Introduction to Haggai

Chapters

The specific mention of the “second year of Darius” (1:1) places the book in the year 520 B.C.
Haggai ministered among the Jews who had returned to Judea after some 70 years of exile in Babylon.

Theme - The work of temple restoration highlights the Lord’s desire to renew a covenant relationship with his people

Although the book of Haggai falls within the general category of prophecy, it is not a typical prophetic book. It is written in prose instead of the customary poetry. Although there are predictions of promised blessing, there are no oracles of judgment in the usual sense.

Haggai prophesied to the people of Jerusalem after they had returned from Babylon in 538 BC and before they had rebuilt the temple in 515. The city of Jerusalem lay in ruins, the walls and the temple having been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

Within a year after returning from Babylon, the people had laid the foundation for the new temple, but by Haggai’s time, they had still not completed it. Haggai, together with Zechariah, called upon the people to stop focusing on their own economic well-being and complete the temple.

After the exile, the Lord is renewing his promises to his people and calls on them to finish rebuilding the temple so that he might be with them and fulfill his promises to bless the whole world through them (Hag. 2:9), particularly through the Messiah from the house of David (Hag. 2:23).

Christian Standard Bible - Gregory W. Parsons

In the second year of Darius (520 BC, Hg 1:1, Ezra 4:24-5:2), when the conflict over political control of the (Persian) empire was over, God directed Haggai to encourage the leaders in Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. When the governor heard about this rebuilding, he questioned the plan's legitimacy and wrote to Darius to find out whether the government was sanctioning this project (Ezra 5:3-17).

Darius approved the rebuilding campaign. Consequently, the temple rebuilding was completed in four years (Ezra 6:15).
Haggai’s challenge was to call the post-exilic community of Jews living in Jerusalem not simply to focus on their own creature comforts but to honor God. This commitment would be reflected in their work on the temple.

Soon after arriving in Jerusalem, the Jews showed their desire to rebuild the temple on Mt Zion. They set up an altar of sacrifice, and in the second year they started to lay the foundation of the temple (Ezra 3:1-3,Ezra 3:8-10). However, local people began to oppose the builders, with the result that the work stopped (Ezra 4:1-5,Ezra 4:24).

For about sixteen years no work was done on the rebuilding of the temple. Because of this, God raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to work among his people. They began preaching in 520 BC, their job being to stir up the people to get on with the job and not stop till it was finished (Ezra 5:1-2; Haggai 1:1; Zechariah 1:1).

Haggai is the second shortest book of the Old Testament, after Obadiah.
The writer’s literary style is simple and direct. The book is a mixture of prose and poetry, the introductory sections being prose and the oracles poetry.
The book contains four short messages that Haggai preached to the returned Jews in less than four months of one year, 520 B.C.
Haggai was clearly aware that the messages he preached to the Israelites were from God. He affirmed their divine authority 25 times.
In contrast to almost all the writing prophets, Haggai was successful in that the people to whom he preached listened to him and obeyed his exhortations.