HashKama: Haggai

So, I’m slow.  I am just coming to this delightful little book when everyone else has already been there, done that, and moved on.  This prophecy is given to believers (Haggai 1:12) and if you are a believer this book is for you.  It is so different from the other Minor Prophets who are labouring with people who are turning from God.  These people want to serve God.  Such a difference.

I came to this book from the story of Belshazzar in Daniel Ch.5.  That story closes with Daniel showing Cyrus God’s letter to him in Isaiah Ch.45.  Cyrus agreed to God’s request that he let God’s people go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the Temple.  Darius takes over from Cyrus but what had been agreed (as in the lion’s den story) cannot be revoked.  So Darius now gives those Jews who want to return to Israel, aid and building materials as promised.

I think the Jews were largely unaware that they are to rebuild Israel so that places like Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem were in existence and thriving when it was time for Messiah to be born.  Just as today they are probably unaware that they are rebuilding Israel for the return of the Messiah.

It is easy to criticise the fact that so few took up the offer from Darius.  But, how many of us would sign-up to a very hard four-months walk, saying a permanent goodbye to family and friends left behind, selling all we had and setting out for a place most had never seen.  Also to know that it would be a year before food could be grown to replenish the stock.

How dreadful it must have been, after that long, gruelling walk, to climb up to Jerusalem and find only burnt-out ruins.  It made sense to set about building four strong walls to keep out the bitter Jerusalem winds, and a good strong roof to keep out the rain and possible snow.  When Haggai begins his prophecy, this is not what God is complaining about.  God’s complaint is about the fact that they are living in “panelled houses” while His house remains a ruin (Haggai 1:4).  Panelled is a misleading word for us because we think of the rich panelling in stately homes.  This panelling was a wooden lining to their homes to have much the same effect as our cavity walls.  God is complaining about their putting personal comfort before their duty to Him.  I do wonder what He is saying to us Western Christians in this regard.

For the first time we come to what could be called Haggai’s catch-phrase.  “Give careful thought to your ways” (Haggai 1:5).  This is repeated five times in this small book and is surely something to take note of.  Verse 6 gives us God’s assessment of the situation, one that people who think that we are going to control climate change should consider.  God says:

You have planted much                                                but harvested little

You eat                                                                        but never have enough

You drink                                                                    but never have your fill

You put on clothes                                                        but are not warm

You earn wages                                                            but put it in a purse with holes in

You expected much                                                      but it turned out to be little

What you brought home                                                I blew away (Haggai 1:9)

Why?  Because My house remains a ruin.  Because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.  I called for a drought (Haggai 1:11).  God and only God controls the climate.

Having listened to David Pawson speaking about the weather in Israel, I was interested in his view.  In this country we are used to wind which blows from all four compass points.  But in Israel the wind blows in one of only two directions.  It either blows from the West, coming over the Mediterranean Sea and bringing rain which is much preferred to when, as is most frequent, it blows from the East over desert and brings the hot, dry, dust-laden air we are all familiar with in Jerusalem.  David Pawson believed that when God’s people were exiled from their land God withheld the wind and the rain from the West, and Israel became a desert as described by Mark Twain when he visited Israel.  Only when God’s people returned did He restore the cycle of rain on the land.

We know that God has the whole of heaven, the whole of the universe, and the whole world in which to dwell.  Why then is He so determined for His house to be built in Jerusalem?  It took me some time to understand this.  It sounds as if God is very petulant.  But this is not so.  You see, we almost take it for granted that we may approach God at any time, (the curtain has been torn in two).  We have only to ask for forgiveness of sin and it is readily available.  This is because and only because of the sacrifice of Jesus.  We are told that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22).  We cannot approach God without the covering of the Blood of Jesus.  But Haggai’s people lived five-hundred years before Jesus was born.  They could only approach God once a year and then only the High Priest with the blood of the sacrifice could enter the Holy of Holies.  Sin could only be forgiven with the shedding of the blood of a sacrifice.  But without the Temple there was no morning sacrifice, no evening sacrifice, and no atonement for sin.  Why was God so anxious for the building of His house?  It was for His people and not for Himself.

Because these people are believers, (God-fearers) (Haggai 1:12) they set to work to rebuild the Temple and having finished it they stepped back to admire their work.  But, oh dear, it is a poor replacement for Solomon’s Temple which had stood there.  God says to them “Does it not look like nothing?” (Haggai 2:3).  Solomon’s Temple, on the other hand, had been a tourist attraction.  People came from far and wide to view it.  Is God distressed by this poor Temple?  No.  He tells the people “Be strong and work for I am with you, My Spirit remains with you.  Do not fear” (Haggai 2:5).  God goes on to promise the shaking of the nations, the coming of the desired of all nations, and the glorification of this poor Temple and peace in Israel.  The first three of which have been delivered.  How we all long for the last one.  The Temple was indeed glorified in the hands of King Herod, the master-builder, who transformed it into one of the eight minor wonders of the world.

Peace is such a small word for such an enormous concept.  Peace, as in the absence of war between countries which Israel so desperately needs today, peace between neighbours and friends, peace in families, peace with yourself and most import of all peace with God.  Whole sermons have been written about peace, and I am sure that we have all heard many of them.

This declaration of peace is followed by some very important, but what at first appears irrelevant teaching.  It is about a piece of meat and it makes me laugh when I read it.  But the fact is that it is not possible for a consecrated piece of meat to consecrate anything else by touching it.  Like salvation, holiness cannot be passed on.  It is a matter between a person and God.  Put very simply, we are all defiled.  We are all sinful (Haggai 2:14).  Both Temples were defiled because they were made by sinful hands.  We are all marching towards that building not made by hands, whose builder is God (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Even though this Temple is defiled, because they have blessed God, by building it, He will bless them.  We all know that God’s blessings are always full measure pressed down and running over (Luke 6:38).  This brings me to what many would recognise as my catch-phrase.  Count your blessings.  Yes, name them one-by-one.  This is a very great pick-me-up.  An antidote to depression.  God has blessed us with so much.

God said He has struck the work of their hands with blight, mildew, and hail (another reference to climate change).  He did this in the hope that they would turn to Him.  But they didn’t.  How badly does this country need to hear this message? (Haggai 2:17)   But because they had blessed God, He will now bless them.

We come to the final part of this little book, (Haggai 2:20-23).  I wish that I understood this but I do not.  It is addressed only to Zerubbabel.  In normal circumstances Zerubbabel would be king, but of course Darius is king.  The nation is still under the control of a foreigner and will remain so until 1947, a long way off.  So Zerubbabel is only the governor.  He represents the political wing of the nation, and Joshua, the High Priest is not included.  Of course, we all understand what a signet ring is and its use to give authority to whatever is contained in any document sealed in this way.  A signet ring is worn on the outer side of the hand, and is not protected by the palm of the hand.  It is subject to any hard knocks or problems which the hands come into contact with.  We have seen the Jewish nation over the centuries be dipped into the red-hot sealing wax, but God finishes with that promise “I have chosen you” (Haggai 2:23).   The Jews hold this very special place in God’s heart.  It’s not always a comfortable place but together Christians and Jews can look forward to the rest of this little prophecy (Haggai 2:22) coming to pass when God overturns the power of the evil one.

Margaret Baker [19.06.2021]