The Pulpit Commentary — Haggai — Section 8

showing of himself to Moses at the bush (Exod. iii. 2), and hie disclosure of himself to mnnkind in the Person of Christ (Gal. iv. 4). 3. Sometimes suggestive. This was so in the case unde~ consideration. _First, the year in _which Haggai appeared was suggestive of the peoples sadness; he.vmg no more e. kmg of their own to count from, they reclrnnecl the date B8 that of the second year of Darius, i.e. of Darius HystMpes (Darajavus of the cuneiform inscriptions), who reigned from B.o. 521 to B.c. 486. Next, the month-the sixth of their ordinary Jewish year (corresponding with our August or September), and therefore towards the close of harvest-ought at least, by the comparatively barren fields they had reaped, to have reminded them of their chastise- ment (vers. 10, 11), and so induced in them a spirit of humility. Lastly, the day ot' the month, the new moon's day, which the Law had directed to be kept as a day of special sacrifice (Numb. xxviii. 11), which their forefathers had observed ae a. popular festival (Prov. vii. 20, margin Authorized Version), and marked by religious gatherings at the local sanctuaries (Isa. i. 13, 14; 2 Kings iv. 23), and which probably they ~!so celebrated as a holiday, might have spoken to them of their sin in preserving the outward forms of religion while neglecting its inward spirit, and perhaps also of their duty, to attend with true docility to the admonition which proceeded from the new prophet's lips. II. FIND THEIR OWN INSTRUMENTS. These also are: 1. Mostly humble. Only once did Divine revelatiou find an organ that was truly exalted, viz. when he who, as the only begotten Son, had been in the Father's bosom. made him known (John i. 18)- although even then it was needful that that Son should empty himself of bis glory and veil his Divinity behind a garment of humanity before he could properly accomplish his work (Phil. ii. 6, 7). But in all other instances the instruments selected by Jehovah for the transmission of his will to mankind are humble and lowly in comparison with him whose will they bear (Isa. xl. 18), even when they are angels; how much more when men, as they mostly are! And of these it is seldom the most exalted in rank or wisdom that he selects, but most frequently the lowliest-persons in obscure stations, like Moses when a stranger in Midian (Acts vii. 29-31), like Elisha when holding the plough (1 Kings xix. 19), or like Amos when amonz the herdsmen of Tekoa (Amos i. 1); and persons of unknown family, like Elijah the Tish bite, or Nahum the Elkoshite, or Habakkuk, of whom almost nothing is known. 2. .Always suitable. Men frequently err in choosing instruments to execute their will; God, never. He can always discern Bpirits, while men only think they can. Men judge according to appearance; be, according to the heart. Haggai was, perhaps, not such a vehicle as man would have pitched upon to he the medium of a Divine communication. Bnt for God's purpose he was fitted beyond most. Though not absolutely certain, it is most pn,bable he was an old man of eighty years (Ewald, Pusey), who had seen the first temple in its glory (eh. ii. 3), and who could therefore speak with greater emphasis and solemnity as one standing on the confines of eternity, who knew the vanity of earthly greatness, and could appreciate the superior excellence and desirability of things inward and spiritual, Besides, his very name-Haggai, or "Festive "-fitted him to be the bearer of a message to desponding builders. What they wanted was inspiriting incitement, encouragement, and hope; and of that there was a promise in the old man's designation -Haggai, or" The Festal One "-especially if this only expressed the habitual dispcsition of his soul. 3. Generally efficient. "It has been the wont of critics, in whose eyes the prophets were but poets," writes Pusey," to speak of the style of Hagga.i as 'tame' and 'destitute of life and power;'" but, for all that, it was adapted to the object sought to be accomplished. Haggai had no need to complain, as the eloquent Isaiah (first or second), "Lord, who hath believed our report'? and to whom is the arm of the Lord reveale<l?" (Isa. !iii. 1); of him it is recorded that his words awoke an immediate response in his hearers' hearts, and "they came and did work in the house of tbe Lord of hosts, their God" ( ver. 14). Mau cannot always say of his instruments, however finely polished, that they will never fail; God can always predict of his, however rude, that tbey will certainly succt>cd. III. CHOOSE THEIR OWN RECIPIENTS. These are commonly diverse, as in the present instB.Ilce. Haggai'~ message was directed: 1. To Zerubbabel; concerning whom may be noted: (1) His names. Sheshbazzar (Ezra i. 8), most probably Chaldean or Tlaby [. •ni,i11, and perhaps signifying "Worshipper of Fire" (Gesenius); Zerubbabel (Ezra ii. 1),  1.'HE BOOK .OF HA.GGA.I. [ou. 1. 1-16. I p\,yiously TTehrcw, and rncaninp; "Born in Babylon;" and 'l'irahatha (Ezra ii. 63; Neh. ,ii. 65). most likely Persian, and equivalent to "The Feared."' (2) Hie descont. Described in the text as the son of Shealtiel, who was the son of Jeooniah the captive (1 Chron. iii. 17, Authorized Version), or, if Assir be taken ns a proper name (1 Chron, iii. 17, Authorized Version), the grandson ofJeconiah; or ap:ain, if.Luke's register he followed (iii. '.!i), the son oi" Neri ;-Zerubhabel is expressly stnted by tho chronicler to have been n son ot Pe<laiah, a brother of Shealtiel (1 Chron. iii. 19). Probably as good a solution of the difliculty as any other is K~il's, that Jeconiah, according to the prophecy of Jere- miah (xxii. 30), had no sons, but only a daughter, who married Neri, a descendant of David, and became by him the mother of Shealtiel and Pedaiah, who accordin"lv were reckoned sons of Jeconiab, and that Shealtiel having died without issue his"brother Pedaiah married his widow, and raised up for him a son named Zerubbabel. (3) His office. As a descendant of the royal house of Judah, he was the recognized head of the Jewish exiles in Babylon,_ and ~s such was by Cyrus appointed gove~or of the pilgrim band who returned to their native land. 2. To Joshua; who .also 1s described by his nncestry as the son of Josedecb, who bad been carried away by the Cbaldeans to Babylon (1 Cbron. vi. 15), when bis father Zeraiah bad been put to death by Nebuchad- nezzar (2 .Kings xxv. 1S-21; Jer. lii. 24-27), and by bis office as the high priest of the young community that had returned to Judrea and Jerusalem. As Zerubbabel was their civil, so was Joshua their religious, hea.d; and "together they a.re types of him the true King and true Priest, Christ Jesus, who by his resurrection raised again: th~ true temple, his body, after it had been destroyed" (Pusey). 3. To the people. Though Haggai's words were directed in the first instance to Zerubhabel and Joshua, they were in the second instance designed for the whole congregation ; and that the whole congregation received them, whether directly from the prophet's own lips or indirectly through those of the prince and the priest, is expressly stated (vers. 12, 13). , LESSONS. 1. The possibility of revelation; 2. 'l'he human medium of inspiration. 3. The greater privilege of the Christian Church in having as a revealer of the Divine will, not a human prophet merely. but the incarnate Son. 4. The higher responsibility which this entails. Vers. 2-5.-The mistalces of the temple-builders: a wa·rning. I. THEY FAILED TO DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE 'l'DIEB. They imagined the time had not come for them tD build the Lord's house, whereas it bad fully arrived. 1. What led them to suppose or say so, though not stated, may easily be inferred. (1) 'l'hey were disheartened by the opposition they encountered (see next bead). (2) The original grant obtained from CJ·rus (Ezra. iii 7) was probably then exhausted. (3) They bad been interdicted by a decree of Artaxerxes, or of pseudo-Smerdis (Ezra iv. 23, 24). And (4) they were suffering from bad trade and worse harvests (ver. 6), and consequently were unable. to contribute towards the expense of the building. 2. The indications that the time had fully wme were so plain that they should hardly have been misread; {1) -The seventy vea.rs during which the whole land of Judah was to lie.desolate, and its inhabitants ~hould serve the King of Babylon ( Jer. xxv. 11, 12), and at the end of which the exiles should return to their own land (Jer. :i::xix. 10); bad manifestly rolled by. (2) The very deliverer of whom Isaiah had spoken by name, CyrUB (Isa. xliv. 28; xiv. 1); had appeared, and opened the two-leaved gates of Babylon (Ezra i. 2, 3). (3) The sacred vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had carried off to Babylon (2 Kings xxiv. 13), and Jeremiah (xxviii. 3) predicted would again be brought from Babylon, bad actually been delivert:d over into the bands of Zerubbabel by Cyrus (Ezra i. 8). (4) The bad harvests and depressed trade from which they were suffering were a manifest token of the Divine displeasure ,0n accoUDt of their negligence, and were no real excuse for their illiberal conduct, since they could obviously find money enough to build ceiled mansions for themselves. (5) The decree of Artaxerxes only forbad the building of the city (Ezra iv. 21), not of the temple; and even though it had been directed aaainst the latter, Artaxerxes himself no longer reigned, having been driven from the throne be .bad usurped, and his place having been occupied by Darius Hysta.spes, fio that the repressive edict, bad they been anxious, might easily have 'been 1•evoked. 'J'liis mistake of the builders bas often been committed; as e.g. by Moses-in Egypt, who ro101 ,,;.;,J the Higns of the t;mes, ao.d thought the hour had struck for Israel's delivenmoc, UH. I. 1-16.] THE BOOK OF HAGGAI. 7