Bible Students

Summary of the Prophet and Times

Haggai was a prophet who encouraged God’s people shortly after their return from Babylonian exile. He began prophesying in the second year of King Darius. He prophecied to the governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua, though ultimately he was prophesying to the entire post-exilic people. The books of Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther all took place in relatively the same time. All six of those books were given to the post-exilic Jewish people (though, Esther took place outside of Judah). These post-exilic six were encouragements to the Jewish people, especially in the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple. Jerusalem was still in ruin during this time period, and God began to move His people through these prophetic and historical books. 

Haggai and Zechariah began prophecying in 520 BC as an encouragement to the returning exiles and as a call to follow God. Because their ministries both began at the same time, their audience is largely the same. While Zechariah prophecied the glory of Jerusalem and the coming Messiah, Haggai called the people to continue rebuilding the temple. During this time the Jews returning from exile had become spiritually dull. Immediately following the exodus from Babylon under Cyrus, the Jews began rebuilding the temple. However, when they faced opposition, the work was quickly stopped. In less than 20 years the work on the temple had virtually ceased and the Jews who had returned had been burnt out. Haggai was given a mission to encourage the Jews to continue building the temple. 

The people of Haggai’s time, though, seemed to be in desperate need of God’s Word. Though they were spiritually stagnant, they obeyed as soon as God spoke to them. When Haggai began prophesying, the spiritual and material rulers (chiefly Joshua and Zerubbabel) immediately led the people into repentance and obedience. They did not delay, but obeyed every word Haggai spoke. Their need was dire, so God in His wisdom filled that need for His glory. 

Need for the Message

The people of Haggai’s time had become indifferent to the building of the temple. After there was national opposition, the Jews ceased work on the temple. This reflected the need in their hearts for revival and passion for God. The people had become stagnant. There was an obvious need in the land for God’s Word, because as soon as God’s Word was given, the people sprung into action. The action of the people clearly showed a need for God’s assurances and peace. Even today, often it only takes a sermon to spur a person from discouragement into passion for God. It is easy for a person to lose sight of their God and turn to doubt and stagnant faith. 

However, that’s not to say the spiritual discouragement was light. Judah had just returned from Babylonian exile at this time. They were a small, unstable nation once again, similarly to the time of the Judges. God’s once-great nation had been reduced to rubble, and the surrounding nations were well-aware. The people would have been in great fear of the historical enemies of Israel and Judah. Not only were the Jews in exile not used to defending their nation, but they were spiritually far from their God. Enemy nations would likely seize this as a prime opportunity to strike. The post-exilic Jews likely wondered why an attack hadn’t happened. When surrounding nations opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, they folded over in cowardice. They believed they were spiritually far from God, so what choice would they have but to give in to foreign nations who might come and take them back into exile? 

The Jews of this time showed a clear need for God’s intervention. And intervene He did. God fulfilled the need of the people and sent both prophets and spiritual leaders, as was documented throughout the post-exilic books. These books would ultimately show the character of God and promise the future glory that would be revealed, and all the people would have to do is obey His commands.

Revealed Glory and Character of God

The God of Haggai is patient and loving, powerful and wise. He does not destroy the people He rebuked, but chastened them in order to grow them into a great nation once again. In Haggai, God shows His patience and lovingkindness through the rebuke, chastisement, and encouragement of the Jewish people. God called them out of their laziness into productivity. When the people were indifferent to the rebuilding of God’s house, He showed them the path of righteousness and obedience. This message from God was received well, as the national leaders Zerubbabel and Joshua sprang into action with the people following after. God knows how to make His people move. He moves them in love and rebuke, the same way He moves Christians today. There is a false dichotomy between this love and rebuke, as one is the same as the other. God’s love is a rebuke. He does not allow His people to dwell stagnantly in their sin and indifference towards Him, but shows them their sin and sturs their hearts towards Him. God has remained the same for eternity, and He continues to lovingly rebuke Christians through His Word and His Spirit even to this day. 

Haggai also shows God as powerful and wise. His encouragement to the people is the coming glory of His people. Haggai and Zechariah both have words of encouragement for God’s people, and both show how God is powerful and wise enough to predict and cause future events. He powerfully leads His people throughout history and in wisdom knows the future of His people. In His power and wisdom, He encourages His people throughout all time. God also shows self-limitation on His power. He does not crush His people who He loves, but rebukes them gently. Because of this, His glory will be proclaimed throughout the nations. The glory of Israel to come will cause all peoples to worship God. It is the love and rebuke of God that has brought Israel up apart from all people groups, and the power and wisdom of God that has protected them from all others. These attributes which have brought up Israel will in turn cause the universe to worship Him as the all-loving, all-powerful, and all-wise God that He is. 

Application

Haggai is a book that has much application to ministry. Discouragement and opposition are far too common in ministry. The Jews had just come from a time of physical and spiritual exile into a place of physical and spiritual return to God. There was great potential for the people to hit the ground running and make enormous spiritual strides. And they did. When the people returned they began rebuilding the temple. However, all it took was a little opposition, and the rebuilding of the Lord’s house was called off. The people had returned physically, but already they had exiled themselves spiritually.

Often, ministry can feel this way. When God opens a door, there is great potential to accomplish great work. However, when opposition comes, when discouragement comes, it is easy to throw in the towel and give up. Often we can repeat the same words of the Jews of the time: “The time to build the Lord’s house is not here.” We fall into the trap of believing that the time for great ministry work, for powerful revival, is not this time. Tomorrow, we may say, it will be the time to accomplish great things in the Lord’s name. When we have that mindset, the tomorrow we look for often never comes. That is because the tomorrow we look for should not be thought of as a place or opportunity, but a mindset. If you are full of discouragement, any opportunity will look like a wall, and any open door will appear closed.

However, we should not fall into that discouragement. When God opens a door, we should walk through in confidence. When we see opposition, we should look to God’s character, shown through Scripture, and not become discouraged. The God of this Word goes with us wherever we go. We should desire God’s will, and when we do that, we should know that nothing will stop us in our path to follow God. If what we desire is God’s desire, than what should stand in the way of God? Who should stop us from following Him? We should not let any discouragement take root, for the God of Haggai encourages those who have run into opposition. No matter what should come against us, we can accomplish all things through Him who strengthens us. 

Haggai’s theme is similar to that of most of the post-exilic books: God, the Lord of your fathers, the Master of pre-exilic Israel and Judah, is still the Ruler of post-exilic Judah. These books show the consistency of God’s love, power, and wisdom throughout history. Because of this, we as Christians should also expect the God of Israel to still be all-loving, all-powerful, and all-wise. When God chastises us, we should turn to Him in humility and repentance, for He knows far better than we do. We should not be hard-hearted, but instead, be obedient to God in the first place.

Bibliography

Bill T. Arnold, Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian Survey (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Baker Academic, 1999).

Harold L. Wilmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, Illinois: Harold L. Wilmington, 1999).

William Macdonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1993), _.