Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. What they have been; what has been the consequence of them; and to what the above things are to be ascribed. This exhortation is repeated, to impress it the more upon their minds; and to denote the importance of it, and the necessity of such a conduct; See Gill on Haggai 1:5 . read more
Verse 7 The Prophet now adds, that since the Jews were thus taught by their evils, nothing else remained for them but to prepare themselves without delay for the work of building the Temple; for they were not to defer the time, inasmuch as they were made to know, that God had come forth with an armed hand to vindicate his own right: for the sterility of which he had spoken, and also the famine and other signs of a curse, were like a drawn sword in the hand of God; by which it was evident, that... read more
Part I. THE FIRST ADDRESS : EXHORTATION TO BUILD THE TEMPLE AND ITS RESULT . read more
The stirring appeal. It must not be supposed that, for purposes of revelation, there was any suspension of the powers of the men who were honored of God in being the medium of communicating a knowledge of his will; rather there was the retention of their own individual peculiarities and natural gifts, the Divine Spirit operating through these, and turning them to the most profitable account. One beauty of the Bible lies in the fact that, whilst upon the writings of each of its contributors... read more
Considering one's ways. I. AN EXALTED PRIVILEGE . The faculties of introspection and reflection, which enable man to consider his ways, constitute a lofty endowment, which places him incontestably at the apex of creation. 1 . It distinguishes him from the lower animals. These may Do possessed of capabilities which enable them to perform actions in some degree resembling the fruits of intelligence—it may even be conceded are, in some instances at least, endowed with faculties... read more
Hard times. I. A FREQUENT OCCURRENCE . Poor harvests and profitless trade, famine and idleness, lack of bread and want of employment, nothing to eat, and nothing to do. The two commonly go together. Examples of famines were in ancient times those which occurred in Canaan ( Genesis 12:10 ), in Egypt ( Genesis 41:54 ), in Samaria ( 1 Kings 17:2 ; 2 Kings 6:25 ), in Jerusalem ( Jeremiah 52:6 ); in modern times those which have taken place in India, China, and other parts of... read more
(See note on Haggai 1:5 .) The repetition of the call to reflection is needed (comp. Philippians 3:1 ). Former experience opens the way to the injunction in Haggai 1:8 . read more
§ 2. The prophet urges the people to work zealously at the building; only thus could they hope for the removal of their present disasters. read more
THE PROPHECY OF HAGGAIHaggai’s rebuke and its results (1:1-15)The Jews were making excuses for not building the temple, saying that they were suffering a time of personal hardship and enemy opposition. They claimed it was not yet time to begin the work (1:1-2). Yet they could build houses for themselves. In fact, they had taken much of the available timber and used it extravagantly in their own homes, even though timber was in short supply and was needed for the temple (3-4). Because of their... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Haggai 1:1-11
It was the complaint of the Jews in Babylon that they saw not their signs, and there was no more prophet (Ps. 74:9), 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, Hos. 12:13. God stirred them up immediately by his Spirit to exert themselves in that escape (Ezra 1:5); for, though God makes use of prophets, he needs them not, he can do his work without them. But the lamp of... read more