Blessings for a Defiled People

Haggai 2

10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 11 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Now, l ask the priests concerning the law, saying, 12 "If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?" ' " Then the priests answered and said, "No." 13 And Haggai said, "If one who is m unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?" So the priests answered and said, "It shall be unclean." 14 Then Haggai answered and said, n " 'So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,' says the LORD, 'and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean. 15 'And now, carefully o consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the LORD - 16 'since those days, p when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty. 17 q 'I struck you with blight and mildew and hail r in all the labors of your hands; s yet you did not turn to Me,' says the LORD. 18 'Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from t the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid - consider it: 19 u 'Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will v bless you.' "

  1. Cross References
    Leviticus 10:10
    That you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.
    Leviticus 10:11
    "and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses."
    Deuteronomy 33:10
    They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, And Israel Your law. They shall put incense before You, And a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar.
    Malachi 2:7
    For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
  2. Cross References
    Leviticus 22:4 - 6
    Whatever man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a leper or has a discharge, shall not eat the holy offerings until he is clean. And whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or a man who has had an emission of semen.
    Numbers 19:11
    He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days.
    Numbers 19:22
    'Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.'"
  3. Cross References
    Titus 1:15
    To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.
  4. Cross References
    Haggai 1:5
    Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways!
    Haggai 1:7
    Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways!
    Haggai 2:18
    Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid - consider it:
  5. Cross References
    Haggai 1:6
    "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes."
    Haggai 1:9
    You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the LORD of hosts. "Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.
    Zechariah 8:10
    For before these days There were no wages for man nor any hire for beast; There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in; For I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.
  6. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:22
    The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish.
    1 Kings 8:37
    When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is.
    Amos 4:9
    I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, Your vineyards, Your fig trees, And your olive trees, The locust devoured them; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.
  7. Cross References
    Haggai 1:11
    "For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands."
  8. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:3
    O LORD, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return.
    Amos 4:6 - 11
    Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.
  9. Cross References
    Ezra 5:1
    Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.
    Ezra 5:2
    So Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
    Ezra 5:16
    "Then the same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem; but from that time even until now it has been under construction, and it is not finished."
    Zechariah 8:9
    Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Let your hands be strong, You who have been hearing in these days These words by the mouth of the prophets, Who spoke in the day the foundation was laid For the house of the LORD of hosts, That the temple might be built.
  10. Cross References
    Zechariah 8:12
    For the seed shall be prosperous, The vine shall give its fruit, The ground shall give her increase, And the heavens shall give their dew - I will cause the remnant of this people To possess all these.
  11. Cross References
    Psalms 128:1 - 6
    Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways.
    Jeremiah 31:12
    Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, Streaming to the goodness of the LORD - For wheat and new wine and oil, For the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, And they shall sorrow no more at all.
    Jeremiah 31:14
    I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD.
    Malachi 3:10
    Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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