Day 273. Haggai

This short book has only one purpose—to encourage the people and their leaders to start to rebuild the temple. A group of Judean exiles, under the sponsorship of the Persian King Cyrus, had returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon. Almost immediately the returned exiles set about rebuilding the city's walls and their own houses and homesteads. Work on the temple, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C., was delayed for lack of resources and "spirit" for the task. Many considered the community too poor to undertake the project. Others were afraid of the attention the project would draw from hostile neighbors.

Now eighteen years have passed since the return of the first group of exiles and the temple is still a heap of ruins. In response a prophet named Haggai arises to provide the necessary spirit for undertaking the task. In the second year of the Persian King Darius he delivers "the word of the LORD" to Zerubbabel, the governor of the province, and Joshua, the high priest, and through them to the community.   Zerubbabel is a royal prince of the house of David, the grandson of King Jehoiachin, but is not himself a king. He is the last of David's descendants to exercise political authority. Joshua, the hereditary high priest is second in command in the province, and a political as well as religious power. High-priestly prestige and authority will continue to grow in the Jewish community during the post-exilic period.

The book of Haggai is composed of four carefully dated prose oracles delivered during the period of a single year—520 B.C.  

The first, revealed on August 29, 520 B.C., is a response to certain people—the prophet leaves them unnamed—who are saying that "the time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD's house" (1:2). The oracle is the LORD's answer to these gainsayers. God calls upon the people to consider how they have fared since their return from exile (1:5). The community has not prospered either economically or spiritually—those who "earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes" (1:6).  The reason is the lack of a focus for faith and worship.

They have built their own houses, so the LORD bids the leadership of the community to get busy and "build [his] house," so that he can "take pleasure in it and be honored" (1:8). The people have fared ill because they have left God's "house in ruins, while [they] hurry off to build [their] own houses" (1:9). That is the reason that the land, the animals, and human beings now suffer from drought and pestilence. They must build the temple.

And they respond positively. We are told that Haggai, "the messenger of the LORD," delivers this message to the governor and the high priest and "the remnant of the people," and they obeyed. And with the command of God, the prophet conveys this word of encouragement—"I am with you, says the LORD" (1:13). You are not alone. So the LORD "stirred up the spirit" of the governor, the high priest, and "all the remnant of the people" and they worked on the temple (1:14). We are given the date on which the work commences.

The second oracle is dated October 17, 520 B.C., seven weeks after the first. It is addressed to the whole Jerusalem community.  Apparently there are some among the returned exiles—very aged people—who remember the temple of Solomon before it was destroyed. In their sight this new temple is "as nothing" (2:3)—a very "hole-in-the-wall" affair—and they are saying as much. Such criticism has damaged the morale of the people as a whole. But on behalf of the LORD the prophet tells all the classes of society, high and low, to take courage and work. The LORD of hosts is with them, "according to the promise that [he] made [them] when [they] came out of Egypt." The LORD will not go back out of his covenant promises; he is always faithful. Furthermore, his "spirit"—his creative will--abides among them. Therefore they should "not fear" (2:5). 

True, this temple will be not nearly as magnificent as Solomon's was. But the LORD promises to "shake the heavens and the earth" as he did when he brought Israel out of Egypt. And as the children of Israel plundered Egypt of its gold and silver on their way out—Exodus 3:21-22—so the earth will be spoiled to enrich the house of the LORD. He will "shake all the nations"—shake them down, so to speak—so that their treasures will fill his temple. All the gold and all the silver in the world belong to the LORD anyway—why should he not claim them?  He will make his new house "greater than the former" (2:9), and in the place of poverty and depression he will "give prosperity" and joy to Jerusalem.

Haggai issues his third oracle a few months later—on December 18, 520 B.C. Again, it is addressed to the entire community of returned exiles, calling them to work on the new temple and not slacken. In a divine cause and effect relationship, prosperity and security will follow obedience.

Haggai uses an example drawn from the Law of Moses to illustrate this. The Mosaic Law, especially the ritual laws regarding uncleanness and purity, had much greater importance after the Babylonian exile. The meaning of this oracle depends upon an understanding of the laws regarding the communication of sacredness and of ritual impurity. Haggai presents two questions to the priests, whose job it was during this period to interpret the law. (It would later be the task of lay rabbis.) The first question involves whether flesh sacrificed in the temple communicates its sacredness to things it touches. The expert option is no, it does not. The second question regards contact with a dead body—the regulations on this subject are found in Numbers 19:11-13. Does physical contact with a corpse make a person ritually unclean. And the answer is yes.

From this Haggai draws his conclusion: It is the unclean rather than the clean that is contagious, disobedience rather than obedience. Therefore when the people did not work on the temple, acting contrary to God's will, the community did not prosper. Their disobedience contaminated everything—their crops were destroyed by "blight and mildew and hail" (2:17). But since the day they began to build the temple their crops have flourished—since that day the LORD has blessed all that they put their hands to. Obedience to God's will is the source of life and prosperity to the covenant community.

Haggai's fourth oracle is dated the same day as the third, December 18, 520 B.C., but it has quite a different purpose. It is addressed to Zerubbabel alone, not to the people. It may have been delivered as a secret communication, because its message could well be construed as treasonous to the governor's Persian overlords. The LORD tells the governor—in confidence--that he is "about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms and nations" (2:21). Change is in the air. But "on that day" the LORD promises to take Zerubbabel, heir to the house of David, and make him "like a signet ring" (2:23). In ancient times kings and others in authority wore signet rings as a sign of authority. Zerubbabel, David's son, is to be the expression of the LORD's authority on earth. For this role he has been "chosen" by God. This is dangerous stuff, and does seem to encourage the governor to seek a higher office. Perhaps it is not surprising that soon after Haggai delivers his oracles Zerubbabel vanishes from the scene. Perhaps the Persian king got wind of his exulted expectations. In any case, in the Gospel of Matthew (1:12) we find Zerubbabel among the ancestors of our LORD, who as Messiah and Son of David is indeed the expression of God's authority on earth.