Hag 2:11
- To be precise, this is December 18 in 520 BC.
Hag 2:12
- God urges the prophet to ask the priests what the Torah (the Law, the five books of Moses) says about ritual purity and impurity.
- Even if the cloak that has touched holy flesh becomes holy, that which touches the cloak does not become holy.
- A sick person does not get well just by being around healthy people, but a healthy person can get sick by being around sick people.
- The point that God is trying to make is that even though the sacrifice that the priests give to God is holy, it becomes unclean if they do it in disobedience. It is not enough to simply be in Jerusalem performing sacrifices and rituals before God if one is living in disobedience.
Hag 2:20
- Even though the people had been disobedient when they did not build the temple before, God is now quick to bless as soon as they do what God says.
- Many Christians think that blessing means getting rich and having a nice house, but in Haggai we see that blessing means first and foremost being involved in building the temple of the Lord.
- When God’s people neglect the temple of the Lord and instead build their own houses and acquire valuable wealth, they fail. But when God’s people repent and prioritize God’s temple first, then God will first bless the building of the temple but also bless their private houses.