Haggai 2:18-The Lord Commands the Remnant of Judah to Thoughtfully Reflect Upon the Last Sixteen Years
Bill Wenstrom
Haggai Chapter Two • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:03:56
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· 27 viewsHaggai 2:18-The Lord Commands the Remnant of Judah to Thoughtfully Reflect Upon the Last Sixteen Years
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Haggai 2:10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year, the Lord spoke again to the prophet Haggai: 2:11 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘Ask the priests about the law. 2:12 If someone carries holy meat in a fold of his garment and that fold touches bread, a boiled dish, wine, olive oil, or any other food, will that item become holy?’ ” The priests answered, “It will not.” 2:13 Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually unclean because of touching a dead body comes in contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.” 2:14 Then Haggai responded, “ ‘The people of this nation are unclean in my sight,’ says the Lord. ‘And so is all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean. 2:15 Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent past, before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. 2:16 From that time when one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures from it, there were only twenty. 2:17 I struck all the products of your labor with blight, disease, and hail, and yet you brought nothing to me,’ says the Lord. 2:18 ‘Think carefully about the past: from today, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, to the day work on the temple of the Lord was resumed, think about it. 2:19 The seed is still in the storehouse, isn’t it? And the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree have not produced. Nevertheless, from today on I will bless you.’” (NET)
Haggai 2:18 records two commands which the Lord communicated to the remnant of Judah through the prophet Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the second year of Darius’ reign over the Persian empire.
The second repeats the first but in an abbreviated form.
The first required that each of the citizens of the remnant of Judah were to immediately thoughtfully reflect within their hearts upon the recent past.
The second simply required that they were to thoughtfully reflect within their hearts.
The presence of the phrase śîmû lĕbabkem (שִׂימוּ לְבַבְכֶ֔ם), “each and every one you must thoughtfully reflect within your hearts” in both commands implies that the second is repeating the first.
Haggai 2:18 and Haggai 2:10 assert that the recent past is a period which begins on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the second year of Darius’ reign over the Persian empire and it ends on the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem was laid by the remnant of Judah.
Ezra 3:10-11 asserts that the temple of the Lord was established, which refers to the remnant of Judah laying the foundation of this temple.
Ezra 3:10 asserts that this took place during the second year of Cyrus’ reign over Persia.
That Haggai 2:18 is speaking of the remnant of Judah laying the foundation of the temple during the second year of Cyrus’ reign in 536 B.C. is indicated by Haggai’s use of the third person masculine singular pual perfect conjugation of the verb yā·sǎḏ (יָסַד) in Haggai 2:18.
This word means “to have a foundation laid” since the word pertains to having a foundation laid in order to be constructed on.
Therefore, this verb does not refer to the day the remnant of Judah resumed the work on the temple which Haggai 1:15 identifies as the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month of the second year of King Darius’ reign over Persia.
This interpretation of this verb yā·sǎḏ (יָסַד) here in Haggai 2:18 is further supported by both the immediate context and specifically it is supported by the assertions in Haggai 2:14-17 and 2:19.
Haggai 2:14 contains three declarations from the Lord.
The first asserts that “this people, indeed, this nation is unclean in My judgement” and corresponds to the two answers the priests of Judah provided Haggai in response to the two rhetorical questions he posed to them in Haggai 2:12-13.
Therefore, this is expressing the idea that the uncleanness of the remnant of Judah in the Lord’s judgment corresponds to the ceremonial unclean food items mentioned in Haggai 2:12-13.
The second declaration refers to every kind of work produced by the hands of the citizens of the kingdom of Judah.
It presents the result of the first statement.
Therefore, it is expressing the idea that every kind of work produced by the citizens of the kingdom of Judah were unclean in the Lord’s judgment “as a result of” the people being ceremonially unclean themselves.
The third and final declaration presents the result of the second and asserts that what the citizens of Judah offered as sacrifices to the Lord on the altar of the unfinished temple in Jerusalem was unclean.
Ezra 3:1-7 makes clear that although the temple was unfinished, the altar in which to offer sacrifices to the Lord was operational.
Therefore, this third statement is expressing the idea that everything the citizens of Judah offered the Lord as a sacrifice as expression of worshipping Him was unclean in His judgment “as a result of” the work of their hands being unclean which was the result of these people being ceremonially unclean themselves.
The assertion in Haggai 2:14 that this remnant was unclean in the Lord’s sight and all that they offer was also unclean as a result is emphatically not describing this remnant after their obedience to Haggai’s first message but rather prior to receiving this first message.
Thus, it describes this remnant prior to obeying the Lord’s command to complete the rebuilding of His temple in Jerusalem.
In Haggai 2:15, the Lord through the prophet Haggai issues the remnant of Judah a command which demanded that each and every one of them were to immediately thoughtfully reflect within their hearts upon the recent past.
This is identified as the period of time before a stone was place upon a stone in the Lord’s temple.
In other words, each of the citizens of Judah were to thoughtfully reflect in their hearts upon the period of time prior to laying the foundation of the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem which was in 536 B.C.
Now, in Haggai 2:16, the Lord asserts through Haggai that during that particular period of time a citizen of the remnant of Judah came to expect a heap of twenty measures, however, there was ten.
Furthermore, He asserts that when a citizen of the remnant of Judah arrived at the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there was twenty.
In this verse, the prepositional phrase mihĕyôtām (מִֽהְיוֹתָ֥ם), “from that time” refers to the period or the duration in which the Lord was discipling the remnant of Judah before the laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem.
Therefore, Haggai 2:16 is asserting that during that particular period of time before the foundation of the temple was laid, a citizen of the remnant of Judah came to expect a heap of twenty measures, however, there was ten and when they arrived at the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there was twenty.
This verse describes the manner in which the Lord disciplined the remnant of Judah prior to the laying of the foundation of His temple in Jerusalem.
The remnant of Judah was an agricultural economy and the Lord was keeping them from prospering agriculturally.
Haggai 2:17 contains two emphatic declarations which are addressed to the citizens of the remnant of Judah and originate from the Lord, the God of Israel.
The first asserts that the Lord caused each one of the citizens of this remnant to be struck with blight, mildew, hail, and every kind of work produced by their hands.
They struck by the Lord in the sense that He adversely affected their agricultural production.
The second statement stands in contrast to the first and asserts that absolutely nothing was brought to the Lord by the citizens of this remnant.
These assertions are describing this remnant prior to obeying the Lord’s command in Haggai 1:8 to resume the rebuilding of the Lord’s temple and completing this task.
So therefore, this verb yā·sǎḏ (יָסַד) in Haggai 2:18 means “to have laid a foundation” rather than “to restore” because Haggai 2:14-17 and 2:19 describe the Lord disciplining the remnant of Judah during the period in which they failed to complete the rebuilding of His temple after establishing its foundation in 536 B.C.
So here in Haggai 2:18, the Lord through the prophet Haggai is commanding the citizens of the remnant of Judah to at once thoughtfully reflect within their hearts upon the recent past.
Specifically, they were to immediately thoughtfully reflect within their hearts upon the period extending from the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid by them to the day the Lord issued this third message to the remnant of Judah through the prophet Haggai.
This period extended from the second year of Cyrus’ reign in 536 B.C. to the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the second year of Darius’ reign over Persia, which corresponds to the Jewish month Kislev, which in our Julian calendar would be December 18, 520 B.C.
This date is significant because it was on this day, five years later, that temple was rededicated.
Ezra 6:15-18 asserts that the temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, which was the sixth year of the reign of Darius, which was 516 B.C.
Thus, the recent past mentioned here in Haggai 2:18 is identified as a sixteen year period.
So therefore, here in Haggai 2:18, the Lord through the prophet Haggai is commanding the citizens of the remnant of Judah to at once thoughtfully reflect within their hearts upon period of time extending from the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid by them to the day the Lord issued this third message to the remnant of Judah through the prophet Haggai.