Haggai. Holy scripture book written approximately between 536 to 520 BC by the prophet Haggai. It was written to captives who returned to Jerusalem. It contains four prophecies, all of them related to the rebuilding of the temple.
Summary
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- 1 History
- 2 Synopsis
- 1 Intention of Scripture
- 2 Biblical content
- 3 Prophecies
- 1 Main verses
- 4 Data of the prophet
- 5 Source
History
Its origin goes back to Jerusalem . It is a biblical book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanach , which in Christian bibles is located between the books of Zephaniah and Zechariah .
Synopsis
The book of Haggai contains four prophecies, all related to the rebuilding of the temple under Zerubbabel . God raises Haggai and Zacharias to encourage the people to rebuild their house. In order to have a picture of the conditions of that period, see the first chapters of the book of Ezra .
God raised Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the people to rebuild the house of God. The first chapters of Ezra give the context in which this prophet acted.
The book contains four prophecies related to the rebuilding of the temple of Zerubbabel. In the first speech Haggai exhorts the people to continue with the reconstruction of the temple ; in the second, comfort those who had seen the glory and magnificence of Solomon’s temple; In the third; announces the future blessing of God and the glory of the temple; and in the fourth he addresses Zerubbabel, David’s son, and mentions to him the promise of the future messianic kingdom.
Scripture Intent
Haggai sought to challenge God’s people regarding their priorities. He called them to revere and glorify God , building the Temple, despite local and official opposition. Haggai exhorted them not to be discouraged because this Temple was not as richly decorated as Solomon’s . He exhorted them to turn from the impurity of their ways and to trust in the sovereign power of God. The Book of Haggai is a reminder of the problems that God’s people faced in those times, of how people bravely trusted God, and how God provided for their needs.
Biblical content
Will God’s people reconsider their priorities, will they have the courage, and will they act on the promises of God? God sought to warn people to seek His words. Not only did God warn them, but He also offered them promises through His servant Haggai, to motivate them to follow Him. Because the people of God had reversed their priorities, having failed to put God first in their lives, Judah was sent into Babylonian exile.
In response to Daniel’s prayer and in fulfillment of God’s promises, God directed Cyrus the Persian king to allow the Jews in exile to return to Jerusalem . A group of Jews returned to their land with great joy, put God first in their lives, worshiped him, and began to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, without the support of the local people living in Palestine. His valiant faith was met with opposition from the local population, as well as the Persian government, for approximately 15 years.
Prophecies
As with most of the books of the minor prophets, Haggai ends with promises of restoration and blessings. In the last verse, Haggai 2:23, God uses a distinctively messianic title in reference to Zerubbabel, “My servant” (Compare 2 Samuel 3:18; 1 Kings 11:34; Isaiah 42: 1-9; Ezekiel 37:24 , 25).
Through Haggai, God promises to do it as a sealing ring, which was a symbol of honor, authority, and power, something like a king scepter, used to seal letters and decrees. Zerubbabel, as the seal ring of God, represents the house of David and the resumption of the messianic line interrupted by Exile.
Zerubbabel restored the Davidic lineage of kings that will culminate in the millennial reign of Christ . Zerubbabel appears in the lineage of Christ both on the part of Joseph ( Matthew 1:12) and on the side of Mary ( Luke 3:27).
Main verses
- Haggai 1: 4, “Is it time for you, for you, to live in your coffered houses, and this house is deserted?”
- Haggai 1: 5-6, “For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Meditate well upon your ways. You sow much, and you reap little; you eat, and you are not satisfied; you drink, and you are not satisfied; you get dressed, and you don’t get hot; and the one who works for wages receives his wages on a broken note. ”
- Haggai 2: 9, “The last glory of this house will be greater than the first, says Jehovah of hosts; and I will give peace in this place, says Jehovah of armies. “
Prophet Facts
Haggai . He was one of the twelve minor Hebrew prophets, and the author of the book of Haggai. Its name means party, solemnity. He began his ministry approximately sixteen years after the return of the Jews to Jerusalem . In Hebrew, Haggai is written. With him begins the post-exilic period of the prophecy of Israel, in which Zacharias will accompany him and Malachi will succeed him, almost a century later. Like many other of the minor prophets. Haggai is known only from a few pieces of news. His four speeches all refer to the second year of Darius I (520 BC), and were delivered in less than four months (cf. 1, 1; 2, 11 and 21).
