Глава 1

Agg.1:1 . In the second summer of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first [day] of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying: I have already said that the stopping of the work on the construction of the church by the Israelites was excusable, since they were deprived of the opportunity to do this when some of the inhabitants of Samaria, out of envy of this, made the greatest accusation against Jerusalem before the Persian rulers. But when Darius, in the second year of his reign, granted them unhindered and free power to work and ordered them to work on a cause pleasing to them and to indulge in pious pursuits, even adding a monetary allowance, then their negligence was not at all excusable, it even turned out to be without any reasonable basis and without any plausible pretext. That is why the word came by the hand of Haggai. Expression: by hand means instead of: a mediator or servant of the word of God, performing prophetic ministry. It is not without purpose that he also designates the very time when Darius gave such an order, already in advance depriving the Israelites of any reckless excuses for their negligence 1 . Agg.1:1–2. Say to Zerubbabel of Shealtiel, of the tribe of Judah, and to Jesus the son of Jozedek, the great priest, saying: To this saith the Lord Almighty, saying: These people say, The time has not come to build the house of the Lord. Shealtiel was the son of Jehoiachin, from the tribe and blood of David. When Jehoiachin had royal power over Judah in Jerusalem, the city was destroyed and all Israel was taken into captivity, and Nebuchadnezzar then burned the divine church itself, and Jehoiachin himself was taken and, together with other Jews, taken into captivity (2 Kings 24:8-25, 30 and 2 Chronicles 36:9-23). The son of this Salathiel was Zerubbabel 2. Therefore, when Israel returned to Jerusalem, he (Zerubbabel), as coming from a royal tribe, reigned over Judah. Jesus, coming from the tribe and family of Levi, as a descendant of Aaron, received the most excellent and noble rank of great priest. This is what the person who received leadership over the priestly ranks calls the law when he says that he should not hand over (to death) fugitives from the cities of refuge, but let everyone (who fled) remain there until the great priest, that is, the high priest, dies (Joshua 20:1–6, cf. Num. 35 and Deut. 19:3). So the prophecy was to both, I say to the king and the head of the priestly ranks, for they were already supposed to announce the divine revelation to everyone else. I think, however, that the God of all commanded (the prophet) to announce this to them, not because they (Zerubbabel and Joshua) did not know the excuses of the people, but in order to ridicule those who fall into carelessness at the wrong time and do not care at all about what should have been the most diligent efforts. Indeed, it would be better for them to reflect on the fact that if they were primarily concerned about divine things, then, preserved for the well-being of His mercy and grace, they would certainly spend their lives in prosperity and wealth, having everything they need in abundance. So, through the mouth of the prophet, as it were, he gives some evidence that Israel wickedly neglected the most useful things for him and for the glory of God. Covering up their guilt, as they thought to themselves, with plausible excuses, they say that the time has not yet come to build the church of the Lord, although there is always time for the desire to act justly, and good and just people always have the opportunity to do deeds for the glory of God. But when what is considered an obstacle is, as it were, removed from the path, then no possible excuses will undoubtedly no longer excuse the delay, but will serve as an accusation of inertia and extreme inactivity. The same, I think, was said through the mouth of David: “Do not turn your heart into words of wickedness, do not bear the guilt of sins” (Ps. 141:4). Hag.1:3–4. And the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying: How long are ye to dwell in your hewn houses, and is this house desolate? This is the second revelation from God to Haggai, a clear accusation condemning Israel and showing that he prefers peace and luxury to the glory of God. So is it really, he says, that the time has not yet come to honor the God of all in a built church, and such a time and such a brilliant position has come for your affairs to be luxurious in skillfully decorated dwellings and boast courtyards with grooved decorations? And doesn’t it really seem grave and unbearable to you to see the church in such lawless contempt, destroyed and in a very unattractive state, almost emitting loud complaints about the wickedness of the Babylonians and their previous devastations? Wouldn't it be better to see it well-maintained and in its previous form? After all, after this, you will finally be able to freely make sacrifices to God and pray for whatever you want. And he calls the houses with grooved gates ("hewn ones") the doors in which the doors or jambs of the gates were trimmed with iron along the recesses, since they were built by experienced builders who carved artistic images from them with great skill. And this is already a sign that they lived in luxury and even possessed great wealth, for ambitious concerns about super-necessities and such decoration of houses could, of course, serve as evidence, and very clear, of an abundance of money. Yes, we have a truly terrible and unpardonable sin if we place divine objects in second place and after human ones. Hag.1:5–6. And now the Lord Almighty says: Order your hearts in your ways. You have sown much, and taken in little; you have eaten, and not for satiety; you have eaten, and not for drunkenness; you have clothed yourself, and not been warmed in them; Not caring, as I said, about what was most beneficial and not caring about the glory of God, the Israelites turned to caring about themselves, erecting preciously decorated houses and then saying recklessly: the time has not come to build the house of the Lord. And since they needed to supply everything necessary for the construction of the divine church, and yet they did not want to do this, then, showing a lack of money, they said that first they needed to accumulate it and, as it were, eliminate poverty in advance, while engaging in agriculture or trade, or cattle breeding, or something similar. But it was better to place one’s trust in God, who can provide help even in a hopeless situation, bless farmers and open paths for righteous profits. And since they were alien to pious thoughts and lost the highest favor, acting wrongly in everything, therefore he considers it necessary to say: “Order your hearts in your ways” - which is the same as if he said: Consider carefully what paths of life you have taken, or what you have done in regard to piety, indulging in zealous selfishness? “You sow much and take little,” but it was better, with God’s blessing, to sow little and gather much. And since they lacked what they needed, that’s why there was a lot of work and very little fruit. “To eat, and not to be full”: it is terrible and a proof of extreme need and at the same time of a disastrous situation if a lot was sown, and there was so much fruit that, as retribution, the workers were threatened with hunger and there was not enough food to satisfy them. “Drink, and not get drunk,” for the vineyards were not fruitful. Along with the fields, not very fruitful trees also suffered (from infertility). “Be clothed, and not be warmed in them”: since the pestilence probably struck the flocks of sheep, so that even the great rich had a lack of clothes. But also “collect bribes, collect in the vagina of a diravo”: this indicates those who have a trade trade, who collect profits from trade with some turnover, always adding surpluses to each of the items sold and by increasing prices, tightly filling their wallets. But this, he says, did not benefit their greed, for, suffering losses and unexpected shipwrecks, they seemed to be no different from those who put money into a holey wallet. So, it is much better and wiser to seek (first of all) blessings from God, who gives us everything, and this (only then) can come to those who love to think about Him and prefer His glory before their own desires. So in one place the Savior Himself said: “Do not worry about your life 3 what you have... but seek rather the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:25, 33). Considering the historical meaning of this saying to be sufficiently explained, let us now direct our minds to spiritual contemplations and see that what happened to the Jews can serve as a prototype, and a very clear one, of the general and worldwide economy that took place through Christ. They were in Babylon, oppressed by the yoke of involuntary slavery and suffering punishment for their sins: for this reason they were given over and were under the power of enemies. But once, by the mercy of God, they were freed, returned to their homeland again and settled in the holy land, under the leadership of Zerubbabel and the leadership of Jesus. And Darius, although devoted to idolatry, is the one who issues the command that a divine church should be erected, and in addition supplies (them) with trees of Lebanon and monetary benefits. They were still inert and slow in doing what was pleasing to God; they even turned out to use the following excuse: the time had not come to create the house of the Lord. And the whole earth was under the power of the deceiver and tyrant Satan and was in captivity, moreover, caught in the nets of sin and ignorance of the true and real God and Creator of all. But God took it away through Christ, breaking the bonds of slavery. Following His guidance, we leave life with our enemies, leave polytheistic delusion, as if into a certain land, and ascend to Zion, obviously spiritual, that is, the Church. Notice how Christ is portrayed for us in Jesus and Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel, as I said, was from the tribe of Judah, and the Lord did not come from another tribe. Therefore he reigned over Israel. So nowhere does he say through the mouth of David: “I have been appointed King” and so on (Ps. 2:6). And Jesus was from the family and tribe of Levi and was called a great priest. So Christ also became our High Priest, sacrificing Himself for us as an immaculate sacrifice, as a true Lamb, offering up the aroma of fragrance to God and the Father. Those who want to talk about this more precisely will be partially convinced of this by the very meaning of the names or interpretation. Zerubbabel in translation means: “a changing current,” and Shealtiel: “the inclination of God,” as Christ also said somewhere: behold, I bow down upon them as a river of peace and as a stream flooding the glory of the pagans (Is. 66:12). And undoubtedly, He is a stream of sweetness and, as it were, the flow of the world. But He leaned towards us and, as it were, changed (the tide), leaving Israel. He withdrew, as I said, to those called from among the pagans, giving them an abundant outpouring of heavenly and spiritual blessings. Jesus means: “Iao” (Jehovah) “salvation”, just as Yosedek: “Iao” and “righteousness”. And Iao is the God of all, and Christ became for us salvation and righteousness from God the Father (1 Cor. 1:30), for in Him we are saved, having escaped the snares of death, and justified through faith, freed from the sin that ruled over us. So,” I return again to the beginning of the speech, “we must contemplate Him as a king in the person of Zerubbabel and a high priest in the person of Jesus. However, anyone who desires useful teaching should also pay attention to the fact that the Jews fell into negligence and unwillingness to work on building the divine church, that is, the Church of Christ. Moreover, let him notice the readiness of the pagans and their great zeal for hard work. After all, Darius, as I said, commanded to rebuild the church and do everything for the glory of God, who rules over all. They were inert and not hardworking, they preferred their own things to what was pleasing to God and were very devoted to earthly objects, for, he says, they built luxuriously decorated houses. Therefore, David also speaks of the pagans: “The desire of the poor has been heard... The Lord, the ear has listened to the preparation of their hearts” (Ps. 9:38). Thus, the pagans are more ready for faith and the Israelis are very inert. You can see what I say in the Gospel scriptures or in parables. The heralds of the supper went to gather for the marriage. They (the called Israelites) did not want to come and came up with excuses for their sins. One said: I bought a field, another: I got married, and others went to their trade (Luke 14:18-20). Therefore, those who were found on the roads and by the hedges were called and entered into marriage, and thus the first truly became last and the last first (Matthew 19:30). So Christ also said through the mouth of David about the descendants of Israel and the pagans: “people who did not know, who worked for us, sons of strangers” lied to me (Ps. 17:44, 46). Hag.1:7–9. To this says the Lord Almighty: set your hearts on your ways: go up to the mountain, and trim the trees,... and build a house, and in it I will delight and be glorified, says the Lord. Prizreste is many, and it is small. And it was quickly brought into the house, and I breathed He reminds often, knowing that it is for the benefit of those listening. So Paul says in one epistle: “When I write to you, it is not lazy for me, but for you it is firm” (Phil. 3:1). So, he says, pay attention to your paths, which you have now completed. And what these paths are, he immediately explains: I looked for a lot, and there was a little: and it was quickly brought into the house, and I breathed. They were mistaken in their hope for agriculture; Having used a lot of labor, they barely collected a little. However, they will also be deprived of this, for it has been taken away, that is, it has become the property of others, and was not spent by them, but, on the contrary, by those devoted to covetousness. Thus, their efforts and labors were in vain, because they did not most of all want to do what was pleasing to God and, out of zeal for higher things, they preferred caring for lower and earthly things. So, he did not leave Israel without admonition, but showed the lost the way to correction. And this, as we will see, was done beautifully, for he said that “go up to the mountain, and trim the trees, and build a house, and I will be glorified” again in “it, and I will be pleased,” that is, I will accept and approve of the zeal and diligence of those who labored for this. A truly wonderful and pleasing thing to God is to hasten in the fulfillment of that which may turn out to be useful and necessary for the well-being of the Church and its structure. Let us do this, and at the same time, with great prudence, collecting, as it were, the most necessary substance and, as if from a grove, cutting down spiritual contemplations in the inspired Scripture, through which we can make the glorification of God (by people) or reasoning (about divine objects) firm and unshakable, as well as reveal the perfection and superiority of the image of the economy with the flesh (the Incarnation). Moreover, they also lead to an accurate knowledge of spiritual well-being and decency in character and customs. Through them, we affirm, the house of God is built, for Christ dwells in us through the Spirit and we are churches of the living God, according to the scriptures (1 Cor. 3 and 2 Cor. 6:16). Therefore, let each of us establish his heart through right faith, and let him have the Savior Himself as a truly valuable foundation (1 Pet. 2:6). But let him add another substance to this, I mean humility and obedience in everything, courage, patience, abstinence; for, harmoniously articulated in this way through every connection of (ever increasing) bonds, we will be exalted into the holy church, into the dwelling of God in the spirit (Eph. 2:20-22, Eph. 4:16). And those who are slow to accept faith, or who have believed, but are still stuck in renunciation of passions and sin and worldly lust, through this very thing seem to shout: “The time has not come to build the house of the Lord.” Therefore, they suffer a lack of heavenly blessings and spiritual barrenness, since the mind in them, like some kind of earth, becomes unfruitful, so that it has neither bread, that is, strength, nor wine, which serves as an example of joy, for it is written that bread strengthens the heart of a person and wine makes glad the heart of a person (Ps. 103:15; Sir. 40:20). Hag.1:9–11. For this reason the Lord Almighty says to the Lord: For my house is empty, but you flow every one into his house, for this reason the sky will be kept from dew and the earth will be spared its wear: and I will bring the sword on the earth, and on the mountains, and on the wheat, and on the wine, and on the oil, and on the spruce the earth wears out, and on man, and on the cattle, and on all the labor of their hands. He does not allow himself to be put in first place, recklessly neglecting his duties to God, and preferring earthly objects to the glory of God. On the contrary, it urges us to understand that if the incomparably higher is not in due respect, then the well-being in the lower, which they wished to have, will never follow. That is why he says: “before my house is empty, but you flow every one into your own house,” and it is precisely for this reason that the fruits in the fields can perish, when the sky no longer sends dew, the earth loses its (productive) strength, along with the grain and grapes the olives dry up, and besides, even the sword, due to anger, threatens to destroy people and livestock. So, for those who are slow to do what serves to the glory of God and through which His house is built, that is, the Church, there can be neither spiritual dew, that is, consolation from heaven that fills souls and hearts, nor fruitfulness from the earth, that is, good consequences from good bodily labors, nor bread, nor wine, nor the use of oil. They will be completely and in all respects powerless and alien to joy, will not be fed with spiritual oil and will remain completely untasted and unparticipated in the blessing of Christ. And besides, they will be subjected to the sword and will be left without any reward for their work, even if someone led a good lifestyle among them; for “no one will be crowned if he struggles unlawfully,” according to the type of struggle (2 Tim. 2:5). Therefore, we must consider efforts in higher subjects to be the most honorable and most worthy of competition. Subjects concerning ourselves, let them attract less of our attention and should come behind concerns about the glory of God. And not only dwellings, money and everything that relates to empty glory, but also kinship, brothers and fathers, just as Christ says nowhere: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37) Hag.1:12. And when Zerubbabel Shealtiel of the tribe of Judah, and Joshua the great priest, and all the rest of the people, heard the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as their Lord had sent him to them, and the people feared at the presence of the Lord And from here you can easily see that He does not make threats in vain and that fear is not a useless matter for those accustomed to negligence: for behold, as soon as they heard the divine words, they immediately turn to hard work, then go to their leaders, meaning Zerubbabel and Jesus, treat the prophetic speeches with the greatest respect and reverently accept the command, although before they did not deign to have the slightest attention. So, in their actions the truth of the saying is revealed that “whom... the Lord loves, he punishes” (Heb. 12:6; Proverbs 3:12); for fear of punishment sometimes changes the spiritual mood for the better and the sending of disasters turns us to the fear of God. Therefore, what is contained in the book of Proverbs turns out to be immutable: “fear the Lord, you will live” (Proverbs 13:13), and also: “the fear of the Lord is in the belly of men” (Proverbs 19:23), similar and wisdom (says): “the fear of the Lord makes the heart glad, and gives joy and joy” (Sir. 1:12). Look how tenderly and God punishes us in a manner appropriate to Him. He does not immediately bring the effects of His wrath upon human bodies, but at first He strikes only with external and small fears - with the failure of the food supply, He changes (their mood) for the better and finally to the determination to do what is pleasing to Him. Hag.1:13. And Haggai the messenger of the Lord spoke to the people in the messengers of the Lord: I am with you, says the Lord Note that a change for the better is immediately followed by love for mankind (God's). Together with those who decide to change their mood, God also seems to change and promises to be with them. And what can compare with this? After all, when God is with us, then all harm is far removed from us, all kinds of benefits will quickly flow in, stable types of prosperity will immediately appear and all kinds of pleasant things will happen to us. If the Holy Scripture calls Haggai “the angel of the Lord,” then no one will think that he is an angel by nature, but he was born as a man like us from a wife. It's completely ridiculous to think so. On the contrary, if we have common sense and are able to comprehend the truth, then we must admit that he is called an angel and is named from the message communicated through him. Otherwise, nothing will prevent us from falling into another absurdity, namely: admitting that those of the horsemen who informed Job about what happened in the fields and that his children died during the destruction of his house were angels by nature (Job 1:14). Likewise, the word of God is called “the angel of great counsel” (Isa. 9:6), for it declared to us the will of God and the Father. So from the message he was called an angel. And if this name is given to people, then, of course, it is by no means by nature, which we do not have 4. Hag.1:14. And the Lord raised up the spirit of Zerubbabel Shealtiel of the tribe of Judah, and the spirit of Jesus the great priest of Jozadek, and the spirit of the rest of all the people: and he went down and did the works in the house of the Lord Almighty his God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month 5 . The Israelites were afraid before the face of God. However, notice again that they turned to the determination to do what is pleasing to God not before He began to dwell with them and “lift up ... their spirit.” Thus, and from here we must learn that even if someone decided to direct his will to do good and even if he had the greatest zeal for this, he will not have any success in anything unless God is present with him and does not excite him to boldness, does not encourage him to patience and does not remove from him the inertia towards virtue. Therefore, Paul says about those who are entrusted with divine preaching that “I labored more than all of them, and added most wisely: not I alone, but the grace of God even with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). So the Savior Himself says to the holy apostles: “without me they can do nothing” (John 15:5), for He is our motivation, zeal for all good things, He is (our) strength, and when He is with us, we can boast that we have built ourselves “into a holy church... into a habitation of God” in the spirit (Eph. 2:21–22). And when He leaves and moves away, how can anyone doubt that we will fall into inactivity, overcome by laziness and weakness, and reject work from ourselves as useless? However, pay attention to the fact that those who once fell into anger for the sake of greater disobedience then rush to the house of the Lord and work in it, in the presence of Zerubbabel and Jesus, the great priest. This event can also serve as a prototype of the calling of Israel that was to take place in the last times of the age. Since they did not obey at first, they remained barren, without dew, bread, wine and oil. They also fell to the sword. But when they are finally afraid before the face (of God) and receive with reverence the words of the holy prophets, then they will have all God abiding with them and their spirit will be exalted, they will work for the church of the Lord, that is, the Church. All this is expressed (realized) in Christ, as in Zerubbabel and Jesus: He is a king, like God, and also a high priest as a man, and a mediator between God and people, for the priest mediates (intercedes). I also considered it necessary to add: “on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month,” clearly indicating the rapid changeability of the mood of the Israelites. The Word of the Lord came to them in the sixth month, on the first day of the month (Hag. 1:1), and they came to work at the church on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, so that for the period of delay (work to restore the church) and meditation, the number is twenty-three days. The 6th month after Nisan, called Elul (Neh. 6 and 1 Mac. 1:24, 29), when the next. the fruits had already been harvested and the Jews could work unhindered on building the church. At Agg. 1:1, 12, 14; 1Ezra 3:2, 8, 5:2; Neh. 12:1; Matt. 1:12; OK. 3:27, Zerubbabel is called the son of Shealtiel, and in (1 Chronicles 3:17–19) he is called the son of Pedaiah, the brother of Shealtiel and the son of Jehoiachin. Also Shealtiel is called the son of Jehoiachin in 1 Chron. and in Matthew, and in Luke. he is called the son of Niriya and in Jer. Jehoiachin is depicted as childless (Jer. 22:30), as in 2 Kings. and 2 Chron. there is no mention of his children either before or after captivity. These differences are explained either by the law of cohabitation, i.e. Neri, the brother of Jehoiachin, and Pedaiah, the brother of Shealtiel, married the widows of Jehoiachin and Shealtiel; or the law on the heirs-daughters (when there were no male heirs left) of Jeconiah and Salathiel, whom Neri and Pedaiah married. Or maybe Pedaiah is another name for Salathiel, just as Zerubbabel was called Sheshbatzar (1 Ezra 8). Slav. with your soul... body, Italy. (Cod. Vercell. ed. Belsheim); in corde vestro quid manducetis, neque corpori vestro quid induatis. About the interpretation mentioned by St. Kirill, says Jerome. “Some think that both John the Baptist and Malachi, whose name means the Angel of the Lord,” and Haggai, of whom we are now speaking, were angels who, by the dispensation and command of God, took on human bodies and lived among people. To allow this in relation to angels does not seem strange if for our salvation the Son of God Himself took on a human body. And for proof they also refer to the apocrypha, which says that Jacob, after receiving the name Israel, was an angel, and therefore he kicked his brother in his mother’s womb (Gen. 25, Gen. 32). Also, John the Baptist, at the voice of Mary the Mother of the Lord, leaped in the womb of Elizabeth (Luke 1:25). And all rational beings, they say, have one nature. For this reason, people who are pleasing to God are made equal to the angels. That's what they think. But we mean the messenger of the Lord, that is, simply a prophet, so named because he announced the will of the Lord to the people, or because in the person of Haggai a prototype of our Savior and Lord was given in advance, in many places called an Angel, for example. Great Council Angel (Isa. 9:6). The further words: the messenger of the Lord from the messengers of the Lord, are the same as if he said: a prophet from the prophets” (In Agg. ad h-l. Migne, 25. 1399–1400; cf. praef. in Malach. ib. 1541; Epist. ad Evang. et ad Algasaiam, Migne, 73 et 122). This interpretation belongs to Origen and is read in the Commentary. in Johan. t. 2. p. 25 (ed Lomnatzsh, 1, 146 sq.). Jerome also has such a division (punctuation), but with approx. in the second summer of Darius the king (under Darius the king). But Slav. begins the trail. a chapter in twenty words... just like Vatik. Italian Vulv. Theodoret, Heb. etc. U Feod. Mons. These dates are not available at all. You might be interested in: