Matthew Henry Commentary Haggai 1
Matthew Henry Commentary
Haggai 1
Matthew Henry Commentary
Haggai 1
"In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, This people say, It is not the time [for us] to come, the time for Jehovah`s house to be built. Then came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses, while this house lieth waste? Now therefore thus saith Jehovah 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. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider your ways. 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 Jehovah. Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith Jehovah of hosts. Because of my house that lieth waste, while ye run every man to his own house. Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholdeth its fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the grain, 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 labor of the hands." — Haggai 1:1-11 (ASV)
Observe the sin of the Jews, after their return from captivity in Babylon. Those employed for God may be driven from their work by a storm, yet they must return to it. They did not say that they would not build a temple, but, Not yet. Thus people do not say they will never repent and reform, and be religious, but, Not yet. And so the great business we were sent into the world to do is not done.
There is a proneness in us to think wrongly of discouragements in our duty, as if they were a release from our duty, when they are only for the trial of our courage and faith. They neglected the building of God's house so that they might have more time and money for worldly affairs. So that the punishment might fit the sin, God brought upon them for not building the temple the very poverty they thought to prevent by not building it.
Many good works have been intended, but not done, because people supposed the proper time had not come. Thus believers let slip opportunities for usefulness, and sinners delay the concerns of their souls until it is too late. If we labor only for the meat that perishes, as the Jews did here, we are in danger of losing our labor; but we are sure it will not be in vain in the Lord if we labor for the meat that lasts to eternal life. If we wish to have the comfort and continuance of temporal enjoyments, we must have God as our Friend.
See also Luke 12:33. When God frustrates our temporal affairs and we encounter trouble and disappointment, we will find the cause. The work we have to do for God and our own souls has been left undone, and we are seeking our own interests more than the things of Christ. How many who plead that they cannot afford to give to pious or charitable purposes often lavish ten times as much on needless expenses for their houses and themselves! But those are strangers to their own best interests who are preoccupied with adorning and enriching their own houses, while God's temple in their hearts lies waste. It is the great responsibility of everyone to engage in the necessary duty of self-examination and communion with their own hearts concerning their spiritual state.
Sin is what we must answer for; duty is what we must do. But many are quick-sighted to pry into other people's ways, yet careless of their own. If any duty has been neglected, that is no reason why it should continue to be neglected. Whatever God will take pleasure in when it is done, we ought to take pleasure in doing. Let those who have postponed their return to God, return with all their heart while there is time.
"Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Jehovah their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their God had sent him; and the people did fear before Jehovah. Then spake Haggai Jehovah`s messenger in Jehovah`s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith Jehovah. And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work on the house of Jehovah of hosts, their God, in the four and twentieth day of the month, in the sixth [month], in the second year of Darius the king." — Haggai 1:12-15 (ASV)
The people returned to God in the way of duty. In attending to God's ministers, we must have respect for him who sent them.
The word of the Lord has success when, by his grace, he stirs up our spirits to comply with it. It is in the day of divine power that we are made willing.
When God has work to be done, he will either find or make people fit to do it. Everyone helped according to their ability, and they did this with a regard for the Lord as their God.
Those who have lost time need to redeem it; and the longer we have loitered in folly, the more haste we should make.
God met them in a way of mercy. Those who work for him have him with them; and if he be for us, who can be against us? This should stir us up to be diligent.
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