YHWH's Grievance With His People (Haggai 1:2-11).
In a series of consecutive prophecies YHWH's grievance with His people is established, and the call comes to build the Temple. For YHWH knows that until the Temple is built they will not feel themselves to be one people, and the exiles far from home will see no reason to return.
‘Thus speaks YHWH of hosts, saying, “This people say,
It is not the time to come,
The time for YHWH's house to be built.
His message was simple. The people were simply saying that the time had not yet come to build the house of YHWH. Initial work had ceased on it twenty years before, and as far as they were concerned it would have to wait its time. Life was at present too hard. But he is saying that it was time that they thought again, for they were not behaving like true people of God. That indeed is why He refers to them indirectly as ‘this people' rather than ‘His people'.
It would appear that what God was trying to do through him was to arouse the people from their apathy and listlessness, and from their grinding toil and give them something to aim at. He was seeking to refocus their attention on the future that He had promised them if only they were faithful to Him. But it was a future hope that had clearly been lost along the way. For we must remember that from their knowledge of their past history these men should have known the importance of having a spiritual sanctuary around which to gather. Its aim would be to serve as a focal point for bringing back the distant exiles, and thus re-establishing the people of God. But they had lost their vision.
Notice the continual emphasis on the Name of YHWH and His words in these first few verses. The name is found once in Haggai 1:1, twice in Haggai 1:2, once in Haggai 1:3, once in Haggai 1:5, once in Haggai 1:7, once in Haggai 1:8 and once in Haggai 1:9. And on four of these occasions it is as ‘YHWH of hosts', the One Who has authority over the hosts of Heaven and earth and all that is in them. It was important that they should recognise Who it was Who was there, ready to act, and Who it was Who was speaking to them.
‘Then came the word of YHWH by Haggai the prophet, saying,
“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your roofed (panelled) houses,
While this house lies waste?”
Haggai again comes with a message from YHWH. This time the emphasis is on the fact that each of them has his own roofed house, while YHWH's worship is conducted out in the open, and there is nowhere to satisfactorily store the religious vessels, because His house lies waste. It is just an empty ruin. No doubt they were stored in tents or sheds et up around the altar.
Some translate as ‘panelled' and see them as living in some kind of luxury, which would contrast with how they were treating YHWH, but others point to the evidences of poverty and struggle and translate simply as ‘roofed'. Even the simplest house had to have a roof. (The word itself means ‘a covering').
It was, of course, true that they had returned with a good amount of silver and gold (Ezra 1:6), but that may well have been spent on the preparations for the Temple which had come to nothing (Ezra 3:7). Perhaps on the other hand they had used the cedar from Lebanon to panel their houses. Either way what follows dose not depict them as living in luxury.
‘Now therefore thus says YHWH of hosts:
“Consider your ways.”
“You have sown much, and bring in little,
You eat, but you do note have enough,
You drink, but you are not filled with drink,
You clothe yourselves, but there is none warm,
And he who earns wages, earns wages to put it into a bag with holes.”
So now YHWH calls on them to consider what has been their experience in the last few years. They have sown much seed, but it has brought little reward, they have eaten but never had enough, wine was sparse with not enough to satisfy, water was short and not easily available, their threadbare clothing was insufficient to keep them warm, and any wages that they earned disappeared as quickly as if they had put it into a bag full of holes (a first indication of the use of actual money in the Old Testament). The very descriptions bring out the destitution that they were experiencing. Life was unquestionably very hard.
‘Thus says YHWH of hosts,
“Consider your ways.
Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house;
And I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,” says YHWH.
Note the repetition of the command to consider their ways. But this time it was in order to tell them to think about their ways positively (contrast Haggai 1:5), and to go up to the hill forests, and collect wood with which they can build His house. Then, He promises, however meagre the product, He will take pleasure in it and will be glorified by it, for it will be a house built at cost to themselves, and as a confirmation of the covenant, and will turn many eyes towards Him. Alternately the point might be that He will be glorified, if they are obedient, by the coming of the Messiah. In other words this was a first step towards their messianic expectations.
We need no such house, for our focus is fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ, but the underlying demand is the same, that we are willing to engage in building up His body, the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:10-16), by our personally costly and sacrificial efforts (Romans 12:1-2).
“You looked for much, and, lo, it came to little;
And when you brought it home, I blew on it.
Why?” says YHWH of hosts.
“Because of my house which lies waste,
While you run every man to his own house.
Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew,
And the earth withholds its fruit.
And I called for a drought on the land,
And on the mountains, and on the grain,
And on the new wine, and on the oil,
And on that which the ground brings forth,
And on men, and on cattle,
And on all the labour of the hands.”
God now repeats in more depth what He has already said, that their sad condition is partly due to the fact that they have neglected Him and His house. They had looked hopefully for much, but all that they had received had been little. And even that had been ravaged by high winds. Or the ‘blowing' might simply refer to some other activity of God which affected their stored goods. And why had He done it? ‘Because of My house which lies waste while you run every man to his own house.'
This was why the rain and dew had not come, this was why the earth had not been fruitful, this was why everything was affected by drought. Thus there had been a shortage of food, wine, oil and water. And all had suffered, both man and beast.