God's tiny house (Haggai 1-2)

Episode 229: God's tiny house

Haggai 1-2

God wants a house to take pleasure in

1 ¹ In the second year of the reign of King Darius, the word of God came to Haggai, who delivered it to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the high priest, saying,

² The people say, "It's not time to build God's house."

⁴ Yet they live in fancy houses, while my house is in ruins.

⁸ Build me a house that I can enjoy and be glorified in.

^9-11 But you took care of your own things and ignored my request.

So I blew on the land, which caused the drought that has destroyed your crops.

^12-14 Then Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the people began to build God a house.

God's new house will be more glorious than his old one

2 ¹ Seven weeks later, the word of God came upon Haggai again, saying,

² Talk to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the rest of the people, saying,

³ Who among you has seen my old house?

Look at my house now. It's nothing compared to my old one.

⁶ In a little while, I'll shake the sky, earth, sea, and land.

⁷ I'll shake all the nations and they will fill my house with glory.

⁸ The silver and gold are mine.

⁹ My new house will be more glorious than my old one, and there will be peace in this place.

Holy flesh, batman!

¹⁰ A couple months later, the word of God came to Haggai, saying,

¹¹ Say this to the priests,

¹² If you bear holy flesh in your skirt and your skirt touches bread, wine, oil, or meat, will it be holy?

The priests answered by saying, "No."

¹³ Then Haggai asked them, "If someone who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these things, will it be unclean?"

And the priests answered, saying, "It will be unclean."

¹⁴ Haggai said,

Then the people and all of their work is unclean.

¹⁶ I gave you only half as many things as you needed.

¹⁷ I smote you with blasting, mildew, and hail, but you didn't return to me.

¹⁸ Think about it.

Zerubbabel is God's chosen one

²⁰ The same day, the word of God came to Haggai again, saying,

²¹ Speak to Zerubbabel, saying,

I'll shake the heavens and the earth.

²² I'll overthrow kingdoms, chariots, horses and riders.

I'll force their soldiers to kill each other with a sword.

²³ But I'll make you king. You are my chosen one.

A few more words about this episode

In the second year of the reign of King Darius (1:1): Darius became king of Persia in 522 BCE. Verse 1:1 says that the word of God came to Haggai on the first day of the sixth month of the second year of his reign. The note for the SBL Study Bible says that this would be on the 29th of August 520 BCE.; Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon in 539 BCE and issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem in 538 BCE.
The word of God came to Haggai (1:1): No information is provided about Haggai, except that he was a prophet. Apparently he didn't write the book, though, since it is written in the third person.; Haggai is mentioned, though, in the book of Ezra (5:1, 6:14, Episode 159), where much of the same story is told about the building of the second temple.
Zerubbabel, governor of Judah (1:1): Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin (aka Jeconiah, Coniah) of Judah. According to this verse, he was made governor of Judah by King Darius.
Joshua, the high priest (1:1): This not the Joshua from the book of Joshua, but the high priest when the second temple was built.
Seven weeks later (2:1): "In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month" - which the SBL Study Bible tells us was 17 October 520 BCE.
Who among you has seen my old house?: The first temple was destroyed in 586 BCE. Anyone old enough to have seen it would be in their seventies at this time. (520 BCE)
A couple months later (2:10): "In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month" - 18 December 620 BCE, according to the SBL Study Bible.
If you bear holy flesh in your skirt (2:12): This seems to contradict Leviticus 6:26-27, which says, "Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy."