Haggai 1:4-Haggai Poses a Rhetorical Question which Condemns the Priorities of the Remnant of Judah

Haggai 1:1 On the first day of the sixth month of King Darius’ second year, the Lord spoke this message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak. 2 The Lord who rules over all says this: “These people have said, ‘The time for rebuilding the Lord’s temple has not yet come.’” 3 So the Lord spoke through the prophet Haggai as follows: 4 “Is it right for you to live in richly paneled houses while my temple is in ruins?” (NET)

Haggai 1:4 contains the first of seven rhetorical questions, which appear in the book of Haggai.

Here in Haggai 1:4, the Lord through the agency of the prophet Haggai begins to voice His complaint against the remnant of Judah by posing a rhetorical question which demands an emphatic negative response.

The Lord asks through Haggai, “Is it right for you to live in richly paneled houses while my temple is in ruins?”

Haggai himself could have provided the emphatic negative response asserting “it is emphatically not the time for each one of you to build and furnish your own homes while the Lord’s temple continues to lie in a state of disrepair!”

Therefore, this rhetorical question is clearly used to rebuke the remnant of Judah for failing to complete the rebuilding of the temple while they sat in their richly furnished homes.

Thus, this question reveals that the remnant of Judah led by Zerubbabel, their governor and Joshua their high priest were putting their own comfort first in their set of priorities before rebuilding the Lord’s temple.

The text of Haggai nor Ezra identify how many private homes were elaborately decorated as described here in Haggai 1:4.

Now, we do know that this first message was addressed specifically to Zerubbabel the governor of this remnant and Joshua the high priest.

Thus, these two could have very well been living in mansions which were elaborately furnished.

In fact, Haggai 1:6 and 2:16-17 indicate that the majority of the population was in poverty since the Lord was preventing them from prospering agriculturally.

These verses indicate they were suffering from drought, crop failures, food shortages and inflation and thus economic failure.

However, Haggai 1:5-15 make clear that this first message was directed toward the entire remnant of Judah and not just their political and religious leaders.

Haggai 1:12 asserts that Zerubbabel and Joshua along with the people obeyed this first message, which clearly indicates that the Lord’s complaint voiced in this first message was directed at all the people and not just their leaders or in other words, these verses make clear they all were guilty.

Therefore, the question arises as to how the remnant of Judah was able to find the materials to richly panel their homes when they were suffering severe economic distress as a nation?

The answer appears in Ezra 3:7, King Cyrus had provided the Jews with money to buy hardwood timber to rebuild the temple (cf. Ezra 3:7).

Evidently, the remnant of Judah used this superior wood to build their own homes rather than use this material to rebuild the temple.

In fact, to support this interpretation, Haggai 1:8 records the Lord through Haggai ordering the remnant of Judah to go up to the hill country and bring back timber to rebuild the temple.

Evidently, when the work of rebuilding the temple came to a stop, the citizens of the remnant of Judah must have used this material which was earmarked for the rebuilding of the temple to furnish their own homes.

Now, Haggai 1:4 contains an interpretative problem which revolves around the meaning of the adjective ḥā·rēḇ, which is translated “ruins” by many translations (NET, TNIV, NLT, NRSV) and by some “desolate” (LEB, NASB95).

It is my conviction that the adjective ḥā·rēḇ here in Haggai 1:4 is expressing the idea of “unfinished disrepair” and pertains to a structure being in need of repair and not brought to an end or completed state.

It does not mean “ruin” which pertains to the remains of something destroyed, nor does it mean “desolate” since this word express the idea of being devoid of inhabitants.

Ezra 3:2-3 asserts that the priests were offering sacrifices on a rebuilt altar.

In fact, significant work had already been done to rebuild the temple since Ezra 3:10-11 asserts the builders had established the Lord’s temple, which resulted in the priests and Levites giving thanks and praise to the Lord.

However, Ezra 4 reveals that the project never came to completion because the enemies of Judah successfully persuaded the Persian monarch Artaxerxes to stop the projection.

So therefore, Ezra 3-4 make clear that significant work had already taken place in rebuilding the temple, but the project was never completed because the remnant of Judah was forced to stop by King Artaxerxes at the behest of Judah’s enemies.

Thus, this adjective ḥā·rēḇ in Haggai 1:4 is expressing the idea of the temple being in a state of disrepair.

Therefore, this rhetorical question in Haggai 1:4 is expressing the Lord’s indignation with the remnant of Judah.

Haggai’s point is that it is utterly repulsive for the remnant of Judah to assert that it was not yet time to complete the rebuilding of the Lord’s temple while simultaneously in stark contrast they were building homes for themselves and furnishing them and some cases doing so elaborately.

In other words, it is shameful that they ensured their own personal security and comfort while forsaking the completion of rebuilding the Lord’s temple.

The language in this rhetorical question is emphatic since it contains the phrase lā·ḵěmʹ ʾǎt·těmʹ (לָכֶם֙ אַתֶּ֔ם), which I translate “for each one of you, yes, each and every one of you.”

This expression expresses the one sided nature of the remnant of Judah’s interests and emphatically expresses the idea that they could care less about the Lord’s temple.

Mignon Jacobs writes “The question in Hag 1:4 likewise suggests that, if it is not time to rebuild Yahweh’s house, then it is also not time to inhabit theirs, because the conditions determining the appropriateness of the time apply to both.[1]”[2]

As we noted in our study of Haggai 1:2, for fifteen years, the rebuilding of the Lord’s temple had been abandoned by the remnant of Judah.

If you recall, under the leadership of Sheshbazzar, 50,000 Jewish exiles returned from Babylon to begin work on restoring Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple. Approximately two years later in 536 B.C., they completed the foundation with much rejoicing (Ezra 3:8-10).

However, their success disturbed the Samaritans and their other neighbors who lived in fear of the political and religious implications of a rebuilt temple in a restored Jewish state.

Consequently, they stridently opposed the project and were successful in temporarily stopping the restoration.

But in 522 B.C. Darius Hystaspes (522-486 B.C.) became king of Persia (Ezra 4:1-5, 24).

During this monarch’s second year, both Zechariah and Haggai exhorted the Jewish remnant to rebuild the temple.

Tattenai, the governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai and their colleagues attempted to interfere with the rebuilding efforts.

However, Darius Hystaspes ruled in favor of the Jews after investigating the matter in the royal records (cf. Ezra 5:3-6; 6:6-12).

In 516 B.C., the temple was finished and dedicated (Ezra 6:15-18).

Therefore, this rhetorical question in Haggai 1:4 would certainly have caused the remnant of Judah to reflect on their priorities.

What did they place a greater priority on, their own comfort and interests or those of God?

[1] Kessler (Haggai, 130) sees the people’s conviction as a misuse of wisdom to support an unwise course of action.

[2] Jacobs, M. R. (2017). The Books of Haggai and Malachi. (E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, & R. L. Hubbard Jr., Eds.) (p. 43). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.