Haggai Introduction
Introduction
Cyrus, the king of Persia, had conquered Babylon. That happened 539 years before Jesus the Messiah was born. Two years later King Cyrus released the Jews who were prisoners and slaves in Babylon. He said they could go home to Jerusalem. He also said they could rebuild the temple. One group of people returned to Jerusalem the next year. They began rebuilding the temple. Two years later they had completed the foundation of the temple. And they celebrated! But then the work on the temple stopped. Other people near Jerusalem didn’t want the Jews to rebuild their temple. So no work was done on the temple for 16 years.
During that time Darius became king of Persia after Cyrus. Zerubbabel was appointed as governor of Judah. And Joshua was appointed as the high priest in the temple. They led the Jews who returned to Judah. It was during this time that the Lord sent the prophet Haggai to speak. He spoke to Zerubbabel and Joshua. Haggai encourages them to continue the work on the temple. Four years later the temple is completely rebuilt. And the people of Judah return there to worship God.
Haggai gives his four messages during four very important months. These messages were given at the beginning of the rule of King Darius. The first message explains why the crops in Judah were not being blessed. It said that was happening because God’s house was still in ruins. The second message encourages the people who were unhappy with the new temple. They felt the new temple wasn’t as beautiful as the one built by Solomon. But God promises that its glory will be more wonderful than the first one. The third message tells the people that their crops will be blessed. The final message is a personal one to encourage Zerubbabel the governor. He was from the family line of King David. And so the book ends with the temple rebuilt. God’s blessing has returned and a king from David’s line is on the throne.
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Haggai Introduction: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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