2:10 twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. The sequence of time is important for interpreting the third message, which begins on a note of judgment (vv. 10–14). The people had repented and begun the work on Sept. 21, 520 b.c. (1:15), and Haggai brought a message of encouragement on Oct. 17 of the same year (2:1–9). Here, on Dec. 18, he brings another message of condemnation. The people had not yet seen the deeper issue—their defilement before the holy God. This is consistent with Zechariah’s call to return to the Lord, issued after they began working on the temple (Zech. 1:3–6).