From This Day On, I Will Bless (Haggai 2:10-19) Series

Haggai's oracle in today's passage, chapter 2:10-19, comes roughly two months after his last one-- and three months after the people have begun rebuilding God's house. Here, again, Yahweh speaks through his prophet to encourage the people. So this is another message, I'm hoping, that will encourage you. I say that, but let me give you a heads-up-- this may not feel very encouraging at first.

Verse 10-12:

(10) On the 24th day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the Word/word of Yahweh came to Haggai the prophet, saying,

(11) "Thus has said Yahweh of Armies:

Ask, please, the priests, [for] an instruction, saying,

(12) "LOOK! A man is carrying holy/consecrated/dedicated meat in the hem of his cloak,

and he touches with his cloak to the bread and to the stew and to the wine and to the olive oil and

to all that he eats.

Does it become holy/dedicated/consecrated?",

When we think about priests in the OT-- who they are, what they do-- we maybe think that they are basically there for two reasons-- to offer sacrifices on behalf of the nation to Yahweh, and to help others offer their own sacrifices. But one of the main jobs of the priests was to teach the people what God wanted from them-- what God expected of his own people, for their own half of the covenant (Deuteronomy 17:9ff).

Now, when you read through the OT torah/instruction/law, you'll realize quickly that it doesn't address every possible situation. There are lots of specific questions we could bring to the OT, and these specific questions, aren't specifically addressed. Like the Sabbath, for example. What exactly is it, that people can and can't do on the Sabbath in the OT? Can I circumcise my son on the Sabbath, since God expects my obedience? If my wife is pregnant, and in labor, on a Sabbath, can I help her? Or is the Sabbath my day of rest, and she just needs to hang on until sunset?

Sometimes, God's instruction doesn't cover your specific question. And sometimes, it maybe does, but you just don't know what He's said. If you're an OT Israelite, you probably can't read. You certainly don't have a Bible on your bookcase. Maybe your parents don't know God's instruction very well, and/or didn't do a good job teaching you what God wants. Maybe you just have honest questions (Luke 2:46).

If this is you, and you're not sure what God wants from you, your next step would be to go the priest. He is the one who can help you make sure you are living in a way that pleases God.

Here, in Haggai 2, we get a picture of what this all looks like. How exactly do the rules about cleanliness, and holiness, work? Say that you have meat that is "holy" to God. Actually, let's pause. What is "holy meat?" "Holy" meat isn't meat that is "morally upright"-- meat that's lived ethically. It's not meat that is "separate," or "other." The basic idea of holiness, is of dedication, or commitment, or consecration (cf. Peter Gentry's article, and Andrew Case's).

The temple is holy, because it's the house dedicated to and for God. In the temple, you'd have vessels that are "holy"-- they are dedicated to sacrifice to God. "Holy meat" is meat that is dedicated to God-- it's meat that you will offer to God, as a sacrifice. "Holiness" is about "dedication to God."

So let's say you have this holy/dedicated meat, and you are bringing it to the temple. Now, you don't have tupperware, or a cooler. There's no ziplock bags. How do you carry it, to keep it from getting dirty and a little nasty on the way? You put it in the hem-- the inside-- of your cloak. And, let's say, as you're walking to the temple, that the outside of your cloak touches all kinds of other things along the way. Do all these other things that your cloak touches become holy-- do they become dedicated to God?

It's an honest question. How does "holiness" work? Is "holiness" contagious? Does it spread?

But it's at this point that we should stop, and notice who is asking. Who wants this instruction from the priests?

Yahweh.

I assume that Yahweh knows how holiness works. Right?

What, exactly, is going on here?

Haggai 2:12 continues:

and the priests answered,

and they said,

"No,"

So, holiness is not something that naturally spreads through direct, or indirect, contact.

Verse 13:

(13) and Haggai said,

"If an unclean person touches all these, does it become unclean?,"

and the priests answered,

and they said,

"It will be unclean,"

So, Yahweh had a second question. Is uncleanness something that spreads? If you have a person who is temporarily unclean-- someone with a skin disease, or who touched a dead person, or who did husband-wife things-- and that unclean person touches all of these things, do those things become unclean? Is "uncleanliness" something that spreads?