mh_parser/vol_split/37 - Haggai/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Hag.ii" n="ii" next="Hag.iii" prev="Hag.i" progress="92.13%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Hag.ii-p0.1">H A G G A I.</h2>
<h3 id="Hag.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Hag.ii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter, after the preamble of the
prophecy, we have, I. A reproof of the people of the Jews for their
dilatoriness and slothfulness in building the temple, which had
provoked God to contend with them by the judgment of famine and
scarcity, with an exhortation to them to resume that good work and
to prosecute it in good earnest, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.1.1-Hab.1.11" parsed="|Hab|1|1|1|11" passage="Hab 1:1-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>. II. The good success of this
sermon, appearing in the people's return and close application to
that work, wherein the prophet, in God's name, animated and
encouraged them, assuring them that God was with them, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Hab.1.12-Hab.1.15" parsed="|Hab|1|12|1|15" passage="Hab 1:12-15">ver. 12-15</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Hag.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1" parsed="|Hag|1|0|0|0" passage="Hag 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Hag.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.1-Hag.1.11" parsed="|Hag|1|1|1|11" passage="Hag 1:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hag.ii-p1.5">
<h4 id="Hag.ii-p1.6">The Jews Reproved; God's Controversy with
the Jews; The Prophet's Good Advice. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p1.7">b.
c.</span> 520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hag.ii-p2" shownumber="no">1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the
sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p2.1">Lord</span> by Haggai the prophet unto
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua
the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,   2 Thus
speaketh the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p2.2">Lord</span> of hosts, saying,
This people say, The time is not come, the time that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p2.3">Lord</span>'s house should be built.   3
Then came the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p2.4">Lord</span> by
Haggai the prophet, saying,   4 <i>Is it</i> time for you, O
ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house <i>lie</i>
waste?   5 Now therefore thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p2.5">Lord</span> of hosts; Consider your ways.   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
<i>to put it</i> into a bag with holes.   7 Thus saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p2.6">Lord</span> of hosts; Consider your ways.
  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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p2.7">Lord</span>.   9 Ye looked
for much, and, lo, <i>it came</i> to little; and when ye brought
<i>it</i> home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p2.8">Lord</span> of hosts. Because of mine house that
<i>is</i> 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 <i>from</i> 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 <i>that</i> which the
ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all
the labour of the hands.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hag.ii-p3" shownumber="no">It was the complaint of the Jews in Babylon
that they <i>saw not their signs,</i> and there was <i>no more
prophet</i> (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.74.9" parsed="|Ps|74|9|0|0" passage="Ps 74:9">Ps. lxxiv. 9</scripRef>),
which was a just judgment upon them for mocking and misusing the
prophets. We read of no prophets they had in their return, as they
had in their coming out of Egypt, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.12.13" parsed="|Hos|12|13|0|0" passage="Ho 12:13">Hos.
xii. 13</scripRef>. God stirred them up immediately by his Spirit
to exert themselves in that escape (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.1.5" parsed="|Ezra|1|5|0|0" passage="Ezr 1:5">Ezra i. 5</scripRef>); for, though God makes use of
prophets, he needs them not, he can do his work without them. But
the lamp of Old-Testament prophecy shall yet make some bright and
glorious efforts before it expire; and Haggai is the first that
appears under the character of a special messenger from heaven,
when the <i>word of the Lord</i> had been long <i>precious</i> (as
when prophecy began, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.3.1" parsed="|1Sam|3|1|0|0" passage="1Sa 3:1">1 Sam. iii.
1</scripRef>) and <i>there had been no open vision.</i> In the
reign of Darius Hystaspes, the third of the Persian kings, in the
second year of his reign, this prophet was sent; and the word of
the Lord came to him, and came by him to the leading men among the
Jews, who are here named, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.1" parsed="|Hag|1|1|0|0" passage="Hag 1:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>. The chief governor, 1. In the state; that was
<i>Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,</i> of the house of David, who
was commander-in-chief of the Jews, in their return out of
captivity. 2. In the church; and that was <i>Joshua the son of
Josedech,</i> who was now <i>high priest.</i> They were great men
and good men, and yet were to be stirred up to their duty when they
grew remiss. What the people also were faulty in they must be told
of, that they might use their power and interest for the mending of
it. The prophets, who were extraordinary messengers, did not go
about to set aside the ordinary institutions of magistracy and
ministry, but endeavoured to render both more effectual for the
ends to which they were appointed, for both ought to be supported.
Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hag.ii-p4" shownumber="no">I. What the sin of the Jews was at this
time, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.2" parsed="|Hag|1|2|0|0" passage="Hag 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. As soon
as they came up out of captivity they set up an altar for
sacrifice, and within a year after laid the foundations of a
temple, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.3.10" parsed="|Ezra|3|10|0|0" passage="Ezr 3:10">Ezra iii. 10</scripRef>. They
then seemed very forward in it, and it was likely enough that the
work would be done suddenly; but, being served with a prohibition
some time after from the Persian court, and charged not to go on
with it, they not only yielded to the force, when they were
actually under it, which might be excused, but afterwards, when the
violence of the opposition had abated, they continued very
indifferent to it, had no spirit nor courage to set about it again,
but seemed glad that they had a pretence to let it stand still.
Though those who are employed for God may be driven off from their
work by a storm, yet they must return to it as soon as the storm is
over. These Jews did not do so, but continued loitering until they
were afresh reminded of their duty. And that which they suggested
one to another was, <i>The time has not come, the time that the
Lord's house should be built;</i> that is, 1. "Our time has not
come for the doing of it, because we have not yet recovered, after
our captivity; our losses are not repaired, nor have we yet got
before-hand in the world. It is too great an undertaking for new
beginners in the world, as we are; let us first get our own houses
up, before we talk of building churches, and in the mean time let a
bare altar serve us, as it did our father Abraham." They did not
say that they would not build a temple at all, but, "Not yet; it is
all in good time." Note, Many a good work is put by by being put
off, as Felix put off the prosecution of his convictions to a more
convenient season. They do not say that 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, under pretence that
it is all in good time to go about it. 2. "God's time has not come
for the doing of it; for (say they) the restraint laid upon us by
authority in a legal way is not broken off, and therefore we ought
not to proceed, though there be a present connivance of authority."
Note, There is an aptness in us to misinterpret providential
discouragements in our duty, as if they amounted to a discharge
from our duty, when they are only intended for the trial and
exercise of our courage and faith. It is bad to neglect our duty,
but it is worse to vouch Providence for the patronising of our
neglects.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hag.ii-p5" shownumber="no">II. What the judgments of God were by which
they were punished for this neglect, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.6 Bible:Hag.1.9-Hag.1.11" parsed="|Hag|1|6|0|0;|Hag|1|9|1|11" passage="Hag 1:6,9-11"><i>v.</i> 6, 9-11</scripRef>. They neglected the
building of God's house, and put that off, that they might have
time and money for their secular affairs. They desired to be
excused from such an expensive piece of work under this pretence,
that they must provide for their families; their children must have
meat and portions too, and, until they have got before-hand in the
world, they cannot think of rebuilding the temple. Now, that the
punishment might answer to the sin, God by his providence kept them
still behind-hand, and that poverty which they thought to prevent
by not building the temple God brought upon them for not building
it. They were sensible of the smart of the judgment, and every one
complained of the unseasonable weather, the great losses they
sustained in their corn and cattle, and the decay of trade; but
they were not sensible of the cause of the judgment, and the ground
of God's controversy with them. They did not, or would not, see and
own that it was for their putting off the building of the temple
that they lay under these manifest tokens of God's displeasure; and
therefore God here gives them notice that this is that for which he
contended with them. Note, We need the help of God's prophets and
ministers to expound to us, not only the judgments of God's mouth,
but the judgments of his hands, that we may understand his mind and
meaning in his rod as well as in his word, to discover to us not
only wherein we have offended God, but wherein God shows himself
offended at us. Let us observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hag.ii-p6" shownumber="no">1. How God contended with them. He did not
send them into captivity again, nor bring a foreign enemy upon
them, as they deserved, but took the correcting of them into his
own hands; for his mercies are great. (1.) He that <i>gives seed to
the sower</i> denied his blessing upon the <i>seed sown,</i> and
then it never prospered; they had nothing, or next to nothing, from
it. <i>They sowed much</i> (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.6" parsed="|Hag|1|6|0|0" passage="Hag 1:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>), kept a great deal of ground in tillage, which, they
might expect, would turn to a better advantage than usual, because
their land had long <i>lain fallow</i> and had <i>enjoyed its
sabbaths.</i> Having sown much, they looked for much from it,
enough to spend and enough to spare too; but they were
disappointed: <i>They bring in little,</i> very little (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.6" parsed="|Hag|1|6|0|0" passage="Hag 1:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>); when they have made the
utmost of it, <i>it comes to little</i> (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.9" parsed="|Hag|1|9|0|0" passage="Hag 1:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>); it did not yield as they
expected. <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.5.10" parsed="|Isa|5|10|0|0" passage="Isa 5:10">Isa. v. 10</scripRef>,
<i>The seed of a homer shall yield an ephah,</i> a bushel's sowing
shall yield a peck. Note, Our expectations from the creature are
often most frustrated when they are most raised; and then, when we
look for much, it comes to little, that our expectation may be from
God only, in whom it will be outdone. We are here told how they
came to be disappointed (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.10" parsed="|Hag|1|10|0|0" passage="Hag 1:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>): <i>The heaven over you is stayed from dew;</i> he
that has the key of the clouds in his hands shut them up, and
withheld the rain when the ground called for it, the former or the
latter rain, and then of course <i>the earth is stayed from her
fruit;</i> for, if the heaven be as brass, the earth is as iron.
The corn perhaps came up very well, and promised a very plentiful
crop, but, for want of the dews at earing-time, it never filled,
but was parched with the heat of the sun and withered away. The
restored captives, who had long been kept bare in Babylon, thought
they should never want when they had got their own land in
possession again and had that at command. But what the better are
they for it, unless they had the clouds at command too? God will
make us sensible of our necessary and constant dependence upon him,
throughout all the links in the chain of second causes, from first
to last; so that we can at no time say, "Now we have no further
occasion for God and his providence." See <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.2.21" parsed="|Hos|2|21|0|0" passage="Ho 2:21">Hos. ii. 21</scripRef>. But God not only withheld the
cooling rains, but he appointed the scorching heats (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.11" parsed="|Hag|1|11|0|0" passage="Hag 1:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>I called for a
drought upon the land,</i> ordered the weather to be extremely hot,
and then the fruits of the earth were burnt up. See how every
creature is that to us which God makes it to be, either comfortable
or afflictive, serving us or incommoding us. Nothing among the
inferior creatures is so necessary and beneficial to the world as
the heat of the sun; it is that which puts life into the plants and
<i>renews the face of the earth at</i> spring. And yet, if that go
into an extreme, it undoes all again. Our Creator is our best
friend; but, if we make him our enemy, we make the best friends we
have among the creatures our enemies too. This drought God called
for, and it came at the call; as the winds and the waves, so the
rays of the sun, obey him. It was universal, and the ill effects of
it were general; it was a drought <i>upon the mountains,</i> which,
lying high, were first affected with it. The mountains were their
pasture-grounds, and used to be <i>covered over with flocks,</i>
but now there was no grass for them. It was <i>upon the corn, the
new wine, and the oil;</i> all failed through the extremity of the
hot weather, even <i>all that the ground brought forth;</i> it all
withered. Nay, it had a bad influence upon men; the hot weather
enfeebled some, and made them weary and faint, and spent their
spirits; it inflamed others, and put them into fevers. It should
seem, it brought diseases upon cattle too. In short, it spoiled
<i>all the labour of their hands,</i> which they hoped to eat of
and maintain their families by. Note, Meat for the belly is meat
that perishes, and, if we labour for that only, we are in danger of
losing our labour; but we are sure <i>our labour shall not be in
vain in the Lord</i> if we labour for <i>the meat which endures to
eternal life.</i> For the <i>hand of the diligent,</i> in the
business of religion, will infallibly <i>make rich,</i> whereas, in
the business of this life, the most solicitous and the most
industrious often lose the labour of their hands. <i>The race is
not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.</i> (2.) He that
gives <i>bread to the eater</i> denied his blessing upon the bread
they ate, and then that did not nourish them. The cause of the
withering and failing of the corn in the field was visible—it was
for want of rain; but, besides that, there was a secret blast and
curse attending that which they brought home. [1.] When they had it
in the barn they were not sure of it: <i>I did blow upon it, saith
the Lord of hosts</i> (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.9" parsed="|Hag|1|9|0|0" passage="Hag 1:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>), and that withered it, as buds are sometimes blasted
in the spring by a nipping frost, which we see the effects of, but
know not the way of. <i>I did blow it away;</i> so the margin reads
it. When men have heaped wealth together God can scatter it with
the breath of his mouth as easily as we can blow away a feather.
Note, We can never be sure of any thing in this world; it is
exposed, not only when it is in the field, but when it is housed;
for there <i>moth and rust corrupt,</i> <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.19" parsed="|Matt|6|19|0|0" passage="Mt 6:19">Matt. vi. 19</scripRef>. And, if we would have the
comfort and continuance of our temporal enjoyments, we must make
God our friend; for, if he bless them to us, they are blessings
indeed, but if he blow upon them we can expect no good from them:
they <i>make themselves wings and fly away.</i> [2.] When they had
it upon the board it was not that to them that they expected:
"<i>You eat, but you have not enough,</i> either because the meat
is washy, and not satisfying, or because the stomach is greedy, and
not satisfied. You eat, but you have no good digestion, and so are
not nourished by it, nor does it answer the end, or you have not
enough because you are not content, nor think it enough. <i>You
drink,</i> but are not cooled and refreshed by it; <i>you are not
filled with drink;</i> you are stinted, and have not enough to
quench your thirst. The <i>new wine is cut off from your mouth</i>
(<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.10" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.5" parsed="|Joel|1|5|0|0" passage="Joe 1:5">Joel i. 5</scripRef>), nay, and you
<i>drink your water</i> too by <i>measure and with
astonishment;</i> you have no comfort of it, because you have no
plenty of it, but are still in fear of falling short." [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> <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.11" osisRef="Bible:Job.37.17" parsed="|Job|37|17|0|0" passage="Job 37:17">Job
xxxvii. 17</scripRef>. [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> <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p6.12" osisRef="Bible:Luke.12.33" parsed="|Luke|12|33|0|0" passage="Lu 12:33">Luke xii. 33</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hag.ii-p7" shownumber="no">2. Observe wherefore God thus contended
with them, and stopped the current of the favours promised them at
their return (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.24" parsed="|Joel|2|24|0|0" passage="Joe 2:24">Joel ii. 24</scripRef>);
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> <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Phil.2.21" parsed="|Phil|2|21|0|0" passage="Php 2:21">Phil. ii.
21</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hag.ii-p8" shownumber="no">III. The reproof which the prophet gives
them for their neglect of the temple-work (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.4" parsed="|Hag|1|4|0|0" passage="Hag 1:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): "<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> (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.7.2" parsed="|2Sam|7|2|0|0" passage="2Sa 7:2">2 Sam. vii. 2</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="Hag.ii-p9" shownumber="no">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> <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.5" parsed="|Hag|1|5|0|0" passage="Hag 1:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef> and again <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.7" parsed="|Hag|1|7|0|0" passage="Hag 1:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. "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>
(<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.59" parsed="|Ps|119|59|0|0" passage="Ps 119:59">Ps. cxix. 59</scripRef>), to
<i>search</i> and <i>try</i> them (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.3.40" parsed="|Lam|3|40|0|0" passage="La 3:40">Lam.
iii. 40</scripRef>), to <i>ponder the path of our feet</i>
(<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.4.26" parsed="|Prov|4|26|0|0" passage="Pr 4:26">Prov. iv. 26</scripRef>), 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>
<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Gal.6.4" parsed="|Gal|6|4|0|0" passage="Ga 6:4">Gal. vi. 4</scripRef>. 2. He would have
them reform (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.8" parsed="|Hag|1|8|0|0" passage="Hag 1:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>):
"<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> <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p9.8" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.5.9" parsed="|2Cor|5|9|0|0" passage="2Co 5:9">2 Cor. v. 9</scripRef>.
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>
</div><scripCom id="Hag.ii-p9.9" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.12-Hag.1.15" parsed="|Hag|1|12|1|15" passage="Hag 1:12-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hag.ii-p9.10">
<h4 id="Hag.ii-p9.11">The People's Obedience. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p9.12">b. c.</span> 520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hag.ii-p10" shownumber="no">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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p10.1">Lord</span> their God, and the words of Haggai the
prophet, as the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p10.2">Lord</span> their God had
sent him, and the people did fear before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p10.3">Lord</span>.   13 Then spake Haggai the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p10.4">Lord</span>'s messenger in the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p10.5">Lord</span>'s message unto the people, saying, I
<i>am</i> with you, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p10.6">Lord</span>.
  14 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p10.7">Lord</span> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Hag.ii-p10.8">Lord</span> of
hosts, their God,   15 In the four and twentieth day of the
sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hag.ii-p11" shownumber="no"><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> <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.25.12" parsed="|Prov|25|12|0|0" passage="Pr 25:12">Prov. xxv.
12</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Hag.ii-p12" shownumber="no">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, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.12" parsed="|Hag|1|12|0|0" passage="Hag 1:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. 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>
<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.12" parsed="|Hag|1|12|0|0" passage="Hag 1:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.1.1" parsed="|Zech|1|1|0|0" passage="Zec 1:1">Zech. i. 1</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.14" parsed="|Hag|1|14|0|0" passage="Hag 1:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. (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, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.32" parsed="|Ps|119|32|0|0" passage="Ps 119:32">Ps. cxix. 32</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Hag.ii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.15" parsed="|Hag|1|15|0|0" passage="Hag 1:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Hag.ii-p13" shownumber="no">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 (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.13" parsed="|Hag|1|13|0|0" passage="Hag 1:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): <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 (<scripRef id="Hag.ii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.28.20" parsed="|Matt|28|20|0|0" passage="Mt 28:20">Matt. xxviii. 20</scripRef>), "<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>
</div></div2>