Haggai 2:11-14 Thus said the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,… 1. Ritualism is the natural religion of the unsanctified heart, and the same tendencies to it that have created popery in the New Testament ages, existed also in the Old (vers. 11-13). 2. Pollution is much more readily given and taken than purity. One drop of filth will defile a vase of water, many drops of water will not purify a vase of filth. "Evil communications corrupt good manners" (vers. 11-13). 3. No tithings of mint, anise, and cummin, will compensate for neglecting the weightier matters of the law. Obedience is better than sacrifice. A pure hand is necessary to a pure offering (ver. 14). 4. Men are prone to assign any other cause for their sufferings than their sins, yet this is usually the true cause (ver. 15). 5. Disappointment of our hopes on earth should make us lift our eyes to heaven to learn the reason (ver. 16). 6. Affliction will harden the heart if it is not referred to God as the author (ver. 17). 7. Pondering the past is often the best way of providing for the future (ver. 18). 8. We may and ought to trust God's promise to bless us, even though we may see no visible appearance of its fulfilment. "The vision will surely come and not tarry" (ver. 19). (T. V. Moore, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,WEB: "Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, |
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