Haggai 2:3-The Lord Asks the Remnant of Judah Three Rhetorical Questions

Haggai 2:1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the Lord spoke again through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Ask the following questions to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the remnant of the people: 3 ‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple? How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison?’” (NET)

Haggai 2:3 contains three rhetorical questions which begin the content of the second message that the God of Israel communicated to the remnant of Judah in 520 B.C. through the agency of the prophet Haggai, and which message ends in Haggai 2:9.

We noted that Haggai 2:1 asserts that this message was communicated by the Lord on the twenty-first day of the seventh month.

Although the year is not explicitly mentioned, the assumption is that this message was delivered during the second year of Darius’s reign (cf. 2:10).

The seventh month was the Jewish month Tishri, which according to our modern calendar would be October 17, 520 B.C.

The twenty-first day of Tishri marked the seventh and last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Lev 23:33–36, 39–43; Num 29:12–40; Ezek 45:25).

It also coincided with the date 440 years earlier (960 b.c.) when Solomon finished building his temple (1 Kgs 6:38; 8:2).

October 18, 520 B.C. would mark the anniversary of Solomon dedicated the temple in 959 B.C. (2 Chr. 7:8-10).

In fact, Tishri was a month of celebrations for the Israelites because on the first day of this month, they celebrated the Day of Atonement.

In this message, the Lord through Haggai declares that the glory of this rebuilt temple will be superior to the glory of Solomon’s temple.

We also noted that Haggai 2:2 identifies Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, Judah’s governor as well as Joshua, the high priest, Jehozadak’s son and in addition the remnant of the kingdom of Judah as the recipients of this second message from the Lord.

This remnant was composed of those Jews who returned to the land occupied by Judah before the Babylonian invasions in 605, 597 and 586 B.C. as a result of returning from the Babylonian exile.

In other words, it refers to those individuals belonging to the kingdom of Judah who survived these invasions and subsequent deportations and returned to the land which the kingdom of Judah occupied prior to these invasions and deportations.

Now, here in Haggai 2:3, the God of Israel communicated to Zerubbabel, Joshua and the remnant of Judah three rhetorical questions, all of which are presenting a comparison between Solomon’s temple prior to its destruction in 586 B.C. and this temple when it was being rebuilt by this remnant in 520 B.C.

Those individuals among this remnant who were old enough to see both are being addressed by the Lord in each of these questions.

That each of these questions in Haggai 2:3 are rhetorical is indicated by the fact that unlike a regular question, which is soliciting information, a rhetorical question assumes the answer is already known by both the one asking the question and the one being asked.

Instead of the statement which could have been used in its place, the rhetorical question forces the hearer to get actively involved in the discussion.

By his response in supplying the known answer, the hearer himself takes part in the process of persuasion.[1]

The first rhetorical question in Haggai 2:3 is related to Solomon’s temple during the height of its magnificence prior to its destruction in 586 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army and assumes that there were some Jews who saw Solomon’s temple prior to its destruction.

The second assumes a positive response to the first and is related to this temple during its reconstruction period in 520 B.C.

The third answers the second and presents a comparison between this temple prior to its destruction and when it was being rebuilt by the remnant of Judah under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua.

Unlike, the first two, the third rhetorical question demands an emphatic positive response, namely, the temple being rebuilt by this remnant in 520 B.C. was absolutely nothing in comparison to the state of this temple prior to its destruction.

This is not the first time we have seen the prophet Haggai employ a rhetorical question since he uses one in Haggai 1:4 and one in Haggai 1:9.

Now, as we noted the third rhetorical question which appears in Haggai 2:3 is posed by the Lord through Haggai and is addressed to Zerubbabel, Joshua and the remnant of Judah.

The Lord asks “Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?” (ESV)

The purpose of this question is designed to encourage Zerubbabel, Joshua and the remnant of Judah to complete the task of rebuilding the temple.

Joyce Baldwin explains why this remnant needed encouragement in completing the task of rebuilding the Lord’s temple, she writes “The revered elders who remembered the temple before its destruction must often have spoken nostalgically of its splendour. Some of them no doubt took part in the abortive attempt to rebuild in 538 bc (Ezra 3:8–13). Past disappointment was making them gloomy about the present and future. The new temple would never be like the old; they had no resources to pay skilled craftsmen from abroad, as Solomon had done, and they could not begin to think of covering the interior with gold (1 Kgs 6:21, 22). In spite of the work they had already put in there was nothing to show for it. Unfavourable comparison between the present and the past undermined all incentive to persevere.”[2]

This rhetorical question in Haggai 2:3 emphatically asserts that there was absolutely no comparison between the two temples.

In other words, the building being reconstructed in 520 B.C. under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua could not be compared to the magnificence of Solomon’s temple prior to its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army in 586 B.C.

In fact, the articular masculine singular form of the adjective ri(ʾ)·šôn contains a superlative idea expressing the extreme or unsurpassed level or extent of the magnificence of Solomon’s temple prior to its destruction.

Now, the Lord makes this comparison between Solomon’s temple prior to its destruction in 586 B.C. and this temple being reconstructed in 520 B.C. because the remnant of Judah under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua were making these comparisons and He wanted them to stop doing so.

This comparison was also made by those who laid the foundation of this temple in 536 B.C.

The people were making an erroneous comparison because the circumstances in both instances were totally different.

Solomon’s was an age of economic prosperity and thus he possessed tremendous resources for his numerous building projects which included the temple.

1 Kings 10:27 asserts that “silver [was] as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees.”

In contrast, Zerubbabel, the governor of the remnant of Judah had come out of exile to a land that had been decimated b war and neglect.

He also had few resources from which to build the temple.

Peter Williams presents a great application, he writes “The principle for us is that in God’s work we should not be looking over our shoulder at the work of others, and making unfavourable comparisons with our own. For example, we may look at another church where the congregation is larger and where there are more conversions, and then we look at our own church where things are not nearly as exciting in spite of our hard work, and we become very despondent and depressed. Or we find ourselves looking at another Christian who is so wonderfully gifted and is ‘up front’ in the life of the church, and then comparing our own Christian life, which seems so low-key and insipid in comparison, and we get very discouraged. The important thing in all this is to accept who and what we are with whichever gifts, great or small, God has given us, and to get on with his work in the situation in which he has set us.”[3]

Haggai 2:3 must be compared with Ezra 3:7-13 since the latter records those from the remnant of Judah who saw Solomon’s temple before its destruction and were also present when the reconstruction of it had begun under Zerubbabel and Joshua in 536 B.C.

Ezra 3:7-13 asserts that there was great rejoicing by the younger generation.

However, notice that there was also loud weeping on the part of the older priests, Levites, and family heads.

The reason is that they knew that the building under construction under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua could not be compared to the magnificent glory of Solomon’s temple.

This negative attitude toward this reconstruction project had a bad impact on the attitude of the remnant of Judah, which caused many in the nation to wonder whether it was worth all their effort.

[1] Baker, D. W. (1988). Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 27, p. 29). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[2] Baldwin, J. G. (1972). Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 28, p. 50). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[3] Williams, P. (2008). Opening up Haggai (pp. 47–48). Leominster: Day One Publications.