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Study Haggai 1:2-14 God's Message to the Exiles (Returning to the Work) Questions and answers below. TIME: 520 B.C. PLACE: Jerusalem Haggai 1:2-14 2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. 3 Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 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 saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will 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 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 heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. 11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor 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 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 Lord's messenger in the Lord's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord. 14 And the Lord stirred up 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. Lesson Background Opposition has a way of robbing us of energy (Read Ezra 4). Our enthusiasm for the projects we are trying to accomplish becomes dim, and we lose some of the desire that initially motivated us. At times like that, we need the moral support and encouragement of others who share our interests. When we do not receive such support, it is easy to become sidetracked into other activities, resulting in the neglect of what we should be doing. Sometimes the original project is never completed. Something as important as the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord could not remain neglected. God had led nearly fifty thousand Jews back to Jerusalem to restart their worship system and rebuild their land. He could not allow them to leave the foundation of the temple unfinished because of a kings selfish interests (Ezra 4:21,22), as well as their own (Haggai 1:3,4). When God has a task that needs to be done, He always has someone to do it. Haggai was the man! Three Messages (Haggai 1:2-11) The first date is August 29, 520 b.c. (1:1), and something amazing is about to happen: So far the people who have returned to Judah and Jerusalem have been responding on their own, armed only with a personal devotion to the Lord and His Word. This has led them from Babylon. It has inspired them to build the altar for the burnt offerings and to lay the foundation of the temple. Since their return in about 538 b.c., it almost has seemed that God has abandoned the Israelites. But now God speaks through Haggai. 1. How long had it been since the rebuilding of the temple had come to a halt (vs. 1,2)? In the year 520 B.C. God sent Haggai and Zechariah to get the people of Judah restarted on the temple project (verse 1 not in lesson text). What made this such an important turning point in history is the fact that the people listened and did what the prophets said. Until then, the attitude had been that the timing was not right for rebuilding the temple.
Approximate Word count = 3059
Approximate Pages = 12.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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