Haggai

The date of Haggai is very specific and covers the time period of August 29, 520 BC - Dec. 7, 518 BC. These dates are mentioned (with period descriptions) within the book itself.

It's setting is during the reign of King Darius the Great (522-485 BC) of the new Persian Empire (who conquered Babylon in 539 BC). The Jews had begun to return to Jerusalem and were rebuilding the city wall by wall, house by house, farm by farm. During this 18 years though, they had not begun work on the Temple. That's where Haggai comes to give the "word of the Lord."

Outline of Haggai:
1. Call for the Restoration of the Temple 1:1-15
-a call for the people to work and their response.
2. Oracles of Encouragement 2:1-23
-Asurance of God's presence
-Priestly ruling
-Future hope


God calls for the rebuilding of the Temple. Why?
-It is supposed to be at the center of their community, lives just as God is to be the center of their lives. But because God wasn't at the center of their lives, neither was the Temple built. This was God's call/reminder to get back to the basics.

The People Listened! What is so amazing about that?
-1:12 the people listened and they obeyed, but not only that, God also "stirred their hearts"
-What does this mean?
-What implications does this have for us today?
-God has much more for us than we have received. Why? Our disobedience has prevented us from receiving all that God has. But in our obedience, we get the blessing of experiencing everything God has to offer.

The Temple's Glory Restored
- What does the phrase, "fill this house with splendor" mean?
- God's presence, God's blessing, a spiritual dynamic that can only take place if God is present. God was preparing to make His presence known in a real way as the Temple is completed.

An Important Reminder...
- God didn't want Israel(Jews) to miss God anymore, they failed to notice God (because God's never missing, or on vacation or taking a day off).

Promise of Restoration
-Israel(represented by the remnant in Jerusalem) was promised to become a sign, an example, and a ruler for God. It's the promise they had heard many times before, but now it was re-stated as they were to become the "signet ring of Judah." That's what the king wore to sign his decrees. But Israel wasn't just to be a ruler, but a servant-ruler (which references the words of Isaiah, Suffering Servant).
-While this is a hopeful word for Israel, it was also challenging because it is another 500 years before this truly takes place through Jesus.

Haggai is a light of hope in a new and hopeful time. It's a pleasure to read such a prophet because there is no doom or judgment. It is a simple reminder to put our priorities right, with God in first place and to remember to obey God all the time as obedience is the action that proves our faith, just as God's blessings are the actions that prove God's faithfulness.

Haggai's word is to help restore this faith within community, connecting us to God and to each other. And when we do that, we bring the kingdom near!

Peace ><>
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