Haggai Lesson 3

Why? Haggai

Lesson 3

Hi! Welcome back! By the way, if any of you are new to this course, and have not yet done the first 2 lessons in this study, please do go back and do Lessons 1 and 2 before you begin this lesson. Then, when you have finished those two brief but very important foundational studies, return here and join us as we continue studying this old but very contemporary book of the Bible..

And now, with Lessons 1 and 2 completed, let's continue our study of the book of Haggai. You will recall that we ended Lesson 2 with the work of rebuilding the Temple having been resumed. Now, let's continue at that point and see what happens next!

As I said, the work of rebuilding the Temple has finally been resumed! But, then, approximately one month later, a SECOND MESSAGE was given from God through Haggai TO Jerubbabel, Joshua, and the People.

Read Haggai 2:1-9.

What were the questions that God asked in this second message (Haggai 2:3) and why do you think He asked them?

The questions:

Why asked:

Yes, you are correct. Apparently some of the workers and builders were old enough to have remembered seeing the Temple before it had been destroyed by the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, in 586 BC at the conclusion of the 3 sieges and final conquest of Jerusalem. They remembered how beautiful that former Temple had been.

And while we are on that subject of the former Temple, now would be a good time for us to look at some important historical background information about the Temple. Then we will be better able to understand what the 'old-timers' were remembering. Since you may or not have ready access to books containing this information, I have done some of the legwork for you and have come up with the following information which you might find informative and useful. Here it is!

Historical Background Information

You will recall that, in Jewish history, the Jews had first worshiped for a total of about 480 years in the

Tabernacle. It had been constructed according to the plans given by God to Moses. They had carried the

Tabernacle with them during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt.

Then they continued to worship in the Tabernacle during the times of the Judges and during the reigns of

Kings Saul , and David, and during the early years of the reign of King Solomon.

Worship in the Tabernacle finally ceased when King Solomon, son of David, built The Temple (often known

as Solomon's Temple or the First Temple). It was this First Temple, Solomon's Temple, that had been

destroyed by King Nebbuchadnaezer and which the people had been instructed by God to rebuild. It was this First Temple, Solomon's Temple which God was asking them to "remember" and to "recall its former glory."

Now, to find out something of the beauty and magnificence of this Temple, Solomon's Temple, that some were remembering, let's read I Kings 6:1-38. This will give us an idea of what that First Temple had looked like. I have included this passage of scripture for you so you don't have to look it up or print it out.

As you read this passage, underline the words and phrases which describe this first Temple, Solomon's temple, which some were remembering.

I KINGS 6:1-38 niv

6:1 In the four hundred and eightieth* [* Hebrew; Septuagint four hundred and fortieth] year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel,in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord. 6:2 The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.*[* That is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide and 45 feet high ] 6:3 The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,*[* That is, about 30 feet ] and projected ten cubits+ [+ That is, about 15 feet] from the front of the temple.

6:4 He made narrow clerestory windows in the temple. 6:5 Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. 6:6 The lowest floor was five cubits*[ * That is, about 7 1/2 feet ; also in verses 10 and 24 ] wide, the middle floor six cubits+ [ + That is, about 9 feet] and the third floor seven.** [** That is, about 10 1/2 feet] He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls. 6:7 In building the temple, only blocks dressed at th quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

6:8 The entrance to the lowest* [* Septuagint; Hebrew middle] floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. 6:9 So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks. 6:10 And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar. 6:11 The word of the Lord came to Solomon: 6:12 "As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, carry out my regulations and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. 6:13 And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel."

6:14 So Solomon built the temple and completed it. 6:15 He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of pine. 6:16 He partitioned off twenty cubits* [* That is, about 30 feet ] at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 6:17 The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits*[* That is, about 60 feet] long. 6:18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.

6:19 He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. 6:20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high.* [* That is, about 30 feet long, wide and high] He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar. 6:21 Solomon covered the inside of the temple with puregold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 6:22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

6:23 In the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits*[* That is, about 15 feet.] high. 6:24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits--ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 6:25 The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. 6:26 The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 6:27 He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 6:28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

6:29 On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. 6:30 He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold. 6:31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood with five-sided jambs. 6:32 And on the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with beaten gold. 6:33 In the same way he made four-sided jambs of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall. 6:34 He also made two pine doors, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. 6:35 He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings

6:36 And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams. 6:37 The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. 6:38 In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it.

Wow! What a beautiful building the First Temple (Solomon's Temple) had been.

But that temple of Solomon had been destroyed by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and was now in ruins! All that 'the people' in Haggai's day could see were the altar and the foundation, which they had rebuilt after their return from Babylon.

By the way, here are more interesting and important historical facts concerning this, the Second Temple, Zerubbabel's Temple, which the Jews were rebuilding :

This Temple, which God is telling them to rebuild in the book of Haggai, is known as the Second Temple and is also often referred to as Zerubbabel's Temple. Since Zerubbabel was so instrumental in causing it to be rebuilt, it was named for him, just as the first Temple was named 'Solomon's Temple' because of the fact that Solomon was the one who had overseen its construction.

Also, this Second Temple, Zerubbabel's Temple, is the same Temple which will be renovated by Herod about 500 years later.After that remodeling by Herod, it will usually be referred to as Herod's Temple, since the Temple is often named for its 'builder'.

T his (Zerubbabel's / Herod's) Temple is also the very same temple which the Lord Jesus Christ entered during His ministry on earth. In fact, the verses in Haggai 2:7-9 are actually prophetic and are foretelling Christ's first coming and His ministry! Isn't theWord of God awesome! Here, Haggai prophesies events which will not occur until more than 500 years later! Wow!

Furthermore, it is this temple that the disciples were referring to when they asked Jesus about His second coming, "... when will the temple be destroyed, what are the signs of your coming, ...." In fact, the renovation of Zerubbabel's (the Second) Temple by Herod was still in progress and had not yet been fully completed at the time that the disciples were speaking to Jesus concerning it.

And, of course, this is the same temple which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Well, now that you've read the description of the "former temple" in Chapter 6 of I Kings, has this helped you to understand the reason for the questions which God asked in Haggai 2:3: "Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? does it not seem to you like nothing?"

Yes! The temple which they were now rebuilding was nothing at all like its former beauty had been when it had stood as Solomon's Temple.

Therefore, these words of encouragement in Haggai 2:4 to "be strong... for I am with you ..." were important and essential as many of the people grieved as they remembered the Temple's former glory and beauty while looking at the difficult task ahead of them.

Since these words of encouragement were a part of the SECOND MESSAGE, and we now have this important background information, it is time to look in more detail at Message # 2 and see what God is telling Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the People.

But, let's do that in the next lesson, Lesson 4. You have done enough for now. It is time to take another break and to reflect upon the things that you have read and learned about this Second Temple, (Zerubbable's Temple) which the people are building.

So, let's stop for now and we will continue our study of the Second Message in Lesson 4. See you there!

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