Zechariah 1:1-6
English Standard Version

A Call to Return to the LORD
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2 “The LORD was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. 4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”

This again is a prophecy to the exiles that returned and is concurrent with many of the other Minor Prophets we have studied.  The LORD gives a message to Zechariah to tell the people that the LORD very angry with "your fathers" (this could mean ancestors, but probably in the context means the political and spiritual leadership of the nation and the tribal leaders over the various clans and families).  There is a call for them (starting at the top) to return to the LORD because where the leaders lead, the people will follow.  When they return the the LORD, they will find Him and His blessings there waiting for them.

They are warned not to be like their forefathers who ignored the voice of the prophets that were sent to them.  They had to learn the hard way by judgment and exile and the LORD is not afraid to use means like that again to get the attention of this generation if necessary.  Now that entire wicked generation that did not listen has been destroyed.  Even the prophets of that time do not remain alive to bring the LORD's message to this generation--the LORD raises up new prophets because the old ones have died.  Yet the LORD lives forever and is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  His word and his statutes and commands are for all generations.  His words to the previous generations are just as much for this generation as they were for the ones to whom they were spoken (let that be a lesson to us today who think about needing new and fresh revelation for a new generation or that the Bible is outdated and does not apply to us today).

The people heard the LORD's warning and they repented, however, they did not anticipate to escape judgment for their wickedness.  They accepted responsibility and the consequences that would come to them for the evil they had done.  That is what true repentance looks like as opposed to those who are simply looking to escape the wrath of God.

Haggai 2:20-23
English Standard Version

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet
20 The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts.”

The LORD speaks again the Zerubbabel through Haggai to let him know a time of "shaking' (judgment) is coming on the nations (The Gentiles) and that kings and kingdoms would be overthrown and would become impotent.  No more would these nations make war with everyone around them and threated with horses and chariots.  Their strongest weapons of war would be destroyed as the LORD would cause these nations to attack and destroy themselves from within.

The LORD tells Zerubbabel that he is going to live to see this happen, and in that day, it will be clear that the LORD has chosen him to be the leader of His people and that he executes the will and judgment of the LORD.  Like a signet right that says that the person is the authorized spokesman and representative of the authority that issued the ring and can make binding decision on behalf of the one who delegated that authority, so it would be with the authority the LORD delegated to Zerubbabel.

Haggai 2:10-19
English Standard Version

Blessings for a Defiled People
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: 12 ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. 15 Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the LORD, 16 how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17 I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD. 18 Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider: 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”

We are two months and a few days after the passage we looked at last time.  The Word of the LORD came to Haggai and told him to ask the priests about the Law.  Specifically the LORD told him to ask about if someone caries holy meat in the fold of his garment and then touches his fold and "common" food like bread, stew, wine or oil, does that food like bread, stew, wine or oil become holy because it touched the fold of his garment which was touching the holy meat?  The priests answered "No."

Then the priests were asked if someone who was unclean because they came in contact with a dead body touches any food item, does it become unclean?  They said "It does become unclean."  Uncleanness is transmitted through passive contact, but holiness is not.  The LORD says it is the same with His people.  Everything they touch is unclean because they are unclean.

This is why the LORD did not pour out His blessings on them before the Temple was built  They would go to get simple things like butter or wine, and they never had enough.  Everything they produces was struck down by blight and mildew and with hail because it was all unclean because it was the work of an unclean people--the people were unclean because they did not make sacrifices for atonement, purification, and the remission of sins.

Now, the people have been made holy unto the LORD once again, and things are going to change because they have reached the point where the foundations of the Temple have been laid.  The LORD is not going to wait for the job to be 100% complete before He blesses them.  He sees their obedience and sees the finished product and blesses them in response to what He sees, even though it is not finished yet.

Haggai 2:1-9
English Standard Version

The Coming Glory of the Temple
2 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’”

In the last passage, the command was given to Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest and the remnant of the people of God on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.  Haggai is called to speak to them again on the twenty-first day of the seventh month (nearly a month later) to the same audience asking who among them is left that saw Solomon's Temple?  Most of the original exiles died, and only the oldest of the exiles that returned were young enough to have seen the former Temple in all of its glory.  It would be bittersweet for them as they would love to see the Temple rebuilt, but it wouldn't be as large and gaudy as Solomon's Temple that was destroyed by the Chaldeans.  Still, they are called to rebuild, even if they won't be able to rebuild exactly what was there before.

The LORD tells the leaders and the people to not be afraid, because His Spirit is with them.  It will not be long from the LORD's perspective until the Day of the LORD comes and earth and sea and dry land will be shaken.  The nations will be shaken, and the nations will give their treasures to the LORD and they will be stored in His Holy Temple (not Zerubbabel's Temple as that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, but a different Temple that is yet to come).  The LORD commands that when these treasures come pouring in that the gold and silver are to go into His treasuries so that this "End Times Temple" will be even greater than Solomon's Temple.  In that day (the coming Messianic Kingdom), there will be peace and prosperity for the people of the LORD.

Haggai 1:12-15
English Standard Version

The People Obey the LORD
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, 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 feared the LORD. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD's message, “I am with you, declares 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 Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Last time, Haggai called for the civil and spiritual leaders of the people to call the people together and tell them it was time for them to start working on the house of God (the Temple) and the blessings of the Covenant would not return to them until they completed this task.  We see Zerubbabel (the governor) and Joshua (the high priest) along with all the remnant of the people that returned to Jerusalem obeying the voice of the LORD spoken through Haggai the prophet.  Notice that the people feared the LORD and they obeyed Him.  These ideas are closely connected in the Bible.  Those who have no fear of the LORD are rebellious and wicked, but those who fear the LORD obey Him immediately and completely.

Then the LORD begins to speak covenant blessings over His people once again.  He starts by saying "I am with you," which includes His covenant name I AM.  Because He is the same yesterday, today and forever, He is now and always will be with them.  He has never deserted them, even during their time of Exile.  Then the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the governor of Judah and the spirit of Joshua the high priest, and and all of the remnant that were gathered together in that place.  His Spirit came upon them to empower and equip them for the good work that He had prepared for them, commanded them to do, and that they agreed to do because He commanded it (even though they felt inadequate, and they were before the pouring out of the Spirit to empower and equip them).  In this way the LORD will prove to all those who are watching that this is no natural feat, but a supernatural outpouring of His Spirit on His people.

They are less than a week away from the beginning of the seventh month--the holiest of months when there is the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths, but they will not be able to celebrate any of these feasts in a completed Temple this year because of their delayed obedience to the LORD.  What a missed opportunity!  It would not be completed until the Spring (the date is set as March 12th) of the sixth year of King Darius's reign, just before Passover of that year.  We are in the sixth month of the second year of King Darius's reign now, so the whole project will take about three-and-one-half years.

Haggai 1:1-11
English Standard Version

The Command to Rebuild the Temple
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” 3 Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

Today, we start the book of Haggai, a prophet after the exiles had returned to Jerusalem.  The book gives a specific date of "The second year of Darius the king" which tells us the date of the book is 520 B.C.  Haggai is going to prophesy to these exiles who have returned.  The people desire to rebuild the Temple, but the LORD wants a renewed covenant and renewed relationship.  He doesn't just want them going through the motions, but He wants them to have changed hearts and lives.

Zerubbabel is the political leader of the people during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (he's the heir to the throne, but will not take the throne as king--instead he is the "governor" of the region).  Joshua the high priest is the religious leader.  The LORD wants Haggai to prophesy to these two leaders in particular.  The people want to delay rebuilding the Temple and work on rebuilding their homes and the walls around their city first so that they have places to live and safety from those who might try to take advantage of the situation and attack them while they are weak.

The thing is, they didn't just want to build lean-tos and shanties or make tents for themselves as temporary dwellings.  They were building mansions and what would be called palaces with the wealth that was given to them to rebuild the Temple.  The LORD asks, "Is it time for you to build paneled houses for yourselves while [My] house lies in ruins?" The people were to understand the answer to that question to be, "No," but that is exactly what they had been doing.

The LORD tells them this is why they have sown much, but harvested little.  The Land is not going to be fruitful for them like it was in the past until they return to a proper relationship with the LORD and the covenant is renewed.  The fruitfulness of that Land has always been a miracle of God.  Naturally, the Land is very inhospitable to farming, but the LORD makes life come forth from the wilderness so that all can see how He cares for His people.

The people think nothing of sacrificing their first and beset to the LORD in thanks for what He has provided to them.  Instead they try to take everything they can for themselves to fill their bellies and prevent anyone else from getting any of what they think should belong to them.  This is why they are never satisfied with what they have.  They clothe themselves with fine clothes, but they are never feel warm and comfortable.  The LORD has a way of making this kind of covetous discontentment work its way out so that people's needs are being met, but they are not satisfied or comfortable.  They try to hang onto their money by not giving their tithes and offerings, but the LORD keep them from being able to hold onto that thing they trying to gain security from.  It is like their money bags have holes in the bottom so that whatever they put in the top just comes out the bottom.  I don't know if you ever experienced this, but emergency after emergency and crisis after crisis keep you from being able to hang onto the little that you have because things haven't even been as fruitful or productive.  You are left turning to the LORD to say, "Okay, I see I was depending on job security and wealth security, and there was security in none of those things that I was looking to.  I find my hope, rest, and security in You alone."

The LORD calls Zerubbabel and Joshua to call the people together to start the work of building the Temple.  They are to gather the wood to build His house and to use for making the required sacrifices so that the LORD might be glorified.  Until they do this, the LORD will not bless their harvests and He will withhold the dew of heaven (associated with the abundance of the blessings of His covenant) and the produce of the Land.  That all will change as soon as the Temple is rebuilt and the people return to the LORD.  The Land is in drought right now just like the hearts of the people.  Their hearts are dry and desolate, and the Land is picturing that for them (there is this relationship in the Old Testament that the LORD uses the condition of the Land to show the people the condition of their hearts).  Once their hearts are changed and the covenant is renewed, the LORD is willing and able to pour out His abundant blessings on them once again, but blessings without changed hearts would be catastrophic to them because they would be on their way to Hell warm, well-fed, housed, and comfortable.  Their neediness drives them to the One who supplies all their needs and redeems and restores them and forgives their sins and gives them eternal life.
​
They will not have wine or oil (things that they were known for that made them rich and were their main exports) until they first build the house of the LORD and with this, they focus on giving their tithes and offerings--the first and best, not the leftovers and afterthoughts--to the LORD.

We just sang this song at church yesterday--it puts Psalm 62 to words.  I think it's a good companion to this text.

Zephaniah 3:14-20
English Standard Version

Israel's Joy and Restoration
14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
    shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
    O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;
    he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
    you shall never again fear evil.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
    let not your hands grow weak.
17 The LORD your God is in your midst,
    a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
    he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
    so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal
    with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
    and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
    and renown in all the earth.
20 At that time I will bring you in,
    at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
    among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
    before your eyes,” says the LORD.

After all the promises of judgment for Israel and Judah in this book, it wraps up with a command for them to shout songs of praise and to exult the LORD and be glad.  Why?  Because the LORD is sure to save and restore them!  He will not abandon them or let them be destroyed.  His judgment will be painful, but brief, and then His blessing and favor will return to His people as He loves them with his everlasting, unfailing love and mercy.  In the midst of this judgment, their enemies have been destroyed (though new enemies will arise until the very end when all of their enemies will be destroyed for good, which might make this a "near" and "far" prophecy).

The LORD will once again be known to be among His people and He will restore them and give them life, vigor, and joy again.  No longer will they feel shame or reproach.  Even those who would be outcasts under the Law like the lame will be gathered in and restored and blessed--even though they had nothing to offer the king.  They will be like Mephibosheth adopted by King David.  The LORD will gather all His people in and will restore them all and once again pour out His blessings on them.  Did that start to happen after the Exile?  Yes.  Did it happen completely after the Exile?  No.  That means that we should still be looking for the more complete fulfillment of this prophecy.  It would seem given everything else that we've seen in the prophets that this restoration will happen when Messiah comes (again).