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1:15b-2:9 The Former and Latter Glory of This House. Haggai bolsters flagging spirits in this fourth message. Comparing the past glory of the temple with the present ruins brought inevitable discouragement (2:1-3). The people are called to act based on the past (2:4-5). As God moved Israel to build the tabernacle, so he will now move among the nations to provide for the restoration of his house (2:6-9).

1:15b-2:3 Comparing Past and Present. The Lord challenges those who remember to compare the past glory of the temple with its present status.

1:15b-2:1 second year . . . seventh month . . . twenty-first day. October 17, 520 b.c. (cf. 1:1), and the next-to-last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (1 Kings 8:2). It is likely that the people celebrated with limited resources (Hag. 1:10-11).

2:3 Who is left. "Left" translates Hebrew sha’ar, a wordplay on "remnant" (Hb. she’erit, v. 2, i.e., "what is left"). Among those who remained were some in their 70s or older who could remember Solomon's temple that had been destroyed 66 years earlier (cf. Ezra 3:12). this house. The loss of temple and land is evidence for covenant curses for disobedience (1 Kings 9:6-9). Is it not as nothing in your eyes? The people could see that the rebuilt temple would be far inferior to Solomon's temple in its wealth and physical beauty. The word glory is used in two senses in Haggai: here and in Hag. 1:8 it conveys the idea of "honor, distinction," while in 2:7 it is probably "the glory of the Lord" (his special presence), which is said to "fill" the sanctuary (1 Kings 8:10-11; cf. Ex. 40:34-35).

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