Haggai 1:2

Hag 1:2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.

Ver. 2. Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying] This title is oft used in these three last prophecies (eighteen different times in that eighth of Zechariah) because, being to build, they had many enemies; therefore had need of all encouragement. And Jerome, in his prologue, noteth it as an act of great courage in Haggai and Zechariah that, against the edict of King Artaxerxes (or Cambyses) and the oppositions of Sanballat, and other potent adversaries, they should stir up the people to build the temple; and as an act of heroic faith in the prince, priest, and people, to set upon the work, and finish it, "Not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts," Zec 4:6. See more of this title. {See Trapp on "Mal 3:17"} Doct. 1.

This people say] Words then have their weight; neither are men’s tongues their own; but there is a Lord over them, {Psa 12:4} that will call them to a strict account of all their waste words, Mat 12:36, and hard speeches, Jdg 1:15, and then they shal1 experiment that by their words (which they haply held but wind) they shall be justified, and by their words condemned, Mat 12:37. How good is it, therefore, to carry a pair of balances between the lips? Nescit poenitenda loqui qui proferenda prius suo tradidit examini, saith Cassiodore; He that weighs his words before he utters them shall prevent an after reckoning for them.

The time is not come, the time, &c.] He repeateth their frivolous and frigid excuses in their own very words; that he may the better confute them, and the sooner bring them to a sight of their sin, Usus est μιμησει ut rei indignitatem amplificaret. Sin and shifting came into the word together, Gen 3:12. And this is still the vile poison of our hearts, that they will needs be naught, and yet never yield, but that there is reason to be made, and great sense in sinning. These Jews, likely, had both Scripture and reason to plead for their backwardness (as there is no wool so coarse but will take some colour; and the sluggard is wiser in his own eye than seven men that can render a reason, Pro 26:16). For Scripture: To everything there is an appointed time, a set season, such as we can neither alter nor order, Ecc 3:1 Hag 1:3 "There is a time to break down, and a time to build up." And that this time to rebuild the temple was not yet come, some might pretend that the seventy years foretold were not yet fully expired; others (with more show of reason) that they had been too hasty in laying the foundation long since, as appears by their ill success and many adversaries; that God, who had dwelt so long in a tabernacle, and was now worshipped at his newly created altar, would bear with them, if they first built their own houses, and then be more free to build his house, which they intended to do hereafter, with great care and cost. This is still the guise of graceless procrastinators, to future and fool away their own salvation. Hereafter, say they, may be time enough, and what need such haste to build the spiritual temple? In time comes grace, God is more merciful than so; and at what time soever a sinner repents from the bottom of his heart, &c. Fools and blind men (as our Saviour calls the Pharisees, Mat 23:17), that thus stand trifling and baffling with God and their souls, being semper victuri, as Seneca saith, always about to do that which, if not well done, they are utterly undone for ever; for upon this little point of time hangs the crown of eternity. The gales of grace are uncertain, the day of grace (which is very clear and bright) is usually a short one. Non licet in belle bis peccare, It is not permitted to error twice in wartime, said Lamachus to a soldier of his brought before him, and pleading he would do so no more: so God will not suffer men twice to neglect the day of grace, which, if once past, will never dawn again. Let none, therefore, when pressed to the present now of meeting God by repentance, answer as Antipater, King of Macedonia, did, when one presented him a book treating of happiness, ου σχολαζω, I am not at leisure. Or as Archias, the Theban, when forewarned of a conspiracy against him, cast the letters by, with In crastinum seria, and was slain ere the morrow came. Or as these Cunctators in the text, that had often in their mouth, "The time is not come, the time," &c., lest the very next minute they be cut off by death from all further time of repentance, acceptation, and grace for ever. Men may purpose, promise, expect a time of healing and happiness, when they shall be deceived, and find a time of terror and torment, Jer 14:19. Some, when a dying, would have given a world for time: as I have heard (saith a reverend man) one crying day and night, call time again; but that could not be. As in war, so here, none are permitted to err twice. Time must be taken by the forelock, as being bald behind, Posthac occasio calva.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hag 1:2-4. This people say, The time is not come, &c. — They had no just cause for saying this; but their own private concerns and conveniences (as appears from what follows) employed all their thoughts, and they preferred them to the rebuilding of the temple. Then — When the people were thus sluggish, made excuses, and delayed the work; came the word of the Lord to Haggai — To reprove them for their neglect, and excite them to their duty. Is it time for you, &c. — You think it full time to build your own houses: you judge it seasonable enough to lay out much cost on adorning them; what pretence then can you make, that it is not seasonable to build my house? Ought not that first to be set about, and the ornamenting of your own houses to be left till afterward? The reproof here given seems to allude to the different spirit with which David was actuated, Psalms 132., who vowed that he would not come into the tabernacle of his house, &c., until he found out a place for the Lord. It certainly argues a contempt of God, when men give the preference to themselves before him, or think no cost or grandeur is too much for themselves, but the meanest accommodation good enough for the service of God. It is true an humble and devout mind is the only temple which God delights to dwell in; and he dwells not in, nor regards, temples made with hands; but yet, for the public solemnization of his worship, and as an outward testimony of men’s respect toward him, it is proper that places should be erected for, and appropriated to his worship; which places ought not to be neglected, but made as decent and becoming the design of their erection as the circumstances of things will admit of.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lord of hosts. Haggai, as the other prophets, always uses this formula in enunciating his messages. (see note on Amo_9:5) Trochon justly remarks that this expression is not found in the earlier books of the Bible the Pentateuch, Joshua, and Judges. If these books were contemporary with the prophets, the phrase would certainly occur in them (see a valuable note in the Appendix to Archdeacon Perowne"s Commentary on Haggai, in "The Canibridge Bible for Schools"). This people; populus iste (Vulgate), with some contempt, as if they were no longer worthy to be called the Lord"s people. (Hag_2:14) It looks as if they had often before been admonished to proceed with the work, and had this answer ready. The time is not come; literally, it is not time to come, (comp. Gen_2:5) which is explained by the new clause, the time that the Lord"s house should be built. The versions shorten the sentence, rendering," the time for building the Lord"s house has not come." The excuse for their inaction may have had various grounds. They may have said, reckoning from the final destruction of Jerusalem (B.C. 586), that the seventy years" captivity was not complete; that there was still danger from the neighbouring population; that the Persians were adverse to the undertaking; that the unfruitful season rendered them unable to engage in such a great work; and that the very fact of these difficulties existing showed that God did not favour the design.

Vers. 2-5The mistakes of the temple builders: a warning.

I THEY FAILED TO DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. They imagined the time had not come for them to build the Lord"s house, whereas it had fully arrived.

1. What led them to suppose or say so, though not stated, may easily be inferred.

(1) They were disheartened by the opposition they encountered (see next head).

(2) The original grant obtained from Cyrus (Ezr_3:7) was probably then exhausted.

(3) They had been interdicted by a decree of Artaxerxes, or of pseudo-Smerdis. (Ezr_4:23, Ezr_4:24) And

(4) they were suffering from had trade and worse harvests (ver. 6), and consequently were unable to contribute towards the expense of the building.

2. The indications that the time had fully come were so plain that they should hardly have been misread.

(1) The seventy years during which the whole land of Judah was to lie desolate, and its inhabitants should serve the King of Babylon, (Jer_25:11, Jer_25:12) and at the end of which the exiles should return to their own land, (Jer_29:10) had manifestly rolled by.

(2) The very deliverer of whom Isaiah had spoken by name, Cyrus, (Isa_44:28 Isa_45:1) had appeared, and opened the two-leaved gates of Babylon. (Ezr_1:2, Ezr_1:3)

(3) The sacred vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had carried off to Babylon, (2Ki_24:13) and Jeremiah (Jer_28:3) predicted would again be brought from Babylon, had actually been delivered over into the hands of Zerubbabel by Cyrus. (Ezr_1:8)

(4) The bad harvests and depressed trade from which they were suffering were a manifest token of the Divine displeasure on account of their negligence, and were no real excuse for their illiberal conduct, since they could obviously find money enough to build ceiled mansions for themselves.

(5) The decree of Artaxerxes only forbad the building of the city, (Ezr_4:21) not of the temple; and even though it had been directed against the latter, Artaxerxes himself no longer reigned, having been driven from the throne he had usurped, and his place having been occupied by Darius Hystaspes, so that the repressive edict, had they been anxious, might easily have been revoked. This mistake of the builders has often been committed; as e.g. by Moses in Egypt, who misread the signs of the times, and thought the hour had struck for Israel"s deliverance when it had not (Exo_2:11-15; Act_7:25) by the Jewish rulers in Christ"s day, who failed to discern in the Galilaean Prophet the manifest tokens of Messiah; (Mat_16:3, Mat_16:4) by the city of Jerusalem, which knew not the day of her visitation; (Luk_19:42) and by the present day unbeliever, who cannot see that "now is the accepted time, and now is the day of salvation". (2Co_6:2)

II THEY WERE TOO EASILY DAUNTED BY OPPOSITION.

1. The nature and source of this opposition is described in the Book of Ezra (4). Prevented from taking part in the building of the temple, the Samaritan settlers first "weakened the hands of the builders," next "hired counsellors against them," and ultimately obtained an interdict commanding them to cease. It was certainly annoying, but:

2. They should not have been so easily discouraged. No enterprise of any moment was ever carried through without encountering difficulties and frequently hostilities, and without calling for patient perseverance in well doing. How otherwise would Israel have been brought from Egypt at the first, or Judah from Babylon a few years before?

3. The same mistake is committed still by those who imagine the spiritual temple of Jehovah, either in the individual soul or in the Church as a whole, can be built without difficulty, without experiencing resistance from enemies within and without, or in any other way than by indomitable perseverance.

4. Never despair" and Never give in" should be the twin mottoes of every one engaged in temple building for God of the individual believer, of the Christian minister, of the foreign missionary.

III THEY PREFERRED THE MATERIAL AND TEMPORAL TO THE SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS. The ordinary occupations of life had more attraction for them than the duties of religion. To assert that they cared nothing for religion would, perhaps, be wrong, since what had brought them back from Babylon, where for the most part they had comfortable settlements, was a true feeling of piety no less than an ardent spirit of patriotism. Yet were they not long back upon their much loved ancestral soil before they showed they had brought back with them from Babylon a passion stronger than even their love for religion, namely, devotion to the earthly and material pursuits of life. Their zeal in temple building was quickly damped, but not so their enthusiasm in ploughing and sowing their fields, in working for wages, in erecting magnificent mansions, sumptuous palaces like those they had seen and perhaps lived in in Babylon, with walls of polished stone and roofs of cedar. With much case they could see that "the time for building God"s house was not come," as they supposed; they had large difficulty in perceiving it was not the season to attend to their ordinary avocations. So do many on becoming Christians carry over with them into their new life "passions for things material and temporal," which, while religious feeling is fresh, are kept in abeyance, but which, the moment this begins to abate, assert themselves to the hindrance of what is properly religious work, and to the detriment of the soul"s religious life. This constitutes a third mistake against which Christians should be on their guard.

IV THEY FOLLOWED THEIR OWN INTERESTS RATHER THAN THE GLORY OF GOD. One cannot help thinking that, had the building of the Lord"s house been a matter that concerned their own glory, comfort, or interest, they would not have suffered it to lie waste as they did; but only the honour of the Deity was involved, and what was that to their material advantage and temporal felicity? Was it not of greater moment that they themselves should be well housed, well fed, well clothed, than that even God, who dwelleth not in temples made with hands, and requireth not to be worshipped as though he needed anything, should be well lodged? If it came to the worst, they could do without a temple altogether, could worship in the open air, as they had done since coming from Babylon, but they could not well do without well stocked farms and finely celled houses. And so they let the work, which had only God"s glory as its motive, drop, and applied themselves to that which contemplated man"s or their own material good. Is it wrong to find in this a parable for Christians? Is not the essence of Christianity just this that a man, like Christ whom he follows, shall seek, not his own glory, but God"s; shall do, not his own will, but the will of him who hath sent him into the world? Yet among professing Christians are those who cannot see beyond their own little selves, and who imagine that a man"s chief duty upon earth, even after having become a Christian, is to do the best he can for himself, whereas it is to do the best he can for God. Acting on the former principle leads to spiritual blindness, to cowardice, to this-worldism, all of which are deplorable mistakes; acting on the latter.principle terminates in no such disastrous results, but brings with it to the individual so acting spiritual insight, moral courage, and heavenly mindedness three qualities which ennoble all by whom they are possessed.

Lessons.

1. The duty of discerning the signs of the times.

2. The necessity of combining courage with forethought.

3. The propriety of guarding against the disturbing influence ofsupposed self-interest.

Procrastination.

people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord"s house should be built." There are several ways of accounting for the delay which occurred in the work of re-erecting the temple in Jerusalem.

1. In part it arose from the returned exiles being preoccupied in seeking tosecure to themselves material prosperity.

2. Then they were daunted by the opposition they had to encounter as theyengaged in this work. The powerful neighbouring tribes, being alike antagonistic to the restoration of Jerusalem as the centre of the pure and unadulterated worship of God, combined to place obstacles in the way of the repairers of the breaches.

3. Further, they had grown somewhat accustomed to being without thestructure. Comparatively few of them had seen "the first house.

4. It is to be feared also that they had lost, through the changes they hadexperienced, that strong sense of the need of the Divine abiding presence in their midst. Influenced by such considerations as these, and forgetful that "good is best when soonest wrought," they kept postponing carrying out the great undertaking to which they had pledged themselves, and excused themselves by saying, "The time is not come," etc. (ver. 2). This habit of delay is far too general, and is not limited to any age or race. It prevails widely today as in all past times; and in no respect more so than in matters affecting man"s relation to God. Time was when man was wholly devoted to his Maker"s praise. God formed him in his own image, holy, spotless, pure; but he mournfully fell. He who had been the temple of God became a moral waste. "Ichabod" became inscribed upon the once consecrated spiritual man.. Every power of the soul became corrupt, every propensity became drawn to that which is evil. "The gold became dim, and the most fine gold changed." And the voice of God calls us to the glorious work of rebuilding tills temple. He has presented to us, in the perfect life of his own Son, the pattern after which we should seek to raise in ourselves the superstructure of a holy life, and offers us his gracious aid so that we may build into our character the noble materials of truth and virtue, wisdom and love. And it is just at this point that the temptation to delay meets men.

5. They are not insensible to the claims of God, nor are they altogetherindifferent about attending to these, but they say, "The time is not come," etc. (ver. 3).

1. They are immersed in other matters at present:

1. the cares of the world;

2. the pursuit of riches;

3. the pleasures of life, absorb them; they are preoccupied just now; they say, "The time is not come" (ver. 3).

6. They reason that there is the whole future yet before them, and thatample opportunity will be given them in due course. So they go on robbing themselves of "aspirations high and deathless hopes sublime.

Procrastination is the thief of time; Year after year it steals, till all are fled, And to the mercies of a moment leaves The vast concerns of an eternal scene. S.D.H.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The prophet begins by charging the people with their unconcern about building the house of God. Hag 1:2. "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: This people saith, It is not time to come, the time for the house of Jehovah to be built." העם הזּה, iste populus, not my people, or Jehovah's people, but hazzeh (this) in a contemptuous sense. Of the two clauses, (a) "It is not time to come," and (b) "The time of the house of Jehovah," the latter gives the more precise definition of the former, the בּא (to come) being explained as meaning the time to build the house of Jehovah. The meaning is simply this: the time has not yet arrived to come and build the house of Jehovah; for לא in this connection signifies "not yet," as in Gen 2:5; Job 22:16. A distinction is drawn between coming to the house of Jehovah and building the house, as in Hag 1:14. There is no ground, therefore, for altering the text, as Hitzig proposes, inasmuch as the defective mode of writing the infinitive בּא is by no means rare (compare, for example, Exo 2:18; Lev 14:48; Num 32:9; Kg1 13:28; Isa 20:1); and there is no foundation whatever for the absurd rendering of the words of the text, "It is not the time of the having arrived of the time of the house," etc. (Hitzig).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

1:2 Lord of Heaven’s Armies: Haggai’s and Zechariah’s favorite expression for God emphasizes the invincible power behind God’s word. The Lord can call on infinite numbers of heavenly troops to carry out his will at a moment’s notice (2 Kgs 6:17; Matt 26:53). This thought was intended to encourage the Judeans, who felt helpless and insignificant. • The time has not yet come: Poor crop yields from drought and pestilence had so weakened Judah’s economy (Hag 1:6, 9-11) that the people thought they could not afford to rebuild the Temple. Haggai convinced them they could not afford to leave the Temple in ruins, for God would not bless and prosper them if they did not rebuild the Lord’s house (1:4, 7-8).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Not that they condemned the building thereof, but they preferred policy and private profit to religion, being content with small beginnings.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the Lord of hosts--Jehovah, Lord of the powers of heaven and earth, and therefore requiring implicit obedience.

This people--"This" sluggish and selfish "people." He does not say, My people, since they had neglected the service of God.

The time--the proper time for building the temple. Two out of the seventy predicted years of captivity (dating from the destruction of the temple, 558 B.C., Kg2 25:9) were yet unexpired; this they make their plea for delay [HENDERSON]. The seventy years of captivity were completed long ago in the first year of Cyrus, 536 B.C. (Jer 29:10); dating from 606 B.C., Jehoiakim's captivity (Ch2 36:6). The seventy years to the completion of the temple (Jer 25:12) were completed this very year, the second of Darius [VATABLUS]. Ingenious in excuses, they pretended that the interruption in the work caused by their enemies proved it was not yet the proper time; whereas their real motive was selfish dislike of the trouble, expense, and danger from enemies. "God," say they, "hath interposed many difficulties to punish our rash haste" [CALVIN]. Smerdis' interdict was no longer in force, now that Darius the rightful king was on the throne; therefore they had no real excuse for not beginning at once to build. AUBERLEN denies that by "Artaxerxes" in Ezra 4:7-22 is meant Smerdis. Whether Smerdis or Artaxerxes Longimanus be meant, the interdict referred only to the rebuilding of the city, which the Persian kings feared might, if rebuilt, cause them trouble to subdue; not to the rebuilding of the temple. But the Jews were easily turned aside from the work. Spiritually, like the Jews, men do not say they will never be religious, but, It is not time yet. So the great work of life is left undone.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. The time is not come] They thought that the seventy years spoken of by Jeremiah were not yet completed, and it would be useless to attempt to rebuild until that period had arrived. But Abp. Usher has shown that from the commencement of the last siege of Jerusalem unto this time, precisely sixty-nine years had been completed.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They who think that seventy years had not passed until the reign of Darius, may from this passage be easily disproved: for if the seventy years were not accomplished, an excuse would have been ready at hand,—that they had deferred the work of building the Temple; but it was certain, that the time had then elapsed, and that it was owing to their indifference that the Temple was not erected, for all the materials were appropriated to private uses. While then they were thus taking care of themselves and consulting their own interest, the building of the Temple was neglected. That the Temple was not built till the reign of Darius, this happened, as we have said, from another cause, because the prefects of king Cyrus gave much annoyance to the Jews, and Cambyses was most hostile to them. But when liberty was restored to them, and Darius had so kindly permitted them to build the Temple, they had no excuse for delay.

It is however probable that they had then many disputes as to the time; for it may have been, that they seizing on any pretext to cover their sloth, made this objection,—that many difficulties had occurred, because they had been too precipitate, and that they had thus been punished for their haste, because they had rashly undertaken the building of the Temple: and we may also suppose that they took another view of the time as having not yet come, for easily might this objection occur to them,—“It is indeed true that the worship of God is deservedly to be preferred to all other things; but the Lord grants us this indulgence, so that we are allowed to build our own houses; and in the meantime we attend to the sacrifices. Have not our fathers lived many ages without a Temple? God was then satisfied with a sanctuary: there is now an altar erected, and there sacrifices are offered. The Lord then will forgive us if we defer the building of the Temple to a suitable time. But in the meantime every one may build his own house, so that afterwards the Temple may at leisure be built more sumptuously.” However this may have been, we find that true which I have often stated,—that the Jews were so taken up with their own domestic concerns, with their own ease, and with their own pleasures, that they made very little account of God’s worship. This is the reason why the Prophet was so greatly displeased with them.

He declares what they said, This people say, The time is not yet come to build the house of Jehovah He repeats here what the Jews were wont to allege in order to disguise their sloth, after having delayed a long time, and when they could not, except through consummate effrontery, adduce anything in their own defense. We however see, that they hesitated not to promise pardon to themselves. Thus also do men indulge themselves in their sins, as though they could make an agreement with God and pacify him with some frivolous things. We see that this was the case then. But we may also see here, as in a mirror, how great is the ingratitude of men. The kindness of God had been especially worthy of being remembered, the glory of which ought to have been borne in mind to the end of time: they had been restored from exile in a manner beyond what they had ever expected. What ought they to have done, but to have devoted themselves entirely to the service of their deliverer? But they built, no, not even a tent for God, and sacrificed in the open air; and thus they wilfully trifled with God. But at the same time they dwelt at ease in houses elegantly fitted up.

And how is the case at this day? We see that through a remarkable miracle of God the gospel has shone forth in our time, and we have emerged, as it were, from the abodes below. Who does now rear up, of his own free-will, an altar to God? On the contrary, all regard what is advantageous only to themselves; and while they are occupied with their own concerns, the worship of God is cast aside; there is no care, no zeal, no concern for it; nay, what is worse, many make gain of the gospel, as though it were a lucrative business. No wonder then, if the people have so basely disregarded their deliverance, and have almost obliterated the memory of it. No less shameful is the example witnessed at this day among us.

But we may hence also see how kindly God has provided for his Church; for his purpose was that this reproof should continue extant, that he might at this day stimulate us, and excite our fear as well as our shame. For we also thus grow frigid in promoting the worship of God, whenever we are led to seek only our own advantages. We may also add, that as God’s temple is spiritual, our fault is the more atrocious when we become thus slothful; since God does not bid us to collect either wood, or stones, or cement, but to build a celestial temple, in which he may be truly worshipped. When therefore we become thus indifferent, as that people were thus severely reproved, doubtless our sloth is much more detestable. We now see that the Prophet not only spoke to men of his age, but was also destined, through God’s wonderful purpose, to be a preacher to us, so that his doctrine sounds at this day in our ears, and reproves our torpor and ungrateful indifference: for the building of the spiritual temple is deferred, whenever we become devoted to ourselves, and regard only what is advantageous to us individually. We shall go on with what follows tomorrow.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(2) The time is not come.—Better (unless we alter the received text), It is not yet time to come—i.e., it is not yet time to assemble and commence preparations for building. It is not stated on what grounds the people based this assumption; but probably they palliated their indifference to religion by a pretended dread of Persian hostility. Darius, however, unlike his predecessor Artaxerxes, gave the enemies of the Jews no countenance when a report was actually made to him on the subject. (See Ezra 5, 6)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. speaketh] Lit. saith, the same word as throughout the verse.

this people] possibly used as a term of reproach: comp. ch. Hag_2:14; Isa_8:11-12.

the time is not come] Lit., not time to come. The sentence is evidently elliptical, and there is much difference of opinion as to what should be supplied. The simplest way of taking it appears to be, “it is not (yet) the time (for it, i.e. the matter in hand, or proposed undertaking) to come.” Then what that matter or undertaking is, is explained in the next clause, “the time of the House of Jehovah, for it to be built.” The LXX., however, and other Ancient Versions render, The time is not come for the Lord’s house to be built. R. V. margin.

It has been thought by some, that in saying the time was not come the Jews meant to allege, that the seventy years of desolation which had been predicted were not yet fulfilled. But if that had really been the case their excuse would have been valid. “There was indeed,” as Pusey observes, “a second fulfilment of seventy years, from the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar, b.c. 586, to its consecration in the sixth year of Darius, b.c. 516. But this was through the wilfulness of man prolonging the desolation decreed by God, and Jeremiah’s prophecy relates to the people not to the temple.” It is clear from the sharp rebuke here administered, and from the severe judgments with which their procrastination had been visited (ver. 6, 9–11), that the excuse was idle and the delay worldly and culpable.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts,.... Of armies above and below; whom all ought to reverence, honour, and obey; who was able to support his people in building his house, and protect them from their enemies, which should have been an encouragement to them; and to punish them for their neglect of it, which might have deterred them from it. This preface is made, to show that what follow were not the words of the prophet, but of the Lord; and therefore to be the more regarded, and the truth of them not to be doubted of:

saying, This people say; repeating the words of the people of the Jews to Zerubbabel and Joshua, that they might observe them, and the wickedness and ingratitude in them. "This people", lately brought out of the captivity of Babylon, and loaded with various blessings and benefits; and not a few of them, but the generality of them, the body of them, expressed themselves after this manner, when pressed to build the temple:

The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built; suggesting that the seventy years of Jerusalem and the temple lying in ruins, reckoning from the destruction of them in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, were not yet fulfilled; or rather intimating that it was not the time in Providence, since they had been forbid and hindered in former reigns from going on with the work; or, since it had been a time of famine and distress with them, it was not a time fit and convenient to carry on such a service; and though they did not lay aside all thoughts of it, yet they judged it right and proper to defer it to a more convenient time, when they were better settled, and in a better capacity to engage in it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say - Not Zerubbabel or Joshua, but “this people.” He says not, “My people,” but reproachfully “this people,” as, in acts, disowning Him, and so deserving to be disowned by Him. “The time is not come,” literally “It is not time to come, time for the house of the Lord to be built” . They might yet sit still; the time for them “to come” was not yet, for not yet was the “time for the house of the Lord to be built.” Why it was not time, they did not say. The government did not help them; the original grant by Cyrus Ezr 3:7 was exhausted; the Samaritans hindered them, because they would not own them, (amid their mishmash of worship, “worshiping,” our Lord tells them Joh 4:22, “they know not what”), as worshipers of the same God. It was a bold excuse, if they said, that the 70 years during which the temple was to lie waste, were not yet ended.

The time had long since come, when, 16 years before, Cyrus had given command that the house of God should be built. The prohibition to build, under Artaxerxes or Pseudo-Smerdis, applied directly to the city and its walls, not to the temple, except so far as the temple itself, from its position, might be capable of being used as a fort, as it was in the last siege of, Jerusalem. Yet in itself a building of the size of the temple, apart from outer buildings, could scarcely so be used. The prohibition did not hinder the building of stately private houses, as appears from Haggai’s rebuke. The hindrances also, whatever they were, had not begun with that decree. The death of Pseudo-Smerdis had now, for a year, set them free, if had they had any zeal for the glory and service of God. Otherwise, Haggai would not blamed them. God, knowing that He would bend the heart of Darius, as He had that of Cyrus, requires the house to be built without the king’s decree. It was built in faith, that God would bring through what He had enjoined, although outward things were as adverse now as before. And what He commanded He prospered Ezra 5–6.

There was indeed a second fulfillment of 70 years, from the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar 586 b.c., to its consecration in the 6th year of Darius 516 b.c. But this was through the willfulness of man, prolonging the desolation decreed by God, and Jeremiah’s prophecy relates to the people not to the temple.

“The prophet addresses his discourse to the chiefs (in Church and state) and yet accuses directly, not their listlessness but that of the people, in order both to honor them before the people and to teach that their sins are to be blamed privately not publicly, lest their authority should be injured, and the people incited to rebel against them; and also to shew that this fault was directly that of the people, whom he reproves before their princes, that, being openly convicted before them, it might be ashamed, repent, and obey God; but that indirectly this fault touched the chiefs themselves, whose office it was to urge the people to this work of God” . “For seldom is the prince free from the guilt of his subjects, as either assenting to, or winking at them, or not coercing them, though able.”

Since also Christians are the temple of God, all this prophecy of Haggai is applicable to them . “When thou seest one who has lapsed thinking and preparing to build through chastity the temple which he had before destroyed through passion, and yet delaying day by day, say to him, ‘Truly thou also art of the people of the captivity, and sayest, The time is not yet come for building the house of the Lord.’ Whoso has once settled to restore the temple of God, to him every time is suited for building, and the prince, Satan, cannot hinder, nor, the enemies around. As soon as being thyself converted, thou callest upon the name of the Lord, He will say, “Behold Me” . “To him who willeth to do right, the time is always present; the good and right-minded have power to fulfill what is to the glory of God, in every time and place.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Yet come. God’s service must be restored without delay, and manners reformed; as otherwise many will be lost eternally. (Worthington) --- The Jews refrained from commencing the temple till the time marked out by Jeremias xxv. 11., and Zacharias i. 7. (Calmet) --- From the beginning of the last siege sixty-nine years had elapsed. (Usher, the year of the world 3485.) --- Others, reflecting on the obstacles placed by Cyrus and Cambyses, thought it was not yet time to work at the temple: but these were only pretexts. The kingdom was now held by another family, and the former decrees abolished. Fear of labour, therefore, was the only impediment.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thus speaketh, by way of reproof, and to awaken the drowsy Jews; he who knew their heart tells them what they both thought and spoke.

This people, whom mercy preserved in, redeemed out of Babylon, and brought into their land on purpose to build the temple. This people, whom Cyrus by proclamation sent to do this, who seemed to long for a temple when they were in Babylon.

Say; discourse thus among themselves, and discourage all that were forward. The time is not come; the proper season of rebuilding the house of God seems to be not come, for since the prohibition by Cambyses in the days of Cyrus, and through all the time of Cambyses, and in the first year and part of the second of Darius, we have no commission to do it, but are required not to do any thing in this affair without further order, Ezr 4:21.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This people has said Since their enemies stopped them the first time, they think that I will not fulfill My words that I said, (Dan. 9:2) “According to the completion of seventy years from the destruction of Jerusalem”; and that the time for the House to be rebuilt will never come. Say to them that now the time has come, but the first time was only a remembrance at the completion of the seventy years from the inception of the kingdom of Babylon. And so it was that at the end of seventy years they were remembered for going up by the sanction of Cyrus; but the [time for the] building of the House depended upon [counting from] the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place eighteen years later than [the inception of] the kingdom of Babylon, as the master said (Meg. 11b): “They were exiled in the eighteenth year; they were exiled in the nineteenth year.” Now, the eighteen years are complete.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.