Haggai 2:11-16

Haggai 2:11 (KJV)

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,

 

Now the Lord instructs Haggai to approach the priests whose business it is to know the law and ask them the following question.  They interpreted and enforced any violation of the law of God.

 

Haggai 2:12 (KJV)

If one bear 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.

 

The hem of the priestly garments also acted like a sack where they could carry items.  In this question that Haggai asks the priests he wanted to know that if something unclean had touched consecrated flesh, would that cause the item to become holy because of the contact?   Then the priests rightly answered no that a contact between holy and unholy would not affect the condition of the unholy object.  The point which is being made is that holiness is not something which can be transferred.  When the holy flesh comes in contact with an unholy object, it does in no way alter the state of the unclean object as it still remains unclean.

 

Haggai 2:13 (KJV)

Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.

 

In this case Haggai and the priests are referring to the ceremonial law.  Numbers 19:11 (KJV)   He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.  Numbers 19:22 (KJV)   And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.  As we can read in Numbers 19:11 that anyone who touches a dead body shall be considered unclean for seven days and in 19:22 we read that whatever an unclean person touches will also be considered unclean.   So the priests had answered this question correctly according to the law.  Notice the difference in principle between the questions of verse 12 & 13.  Something cannot be made holy by means of coming into contact with something holy but if someone or something comes in contact with something unclean, then that uncleanness can be transferred.  It is like in the case of a believer and unbeliever.  If the unbeliever comes in contact with a believer, holiness is not transferred but if the believer comes in contact with an unbeliever, the unbeliever may tempt the believer to do something unholy.

 

Haggai 2:14 (KJV)

Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.

 

Then Haggai brings the answer from the Lord concerning the subject of clean and unclean.  He likens the nation to a nation of unclean people who refused to build the temple.  They were willing to do anything else instead of building the temple which was the reason they were freed from bondage to return to the land.  This unclean state would also have extended to the people who were still yet in Babylon and their uncleanness toward the things of the Lord was the reason they were sent into captivity in the first place.  Some of that mindset was still present in the group that came back to build the temple but neglected to do so.  Ezra 3:3 (KJV)   And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.  They had built an altar to the Lord and presented sacrifices on it but because it was not done properly in the temple, the Lord rejected it and they remained an unclean people.  These actions on an altar which was not according to the law did not make them holy people or redeemed people but kept them in a state of rebellion toward God.

 

Haggai 2:15 (KJV)

And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:

 

The Lord was once again reminding them of how many things they suffered before they even had one stone of the temple laid.  They were to remember the drought and the disastrous consequences it produced.  God wanted them to realize that continued disobedience would result in more of the same, maybe intensified.  They were to build the temple or they would suffer further consequences for their disobedience.  It was really a strange situation, while they were in Babylon they yearned for the temple and now they had an opportunity to fulfill that yearning instead they focused on their own comforts.  Jeremiah 7:4 (KJV)   Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these. 

 

Haggai 2:16 (KJV)

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.

 

Whenever the people had hoped for twenty measures or whatever they were hoping for whether it be bushels or ephahs, they were disappointed, instead of them receiving an increased portion of goods or harvest, they received about half of what they expected. It would have been just enough to feed them and that was it.  The pressfat was a vat for a winepress and when they came to draw out fifty vessels, instead they received just twenty which was only 40% of their expected yield.  God wanted them to realize that if it wasn’t for his blessing upon their goods and crops, they would consistently suffer loss which they had already experienced.

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