HOW GREAT THOU ART
IN
HAGGAI
Chapter One
“In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying …”
The book of Haggai can only be understood rightly when we have grasped the meaning and significance of verse one. Darius means “earthly,” and this prophecy is pertaining to earth. That it is in the second year of Darius the king implies that already two of the three times are past on earth and the earthly one is still reigning, but Haggai brings us a word for our day, the word of the Lord. Again, the sixth month here must be understood to mean the month prior to the seventh. We are thus shown that this word pertains to the last days. If we read it as, “In the second millennium” – a millennium being a thousand years – “whilst the kingdom of earth continued,” (prior to the time of our Lord’s return,) “there began a new day when the word of the Lord was spoken directly by a prophet raised up of God for His purpose.” This word is spoken to the governor of Judah, the leader of God’s people, and to the high priest as the leader of the priesthood. The names we will consider later. This is the meaning and significance of verse one, and needs to be properly understood if we are to get benefit from the prophecy of Haggai.
“Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, saying, This people say, the time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.”
As we see in verse one the time referred to is our day, nearing the end of the second thousand years, in the last act of the drama of life on earth, and immediately prior to our Lord’s return. God is seen as waiting with His angels ‘off-stage’ as it were, in the expression ‘the Lord of Hosts.’ But God’s people on earth seem unconscious of the time – they are seen to be saying, “The time is NOT come,” whereas God is definitely saying the time IS come!
Therefore we must awake from sleep, and arise to do what must be done, for God will give us light. Our time has come, the house is to be reconstructed, and there is a work to be done now in our day. To mistake the time now is foolish; we can no longer say the time is not come, for God is speaking again directly to us and He is saying, “The time IS come.” It behooves us to see this and to know what God requires us to do. For this reason the book of Haggai assumes new importance, pointing out to us that today is the first day of the sixth month, the first day for an important new phase to begin for us when we must turn our attention to the house of the Lord. Let us now cease to say, “The time is not come,” for God is even now speaking to us through the prophet Haggai to show us these things.
