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(10) In 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 ask the priests concerning the law, saying, (12) "If one carries holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and touches his skirt to bread, or boiled food, or wine, or oil, or any food, will it also become holy?" ' " And the priests answered and said, "No." (13) Then Haggai said, "If one who is unclean by a dead body touches any of these, shall it also be unclean?" And the priests answered and said, "It shall be unclean." (14) And Haggai answered and said, " 'So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,' says the LORD. 'And so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. (15) And now, I ask you, consider from this day and onward—from before the placing of a stone upon a stone in the temple of the LORD— (16) How that one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, and there were but ten; one came to the wine vat to draw off fifty measures from the winepress, and there were but twenty. (17) I struck you with blight and with mildew, and with hail, in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not return to Me,' says the LORD. (18) 'Now consider from this day and forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the LORD'S temple was laid, consider this: (19) Is the seed still in the barn? Yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not brought forth. From this day forward I will bless you.' ”
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The first Chislev 24 prophecy, found in this passage, concerns the uncleanness of the covenant people and God's response to it. Through a series of questions that Haggai asks the priests, God makes the point that uncleanness is transferable, but holiness is not. Defilement or impurity can spread from an object to a person to another object, but purity and holiness cannot.
This is especially relevant in light of what was happening at the time. The people and the leaders were finally in the process of building the dwelling place of the Holy God. It contained a number of objects that were also holy, as well as the Most Holy Place. Yet, even the presence of God could not, by itself, make the people clean. In order to make the nation clean, it would take something more than just having the Temple nearby, with all of its holy objects and even the glory of God. Something else was required to cleanse the people.
This prophecy has a curious ending. It does not contain a call to repentance, except perhaps by implication. God says that His people are unclean, that the presence of something holy cannot make them clean, and that their hearts were not turned to Him—then He suddenly announces that from this day forward, He would bless. In this first prophecy, God does not specify exactly what the blessing will be, though there is a hint in verse 19: "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 bless you." This hint becomes clearer in the next Chislev 24 prophecy (Haggai 2:20-23).
— David C. Grabbe