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Ageu 1

ARC · Chapter 1/2

1No anno segundo do rei Dario, no sexto mez, no primeiro dia do mez, veiu a palavra do Senhor, pelo ministerio do propheta Aggeo, a Zorobabel, filho de Sealtiel, principe de Judah, e a Josué, filho de Josadac, o summo sacerdote, dizendo:

2Assim falla o Senhor dos Exercitos, dizendo: Este povo diz: Não é vindo o tempo, o tempo em que a casa do Senhor se edifique.

3Veiu pois a palavra do Senhor, pelo ministerio do propheta Aggeo, dizendo:

4Porventura é para vós tempo de habitardes nas vossas casas entaboladas, e esta casa ha de ficar deserta?

5Ora pois, assim diz o Senhor dos Exercitos: Applicae os vossos corações aos vossos caminhos.

6Semeiaes muito, e recolheis pouco; comeis, porém não vos fartaes; bebeis, porém não vos saciaes; vestis-vos, porém ninguem fica quente; e o que recebe salario, recebe salario n'um sacco furado.

7Assim diz o Senhor dos Exercitos: Applicae os vossos corações aos vossos caminhos.

8Subi ao monte, e trazei madeira, e edificae a casa, e d'ella me agradarei, e serei glorificado, diz o Senhor.

9Olhastes para muito, mas eis que alcançastes pouco; e, quando o trouxestes a casa, eu lhe assoprei. Por que causa? disse o Senhor dos Exercitos: por causa da minha casa, que está deserta, e cada um de vós corre á sua propria casa.

10Por isso se cerram os céus sobre vós, para não darem orvalho e a terra detem os seus fructos.

11Porque chamei seccura sobre a terra, e sobre os montes, e sobre o trigo e sobre o mosto; e sobre o azeite, e sobre o que a terra produz: como tambem sobre os homens, e sobre os animaes, e sobre todo o trabalho das mãos.

12Então ouviu Zorobabel, filho de Sealtiel, e Josué, filho de Josadac, summo sacerdote, e todo o resto do povo a voz do Senhor seu Deus; e as palavras do propheta Aggeo, assim como o Senhor seu Deus o enviou; e temeu o povo diante do Senhor.

13Então Aggeo, o embaixador do Senhor, na embaixada do Senhor, fallou ao povo, dizendo: Eu sou comvosco, diz o Senhor.

14E o Senhor suscitou o espirito de Zorobabel, filho de Sealtiel, principe de Judah, e o espirito de Josué, filho de Josadac, summo sacerdote, e o espirito do resto de todo o povo, e vieram, e fizeram a obra na casa do Senhor dos Exercitos, seu Deus,

15Ao vigesimo quarto dia do sexto mez, no segundo anno do rei Dario.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Haggai rebukes the people who returned from Babylonian exile for prioritizing their own comfortable homes while leaving the Lord's temple in ruins; upon hearing the call, the people and their leaders resume construction.

Explanation

After returning from exile in Babylon, the Jews had begun rebuilding the temple, but grew discouraged in the face of opposition and distractions, leaving the work stalled for about 16 years while they took care of their own 'paneled houses' (well-built and comfortable). Haggai confronts this reversal of priorities head-on: the people work hard, yet 'sow much and bring in little,' for material blessing had been withheld precisely because of this spiritual neglect. The response is immediate and remarkable — Zerubbabel (the governor), Joshua (the high priest), and all the people resume the work with fear and obedience just 23 days after the message. The application for today: indefinitely postponing spiritual commitments in the name of personal comfort tends to bring a dissatisfaction that no material achievement can truly resolve.

Fun facts

  • Haggai is one of the only prophets whose messages are all precisely dated (day, month, and year of the reign of Darius, the Persian king), allowing historians to pinpoint his prophetic activity between August and December of 520 B.C. with great precision.
  • The expression 'earns wages to put into a bag with holes' (v.6) was a vivid, everyday image of economic futility, easily understood by any worker of the time who had ever lost coins through a hole in his purse.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ageu 1:1Haggai prophesies in 520 BC, during the reign of the Persian king Darius — after the Jews had already returned from exile in Babylon, but the rebuilding of the temple had stalled for more than ten years. He speaks directly to Zerubbabel, the governor, and to Joshua, the high priest, demanding that they resume the work.
  2. Ageu 1:2The people had a ready excuse: “the time is not come” to rebuild the temple — Haggai confronts this procrastination disguised as religious caution.
  3. Ageu 1:3The word of the Lord comes again through the prophet, reinforcing that the message is not Haggai’s personal opinion, but a demand coming directly from the Lord.
  4. Ageu 1:4Asking whether it is “time for you... to dwell in your cieled houses” while the temple lies in ruins is the book’s central accusation: the people had energy and resources to take care of their own houses, but not to finish the house of God.
  5. Ageu 1:5“Consider your ways” is the refrain of the chapter: an invitation to stop and examine why life is not going well for them.
  6. Ageu 1:6“Wages to put it into a bag with holes” describes the feeling of working hard and never having anything left over — a kind of economic curse that Haggai links directly to the fact that the temple had been abandoned.
  7. Ageu 1:7The same appeal is repeated almost word for word from verse 5, reinforcing the idea before giving the practical instruction that follows.
  8. Ageu 1:8The order is direct and practical: go up the mountain, gather wood, and rebuild — God promises to take pleasure in it and be glorified when the people act, not just when they talk.
  9. Ageu 1:9The people worked hard but watched the result vanish from their hands (“I did blow upon it”) — God explains that this economic frustration had a direct cause: neglecting the temple.
  10. Ageu 1:10The drought hitting the land was no accident: God shut up the heavens on purpose, withholding the dew and the produce the people expected to harvest.
  11. Ageu 1:11The list of scarcity is complete — land, mountains, corn, wine, oil, men, cattle, all manual labor — showing that neglecting the temple affected the community’s entire life.
  12. Ageu 1:12Unlike other prophets who were rejected, here the leadership (Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest) and the people listen and respond with fear before Haggai’s word.
  13. Ageu 1:13After the response of fear, a quick word of comfort follows: “I am with you” — God did not just want to rebuke, he wanted to accompany the work that was about to resume.
  14. Ageu 1:14Unlike other prophetic books, here the people obey quickly: God “stirred up the spirit” of the leaders and the people, and the work resumes within weeks — an unusually positive response to a prophetic call.
  15. Ageu 1:15The date marks the exact day the temple work resumed — just under a month after Haggai’s first message, a sign of the people’s quick response.

Chapters

12

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