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1 In the second year of Who was the son of Histaspis and the third king of the Persians, as some think. Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Because the building of the temple began to cease, by reason that the people were discouraged by their enemies: and if these two notable men had need to be stirred up and admonished of their duties, what will we think of other governors, whose doings are either against God, or very cold in his cause? Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, The Argument - When the time of the seventy years captivity prophesied by Jeremiah was expired, God raised up Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, to comfort the Jews, and to exhort them to the building of the temple, which was a figure of the spiritual Temple and Church of God, whose perfection and excellency depended on Christ. And because all were given to their own pleasures and benefits, he declares that that plague of famine, which God then sent among them, was a just reward for their ingratitude, in that they condemned God's honour, who had delivered them. Yet he comforts them, if they will return to the Lord, with the promise of great felicity, since the Lord will finish the work that he has begun, and send Christ whom he had promised, and by whom they would attain to perfect joy and glory.

2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time Not that they condemned the building of it, but they preferred policy and personal profit to religion, being content with small beginnings. that the LORD'S house should be built.

3 Then came the worde of the Lorde by the ministerie of the Prophet Haggai, saying,

4 [Is it] time for you, O ye, to dwell in your Showing that they sought not only their necessities, but their very pleasures before God's honour. cieled houses, and this house [lie] waste?

5 Now therefore thus saith ye Lord of hostes, Consider your owne wayes in your hearts.

6 Consider the plagues of God upon you for preferring your policies to his religion, and because you do not seek him above all else.Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are 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.

7 Thus sayth the Lorde of hostes, Consider your owne wayes in your hearts.

8 Go Meaning, that they should leave their own benefits, and go forward in the building of God's temple, and in the setting forth of his religion. up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and That is, I will hear your prayers according to my promise; (1Ki_8:22, 1Ki_8:29). I will take pleasure in it, and I will That is, my glory will be set forth by you. be glorified, saith the LORD.

9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, [it came] to little; and when ye brought [it] home, I did blow And so bring it to nothing. upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that [is] waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.

10 Therefore the heauen ouer you stayed it selfe from dewe, and the earth stayed her fruite.

11 And I called for a drought vpon the land, and vpon the mountaines, & vpon the corne, and vpon the wine, and vpon the oyle, vpon all that the ground bringeth foorth: both vpon men and vpon cattell, and vpon all the labour of the hands.

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the This declares that God was the author of the doctrine, and that Haggai was but the minister, as in (Exo_14:31), (Jdg_7:20; Act_15:28). voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.

13 Then spake Haggai the Lords messenger in the Lords message vnto the people, saying, I am with you, sayth the Lord.

14 And the LORD stirred up Which declares that men are unable and dull to serve the Lord, neither can they obey his word or his messengers, before God reforms their hearts, and gives them new spirits; (Joh_6:44). the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,

15 {\cf2 (2:1)} In the foure and twentieth day of the sixt moneth, in the second yeere of King Darius,

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1 {\cf2 (2:2)} In the seuenth moneth, in the one & twentieth day of the moneth, came the worde of the Lorde by the ministerie of the Prophet Haggai, saying,

2 {\cf2 (2:3)} Speake nowe to Zerubbabel the sonne of Shealtiel prince of Iudah, and to Iehoshua the sonne of Iehozadak the hie Priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,

3 Who [is] left among you that saw this For the people according as had been prophesied in (Isa_2:2) and (Eze. 41:1-26), thought this temple should have been more excellent than Solomon's temple, which was destroyed by the Babylonians, but the Prophets meant the spiritual Temple, the Church of Christ. house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? [is it] not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?

4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and That is, go forward in building the temple. work: for I [am] with you, saith the LORD of hosts:

5 {\cf2 (2:6)} According to the worde that I couenanted with you, when ye came out of Egypt: so my Spirite shall remaine among you, feare ye not.

6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; He exhorts them to patience though they do not see as yet this temple so glorious as the Prophets had declared: for this should be accomplished in Christ, by whom all things should be renewed. Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land];

7 And I will shake all nations, and Meaning Christ, whom all ought to look for and desire: or by desire he may signify all precious things, such as riches, and things like them. the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

8 The Therefore when his time comes he can make all the treasures of the world to serve his purpose: but the glory of this second Temple does not consist of material things, neither can it be built. silver [is] mine, and the gold [is] mine, saith the LORD of hosts.

9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give Meaning all spiritual blessings and felicity purchased by Christ; (Phi_4:7). peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

10 {\cf2 (2:11)} In the foure and twentieth day of the ninth moneth, in the second yeere of Darius, came the worde of the Lorde vnto the Prophet Haggai, saying,

11 {\cf2 (2:12)} Thus sayth the Lord of hostes, Aske nowe the Priests concerning the Law, and say,

12 If one bear That is, the flesh of the sacrifices, by which he means that a thing which of itself is good, cannot make another thing so: and therefore they ought not to justify themselves by their sacrifices and ceremonies: but contrary to this, he that is unclean and not pure of heart, does corrupt those things and make them detestable to God, which otherwise are good and godly. holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.

13 {\cf2 (2:14)} Then sayde Haggai, If a polluted person touch any of these, shall it be vncleane? And the Priests answered, and sayd, It shalbe vncleane.

14 {\cf2 (2:15)} Then answered Haggai, and sayd, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord: and so are all the workes of their hands, and that which they offer here, is vncleane.

15 And now, I pray you, consider from this Consider how God plagued you with famine before you began to build the temple. day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:

16 That is, before the building was begun.Since those [days] were, when [one] came to an heap of twenty [measures], there were [but] ten: when [one] came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty [vessels] out of the press, there were [but] twenty.

17 {\cf2 (2:18)} I smote you with blasting, and with mildewe, and with haile, in all the labours of your hands: yet you turned not to me, saith the Lord.

18 Consider now from From the time they began to build the temple, he promises that God would bless them: and even though the fruit has not yet come forth, yet in the gathering they would have plenty. this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth [month, even] from the day that the foundation of the LORD'S temple was laid, consider [it].

19 Is the He exhorts them to have patience, and to remain until the harvest came, and then they would see God's blessings. seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless [you].

20 {\cf2 (2:21)} And againe the worde of the Lorde came vnto Haggai in the foure and twentieth day of the moneth, saying,

21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I I will make a change, and renew all things in Christ, of whom Zerubbabel is here a figure. will shake the heavens and the earth;

22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the By this he shows that there will be no stop or hindrance, when God will make this wonderful restitution of his Church. kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.

23 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a Signifying that his dignity would be most excellent, which thing was accomplished in Christ. signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.