn’t these people?
Here’s one of the reasons Haggai begins with describing Zerrubbabel and Joshua by their genealogies. By doing this he is pointing out that God has kept his promise. He has reestablished the leaders in Jerusalem. Zerrubbabel, the governor of of Judah is a descendant of David. This house that God promised, still stands.
This promise-keeping God, the covenantal God, the Lord of hosts is calling out a people fearful and discouraged to recognize the state of their hearts. To return to the work he delivered them to do.
Which leads me back to the question in my own life, what is the state of my heart? Am I fearful, stagnant, making excuses? Or am I longing for the things of God more than more own comfort?
Wow, there’s so much good stuff in just the first 4 verses.
But I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and so we’ll slow down and pause the episode here so we can have a chance to answer our three key questions together.
- What does this tell us about God?
There’s a lot here, but I’ll take a stab a couple things I see.
First is that God is faithful. He is faithful to bring back a remnant, faithful to reestablish leadership, and faithful to remind the people when they’ve gotten of track.
Second is that God is powerful, even though the world powers have exerted control over the Israelites, it is only because God allowed their exile. God has never been defeated and never will be.
What did you learn? I encourage you to take some time to write one thing this passage teaches ua bout God.
2. What did this mean to the original listeners?
I can’t help but think they began to recognize the backward thinking of their house being beautiful vs. God’s house being in ruins. I imagine they were potentially encouraged also to hear a prophet speaking the word of God to them after several years of opposition and stagnancy.
What about you? I encourage you to write one thing this passage may have meant to the original audience.
And 3. How will this change how I view myself and God.
Make this one personal, how did the Holy Spirit teach your heart though this passage?
For me, I am reminded to recognize that God keeps is word and he cares about the intentions of our hearts when we’ve become discouraged or disinterested in growing in him.
Are you excited about Haggai yet? Oh my goodness, I am. I hope you’ll join me next week as we read through verses 5-11 together. I encourage you to read that portion of chapter one, or the whole little book of Haggai, this week.