The message of Haggai

The book of Haggai is one of the minor prophetic books in the Old Testament. It has only two chapters and a great message. It has 38 verses and 1,130 words. This is the second-shortest book in the Old Testament. First is Obadiah. In this paper, the author is attempting to bring out the message of the book chapter by chapter. This paper deals with a survey of the book as well as its relevance to the Nepali context.

Author

The author of this book is Haggai. The prophet’s name, Haggai, means the festival of Jehovah. He seems to have been the first prophet of restored Judaism. His discourses were delivered in the second year of Darius. The prophet Haggai sought to restore hope in the people and encourage them to rebuild the temple. 

Date

Haggai was a prophet who encouraged the returned exiles, along with Zechariah, to rebuild the temple (Ezra 6:14). He may have witnessed the destruction of Solomon’s temple, based on 2:3. The message of Haggai was given during a four-month period in 520 B.C.

Historical sitting

The background of Haggai can be read in Ezra 1–4. The returning exiles had begun to rebuild the temple in 586 BC (Ezra 3:8), but they had stopped work as a result of local opposition (Ezra 4:5–24). They started rebuilding the temple in the second year of King Darius's reign, 520 BC, because of God’s word, which came to them through Haggai. The building was finished in 516 BC.

The Jews were captive for seventy years. In 538 B.C., Cyrus issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Samaritans and other neighbours opposed rebuilding the temple vigorously and managed to stop work until Darius the Great became king. At that time, Haggai began to preach in Darius’ second year. Haggai was the first prophet after the exile.

Audience

The audience of the prophet Haggai were the exiles who returned to their homeland after seventy years of captivity. Some of their names are mentioned in the book. Like Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah was a member of the royal line. He was descended from Jehoiachin, who was taken into exile in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:15ff; Matthew 1:11–13). Joshua, the high priest, was the son of Jehozadak, who had been taken into exile in 587 (1 Chronicles 6:15).

Theme of the Book

In this book, the prophet Haggai clearly shows the consequences of disobedience and the blessing of obedience. They will be blessed when the people give priority to God and his house. Obedience to God brings the encouragement and strength of the Spirit of God.

Book Outline

Message I: A Popular Saying and Haggai’s Response (1:1–15)

Introduction (1:1)

The Popular Saying (1:2)

Haggai’s Reprimand (1:3-6)

Haggai’s Solution (1:7, 8)

The Drought (1:9–11)

The Positive Response (1:12–15)

Message II: The glory of the new temple and age as compared to the old testament (2:1–9)

Introduction2:1-2)

The glory of the new temple and age (2:3–9)

Message III: A Priestly Lesson from the Law (2:10–19)

Introduction (2:10)

Two Lessons on Holiness and Ritual Purity (2:11–14)

promise of renewed blessing (2:15–19)

Message IV: Hope for the Revival of the Davidic Dynasty (2:20–23)

Introduction (2:20)

The Lord’s shaking of heaven and earth (2:21–22)

Zerubbabel, the Lord’s Signet Ring (2:23)

Repetition

We can find some text or words that are repeated if we read the book of Haggai carefully. The words "thus say the lords" tend to be repeated. The people are told to give careful thought to their ways four times (1:5, 7; 2:15, 18). The state of God’s house and their houses is compared twice (1:4, 9). They are told "I am with you" twice (1:13; 2:4), and the instruction to "be strong" comes three times (2:4). The list of disasters that have hit the country is repeated (1:6, 0–11; 2:16–17). The prophecy that the nations will be shaken is repeated (2:6; 21–22).

Messages

First message: The call to rebuild the temple (1:1–11).

The first chapter deals with the historical rebuilding of the temple. The name Darrius in verse one is not Darius the Mede from the book of Daniel (Dan 5:31, 6:1). He was the Persian king (Ezra 4–6), who came much later. Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah.

The first message came from God to the prophet Haggai when people were saying that the time had not yet come to rebuild the house of God (v. 2). The people were working to make their home and life better, but they were not paying attention to building the house of the Lord. The people’s expectation of prosperity and plenty had been disappointed, but they couldn’t still understand the reason why. Haggai stepped between the people and the Lord to clarify the reason for their crop’s failures. The Haggai told them to rebuild the temple (the house of the Lord), and then the people would prosper.

The response of Zerubbabel and the people (1:12–15)

Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Josedech, were the two leaders of the Jews who returned from captivity. Zerubbabel was the political leader, and Joshua was the religious leader. In chapter 1, Haggai preaches for 24 days before he gives his invitation. The invitation is to rebuild the temple. The people’s response is positive. They received the invitation and started to rebuild the temple. This is the application of the message of the prophet Haggai that the remnant of the people applied, giving a positive response. This response teaches us that we must apply what we heard from the word of God from the different pastors of today to bring blessings into our lives. If we don’t apply what we learn, it's for nothing.

Second Message: The temple is to be filled with glory (2:1–9).

This is the second message from the prophet Haggai to the remaining people. After hearing the first message from the messenger of God, Haggai, they started rebuilding the temple. They all work to build the temple, but in between, they discourage seeing it because this temple is not better than Solomon’s temple. Some of them had seen the beauty of the temple that King Solomon built; therefore, they are not happy with this new temple. So, God encouraged them to keep on working, saying, "Be strong, and I am with you." In verse 9, God made a promise with them, saying that "the latter glory of the house shall be greater than the former and, in this place, I will give peace." This is a beautiful promise for us as well. Here we can see that the repeated words "be strong" and "fear not" show that God’s spirit remains among them. The Lord says he will fill his house with glory, meaning God will fill it with his own presence. It came true when Jesus came. From this, we can learn that in Christ, the old has passed away and new things have come. Whether good or bad experiences were had in the past that have passed away, what we have now is a blessing from God, even though it seems less good than the former. It shows that God’s spirit remains with us, as he promised.

Third Message: A defiled people are purified and blessed (2:10–19).

This is the third message from the prophet of the god Haggai to the same people who are working to rebuild the temple. Zerubbabel and Joshua are among them. This message is to those who know the law of Moses. Some of the questions raised here for the priest are mentioned in the Law of Moses. These verses say that the people are not good in the sight of God. They are unholy or defiled. If the one who touches the dead people and touches another thing is known as unholy or defiled in the same way, they are defiled people to God. But the beautiful promise here for them is that God says, "From now onward, I will bless them." The people were unclean, but God promised to purify and bless them. This promise was fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ; later, he came to the world and purified and blessed us. These texts teach us that those who abide in him and trust in his promise will prosper.

Fourth Message: The Promise to Zerubbabel (2:20–23).

This is the last message that came to Haggai from the Lord of the Host in chapter two. It shows Zerubbabel as a type of Christ. God said to Zerubbabel, "My servant, he has chosen him" to represent Christ (Isaiah 42:1, 43:10).

Implications from the book of Haggai in the context of Nepal

obey God’s covenant (Haggai 1:1–11)

The book of Haggai is the second-shortest book in the Old Testament but has a beautiful message in it. From this book, I have learned to obey God’s covenant alone. The prophet helped the remnant of the people not to repeat the history where their fathers disobeyed God and brought curses upon their lives. He encourages them to do what God has told them to do. He told them to never stop rebuilding the temple because God is always with you and there is no need to be afraid of others except God. He told them to be strong because God was there to bring blessings. I have found some similar problems with Nepalese people here as well. Nepal is one such country where Christianity is rapidly growing, though it suffers. But some of them stopped trusting God because of suffering and left Christ. It is sad to say that, but it is real. Those who are Christian now are being careless in giving tithe and suffering financially.

Unholy life (Haggai 2:14)

The people of Israel were living an unholy life in the sight of God. They were doing what God did not want them to do, and they defiled themselves. Therefore, they were fruitless because of their unholy lives. In the same way, in Nepal, the people of God are living an unholy life, and many of the youth are not serious about being Christians. They are eating and drinking everything. They are doing things that God doesn’t want them to do, like getting married to non-Christians, using drugs, not attending fellowship, and so on. God called us to be holy (1 Peter 1:15), but we are going against his words. But God's promise for all of us is that he will bless us from now on.

The word of encouragement (Haggai 2:1–9)

In the book, the prophet Haggai has a big role in encouraging the people who are far from God. He encouraged them to complete the task that God had given them to do. In the same way, today’s people need a prophet like Haggai who can encourage them with the word of God. In this book, Haggai encouraged them, saying, "Do not be afraid" (2:5). Because of Haggai’s encouragement, the people of Israel could complete the building of the temple. In the present-day context, the word of encouragement is needed so much by all Christians.

Conclusion 

As a conclusion, the messages of the book of Hosea are so beautiful and practical. There is a purpose to each message of the Haggai. The first message came to encourage them to rebuild the temple. The second message came strong, saying, "I am with you." You are not alone; my spirit remains among you, says the Lord, when the people are murmuring and leaving to work and are discouraged seeing the present temple and comparing it with the former temple. This message comes to show them that they are unclean or unholy, though God told them to be blessed. And the last message came to Zerubbabel from the Haggai, saying Zerubbabel is chosen by God, and his servant is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. The message of the Haggai is the love of God for the remnant of the people as well as for us.

 

Bibliography

Bullock, C. Hassel: An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books: Chicago: Moody Press, 1977.

D.A. Carson, New Bible Commentary, 21st century edition, 

Ego, Beate: Bible, Qumranica, and Minor Prophets, Netherlands: Leiden, 2005

John H. Sailhamer, Niv Bible Study Commentary, 

Peter S. Ruckman, Minor Prophet, Volume II, Habakkuk-Malachi 

Timothy Tow, The Minor Prophets, Singapore: Far Eastern Bible College Press, 2001.