Verse 12
The obedience of all the people is a beautiful thing to behold (to obey is better than sacrifice). If faced with such rebuke, we may be tempted to deny that it is so or at least try to justify our actions. But they didn't. They heard what the Lord said and they obeyed his voice.
The obedience of the people is total: from the leaders to the most ordinary member of the community. How vital that is and how precious that is!
They obeyed the voice of the Lord their God: it is one thing to hear; it is another to respond to it. Baldwin: "When God has spoken, apathy is practical atheism"
They obeyed God's voice and Haggai's message: God had spoken through a man; the glory belongs not to the man but to God. Haggai takes none of the credit for getting a response from the people; it is all the Lord's doing. If my sermons ever do any good, it is all because of God's grace and mercy.
What induced this obedience? "because the LORD their God had sent him". It wasn't eloquence that persuaded them, nor thunderings or impassioned preaching; it was the conviction that God was speaking to them.
They obeyed God's voice and feared his presence. What kind of fear is this? Some suggest it is a terror of the Lord. They are aware of how much they have failed and how holy he is and are shaking because of it.
Others see it as reverence for God (NASB: "And the people showed reverence for the LORD"). That is a beautiful thing, when respect and honour are truly given to God as they ought to be.
Both are legitimate interpretations and both have much to say to us.
Verse 13
Someone has said, "God's curse is not a sign that God has rejected his people; rather, it shows his love for them. He wants to draw them back to him, and uses disaster to wake them up". So as they begin to obey, he meets them with a word of encouragement: 'I am with you'.
How much they needed to hear that, especially if fear had gripped them. Notice how "God endorses and strengthens our good resolves". We need ever to remember Jesus' words in the great commission 'I am with you always...'.
It is this that we need above all else: the presence and power of God. His presence cheers, conforts and gives confidence to us in our labours. Without him being with us in power, nothing would or could be achieved.
Verse 14
This is perhaps best taken as a summary statement of vv.12,13 from God's perspective. They had obeyed because God was at work amongst them. He makes his people willing in the day of his power. Joyce Baldwin has said that "Behind the willing response of both leaders and people was the silent working of the Lord, creating a willing attitude by his Spirit".
We are taken back to Phil 2:12,13 - our duty is to respond to God's word, to be obedient. But we can never take credit for it, because it is God who is at work within us to will & act according to his good purpose!
We need to hear what he is saying to us and resolve to live aright. But we also need to pray that by His Spirit he will stir us up to live obediently and lead us in his ways.
Verse 15
The 6th month was a busy one in orchards & fields. Yet because the Lord had stirred them and they were intent on obedience, they came and began work on the temple of the Lord.
Did they speak together in the days that followed the message from the Lord? Did they strengthen one another? Did they comfort each other? Did they urge each other onwards? We know from Malachi that "those who feared the Lord talked with each other and the Lord listened and heard". What a wonderful experience! Godly fellowship and the god who listens with delight to his people as he fellowships with them.
Let's resolve to obey the voice of the Lord, to encourage one another in the way of his commands and to pray earnestly for the pouring out of his Spirit upon us to stir us up.
