The Pulpit Commentary — Haggai — Section 19

JewB pcrmisRion to return to their land, and cornmancleil them to rehnild th~ templo of Jehovah in Jerusalem. Hence fifty thousand captives, with their menservantR anrl. maidservants, went ~orth, led ~y Ze:ubbabel and by the high priest JoRhua, to their own lands. Forthwith on their arnval they commenced restorina the altar of burnt offering and re-establishing the sacrificial worehip, and began "'to lay the founda- tion of th11 new temple. The Samaritans speedily interfered and impeded their progress. Because the chiefs of Judah would not accept their co-operation in the underfakino- tbey set themselves to the work of obstruction. They made the hand of the people ~f Judah idle, as we read, in frightening them while building, and hiring counsellors against them to frustrate their design, so that the work at the house of God at Jerusalem ceased and was suspended until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia (Ezra iv. 24). Hereupon the zeal of the Jews so cooled down that they relin- quished the work altogether, and simply began to provide for their own necessities and to build their own houses. Hence Heaven employs Haggai to rouse them again from their wickedness. The subject of these verses is the adjoornment of duty. "The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." They do not question the de3irableness or the obligation of the work. This indeed seems to be assumed. During the Captivity, we are told elsewhere that they hanged their harps upon the willows, and wept when they "remembered Zion." Often, perhaps, in those circumstances did they resolve, should they ever be restored, to rebuild that temple which was the glory of the land; but now that they are there on the spot, and the ruins lying before them, their ardour is cooled, and they say, "The time is not come." We see three evils coming out here, which, perhaps, are always connected with the adjoornment of duty. I. COWARDICE. They did not say," We will not build the temple, we will leave it to remain in ruins;" they were too cowardly for that. Their consciences rendered them incapable of making such a decision. Men who neglect duty are too cowardly to say, "We will never attend to it, we will never study the Scriptures, worship God." 1. Sin is cowardice. 2. Sin is cowardice because CO'flscience, the truly heroic element, is ever against it. IL SELFISHNESS. What was it that prompted them to adjourn this duty? The answer is at hand, Seljishnus. "le it time for you, 0 ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waete?" They set to work for their own private interests. Virtually they said, "We must build houses for ourselvu first, for all is in llUin about us; we must cultivate our own land first; we must attend to our own business, and after all that is completed we will see to the temple." 1. Seljishness is a perversion of self-love. 2. &lfishness is fatal to self-interut. III. PRESUMPTION. -" The time is not come." How did they know that? Were they judges of times and seasons? Had they the hardihood to suppose that circum- stances can set aside or modify our obligations? Are they imperious enough to plead Providence as & patron of their disobedience? "Go to, now, ye that say, To-day and to-morrow" (Jae. iv. 13). 1. Such presumption is always guilty. It implies that we know better than our Maker about times and see.sons. 2. Such presumption is always perilom. lt treads upon an awful precipice.-D. T. Vers. 6-11.-Duty divinely vindicated. "Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye &re not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes," etc. Their efforts to improve their secular condition were all unsuccessful. The ground brought forth little, etc. Why was this? Not because they did not work; not because either the soil or the seed was bad. The reason was a moral one- they neglected the great duty that !leaven had enjoined upon them, the rebuilding of the temple. They neglected this, and the curse of Heaven rested as a mildew upon all their operations. Had they rightly discharged this duty, prosperity would have attended all their efforts. Real success in any labour, so as to obtain happiness, depends upon the spiritual state of the soul. This is a point which has, perhaps, seldom occupied your attention; nevertheless, it is a point of overwhelming moment. It is common for men to refer success to industry, ingenuity, fortune, luck, or some such cause; the real oause of success or failure is to be referred to the moral state of the soul. HAGGAl, C lR THE BOOK OF HAGGAI. [cu. u. 1-23.