Haggai

AN INTRODUCTION HAGGAI Haggai:  ‘Haggai’ is a Hebrew name meaning (Feasty); probably referring to the anticipation of the return from captivity with joy; Or because he was born on a day of feast. Anyway, his name came conforming to the content of this book, which, in its depths, is a call to a joyful life, or to an entrance into an incessant feast through the rebuilding the temple of the Lord in us by His Holy Spirit. St. Jerome says: [‘Haggai’ means (joyful, or rejoicing); “He who sows in tears, reaps in joy” (Psalm 126: 5); He was preoccupied with rebuilding the temple1].  Haggai was born in the land of captivity. He ascended to Judah together with Zerubbabel during the first return from captivity 563 B.C. (Ezra 2: 1). He, Zechariah, and Malachi, are considered the prophets of the post-captivity era.  Some believe that he was a priest, on account of that his greatest attention concentrated on the temple, giving us a new concept of its rebuilding. Although some others see in his words: “Ask the priests concerning the law” (2: 11), a sure proof that he was not, himself, a priest2.  Haggai practiced his prophetic task in about the year 520 B.C., the second year of the reign of Darius, the third Persian king; The same year in which the Chinese philosopher Confucius got famous. He started his work two months before the prophet Zechariah, with whom he was connected by a strong friendship, and a unity of goal; According to the Jewish tradition, both of them were buried in one tomb. Zechariah prophesied for three years, while Haggai prophesied only for three months and 24 days. In the Telmud it came that Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi were all members in the great Senhedrim3.  Although he was influenced by the prophet Ezekiel on several aspects, Yet he was a man of action whose interest concentrated on rebuilding the temple; and did not share with the prophet Ezekiel his tendency toward visions {Hezekiel 1: 4); practicing symbolic actions (Ezekiel 4); nor his poetic talents (Ezekiel 17, 19, 27, 28) 4. The circumstances prevailing around the prophet: The prophet Haggai lived through the same circumstance of the prophet Zechariah, and bore his same feelings. We know how the pre-captivity prophets have often foreseen, and threatened captivation before it happened (568 B.C.). Although these prophecies were all realized, Yet God did not leave things that way; but through His prophets, he proclaimed beforehand, the return from the Babylonian captivity after 70 years ( Jeremiah 25: 11, 12; Daniel 9: 2); Which was realized, as well, with the collapse of the Babylonian kingdom before the Persians; And when Cyrus King of Persia allowed 1 Ep 53: 8. 2 Jerome Biblcal Comm, P388. 3 J.H. Raven: Introd. To O.T., P240. 4 Jerome Bib. Comm., p388. 4 Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Yet, after laying its foundations, the Samaritans opposed the builders (Ezra 4: 5), and, as we told in the introduction to the book of Zechariah, the work had to stop, for as long as 15 years, although there was no cancellation of the decree issued by king Cyrus. With the reign of King Darius, it was high time to resume work; Yet, the resistance which came anew, was not from outside, but from inside; as everyone got preoccupied with building his own house. Then the prophet Haggai, and the prophet Zechariah, two months after him, threatened the people, because of their slothfulness, and provoked them to concentrate on building the house of the Lord with strength and zeal of the heart. Yet again, with the resumption of work, some elders who have seen the old temple, unfortunately started to dampen the enthusiasm of the builders, counting the new temple as nothing compared with the old one. And if it was not for the wisdom of the two prophets, the work would have stopped completely, and the joy would have turned into sadness through the spirit of despair invoked by those elders. The goal of the prophet: The role of the prophet Haggai was not only to provoke the people to rebuild the temple, but he brought them to deep spiritual concepts that touched their relationship with God on the inner level of the heart; The prophet made the following points clear: 1- Confirming of the principle “God should come first”. Getting preoccupied with rebuilding their own houses, disregarding the house of the Lord, reveals a very serious tendency on their part, to count God of secondary importance in their life! God does not dwell in houses, nor seek temporal glories; But He seeks to be the first in the life of His children; Having given them priority over His whole creation; they should pay Him back by showing equal love toward Him. If through His condescendence, He consents to have a temple among His people, it is to confirm His dwelling in their midst. Therefore it is befitting of them to care for His temple, as a sign of inner love, longing, and joy in God who dwells among them. God seeks no gold or silver. Not even the work itself, but He seeks to have their hearts as a dwelling place for Himself. 2- The prophet Haggai managed to move their thoughts away, not only from the stone building to the heart, as an inner home or the Lord; But also to reveal the glory of the new home that will be set through the incarnation of the Word of God; namely, through the appearance of “the Desire of all Nations”. By whose resurrection and ascension, He gave us the eternal glory in His temple, namely, His body. He spoke about this temple to the Jews, saying: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2: 19). Then the Evangelist goes on to say: “Then the Jews said: ‘It has taken 46 years to build the temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’. But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said that to them; and they believed” (John 20-22). The divisions of the book: This book embraces four prophecies uttered by the prophet: 1- The first prophecy (Ch. 1): He proclaimed on the first day of the sixth month in the second year of the reign of king Darius; in which He rebukes the people on their forsaking the temple of the Lord, lying in ruin. This prophecy came with the required fruit; as everyone of them got back to work with zeal. 5 2-The second prophecy (2: 1-9): He proclaimed on the 21st. day of the seventh month; in which he encourages the laborers to keep on working without feeling sad on the glory of the old temple; Confirming the rejection of the thoughts, destructive to the soul; And proclaiming the appearance of a new temple, exalted in glory. 3-The third prophecy (2: 10, 19): He proclaimed on the 24th.of the ninth month; considered as an annex to the previous prophecy; in which he confirms that, by disregarding for the priority of God in their life, they will lose the blessing; And encouraged them to keep on embracing the spiritual life with flaring zeal. 4-The fourth prophecy (2: 20-23); He proclaimed on the same day of the proclamation of the previous prophecy. In this prophecy, the Lord confirms that He will shake the nations, and will hold fast to Zerubbabel as His signet ring.