Charles Spurgeon Commentary Haggai 1

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, Thus people say, The time has not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.

A bad excuse is thought to be better than none. These people would not object to the building of the Lord's house, but they were willing to postpone so expensive a matter. There are always some persons who will not say that they decline self-sacrifice for Christ – that would be more honesty than could reasonably be expected from them, and honesty might cost their feelings too much – but they have some other reason or pretense of reason – “The time has not come that the Lord's house should be built.” People are generally quick enough for anything that is for their own interest. “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” We must catch time by the forelock.

Oh! if we had the same desire in the work and service of God – if we had the same desire – we should have the same promptitude to do our task. “The time has not come – the time that the Lord's house should be built.”

Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?

They had paneled their houses with cedar and fragrant wood, decorating them with carvings, whereas the plainest buildings would have been sufficient. God will allow them to build their own houses for necessary dwelling, but His house should certainly have come next, before they began decorating their own.

"Is it time for you to do this?" Indeed, it may well be said to many a wealthy man, "It does not appear to you to be time to aid foreign missions, but it does seem to you to be time to put another thousand pounds in secure investments. It does not seem time for you to help the Bible Society, but it seems to be time to make another investment and purchase another estate that adjoins your own."

Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your ceiled houses?

Now therefore thus saith the LORD 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.

Those people did not prosper: they were very prudent in a worldly way, but somehow they did not succeed. No! It is not what we do so much as God's prospering us that will make us truly succeed.

It is vain to rise up early and sit up late, and eat the bread of anxious toil. God must give us prosperity, and He often withholds this when He sees it is not right.

A man will not trust a bad steward. And though God has trusted many and many a bad steward for wise reasons, yet among His own people He often gives chastisements and deprives them of worldly comfort when they do not use what they have for His service.

I think I have heard some people say that ministers should never talk about money in the pulpit.

The prophet Haggai did, however. It is because ministers say so little about the consecration of their substance to God's cause that this most important part of true piety is often treated with levity, and by some even with disgust.

No, brothers, we must speak often. The great sin of the Christian Church is withholding from God. It is the sin now, just as it was in the days of Haggai.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

If you considered your ways, you would see that you have been losers by your attempts to gain. Consider your ways practically by altering them.

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, 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.

God keeps an almanac, and the date on which he speaks is always important. There is a set time for each of his messages to come to men, and God would have them pay attention to every message as soon as it is delivered to them.

If they do not, he keeps count of the days of their delay; and therefore he is particular in causing his servants to record the exact date when his message was delivered: In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest.

Oh that God would make this very day notable in our history by speaking to the hearts of many here! Notice, too, that God also takes care to direct his messages to those for whom they are intended. The word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel and to Joshua.

God knows to whom his message is specially addressed today, and he will not let it miss its mark. Oh, that someone here would cry to him, and say, "Lord, speak to me, as you did to Zerubbabel; and not to me only, but to such-and-such another, as you did to Joshua." Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say.

So the Lord notes what people say, and in due time he reminds them of what they have said. Sometimes, he makes men eat their own words; but, if not, he at least recalls them to their memory: This people say, The time is not come, the time that Jehovah’s house should be built.

Delay has always been one of the strongest of Satan's temptations even with God's own people, who far too often say, even concerning his work which they know ought to be done, "The time is not come." How much more would be done for God if we would all do at once what ought to be done!

We could then go on to something else, and make our lives still more useful and fruitful. But we delay so long the carrying out of one good purpose that there remains no opportunity for another. If any of you Christian people are tempted to put off some service for God which is on your heart, I urge you to remember your Lord's words, and to imitate his prompt action: I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?

"There seems to be time enough for you to enjoy the luxuries of life, but not time for you to rebuild the temple of the Lord; time enough for you to get rich, but not time for you to serve God; time enough for you to spend your labor upon anything for yourself, but not upon the house of your God!" What a rebuke was this to those who professed to be the Lord's people!