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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>H A G G A I.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. I.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter, after the preamble of the prophecy, we have,
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I. A reproof of the people of the Jews for their dilatoriness and
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slothfulness in building the temple, which had provoked God to contend
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with them by the judgment of famine and scarcity, with an exhortation
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to them to resume that good work and to prosecute it in good earnest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:1-11">ver. 1-11</A>.
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II. The good success of this sermon, appearing in the people's return
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and close application to that work, wherein the prophet, in God's name,
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animated and encouraged them, assuring them that God was with them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:12-15">ver. 12-15</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Hag1_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Hag1_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Jews Reproved; God's Controversy with the Jews; The Prophet's Good Advice.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD VALIGN=BOTTOM ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 520.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in
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the first day of the month, came the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> by Haggai
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the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of
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Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest,
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saying,
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2 Thus speaketh the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, saying, This people say, The
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time is not come, the time that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s house should be built.
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3 Then came the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> by Haggai the prophet, saying,
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4 <I>Is it</I> time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses,
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and this house <I>lie</I> waste?
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5 Now therefore thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts; Consider your
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ways.
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6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have
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not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe
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you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth
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wages <I>to put it</I> into a bag with holes.
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7 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts; Consider your ways.
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8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house;
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and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, <I>it came</I> to little; and when ye
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brought <I>it</I> home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of
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hosts. Because of mine house that <I>is</I> waste, and ye run every
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man unto his own house.
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10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the
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earth is stayed <I>from</I> her fruit.
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11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the
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mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the
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oil, and upon <I>that</I> which the ground bringeth forth, and upon
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men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It was the complaint of the Jews in Babylon that they <I>saw not their
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signs,</I> and there was <I>no more prophet</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:9">Ps. lxxiv. 9</A>),
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which was a just judgment upon them for mocking and misusing the
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prophets. We read of no prophets they had in their return, as they had
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in their coming out of Egypt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+12:13">Hos. xii. 13</A>.
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God stirred them up immediately by his Spirit to exert themselves in
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that escape
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+1:5">Ezra i. 5</A>);
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for, though God makes use of prophets, he needs them not, he can do his
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work without them. But the lamp of Old-Testament prophecy shall yet
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make some bright and glorious efforts before it expire; and Haggai is
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the first that appears under the character of a special messenger from
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heaven, when the <I>word of the Lord</I> had been long <I>precious</I>
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(as when prophecy began,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+3:1">1 Sam. iii. 1</A>)
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and <I>there had been no open vision.</I> In the reign of Darius
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Hystaspes, the third of the Persian kings, in the second year of his
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reign, this prophet was sent; and the word of the Lord came to him, and
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came by him to the leading men among the Jews, who are here named,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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The chief governor,
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1. In the state; that was <I>Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,</I> of
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the house of David, who was commander-in-chief of the Jews, in their
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return out of captivity.
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2. In the church; and that was <I>Joshua the son of Josedech,</I> who
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was now <I>high priest.</I> They were great men and good men, and yet
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were to be stirred up to their duty when they grew remiss. What the
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people also were faulty in they must be told of, that they might use
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their power and interest for the mending of it. The prophets, who were
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extraordinary messengers, did not go about to set aside the ordinary
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institutions of magistracy and ministry, but endeavoured to render both
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more effectual for the ends to which they were appointed, for both
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ought to be supported. Now observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. What the sin of the Jews was at this time,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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As soon as they came up out of captivity they set up an altar for
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sacrifice, and within a year after laid the foundations of a temple,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+3:10">Ezra iii. 10</A>.
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They then seemed very forward in it, and it was likely enough that the
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work would be done suddenly; but, being served with a prohibition some
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time after from the Persian court, and charged not to go on with it,
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they not only yielded to the force, when they were actually under it,
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which might be excused, but afterwards, when the violence of the
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opposition had abated, they continued very indifferent to it, had no
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spirit nor courage to set about it again, but seemed glad that they had
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a pretence to let it stand still. Though those who are employed for God
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may be driven off from their work by a storm, yet they must return to
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it as soon as the storm is over. These Jews did not do so, but
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continued loitering until they were afresh reminded of their duty. And
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that which they suggested one to another was, <I>The time has not come,
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the time that the Lord's house should be built;</I> that is,
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1. "Our time has not come for the doing of it, because we have not yet
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recovered, after our captivity; our losses are not repaired, nor have
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we yet got before-hand in the world. It is too great an undertaking
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for new beginners in the world, as we are; let us first get our own
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houses up, before we talk of building churches, and in the mean time
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let a bare altar serve us, as it did our father Abraham." They did not
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say that they would not build a temple at all, but, "Not yet; it is all
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in good time." Note, Many a good work is put by by being put off, as
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Felix put off the prosecution of his convictions to a more convenient
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season. They do not say that they will never repent, and reform, and
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be religious, but, "Not yet." And so the great business we were sent
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into the world to do is not done, under pretence that it is all in good
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time to go about it.
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2. "God's time has not come for the doing of it; for (say they) the
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restraint laid upon us by authority in a legal way is not broken off,
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and therefore we ought not to proceed, though there be a present
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connivance of authority." Note, There is an aptness in us to
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misinterpret providential discouragements in our duty, as if they
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amounted to a discharge from our duty, when they are only intended for
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the trial and exercise of our courage and faith. It is bad to neglect
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our duty, but it is worse to vouch Providence for the patronising of
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our neglects.</P>
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<P>
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II. What the judgments of God were by which they were punished for this
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neglect,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:6,9-11"><I>v.</I> 6, 9-11</A>.
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They neglected the building of God's house, and put that off, that they
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might have time and money for their secular affairs. They desired to be
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excused from such an expensive piece of work under this pretence, that
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they must provide for their families; their children must have meat and
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portions too, and, until they have got before-hand in the world, they
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cannot think of rebuilding the temple. Now, that the punishment might
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answer to the sin, God by his providence kept them still behind-hand,
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and that poverty which they thought to prevent by not building the
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temple God brought upon them for not building it. They were sensible of
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the smart of the judgment, and every one complained of the unseasonable
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weather, the great losses they sustained in their corn and cattle, and
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the decay of trade; but they were not sensible of the cause of the
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judgment, and the ground of God's controversy with them. They did not,
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or would not, see and own that it was for their putting off the
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building of the temple that they lay under these manifest tokens of
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God's displeasure; and therefore God here gives them notice that this
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is that for which he contended with them. Note, We need the help of
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God's prophets and ministers to expound to us, not only the judgments
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of God's mouth, but the judgments of his hands, that we may understand
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his mind and meaning in his rod as well as in his word, to discover to
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us not only wherein we have offended God, but wherein God shows himself
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offended at us. Let us observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. How God contended with them. He did not send them into captivity
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again, nor bring a foreign enemy upon them, as they deserved, but took
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the correcting of them into his own hands; for his mercies are great.
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(1.) He that <I>gives seed to the sower</I> denied his blessing upon
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the <I>seed sown,</I> and then it never prospered; they had nothing, or
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next to nothing, from it. <I>They sowed much</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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kept a great deal of ground in tillage, which, they might expect, would
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turn to a better advantage than usual, because their land had long
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<I>lain fallow</I> and had <I>enjoyed its sabbaths.</I> Having sown
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much, they looked for much from it, enough to spend and enough to spare
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too; but they were disappointed: <I>They bring in little,</I> very
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little
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>);
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when they have made the utmost of it, <I>it comes to little</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>);
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it did not yield as they expected.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:10">Isa. v. 10</A>,
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<I>The seed of a homer shall yield an ephah,</I> a bushel's sowing
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shall yield a peck. Note, Our expectations from the creature are often
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most frustrated when they are most raised; and then, when we look for
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much, it comes to little, that our expectation may be from God only, in
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whom it will be outdone. We are here told how they came to be
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disappointed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>The heaven over you is stayed from dew;</I> he that has the key of
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the clouds in his hands shut them up, and withheld the rain when the
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ground called for it, the former or the latter rain, and then of course
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<I>the earth is stayed from her fruit;</I> for, if the heaven be as
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brass, the earth is as iron. The corn perhaps came up very well, and
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promised a very plentiful crop, but, for want of the dews at
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earing-time, it never filled, but was parched with the heat of the sun
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and withered away. The restored captives, who had long been kept bare
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in Babylon, thought they should never want when they had got their own
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land in possession again and had that at command. But what the better
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are they for it, unless they had the clouds at command too? God will
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make us sensible of our necessary and constant dependence upon him,
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throughout all the links in the chain of second causes, from first to
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last; so that we can at no time say, "Now we have no further occasion
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for God and his providence." See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:21">Hos. ii. 21</A>.
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But God not only withheld the cooling rains, but he appointed the
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scorching heats
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
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<I>I called for a drought upon the land,</I> ordered the weather to be
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extremely hot, and then the fruits of the earth were burnt up. See how
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every creature is that to us which God makes it to be, either
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comfortable or afflictive, serving us or incommoding us. Nothing among
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the inferior creatures is so necessary and beneficial to the world as
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the heat of the sun; it is that which puts life into the plants and
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<I>renews the face of the earth at</I> spring. And yet, if that go into
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an extreme, it undoes all again. Our Creator is our best friend; but,
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if we make him our enemy, we make the best friends we have among the
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creatures our enemies too. This drought God called for, and it came at
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the call; as the winds and the waves, so the rays of the sun, obey him.
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It was universal, and the ill effects of it were general; it was a
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drought <I>upon the mountains,</I> which, lying high, were first
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affected with it. The mountains were their pasture-grounds, and used to
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be <I>covered over with flocks,</I> but now there was no grass for
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them. It was <I>upon the corn, the new wine, and the oil;</I> all
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failed through the extremity of the hot weather, even <I>all that the
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ground brought forth;</I> it all withered. Nay, it had a bad influence
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upon men; the hot weather enfeebled some, and made them weary and
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faint, and spent their spirits; it inflamed others, and put them into
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fevers. It should seem, it brought diseases upon cattle too. In short,
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it spoiled <I>all the labour of their hands,</I> which they hoped to
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eat of and maintain their families by. Note, Meat for the belly is meat
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that perishes, and, if we labour for that only, we are in danger of
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losing our labour; but we are sure <I>our labour shall not be in vain
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in the Lord</I> if we labour for <I>the meat which endures to eternal
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life.</I> For the <I>hand of the diligent,</I> in the business of
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religion, will infallibly <I>make rich,</I> whereas, in the business of
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this life, the most solicitous and the most industrious often lose the
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labour of their hands. <I>The race is not to the swift, nor the battle
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to the strong.</I>
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(2.) He that gives <I>bread to the eater</I> denied his blessing upon
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the bread they ate, and then that did not nourish them. The cause of
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the withering and failing of the corn in the field was visible--it was
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for want of rain; but, besides that, there was a secret blast and curse
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attending that which they brought home.
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[1.] When they had it in the barn they were not sure of it: <I>I did
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blow upon it, saith the Lord of hosts</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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and that withered it, as buds are sometimes blasted in the spring by a
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nipping frost, which we see the effects of, but know not the way of.
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<I>I did blow it away;</I> so the margin reads it. When men have heaped
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wealth together God can scatter it with the breath of his mouth as
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easily as we can blow away a feather. Note, We can never be sure of any
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thing in this world; it is exposed, not only when it is in the field,
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but when it is housed; for there <I>moth and rust corrupt,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+6:19">Matt. vi. 19</A>.
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And, if we would have the comfort and continuance of our temporal
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enjoyments, we must make God our friend; for, if he bless them to us,
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they are blessings indeed, but if he blow upon them we can expect no
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good from them: they <I>make themselves wings and fly away.</I>
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[2.] When they had it upon the board it was not that to them that they
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expected: "<I>You eat, but you have not enough,</I> either because the
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meat is washy, and not satisfying, or because the stomach is greedy,
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and not satisfied. You eat, but you have no good digestion, and so are
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not nourished by it, nor does it answer the end, or you have not enough
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because you are not content, nor think it enough. <I>You drink,</I> but
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are not cooled and refreshed by it; <I>you are not filled with
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drink;</I> you are stinted, and have not enough to quench your thirst.
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The <I>new wine is cut off from your mouth</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+1:5">Joel i. 5</A>),
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nay, and you <I>drink your water</I> too by <I>measure and with
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astonishment;</I> you have no comfort of it, because you have no plenty
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of it, but are still in fear of falling short."
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[3.] That which they had upon their backs did them no good there:
|
|
"<I>You clothe yourselves, but there is none warm;</I> your clothes
|
|
soon wear out, and wax old, and grow thin, because God blows upon
|
|
them," contrary to what Israel's did in the wilderness when God blessed
|
|
them. It is God that <I>makes our garments warm upon</I> us, when he
|
|
<I>quiets the earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:17">Job xxxvii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
[4.] That which they had in their bags, which was not laid out, but
|
|
laid up, they were not sure of: "<I>He that earns wages</I> by hard
|
|
labour, and has it paid him in ready current money, <I>puts it into a
|
|
bag with holes;</I> it drops through, and wastes away insensibly. Every
|
|
thing is so scarce and dear that they spend their money as fast as they
|
|
get it." Those that lay up their treasure on earth put it into a bag
|
|
with holes; they lose it as they go along, and those that come after
|
|
them pick it up. But, if we lay up our treasure in heaven, we provide
|
|
for ourselves <I>bags that wax not old,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:33">Luke xii. 33</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Observe wherefore God thus contended with them, and stopped the
|
|
current of the favours promised them at their return
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+2:24">Joel ii. 24</A>);
|
|
|
|
they provoked him to do it: <I>It is because of my house that is
|
|
waste.</I> This is the quarrel God has with them. The foundation of the
|
|
temple is laid, but the building does not go on. "Every man <I>runs to
|
|
his own house,</I> to finish that, and to make that convenient and
|
|
fine, and no care is taken about the Lord's house; and therefore it is
|
|
that God crosses you thus in all your affairs, to testify his
|
|
displeasure against you for that neglect, and to bring you to a sense
|
|
of your sin and folly." Note, As those who seek first the kingdom of
|
|
God and the righteousness thereof shall not only find them, but are
|
|
most likely to have other things added to them, so those who neglect
|
|
and postpone those things will not only lose them, but will justly have
|
|
other things taken away from them. And if God cross us in our temporal
|
|
affairs, and we meet with trouble and disappointment, we shall find
|
|
this is the cause of it, the work we have to do for God and our own
|
|
souls is left undone, and we <I>seek our own things more than the
|
|
things of Jesus Christ,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+2:21">Phil. ii. 21</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The reproof which the prophet gives them for their neglect of the
|
|
temple-work
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Is it time for you, O you! to dwell in your ceiled houses,</I> to
|
|
have them beautified and adorned, and your families settled in them?"
|
|
They were not content with walls and roofs for necessity, but they must
|
|
have for gaiety and fancy. "It is high time," says one, "that my house
|
|
were wainscoted." "It is high time," says another, "that mine were
|
|
painted." And God's house, all this time, <I>lies waste,</I> and
|
|
nothing is done at it. "What!" says the prophet, "is it time that you
|
|
should have your humour pleased, and not time you should have your God
|
|
pleased?" How much was their disposition the reverse of David's, who
|
|
could not be easy in his <I>house of cedar</I> while the <I>ark of
|
|
God</I> was <I>in curtains</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+7:2">2 Sam. vii. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
and of Solomon's, who built the temple of God before he built a palace
|
|
for himself. Note, Those are very much strangers to their own interest
|
|
who prefer the conveniences and ornaments of the temporal life before
|
|
the absolute necessities of the spiritual life, who are full of care to
|
|
enrich their own houses, while God's temple in their hearts lies waste,
|
|
and nothing is done for it or in it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The good counsel which the prophet gives to those who thus despised
|
|
God, and whom God was therefore justly displeased with.
|
|
|
|
1. He would have them reflect: <I>Now therefore consider your ways,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>
|
|
|
|
and again
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Be sensible of the hand of God gone out against you, and enquire into
|
|
the reason; think what you have done that has provoked God thus to
|
|
break in upon your comforts; and think what you will do to testify your
|
|
repentance, that God may return in mercy to you." Note, It is the great
|
|
concern of every one of us to consider our ways, to <I>set our hearts
|
|
to our ways</I> (so the word is), to <I>think on our ways</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:59">Ps. cxix. 59</A>),
|
|
|
|
to <I>search</I> and <I>try</I> them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+3:40">Lam. iii. 40</A>),
|
|
|
|
to <I>ponder the path of our feet</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+4:26">Prov. iv. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
to apply our minds with all seriousness to the great and necessary duty
|
|
of self-examination, and communing with our own hearts concerning our
|
|
spiritual state, our sins that are past, and our duty for the future;
|
|
for sin is what we must answer for, duty is what we must do; about
|
|
these therefore we must be inquisitive, rather than about events, which
|
|
we must leave to God. Many are quick-sighted to pry into other people's
|
|
ways who are very careless of their own; whereas our concern is to
|
|
<I>prove every one his own work,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+6:4">Gal. vi. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. He would have them reform
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Go up to the mountain,</I> to Lebanon, <I>and bring wood,</I> and
|
|
other materials that are wanting, <I>and build the house</I> with all
|
|
speed; put it off no longer, but set to it in good earnest." Note, Our
|
|
considering our ways must issue in the amending of whatever we find
|
|
amiss in them. If any duty has been long neglected, that is not a
|
|
reason why it should still be so, but why now at length it should be
|
|
revived; better late than never. For their encouragement to apply in
|
|
good earnest to this work, he assures them,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That they should be accepted of him in it: <I>Build the house, and
|
|
I will take pleasure in it;</I> and that was encouragement enough for
|
|
them to apply to it with alacrity and resolution, and to go through
|
|
with it, whatever it cost them. Note, Whatever God will take pleasure
|
|
in, when it is done, we ought to take pleasure in the doing of, and to
|
|
reckon that inducement enough to set about it, and go on with it in
|
|
good earnest; for what greater satisfaction can we have in our own
|
|
bosoms than in contributing any thing towards that which God will take
|
|
pleasure in? It ought to be the top of our ambition to be <I>accepted
|
|
of the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+5:9">2 Cor. v. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though they had foolishly neglected the house of God, yet, if at length
|
|
they will resume the care of it, God will not remember against them
|
|
their former neglects, but will take pleasure in the work of their
|
|
hands. Those who have long deferred their return to God, if at length
|
|
they return with all their heart, must not despair of his favour.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he would be honoured by them in it: <I>I will be glorified,
|
|
saith the Lord.</I> He will be served and worshipped in the temple when
|
|
it is built, and sanctified in those that come nigh to him. It is
|
|
worth while to bestow all possible care, and pains, and cost, upon that
|
|
by which God may be glorified.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Hag1_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Hag1_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Hag1_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Hag1_15"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The People's Obedience.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 520.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> their God, and the words of Haggai
|
|
the prophet, as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> their God had sent him, and the people
|
|
did fear before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
13 Then spake Haggai the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s messenger in the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s message
|
|
unto the people, saying, I <I>am</I> with you, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
14 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
of hosts, their God,
|
|
15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the
|
|
second year of Darius the king.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>As an ear-ring of gold</I> (says Solomon), and <I>an ornament of
|
|
fine gold, so</I> amiable, so acceptable, in the sight of God and man,
|
|
<I>is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+25:12">Prov. xxv. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
The prophet here was a wise but faithful reprover, in God's name, and
|
|
he met with an obedient ear. The foregoing sermon met with the desired
|
|
success among the people, and their obedience met with due
|
|
encouragement from God. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How the people returned to God in a way of duty. All those to whom
|
|
that sermon was preached received the word in the love of it, and were
|
|
wrought upon by it. Zerubbabel, the chief governor, did not think
|
|
himself above the check and command of God's word. He was a man that
|
|
had been eminently useful in his day, and serviceable to the interest
|
|
of the church, yet did not plead his former merits in answer to this
|
|
reproof for his present remissness, but submitted to it. Joshua's
|
|
business, as high priest, was to teach, and yet he was willing himself
|
|
to be taught, and willingly received admonition and instruction. <I>The
|
|
remnant of the people</I> (and the whole body of them was but a
|
|
remnant, a very few of the many thousands of Israel) also were very
|
|
pliable; they all <I>obeyed the voice of the Lord their God,</I> and
|
|
bowed their neck to the yoke of his commands, and it is here recorded
|
|
to their honour that they did so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their father said, <I>Sons, go work to-day in my vineyard,</I> in my
|
|
temple; and they not only said, <I>We go, sir,</I> but they went
|
|
immediately.
|
|
|
|
1. They looked upon the prophet to be the Lord's messenger, and the
|
|
word he delivered to be the Lord's message to them; and there-fore
|
|
received it <I>not as the word of man, but as the word of</I> Almighty
|
|
God; they obeyed his words, <I>as the Lord their God had sent him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, In attending to God's ministers we must have an eye to him that
|
|
sent them, and receive them for his sake, while they act according to
|
|
their commission.
|
|
|
|
2. They <I>did fear before the Lord.</I> Prophecy was a new thing with
|
|
them; they had had no special messenger from heaven for a great while,
|
|
and therefore now that they had one, and but one, they paid an
|
|
extraordinary regard to him; whereas their fathers, who had many
|
|
prophets, mocked and misused them. It is sometimes so; when good
|
|
preaching is most scarce it does most good, whereas the manna that is
|
|
rained in plenty is loathed as <I>light bread.</I> And, because they so
|
|
readily received this prophet, God, within a month or two after, raised
|
|
them up another,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+1:1">Zech. i. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
They <I>feared before the Lord;</I> they had a great regard to the
|
|
divine authority and a great dread of the divine wrath, and were of
|
|
those that <I>trembled at God's word.</I> The judgments of God which
|
|
they had been under, though very severe, had not prevailed to make them
|
|
fear before the Lord, until the word of God was sent to expound his
|
|
providences, and then they feared. Note, A holy fear of God will have
|
|
a great influence upon our obedience to him. <I>Serve the Lord with
|
|
fear;</I> if we fear him not, we shall not serve him.
|
|
|
|
3. <I>The Lord stirred up</I> their spirits,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He excited them to their duty, and put it into their hearts to go
|
|
about it. Note, Then the word of God has its success when God by his
|
|
grace stirs up our spirits to comply with it; and without that grace we
|
|
should remain stupid and utterly averse to every thing that is good. It
|
|
is in the day of a divine power that we are made willing.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He encouraged them in their duty, and with those encouragements
|
|
enlarged their hearts,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:32">Ps. cxix. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
When they heard the word they feared; but, lest they should sink under
|
|
the weight of that fear, God stirred them up, and made them cheerful
|
|
and bold to encounter the difficulties they might meet with. Note, When
|
|
God has work to do, he will either find or make men fit to do it, and
|
|
stir them up to it.
|
|
|
|
4. They applied to their work with all possible vigour: <I>They came
|
|
and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts their God.</I> Every
|
|
one, according as his capacity or ability was, lent a hand, some way or
|
|
other, to further that good work; and this they did with an eye to God
|
|
as the <I>Lord of hosts,</I> and as their God, the God of Israel. The
|
|
consideration of God's sovereign dominion in the world by his
|
|
providence, and his covenant-relation to his people by his grace,
|
|
should stir up our spirits to act for him, and for the advancement of
|
|
the interest of his kingdom among men, to the utmost of our power.
|
|
|
|
5. They did this speedily; it was but on the first day of the sixth
|
|
month that Haggai preached them this sermon, and by the twenty-fourth
|
|
of the same month, little more than three weeks after, they were all
|
|
busy working in the house of the Lord their God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
To show that they were ashamed of their delays hitherto, now that they
|
|
were convinced and called they were resolved to delay no longer, but to
|
|
strike while the iron was hot, and to set about the work while they
|
|
were under convictions. Note, Those that have lost time have need to
|
|
redeem time; and the longer we have loitered in that which is good the
|
|
more haste we should make when we are convinced of our folly.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. How God met them in a way of mercy. The same prophet that brought
|
|
them the reproof brought them a very comforting encouraging word
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Then spoke Haggai, the Lord's messenger, in the Lord's message,</I>
|
|
in his name, and as from him, <I>saying, I am with you, saith the
|
|
Lord.</I> That is all he has to say, and that is enough; as that word
|
|
of Christ to his disciples is
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+28:20">Matt. xxviii. 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. I am with
|
|
you,</I> that is, I will forgive your neglects hitherto, and they shall
|
|
not be remembered against you; I will remove the judgments you have
|
|
been under for those neglects, and will appear for you, as I have in
|
|
them appeared against you. <I>I am with you</I> to protect you against
|
|
your enemies that bear ill-will to your work, and to prosper you, and
|
|
to give you success in it--with you to strengthen your hands, and bless
|
|
the work of them, without which blessing those labour in vain that
|
|
build." Note, Those that work for God have God with them; and, if he be
|
|
for us, who can be against us? If he be with us, what difficulty can
|
|
stand before us?</P>
|
|
|
|
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