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THE MESSAGE OF HAGGAI

AGGAI stands first in the last group of

the prophetic books. In common with Zechariah and Malachi it is post-exilic. In considering the messages of these three books we find ourselves in new circumstances and in a new atmosphere. The history of the people was at once full of glory and full of shame. It is easy to imagine how they felt as they thought of the ancient glory of the nation. Some amongst them would be filled with shame as they came back to their own city and their own country, and found themselves without national constitution and without power, tributary to the Gentiles. Their circumstances were those of difficulty and discouragement. Their hopes were of the most shadowy and uncertain kind.

These three men prophesied in the midst of such circumstances. Haggai had one burden upon his heart, that of leading the people to build the temple. Zechariah helped him in the delivery of that message, and then produced his

great apocalypse. Malachi uttered the final mourning and warning to the ancient people of God.

Let us consider a little more particularly the circumstances in which Haggai delivered his message. About sixteen years earlier the people had returned to their own land under Zerubbabel, and had begun to build the temple a year later. They had laid the foundations, and perhaps the first course of stones, when the work of building was abandoned through Samaritan opposition For fifteen years nothing more was done. Then Haggai delivered his message and exercised his ministry. He dealt with the immediate. He was a man of faith, whose one business was that of persuading the people to do one thing. The greater part of his ministry consisted not of public preaching but of private application thereof. He delivered four brief messages, and succeeded in persuading the people to build. His first message was delivered, and they commenced. Then a difficulty arose and they halted. He immediately delivered his second message, and they resumed the work. After a while another difficulty arose, and again they halted. He delivered his third message, and on the same

day his fourth and last; and the work was completed.

The permanent value of this book is twofold. First, it is a revelation of the peculiar perils of an age of adversity; and secondly, it is a declaration of the duty of the man of faith in such an age. Haggai helps us to see the perils of the hour when everything looks dark; and to understand the duty of the man of faith in such an hour, and in the presence of such perils.

There are four perils indicated in the prophecy, and the four addresses deal with them respectively. First, the peril of a false content. Secondly, the peril of a false discontent. Thirdly, the peril of a false expectation. Finally, the peril of a false fear.

First, a false content. As these people looked at the conditions in the midst of which they found themselves they said,

Secondly, a false discontent. After the work had commenced they looked at their building in the light of the olden days, and they said,

"Who is left among you that saw this house in its

former glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes as nothing?"

Thirdly, a false expectation. When the building had proceeded further they expected immediate material results from their moral reformation. Finally, a false fear. They were filled with fear of the nations by whom they were surrounded.

The first peril is that of a false content. These people were waiting for the psychic moment in which to begin to build the house of God. They said, The set time is not yet come. They expected some manifestation of Divine readiness to help them. On that side of their life which had to do with God, they were waiting; but they were busy building their own houses. They were only psychologists in the matter of religion. They were preeminently practical when they had to do with the places in which they themselves had to live.

The next peril is that of a false discontent. When in obedience to the prophet they began to build, they looked at their building in the light of the past, and their outlook was entirely material. They compared the poverty of the material erection with the glory of the ancient temple of which they had heard, and which some of them