Expert: Clifford H. Readout, Jr. - 5/23/2007

Question
Hi can you explain the book of Haggai to me? and can you tell me what the Lord is say to you what it mean's.

Answer
Dear Tina,

Thank you for a question about one of my favorite texts!

First, it may interest you to know some relative dates:
Isaiah = c. 739 - 701 BC
Ezra = c. 539 BC
Haggai = c. 520 BC

Let's consider the text section by section:

Haggai 1:2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built. 3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

This introduction sets the scene for the people to understand God’s message through Haggai. The people had transgressed by devoting themselves and their resources on themselves first, rather than on God and His Temple.  This was not merely a sin of action, but a sin of principle, which is shown by the Lord’s instruction for them to consider their “ways” not just their deeds.  If your heart is devoted to the Lord, so will your words, deeds, and actions be.  If not, selfishness rules your life and conduct.

Haggai 1:6 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.  7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

The Lord shows them the result of their selfishness, a lack of normal provision, and again charges them to consider their ways.

Haggai 1:8 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 the LORD. 9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.  10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.  11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, 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 labour of the hands.

Then The Lord tells them the solution to their troubles: demonstrate the God is first in their priorities by doing what needs to be done to rebuild His Temple (“the house”). He also revealed to them their selfishness and the resulting judgments it brought upon them.

Haggai 1:12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, 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 did fear before the LORD.  13 Then spake Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.  14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,  15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

God’s message had the desired effect, and stirred the people and their leaders to rebuild the Temple.

Haggai 2:1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,  2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,  3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?  4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:  5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.  6 For thus saith the LORD 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;  7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.  8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.  9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

The Lord encourages Zerubbabel (the heir to the Davidic throne) and the people not to be discouraged by the immensity of the job facing them (rebuilding the Temple). Some of them could remember Solomon’s Temple (their first “permanent “ temple structure) and knew the impossibility of replacing it with anything as impressive. Nevertheless, if the Lord builds the house, it will surely be glorious (Psalm 127:1) in the end and fulfill its purpose for His people.

The next passage is to me the most significant in the Book of Haggai, but must have some background to make its point clear.  I am including a portion of a copyrighted study which contains the facts that intrigue me so much.  I suspect this is the very heart of the message God was giving through Haggai.  Please, honor my copyright.

Excerpt from “The Scriptural Priority of the Oneness Doctrine in the Plan of Salvation” © 1995  Clifford H. Readout, Jr.
<begin quote>
*  Nearly two-hundred years before Cyrus was born, God spoke through Isaiah to name Cyrus as one who would perform all His pleasure.  His pleasure is defined in the text as: ordering the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the laying of the foundation of the Temple.  All of the events prophesied were designed by God to bring people to know the God of Israel and to know that He alone is God!  (Isaiah 44:24—>45:6, note Isaiah 44:28.)  Looking at the events following Cyrus’ decree (and those decrees that supported it)  we may gather insight on the priority God places on the Foundation!
When Zerubbabel led the children of Israel out of the captivity and back to Jerusalem they went to work to reestablish proper worship to God.  We read that their first action was the building of the altar.  The scripture says they built the altar just like it was supposed to be built.  They offered upon it just like the Word of God said to offer upon it.  They even kept the Feast of Tabernacles as it is written.  Everything they had done had been done by the Book...almost.
There is a word in the middle of Ezra 3:6 that is a sure sign of God’s displeasure.  That word is “but.”  (The serious implication of that word is shown by how the beautiful and glorious words of Isaiah 59:1 are completely altered by the first word, “But” of Isaiah 59:2.  There is a very enlightening word study there!  That one little word changes the perspective!)  “But the foundation of the Temple was not yet laid.”  Ezra 3:1 - 6 - 13.
So what?  We should look at what God says about it sixteen years later!  Haggai 2:10 - 19.
:10 - 12  Have you ever wondered why God has put so much apparently insignificant detail into His Word?  It is worth considering if you believe that man shall live by “every word” that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4, et al), and that “every word” of God is pure (Proverbs 30:5), and that “all scripture” is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16), etc.  God thinks “the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius” was significant enough to be specified!  It tells us when this word came: about sixteen years after the altar was built in Ezra 3:1 - 6.  It is also a special day, as we shall see, after we hear what God had to say:
*  Just because the holy things touch things that are neither holy nor unholy, those neutral things shall not become holy!
*  Also, the holy things will not remain holy if they touch those things that are not sanctified, even if they aren’t specifically unclean!  Christian people need to understand this principle!  We aren’t going to be made holy just by association and contact with the things of God!  But we can neutralize our own sanctification and holiness just by getting involved with those things which are lawful, but unsanctified!  Let us keep our “standards” of righteousness high!  The holy is neutralized by touching the neutral!
:13   If someone who is unclean, or something that is unclean in and of itself touches those things that are neither clean or unclean, they become unclean!  In addition to this, the sanctified one who is touched by that which is unclean is defiled by that touch!  (This may explain John 20:17’s prohibition to Mary.)  We who have been sanctified by God for the work of His service must not allow ourselves to be touched by sin and uncleanness.  The holy is defiled by the touch of uncleanness!  
:14   Here is God’s perspective on the lovely altar they built, and all the offerings they made there for sixteen years!
*  The people are unclean!
*  The nation is unclean!
*  Every “work of their hands” is unclean!
*  And that which they offer “there” is also unclean!  Where is the “there?”  It is upon the “work of their hands!”  Notice that God called that altar “the work of their hands.”  There is a sorrow of the world which worketh death.  There is a repentance that must be repented of.  The repentance that results from our own motivations is merely the work of our hands.  It doesn’t matter how sincere it is, nor how good its intentions; nor does it matter how closely it follows the pattern for repentance.  If it is not exactly in accordance with the purpose and plan of God, and performed by His own hands, it will not save!  Such repentances are not unto salvation, but merely the work of our hands!  (2 Corinthians 7:10.)
:15 - 17  The four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius was not just the day God sent this word, it was also the day He wanted the people to begin some considerations!  That day was the day before a stone had been laid upon a stone in the building of the Temple.  
*  For sixteen long years, from the building of that altar to that day, God had withheld His real blessings.  The people of God lacked the supplies they needed; they suffered the afflictions of the nations which knew not God, all at the hand of their God!  He smote them!  Yet they turned not to Him.  Actually, it is somewhat understandable.  After all, they had been released from captivity.  Any life in Jerusalem was better than a life as a captive of the world of sin.  No doubt some of them felt they should not complain about the conditions: it was the provision of God.  (The “God wants us to suffer” theology.)  “All in all, it is better to be saved and do as well as we can with those blessing we have.”  Pfui!  Sometimes we settle for less than what God wants us to have because we haven’t performed all His pleasure!  Have we been settling for half as much grain as we’ve needed?  Do enough people really get the Word of God out of our ministries?  Have we been making do with only two-fifths of our vessels getting filled?  Do hungry souls walk away from our altars without having received what they really need from God?  Do enough get filled with the Holy Ghost?  Do we keep enough of those who do receive the Holy Ghost?  He smote them!  Yet, they turned not to Him!
*  As far as they were concerned, that altar was a turning to Him!  It was the altar to JEHOVAH!  But JEHOVAH did not consider it or the offerings given there to be a turning to Him!
:18 - 19 .Their seed was still in the barn, the fruit trees gave no great harvest.  But God said that situation was about to change!  Why?  Because on that four and twentieth day of the ninth month in the second year of Darius they laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD!
*  Could this be a prophetic key for our ministries?  Is our seed yet in the barn?  Has the gospel really been sown in all the world as it should be?  Have the fruit trees of our day brought forth?  Have we really experienced as great a harvest as we should?  Have we been specialists in altar-building and sacrifice-making rather than foundation-laying?  If we would make this great Oneness Foundation the priority of our message to the lost would God open the doors now closed to our missionary efforts?  If we put our emphasis on the truth of “which God really is God” the Sower might insure we could get our seed out of the barn and into the fields!  He might be waiting for us to reorder our doctrinal and preaching priorities before He grants us the great reaping harvest!
*  “Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider it....From this day will I bless you.”   Haggai 2:18 - 19.
Even Zechariah (Haggai’s fellow prophet during those times) emphasizes the priority that must be given to the foundation!  His statements, recorded as the Word of God, at the least very strongly imply that we cannot build the temple until the foundation has been laid!  The foundation must come first or we cannot build any temple for the LORD at all!
*  “...In the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.”  Zechariah 8:9 - 15.
The only ministers who will ever “realize” a finished temple will be those who lay the foundation first!
*  “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house: his hands shall also finish it;”  Zechariah 4:9.
Surely the altar has been recognized as an accurate type of repentance.  This example of the relation between the building of the altar and the laying of the foundation, then, really gives instruction relative to the issue we are examining!  It plainly expresses that the repentance (altar) that precedes the revelation (knowing the identity of the One True God, knowing which god really is God: Oneness) is merely the result of the sorrow of the world, and not the gift of a changed heart the Bible declares true repentance to be.  
© 1995  Clifford H. Readout, Jr.
<end quote>

It is likely that the very most important message God gave through Haggai is concerning the coming of Messiah.  While it didn’t have much immediate application to the people at that time, it was God’s assurance that He would fulfill His promise, and established that what He had told them to do had symbolic importance. Haggai 2:6-7 contained the important prophecy concerning the spiritual house that was represented by the physical house they were to build.  The remaining part of Haggai’s prophecy are the confirmation and detail of that prophecy. Here is the prophecy concerning Messiah (“the desire of all nations”):

Haggai 2:6 For thus saith the LORD 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;  7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

Notice the chronological sequence given:
The process of the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Messiah would begin soon (“it is a little while,” does not refer to the fulfillment, but to the beginning of the process that would culminate in the fulfillment), and would follow this order of events:
1.Shaking of the heavens, earth, sea and dry land (probably both the literal and figurative uses of the words was intended)
2. Shaking of the nations
3. Arrival of the Messiah
4. The House will be filled with glory.

The concluding words reconfirm that prophecy:
Haggai 2:20 And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,  21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;  22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; 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.  23 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.

What then are the important messages God has given to you by Haggai?
1. Don’t devote yourself more to yourself and your comforts than you do to the Lord and His purposes.  When Messiah came, He gave you the same message:

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?  26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?  27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?  28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:  29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?  31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

2. Selfishness cannot be satisfied and will lead to eventual ruin. When Messiah came, He gave you the same message:

Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.  23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

3. Lay the foundation first, before you begin building the rest of the house.  Bring yourself to truly know God and who He is before you try to work for Him.  When Messiah came, He gave you the same message:

Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.  26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:  27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.  28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:  29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?  14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.  15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?  16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

To help you know who God is, so you may more easily come to know Him in a more personal way, allow me to include this outline for you, also:

Excerpt from “The Scriptural Priority of the Oneness Doctrine in the Plan of Salvation” © 1995  Clifford H. Readout, Jr.
<begin quote>
*  God is One.  Deuteronomy 6:4;  Mark 12:29; et al.
*  God is a Spirit.  John 4:24;  Ephesians 4:4;  et al.
*  God (who is a Spirit) became a Man.  Exodus 15:2;  Isaiah 12:2;  Psalm 118:14 - 21;  John 1:1, 14;  2 Corinthians 3:17; et al.
*  The Man God became is identified by the Name “Jesus,” with various other titles added: “The Lord Jesus,” “Jesus Christ,” “The Lord Jesus Christ,” “Jesus of Nazareth,” etc.  Luke 1:31;  Matthew 1:21; Acts 8:16; 10:36; 11:17; 22:8; et al.
*  The Man God became was fully God in the Absolute sense through “the mystery of godliness,” which is the Incarnation.  Thus, the Man God became is “God with us,” “the Mighty God,” “the Everlasting Father,” and “the Almighty.”     1 Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Revelation 1:8; etc.
*  The Man God became was also fully Human in the Ultimate sense through the seed of the virgin woman of the lineage of Eve, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David, yet totally without any sin nature because He was also God Incarnate.  Genesis 3:15; Genesis 49:10; 1 Kings 8:26 - 27; Acts 2:30; Romans 9:5; Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 4:15; etc.
*  As a Man, He increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man; learned obedience, suffered, died by crucifixion, was buried and rose again the third day.  Luke 2:52; Hebrews 5:8 - 9; 1 Corinthians 15:1 - 4; et al.
*  As a Man, the scriptures use the following titles to designate His Deity (Godhead) and Humanity:
“The Son of God,” 1 John 4:15; 1 John 5:20; et al.
“The Son of Man,” Matthew 12:8; John 5:27; et al.
Thus, a brief and concise definition of the truth expressed in the doctrine of Oneness is that The One True and Almighty God became a Man called The Lord Jesus Christ.  The Lord Jesus Christ is both the One and Only LORD God Almighty and the Human Messiah, called “the Son,” who gave His life to redeem us.  Elohim (God) hath made that same Yeshua’ (Jesus) whom ye crucified both Yahweh (Lord) and Messiah (Christ).  He is not part God and part Man.  He is not part of God.  He is fully, completely, and exclusively God in the Absolute sense, and fully, completely, and absolutely Human in the Ultimate sense also.  In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.  He is not a “second person” in the Godhead.  There is no other God or “Divine Person” than He.  Beside Him there is no Saviour.  Acts 2:36; Colossians 2:8 - 10; et al.
It is fully as serious an error to detract from or deny His Perfect and Ultimate Humanity as it is to lessen or dilute His Absolute and Exclusive Deity.  He is both fully Human and fully God.  This is one factor of His Uniqueness and Incomparability.  There is none like Him!
<end quote>
© 1995  Clifford H. Readout, Jr.

I hope this helps.

CR