have anticipated the sin and
punishment of these king's children--Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim.

X. HAGGAI.

18. Haggai is the first of the three prophets after the captivity, who
are commonly called _Prophets of the Restoration_. His four short
messages to the people were all delivered in the space of three months,
and they all had reference to the rebuilding of the temple. By the
slanderous representations of the Jews' enemies this work had been
interrupted, as we learn from the fourth chapter of Ezra. Meanwhile the
Jews, having yielded to the spirit of unbelief, had lost their zeal for
God's cause and grown cold and indifferent. For this the prophets Haggai
and Zechariah were sent to reprove them, while at the same time they
encouraged them to resume the work, a mission which they successfully
accomplished. Ezra 5:1, 2.

19. The first message is dated "in the second year of Darius the
king"--Darius Hystaspes, who ascended the throne of Persia B.C. 521--"in
the sixth month, in the first day of the month." Chap. 1:1. In this
message the prophet sharply reproves the people for their indifference
to the cause of God's house and their selfish devotion to their own
private interests, which have brought upon them the divine rebuke. Chap.
1:2-11. The effect of his words in exciting both rulers and people to
renew the work upon the temple is added. Chap. 1:12-15. The second
message "in the one and twentieth day" of the same month is throughout
of an encouraging character. The elders who had seen the first house in
its glory, were despondent in view of the comparative meanness of the
new edifice. Jehovah promises them that "the Desire of all nations"
shall come, that he will fill this house with glory, so that "the glory
of this latter house shall be greater than of the former" (2:1-9). This
promise was fulfilled in a material way in the second temple as renewed
by Herod the Great. But the real reference is to its spiritual glory. It
was honored by the presence of the Son of God, who is the brightness of
the Father's glory. In the third message, "in the four and twentieth day
of the ninth month," the prophet in a sort of parable, rebukes the
people for their heartless formality, which, like the touch of a dead
body, defiles all their offerings and services, yet promises them God's
blessing upon their repentance. Chap. 2:10-19. The last message, which
was delivered on the same day, is wholly occupied with the future. Amid
co