A Walk Through the Bible – Haggai
Scripture Texts: Haggai 1:1-8; 2:6-9
To apply a baseball analogy to the Minor Prophets, we are rounding third and headed for home. Literally. The final three books of the Minor Prophets, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, all deal with the Israelites return to home. This is an entirely new chapter in Israel’s history. The seventy year exile in Babylon is over and the people have returned to Jerusalem and Judah under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel and Joshua.
God had stirred the heart and will of the king of Babylon to attack and destroy Judah. That had been prophesied by Habakkuk and Zephaniah and in 586BC the people of God were exiled.
Before they left, they looted and ransacked everything, what they couldn’t take they destroyed or burned. Nothing was left standing in Jerusalem, the king’s palace, the temple of God, the walls and all the homes.
God then stirred the heart and will of another pagan king to attack and destroy Babylon. Cyrus king of Persia did so in 539BC. God also moved his heart to completely reverse international policy toward conquered nations and allow God’s people to return to their homeland. A small minority of about 50,000 men seized the opportunity and returned.
But they were a small remnant, they were a lot of priests and Levites, they were poor. They found Jerusalem in shambles, completely destroyed. They would have to start completely over from nothing. There was no economy and all the national wealth was plundered. They had no king. (In fact Israel would not be self-governing again until 1948, 2500 years later).
They came home with the goal of rebuilding the temple, the symbol of God and His presence. Their excitement gave way to discouragement through the unrelenting harassment and torment from the surrounding neighbors, especially Samaritans, who didn’t like the presence of the Jews back in the land. We read about that in Ezra and Nehemiah.
The temple rebuilding ground to a halt after two years of work on the foundation, they ceased their labor for the next 16 years, from 536 to 520BC.
Haggai and Zechariah, men of God’s Word, to call the people to faith and faithfulness, to reorient their priorities. They are the first prophetic voices since come out of exile.
God raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah to call the people to faithfulness and motivate them to resume the task. Haggai’s message is a message of challenge and encouragement, of rebuke and reassurance. His entire prophecy covers a period of just four months. As a result, the temple was finished in four years and dedicated in 516BC.
Haggai 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet …
Outline of Haggai, Four Short Sermons, each beginning with “The word of the Lord came to Haggai: