Haggai 2:1 Commentary and Bible Study

For the second time the Lord speaks through Haggai, and this is about the all-important meaning of the temple. The people are now building the house of God. It will be much smaller than the one that was destroyed by the Babylonians; it will be much plainer. It is only about one month after the first prophecy, so they would not have got very far by now. We need to bear that in mind: the dates are helpful to us here. There was nothing to see yet, except it had become plain just how small the footprint of the temple was, and they can see that it is not going to be anything like the previous temple. With that in mind, Haggai is told, ‘Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people.’ He is told to head off a significant cause of discouragement that could affect them in their work, which could have made some ask whether it was right to even continue with the building work, as T V Moore sees it. If this was the temple of the Lord of Hosts, the God of all the earth, should it not be more glorious than any other temple on earth? But some among them had seen the previous temple before it was destroyed, and could testify to the fact that this one was smaller. Should not the glory of the Lord on earth be increasing, rather than reducing?