The Book of Haggai

Lecture Notes from Minor Prophets of the Old Testament

 

Introduction to Haggai

 

I. Who was Haggai?

            --A prophet after the exile, in 520 BCE.

                        --Also mentioned in Ezra 5:1, 6:14.

            --Otherwise, unknown (Priest, layman, “hierocrat” in support of building the temple)

 

II. When did he preach?                                                   

--Background

586—Destruction of Jerusalem & the temple by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. This is the beginning of the Babylonian exile, although many of Judah’s leading citizens had already been taken to Babylon (e.g. Daniel & Ezekiel).

538—Cyrus, the Persian king, conquered Babylon. This date marks the beginning of the Persian Empire.

--The Persians took a completely different direction in the handling of defeated peoples. In contrast to the exile practice of the Babylonians & Assyrians, the Persians allowed exiled nations to return to their homelands and rebuild their cities and temples.

--The Persians divided their empire into large districts, called “satrapies.” Each satrapy had a balance of power between an administrative governor, military leader, ambassabor/secretary of state, and financial officer, each accountable to the king. This division of power kept rebellion and sedition to a minimum and allowed the Persians to effectively control their empire.

 

536—Cyrus’ Decree—Jews allowed to return home.

--Some of the exiles returned to Judah & Jerusalem.

--Work began on the temple. Opposition by Samaritans & others stopped the work.

            522—Darius seizes the throne of Persia.

520—Haggai & Zechariah urge the completion of the work on the temple, which had stopped in 536. They were successful in getting Zerubbabel & Joshua to lead the work on the temple.

516—The temple is completed.

 

--Four dates are given in the book:

            (1) 1st day of the 6th month in the 2nd year of Darius.

--This would be the late summer of 520.

            (2) 24th day of 6th month in the 2nd year of Darius.

                        --This would also be the late summer/early fall of 520.

            (3) 21st day of the 7th month in the 2nd year of Darius.

                        --This would also be in the fall of 520-521.

            (4) 24th day of the 9th month in the 2nd year of Darius.

                        --This would be in the late fall/early winter of 520-521.

 

--Thus, Haggai’s reported ministry took place in a period of 15-16 weeks. However, Ezra might suggest that his ministry continued longer than this, but neither does the Book of Ezra require it.

 

III. Where did he preach?

            --Jerusalem.

 

IV. What was his message?

            --The people are neglecting the work of Yahweh’s temple

--This neglect is bringing about diminished crops (i.e. cursed crops?).

            --The people must complete the building of the temple.

--Only then can Yahweh pour out His blessings on His people, i.e. eschatological Day of the Lord, although Haggai does not use the phrase.

 

V. The Book of Haggai:

            I. 1:1                Superscription

            II. 1:2-11         Word of Exhortation

            III.1:12-16       People’s Response

            IV.2:1-9           Word of Encouragement

            V. 2:10-19       Future Glory for God’s People

            VI.2:20-23       A Word to Zerubbabel

 

 

Haggai 1-2

 

1:2-11—Word of Exhortation

--NOTE—The offices in post-exilic Judah.

--Joshua, the high priest.

--He would have had religious duties, but also some administrative responsibilities. Note that they are always mentioned together.

--The Persians believed strongly in division of power!

--Zerubbabel, governor of Judah.

--He was the administrative leader of the province of Judah. There is some debate over when Judah became a separate province under the general leadership of the governor of the province “Beyond the River,” which comprised Syria-Palestine, which was in turn was part of the larger “satrapy” of Babylon & Beyond the River. Thus the administrative ladder:

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--The Lord of Hosts (Yahweh Sabaoth) rebuked the people of Judah.

--They had not yet begun building the “house of the Lord.” In fact, they said that the time had not yet come for the building of His house. They had obviously reduced the rebuilding of the temple to a very low priority.

--In fact, they were more concerned with building houses for themselves than with building the temple. In fact, these houses are pictured as nice houses. There is some confusion about the meaning of the word “paneled” or “roofed,” but either way they were building fairly nice houses. The picture is of a people who were concentrating upon their own desires and needs rather than the community’s need for a temple.

--God tells them that their small harvests & lack of provisions are due to the failure to build the temple. Remember that when they returned from Babylon, one of the things they were returning to accomplish was the rebuilding of the temple. God is calling them to task for failing to complete the temple.

 

1:12-16—People’s Response

--Zerubbabel, Joshua, & the “remnant” obeyed the word of Haggai.

--On the 24th day of the 6th month they began rebuilding the temple. Thus, it took about 3 weeks for Zerubbabel to get the people together for the work to begin.

 

2:1-9—Word of Encouragement

--Four weeks later, some were concerned with the apparent lack of grandeur. These perhaps remembered the 1st temple from their childhood or from the stories of parents & grandparents. The new temple was a source of discouragement. (Remember that this was not a finished temple, only the foundation of the temple. The temple was completed 4-5 years later.)

--The “Lord of Hosts” promised them people that eventually this 2nd temple would actually outshine the 1st temple in its glory.

--This glory would come from the plunder of the nations. The nations will provide the necessary riches for the temple.

--I see a possible allusion to the teachings of Isaiah & Micah concerning the eschatological, messianic Jerusalem & temple, but one cannot be dogmatic. Haggai does not spiritualize that way.

--This spiritualizing of the temple does occur in Jewish & Christian writings later, however. The LXX contains a scribal error in which the writer inserted a quote suggesting that glory of the 2nd temple was actually a spiritual one rather than a physical one. This is interestingly similar to NT teachings.

 

2:10-19—Future Glory for God’s People

--The Lord repeats the fact that the lack of fruitfulness has been caused by unfaithfulness in rebuilding the temple.

--The Lord repeats the promise of future glory because this work has now been begun again.

 

2:20-23—A Word to Zerubbabel

--Zerubbabel was descended from Jehoiachin, king of Judah, exiled in 597 to Babylon.

--(Note, however that Haggai has a different father than 1 Chronicles 3. In Haggai the father is Shealtiel, in Chronicles, his father is Shealtiel’s brother.

--Either way, he is of royal blood.)

--Zerubbabel is called the “signet ring” of the Lord. This is a royal title. The signet ring was the symbol of authority. The seal of the signet ring marked any document as a royal document, so obviously having this ring meant that a person was the king or his representative. Zerubbabel was the Lord’s representative in Judah, the earth?

--Cf. Jer. 22:24, where Jehoiachin is called the “signet” of the Lord, but he is removed. Now Zerubbabel has taken the place vacated when Jehoiachin went into exile in 597.

--This would mean that Zerubbabel was the royal choice of the Lord, i.e. the king, even a messianic figure.

--Zerubbabel is certainly pictured as a messianic figure & the promise for Judah’s future.