Through The Bible
Session #29
Haggai, Zechariah,
Malachi[1]
April 23, 2003
Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of the Old Testament!!!
Haggai
William Brown: “The book of Haggai delivers a bold message in a time of indifference and despair. The prophet’s words are means to call people to action when all hands had become idle and all hearts had given up. Haggai saw his people languishing in resignation and despair; his message was a sharp wake-up call before it was too late.”
The book covers less than 4 months of Haggai’s life – between August and December 520 BC.
The time period
q In 539 BC, Persia takes Babylon’s place as the dominant world power.
q 540 BE, the Persian Emperor Cyrus releases the Jewish exiles who began to go back to Palestine. They found their homeland in shambles.
q Work began on the Temple under Sheshbazzar, Cyrus’ appointed governor (see Ezra 5:14-16). Due to limited resources and opposition, the work didn’t go very far.
q In 520 BC, Darius I ascended to the Persian throne. Throughout the Persian empire, widespread insurrections broke out.
o This year is important for the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. These prophets began calling for a new beginning in the rebuilding effort.
o The Temple was completed in 516 BC or 515 BC.
The man Haggai
q We know little about the life of this prophet.
q His name comes from a Hebrew verb meaning, “to make a pilgrimage” or “hold a festival.”
The message of Haggai
q Haggai is divided into 5 different major sections that are arranged chronologically.
1. First section – 1:1-11
a. First major message of Haggai
b. August 29, 520 BC (Remember that most Old Testament prophets would date their messages in connection with Israelite kings. Haggai didn’t have that luxury so his messages are dated according to the Persian king, Darius I).
c. Message is delivered to Zerubabbel the governor of Judah and Joshua the high priest. Zerubabbel is the grandson of Jehoiachin – the exiled king (see 1st Chronicles 3:17-19 for lineage). Joshua has the distinction of being the first to bear the title, “high priest” (Zechariah 3:1-10).
d. The issue at hand is not whether the Temple will be rebuilt, but when. The people, who are probably the affluent in Jerusalem (v. 4), think the time is not ripe to rebuild (v. 2). Haggai thinks otherwise.
e. For many in Jerusalem, impoverished conditions prevailed: insufficient food, clothing, and capital for business. Also, there’s a drought. Haggai connects these social problems as being products of the Temple not being rebuilt. For Haggai, failure to rebuild the Temple is a testimony to the people’s apathetic faith.
f. Because of the people’s apathy, God has judged (1:9-11).
2. Second section – 1:12-15
a. The people respond to Haggai’s message wholeheartedly! Contrast how the people respond here with how people often responded to prophets – with indignation, disdain, disbelief, and disgust.
b. God honors their change of heart with a promise of presence (1:13).
c. The work on the Temple begins on September 21, 520 BC.
3. Third section – 2:1-9
a. Second major message of Haggai.
b. October 17, 520 BC – almost a month after work on the Temple had begun. This was the end of the feast of booths (see Leviticus 23:33-36 for when this festival occurred).
c. Apparently, even though people seemed eager and enthusiastic, not much progress had been made.
d. Haggai compares the present state of the Temple with the former Temple. He does this using 3 questions:
· (v. 3) Who saw the former Temple?
· (v. 3) How does it look now?
· (v. 3) Doesn’t it look like nothing to you too?
e. It had been 67 years since the destruction of the Temple. While not many were probably alive who actually saw the former Temple, the oral traditions were very much alive so people knew the splendor through the stories.
f. Haggai encourages the people to take heart even though some feel the new work on the Temple will never equal the former Temple.
g. Haggai’s message here is to inspire confidence and a new vision where the people can only see futility and destruction.
4. Fourth section – 2:10-19
a. Third prophetic address of Haggai.
b. December 18, 520 BC – Here Haggai addresses the priests. He asks the priests to make a ruling (v. 10). Priests had the role of determining what was clean and unclean (Leviticus 10:10-11).
c. Haggai raises the question of whether holiness is contagious (v. 12)? The priests respond, “no.”
d. Haggai then raises the opposite issue – can uncleanness contaminate? (v. 13). The priests say, “yes.”
e. Because the Temple lies in ruin, the people’s sacrifices and offerings to God are tainted. In verses 10-14, the point is made that without proper worship, whatever is done in God’s name is doomed to failure.
f. In vv. 15-19, the people are at a crossroads. From this point forward, the people will know blessing rather than lack.
5. Fifth section – 2:20-23
a. Part of the third prophetic address.
b. December 18, 520 BC – Here Haggai addresses Zerubabbel, the governor.
c. Haggai promises a new world order with Zerubabbel serving as God’s signet ring (the ring equated with kingship).
d. This new community will have far-reaching, even international influence.
e. Haggai began with the reign of a foreign king and ends with anticipation of a new kingdom.
f. In Haggai’s own way, he anticipates the reign of Jesus.
Zechariah
This book is about resilient hope amid a community’s struggle to recover their identity as God’s people.
q Like Haggai, Zechariah stressed the importance of rebuilding the Temple in order to inaugurate a new age of blessing and order.
q While Haggai’s message was more immediate, Zechariah’s message was more global and he placed his words in a context of grace and judgment.
q Because of the visions, Zechariah is not one of those books we normally spend a lot of time in. Almost nothing is obvious in it.
The man Zechariah
q Like Haggai, we don’t know much.
q Zechariah is mentioned in Nehemiah 12:16 as coming from a priestly family.
q Matthew 23:35 mentions the martyrdom of Zechariah though it might be a completely different Zechariah than the one we have here.
The message of Zechariah can be divided into 2 parts – chapters 1-8 and 9-14. Scholars often call these two parts First and Second Zechariah.
q Chapters 1-8 probably happen within a 2 ½ year time period (from August 20, 520 BC to December 7, 518 BC).
o Zechariah 2:13 could summarize all of chapters 1-8. God is moving and setting our a new course of action.
o Zechariah 1:17 through 6:8 contain 8 separate visions where various messengers are pursuing God’s various errands on the earth.
o Many of the visions are hard to explain. We are dealing with that which the eye does not see and the ear does not normally hear.
q Chapters 9-14 consists of various prophetic speeches. Much attention is given to the end times.
o Most consider the last half (chapters 9-14) to be later additions to Zechariah though we cannot pinpoint for sure their historical home.
o One reminder that is clear in Zechariah 9-14 is that the victory of God often comes when the faithful suffer. Human sin too often resists God’s purposes and that sin often results in suffering. But God’s victory is assured.
Malachi
This is the last book in the Christian canon of the Old Testament. The dominant themes in the book are: sin, judgment, repentance, and the day of the Lord. Many of the standard features of prophetic speech are absent though. For example, we don’t have, “Thus says the Lord…”
q The book is essentially about the integrity of the priestly office.
q What does it mean to serve God in worship and daily life? Malachi seeks to answer this question.
q Malachi accuses people of: committing worship offenses, entering into mixed marriages, divorcing, and failing to tithe. So, this is not just a message for the priestly office, it’s for all of us!
q The New Testament interprets Malachi as pointing straight to the advent of Jesus. It’s no wonder that Malachi concludes the Old Testament as a preface to the New Testament.
The man Malachi
q His name could mean, “my messenger” or “angel.”
q Malachi seems to have a strong interest in the priesthood so he could have been a priest who adopted the style of prophets.
Outline of Malachi’s message:
[1] One of my main sources of study for these three Old Testament books is William P. Brown’s commentary, Westminster Bible Companion, Obadiah through Malachi (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996). William P. Brown is Associate Professor Old Testament at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia.