Haggai 2:10-14, Contagious Sinful Attitudes

Before the people had been challenged to rebuild the temple, they had built the altar of sacrifice and laid the foundation for the temple but had become apathetic about building the temple. They were more concerned about building and improving their own homes than about the house of Yahweh. They were offering sacrifices to God. Were their sacrifices not accepted? Why wasn’t God blessing them?

¹⁰ On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to the prophet Haggai: ¹¹ “This is what Yahweh Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: ¹² If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’” The priests answered, “No.” ¹³ Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?” “Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.” ¹⁴ Then Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares Yahweh. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled. (Haggai 2:10-14)

Yahweh has Haggai ask the priests about the law of clean and unclean as a way of helping His people understand why their sacrifices were not accepted. Alluding to the teaching of Leviticus 6:27, which says of the flesh or meat of the sin offering, “Whatever touches any of the flesh will become holy,” He asks the priests whether this holy, clean, consecrated meat will make holy or clean through second-degree contact other foods, twice transmitting its consecration, and they correctly answer, “No.” Then He asks whether a person made unclean by a dead body will make anyone or anything touched by them unclean, and they correctly answer, “Yes.”

Just because they were offering sacrifices, the sacrifices could not be made clean because the people themselves were unclean through their attitude of apathy toward rebuilding Yahweh’s house, the temple. The sacrifice could not make them clean. They made the sacrifice unclean. Their sinful attitude in bringing sacrifices rendered these rituals ineffective. It is not enough to offer our sacrifices to God; we must do so with clean hearts.

I remember watching one of worship leaders at a church I was in, with obvious pain or sadness on her face as she sang. I don’t know what was going on in her life, but it was obvious that her heart was not in worship. She was doing the right and good thing, but with the wrong attitude. How much do we think we are doing for God is done with unclean hearts, doing it only perfunctorily, or for show, or perhaps as an attempt to win God’s favor, rather than because we are truly worshiping or serving Him?