Get Ready
Haggai is an unusual book for a couple of reasons. First, it is not about sin and God’s judgment – of the Jews or any other nation (although the Jewish people are not doing what God wants them to) – it is God’s call to do the “right thing.” Second, it is a prose narrative, not poetry.
Author
The prophet identifies himself, his intended audience and the date in the first verse: In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
We also know that Haggai worked with Zechariah, the prophet who follows him in the Old Testament [from Ezra 5:1]. Some scholars interpret Haggai’s reference to Solomon’s temple [2:3] to mean that he actually saw the temple before the exile, which would make him at least seventy years old.
Context
Haggai’s ministry comes at a crucial time in Israel’s history. The Jews returned to Palestine beginning in 538 BCE, when the Persians defeated the Babylonians and instituted more humane policies regarding exiles and captives. They built an altar and restored sacrificial worship (which had been impossible in Babylon). They also began to reconstruct the temple, but the harsh working conditions and the constant harassment of the people then living in the region caused them to let the work languish, while they focused on planting and harvesting crops and maintaining their livestock – and on building their own homes.
After sixteen years of inaction, God calls Haggai in 520 BCE. to renew the effort and complete the temple. Haggai focuses his message on the leaders of the Jews: Zerubbabel, who was the grandson of the last ruling king of Judah, and Joshua, the high priest in exile.
Structure
Haggai packs four prophecies into the two relatively brief chapters of his book:
- In the first prophecy God tells the Jewish leaders they need to complete the temple if they want to be successful in their land [1:2-11]. Haggai describes Zerubbabel’s and Joshua’s obedient response in verses 12-15.
- In the second prophecy God tells the leaders that even though the new temple is not as impressive as Solomon’s and the pagans continue to harass the workers, God will protect them and provide the resources to complete the temple. He also promises that “the latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former,” [2:9] – a reference to the glory that Jesus brings to the temple when he is there.
- The third prophecy is God’s rebuke of the Jews who ignored God’s house and his commands – which led to the poor crops and “blight and mildew and hail,” [2:17].
- The final prophecy is God’s promise to “shake the heavens and the earth,” and defeat the nations that oppress his chosen people.
All four prophecies were delivered in the fall of 520 BCE.
Major Themes
Haggai focuses on the importance of understanding God’s priorities and putting our effort into the work that God has called us to accomplish.
God inspired Cyrus, the Persian emperor, to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. But once they got to Palestine, the Jews laid the foundation for the temple but then left it unfinished so they could do work that they thought would make their lives better. They neglected what God considered important in order to do work that was easier and benefited themselves (or so they thought).
But God tells them, through Haggai, that the poor results of their efforts – “the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still yield nothing,” [2:19] – are due to the unfinished work on the temple.
Zechariah followed Haggai’s efforts and continued to push the people to do the “right thing.” The Jews completed rebuilding the temple in 515 BCE. It stood until the Roman army destroyed it, along with the city of Jerusalem, in 70.
Get into the Word
1. Who wrote this book? When did he write it? Who was he speaking for? Who was he speaking to? Who else was involved in this ministry?
2. Where were the people Haggai was concerned with at the time of his prophecy? What was the military situation of the Jews when he was preaching? What was the political situation?
3. What was the spiritual situation of the Jews at this time? What were they working on? How was the work progressing? What had been happening to their lives as a result of their efforts? How did the Jews feel about this situation? How did God feel about it?
4. How did God respond to the Jews’ lack of work on the temple? What did he tell the people through the prophet? How did the leaders react to this message? What did they do to get the work going again?
5. How is this book organized? How many individual prophecies are there? What are the messages Haggai delivers to the Jewish leaders? Why do you think God chose these specific messages? How would you respond to them if you had been involved?
6. What is the major theme of Haggai’s prophecies? Why was rebuilding the temple so important to God? What was the error in the Jews’ approach to rebuilding the temple? Why do you suppose they did not give it the attention that God wanted? What did they choose to work on instead of the temple?
Bible Trivia
Haggai means “festive” in Hebrew.
48: The command to rebuild the temple – Haggai 1:2-2:9, 20-23
Get Ready
When you think about your “To Do” list or priorities for your life do you focus on doing things right or on doing the right things? How do you identify what is important and urgent versus what is important but less urgent versus not important but urgent?
The Word
1In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house. 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 4 Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.
7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. 9 You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on human beings and animals, and on all their labors.
12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of the prophet Haggai, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord ‘s message, saying, I am with you, says the Lord. 14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.
The Future Glory of the Temple
2In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 2 Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say,
3 Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? 4 Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, 5 according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; 7 and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. 9 The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.
God’s Promise to Zerubbabel
20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month:
21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders; and the horses and their riders shall fall, every one by the sword of a comrade. 23 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, son of Shealtiel, says the Lord, and make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts. NRSV
Get into the Word
1. Who is speaking as this book opens? Who is the intended audience? When is this happening? Who is the real speaker?
2. What is the speaker talking about? What are the different “houses” in this message? What is the people’s situation? How well are they doing with food, clothing, earnings? Why is this a problem for them? Do you think they realize what is actually happening?
3. How do the leaders respond to God’s message? What do they do? What do the people do in turn? How does God respond to the people’s efforts?
4. Who is involved in the second prophecy? What is God’s message in this prophecy? Why would the people think the temple is not as good as the first one? What does God say about this situation? What resources will he provide the people? How will this temple compare to the first one in the future?
5. Who does God speak to in the last prophecy? What is the message God wants to convey? What does God promise will happen? Who will benefit? Who will suffer? What image does God use?
Get Personal
Are there times when you are not sure what God wants you to do with your time or talents? How does he help you to understand his priorities for your life? How does he help you stay focused when things get boring or difficult or seem not important?
Notes . . .
1:1. Darius, Zerubbabel, Joshua — Darius was the king of Persia after Cyrus; Zerubbabel was the grandson of Jehoiachin, the last king of Judah in 578 BCE, before the Babylonian destruction of the nation and Jerusalem; Joshua was the Jewish high priest when the Jews returned to Palestine (his grandfather was executed by Nebuchadnezzar when Judah fell).
1:4. Paneled houses — the Hebrew word also means “covered” or “roofed” – the peoples’ houses were finished while God’s house was incomplete.
1:5. Consider how you have fared — God reminds the people that their efforts on their
own behalf have not produced what they had hoped: You have sown much and harvested little . . . [also in vv. 7-9]. The reason is the peoples’ misplaced priorities: My house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses.
2:3. Who is left — some of the Jews who returned had actually seen Solomon’s temple before it was destroyed by the Babylonians [Ezra 3:12].
2:23. Signet ring — a ring with a seal inscribed in it, used to impress the wax that sealed the scroll and identify the sender and demonstrate the message’s authenticity.
Memory Verse
The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts, [Haggai 2:9].
Next Lesson
Zechariah 4-5: The lamp stand, olive trees and flying scroll.
