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"The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." They do not question the desirableness or the obligation of the work. During the captivity, we are told elsewhere, that they hanged their "harps upon the willows," and wept when they "remembered Zion." Often, perhaps, in those circumstances did they resolve, should they ever be restored, to rebuild that temple which was the glory of their land; but now that they are there on the spot, and the ruins lying before them, their ardour is cooled, and they say, "The time is not come."

I. COWARDICE. They did not say, "We will not build the temple, we will leave it to remain in ruins," they were too cowardly for that. Their consciences rendered them incapable of making such a decision. Men who neglect duty are too cowardly to say, "We will never attend to it, we will never study the Scriptures, worship God."

1. Sin is cowardice.

2. Sin is cowardice because conscience, the truly heroic element, is ever against it.

II. SELFISHNESS. They set to work for their own private interests.

1. Selfishness is a perversion of self-love.

2. Selfishness is fatal to self-interest.

III. PRESUMPTION. "The time is not come." How did they know that? Were they judges of times and seasons? Are they imperious enough to plead providence as a patron of their disobedience? "Go to, now, ye that say to-day and to-morrow."

1. Such presumption is always guilty. It implies that we know better than our Maker about times and seasons.

2. Such presumption is always perilous. It treads upon an awful precipice.

(Homilist.)

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KJV: Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,

WEB: Then the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai, the prophet, saying,