Haggai: build the house again
Haggai called the exiles who had come home from Babylon to rebuild the temple they had left in ruins. His four messages of 520 BC tell them to consider their ways, and promise that the latter glory of the house will be greater than the former.
About the book
The book opens "in the second year of the reign of Darius, on the first day of the sixth month" (Haggai 1:1). The second year of Darius king of Persia was 520 BC, and all four of the book's messages are dated, from the sixth month to the ninth (Haggai 2:1, 2:10, 2:20). Haggai's name is linked to the Hebrew word for a feast.
Ezra, too, tells how "the prophets Haggai and Zechariah" prophesied, and Zerubbabel and Jeshua rose up to rebuild the house of God (Ezra 5:1-2). Because the book speaks of Haggai in the third person, many scholars think those close to him gathered his messages soon afterwards; that the messages are Haggai's own, the church's traditional view and most scholars agree.
Cyrus king of Persia, who took Babylon in 539 BC, sent the Jews home the next year to build the house of the LORD (Ezra 1:2-3). The returned exiles laid the foundation, but opposition stopped the work "until the second year of the reign of Darius" (Ezra 4:24). Haggai speaks to Zerubbabel the governor of Judah, to Joshua the high priest (Ezra's Jeshua), and to the people. The map under the Jesus tab sets Haggai in the era of return and rebuilding (c. 539–430 BC); the story is told in Ezra.
How it unfolds
| Chapters | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | First message (sixth month): consider your ways; the people obey and begin the work |
| 2:1-9 | Second message (seventh month): be strong; the latter glory will be greater |
| 2:10-19 | Third message (ninth month): a defiled people; from this day I will bless you |
| 2:20-23 | Fourth message (the same day): Zerubbabel made like a signet ring |
Key passages
Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?
Haggai 1:4
The people said the time had not yet come to build. Yet they planted much and harvested little, and earned wages "to put into a bag pierced through" (Haggai 1:6). So God says, "Consider carefully your ways" (Haggai 1:7): "Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house" (Haggai 1:8). Matthew Henry notes that they did not refuse to build; they said, Not yet: "Many good works have been intended, but not done, because men supposed the proper time was not come" Matthew Henry. This time the people listened, and the LORD said, "I am with you" (Haggai 1:13), and stirred their spirits to work.
When the new temple looked like nothing beside Solomon's (Haggai 2:3), God promised:
The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the LORD of Hosts. And in this place I will provide peace, declares the LORD of Hosts.
Haggai 2:9
Last, God tells Zerubbabel, "I will make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you" (Haggai 2:23). A signet ring carried a king's authority, and God had once said he would pull Zerubbabel's grandfather Coniah off his hand like a ring (Jeremiah 22:24).
The book and Christ
Hebrews quotes Haggai 2:6:
At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.”
Hebrews 12:26
When everything else is shaken, "we are receiving an unshakable kingdom" (Hebrews 12:28), and so we worship God with reverence and awe.
The church long read Haggai 2:7 of Christ. The Latin Vulgate, and the King James Version after it, spoke of ‘the desire of all nations’ coming, and John Wesley explains it as "Christ the most desirable, to all nations" Wesley. Many scholars and modern translations, the BSB among them, read instead that the nations will come with their treasures, since the Hebrew verb is plural and the next verse says, "The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine" (Haggai 2:8). Matthew Henry finds the greater glory in "the presence of the Messiah, the Son of God, the Lord of glory" Matthew Henry. When the infant Jesus was brought into this second temple, Simeon called him "glory to Your people Israel" (Luke 2:32). Zerubbabel, too, stands in Jesus' family line (Matthew 1:12).
Reading it
Two chapters make one sitting. Read Ezra 5 first to see when Haggai spoke; then begin with Haggai 1 and mark the date of each of the four messages. Then go on to Zechariah, who prophesied at the same time.
Practice
- Practice 1 of 5
When did Haggai receive his messages?
- Practice 2 of 5
Why did God rebuke the people in Haggai 1?
- Practice 3 of 5
What did God promise people who thought the new temple looked like nothing?
- Practice 4 of 5
In Haggai 2:23, what does God say he will make Zerubbabel like?
- Practice 5 of 5
How does Hebrews 12 use Haggai's promise to shake the heavens and the earth?
Reading to the end marks it read; tap to switch it.
Related topics
Lessons from the Bible, the church's creeds and classic commentary. Each book's author and date are given as the church has received them, and scholars who see them otherwise are presented fairly. Scripture quotations: BSB.