Haggai 1:2

Haggai announced that his message came from Yahweh of armies, Almighty Yahweh. This title appears 14 times in Haggai and 265 times in the Hebrew Bible. "Yahweh" occurs 34 times in the 38 verses of Haggai. The Lord told Zerubbabel and Joshua that the Israelites were saying that the time was not right to rebuild the temple. By referring to them as "these people" rather than "my people," the Lord was distancing Himself from them. Construction on the temple had begun 16 years earlier but had ceased due to opposition from the Israelites’ neighbors who were mostly Samaritans (Ezra 3:8-13; Ezra 4:1-5; Ezra 4:24). When the Jews considered resuming construction, most of them said it was not yet the right time. Contrast David’s great desire to build a house for the Lord (2 Samuel 7:2). Their decision may have rested on the continuing threat from their neighbors. Or perhaps they felt that to finish the temple then would violate Jeremiah’s prediction of a 70-year captivity (Jeremiah 25:11-12; Jeremiah 29:10). Another possibility is that they thought God Himself would finish it (Ezekiel 40-48). [Note: See R. G. Hamerton-Kelly, "The Temple and the Origins of Jewish Apocalyptic," Vetus Testamentum 20 (1976):12.]

"To refuse to build the [Lord’s] house was at best saying that it did not matter whether the Lord was present with them. At worst it was presuming on divine grace, that the Lord would live with his people even though they willfully refused to fulfill the condition of his indwelling that he had laid down." [Note: Motyer, p. 974.]

"The need to rebuild is urgent, because temples in their world are the center for administering the political, economic, judicial, social, and religious life of the nation. In other words, rebuilding I AM’s temple would symbolize his rule over the life of his people and his prophesied rule of the world (cf. Zechariah 1:14-17)." [Note: Bruce K. Waltke, An Old Testament Theology, p. 846.]

Today many Christians do not do God’s will because they feel the time is not precisely right.

"Too often we make excuses when we ought to be making confessions and obeying the Lord. We say, ’It’s not time for an evangelistic crusade,’ ’It’s not time for the Spirit to bring revival,’ ’It’s not time to expand the ministry.’ We act as though we fully understand ’the times and the seasons’ that God has ordained for His people, but we don’t understand them (Acts 1:6-7)." [Note: Warren W. Wiersbe, "Haggai," in The Bible Exposition Commentary/Prophets, p. 441.]