Old Testament Survey - Lesson 34

Dr. Daniel Block 
Old Testament Survey
ot300-34
Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi
Lesson Transcript

The last three prophets in the book involve calls to recognize Yahweh's grace and glory in the Persian period. We've had one prophet who may have performed his work in the Persian period, but the three we are now considering in this session and the next were clearly there. We begin with the book of Haggai.

First of all, the context of Haggai's ministry. We get the impression that even before the spirit of prophecy was withdrawn from Israel after Malachi's ministry, the prophetic institution was already in decline. From the century after Cyrus' decree authorizing the return of the Judean exiles, we know of only three prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

The first two served the new commonwealth of Yehud. That's the word in the Bible, Judah. Simultaneously, in the last quarter of the sixth century, Malachi appeared in the next part of a century later.

Of course, this doesn't mean that no other prophets were around. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. It means only that the works of these three prophets were transcribed, gathered, and preserved as canonical scripture by and for the community of faith.

Taking a cue from the prophecies of Ezekiel, the editor of Haggai's prophecies has performed a helpful service by dating all five of his oracles, a feature shared with three prophecies in Zechariah, which leaves some to imagine that Zechariah, these first oracles in Zechariah, originally were actually combined with Haggai's. In examining these date notices, it becomes apparent that all the preserved oracles of Haggai were delivered within a four-month period. Notice verse 1. In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel.

Then notice chapter 2, verse 1. On the 21st day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came. Then in verse 10 of chapter 2, on the 24th of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Haggai. So we find that his ministry, apparently, at least this record of his ministry was quite, quite short.

Within a four-month span, we have all the prophecies in this book. The prophet's preaching reflects the harsh social and economic realities of the late sixth century, the last half of the 500s, in Yehud during the reign of Cyrus. Although Cyrus had authorized the rebuilding of the temple almost two decades earlier in 538 B.C., and the foundations had been laid at that time, Ezra 3, 7 to 13, with great celebration they laid the foundations, but the construction had ground to a halt.

Ezra 5, 1 credits the Haggai and Zechariah with rekindling the passion for the temple and resuming the project. Inspired, or should we say discouraged, by memories of the old Solomonic temple, actually Davidic temple, on the one hand, and the vision of Ezekiel's new temple on the other, chapters 40 to 48 of Ezekiel, the returnees from Babylon undoubtedly expected the imminent restoration of normalcy in all their lives. But it had only happened in part.

They expected to occupy the whole hereditary land of Israel, the return of Yahweh to his temple, the restoration of David's descendants as kings, and a new era of peace and prosperity. The presence of a governor Zerubbabel from a descendant of David lent concrete fuel to these hopes. We have a David died here.

Why can't we have a king? But these aspirations were not realized and very quickly gave way to widespread disillusionment and cynicism. For the immediate audience, Haggai's concern, as in Zechariah 1 to 8, the immediate concern is how can this remnant of regathered Israelites continue to be the people of God, particularly in the absence of a Davidic king, without occupying the whole land of Israel and under the overlordship of Persia? While Haggai addressed his prophecies to the community as a whole, many of whom had only recently trickled back from Babylon. Look at 1.1 and 2.2. Several of his oracles were directed specifically at the two leaders, Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the priest.

This diarchic, two-headed rule, two-headed administrative structure marks a significant change from pre-exilic times. In the new commonwealth, Judah had no king. Although the documents make a point of identifying Zerubbabel as a descendant of David, he was only the governor, and as such, he had no jurisdiction over all affairs requiring Persian attention.

Reflecting the increased influence of the priesthood after the return, Joshua the high priest held the office of ecclesiastical authority, but only that. In this position, he assumed a great deal of internal political, judicial, and economic responsibility, previously held by the royal house, but the royal house is a mere governor serving the Persian agenda. The lineage of Joshua was as impressive as Zerubbabel's, but the presence of a descendant of David as governor seems to have kept the hope alive that this system was only temporary, that is, the present system, and before long, the Davidic throne would be re-established.

In response, both Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the people to relax and take care of the business at hand. They thrust the Davidic hope forward into the eschatological future. We see this in Haggai 2, 21 to 23, and in Zechariah 4, 6b to 10a.

But what do we know about the prophet Haggai? Again, very little. This has been a common refrain in our introductions to these minor prophets. The name derives from a word meaning pilgrimage festival, from which we get the present Arabic word hajj, which refers to the annual festivals of the Muslims, even to this day.

But it suggests that Haggai may have been born during one of Israel's three annual festivals, Passover, Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. Based on Haggai's interests in religious matters, some have thought he had priestly background like Joshua, that is, his contemporary, but the evidence is inconclusive. In this book, 1, 1, 2, 1, and in Ezra 6, 14, he is called the prophet.

1, 13 refers to him as the messenger of Yahweh, Malak Yahweh. As we said before, elsewhere this is translated as the angel of Yahweh. But Haggai must have been an effective preacher.

At the time of his first sermon, the temple still lay in ruins, 1, 1, but by the time his brief ministry was over, three and a half months later, enormous progress had been made, 2, 10, and 2, 20. The book itself and the notes in Ezra 5, 1, and 6, 14 provide impressive testimony to the effect a prophet's preaching could have on his audience. It was Haggai's and his friend Zechariah's preaching that got the reconstruction of the temple back on the road after a delay of two decades, and with a matter of years, the entire project was completed.

What can we say about Haggai's style of preaching? Well, with its 600 words distributed among 38 verses, Haggai is the third shortest prophetic book after Obadiah and Nahum. Most agree that the prophet's oracles were transcribed, collected, compiled, and edited almost immediately after they were delivered, but who was responsible for this process we don't know. Nevertheless, in light of the numerous literary and thematic correspondence, some have proposed that Zechariah may have been involved in the business of his friend Haggai's putting his oracles into print.

Some, like Carol Myers, propose that Haggai plus Zechariah 1 to 8 represented a single composite work intended to be presented to the people on time for the rededication of the new temple in March of 515 BC, see Ezra 6, 15 to 22. This document would have represented an appropriate ideological basis. It would have provided an appropriate ideological basis for the people of God in the second commonwealth.

Well, let's review the content of the book based on its outline. Based on shifts in subjects and the explicit signals provided by the date notices, the book Haggai divides into two major sections, 1, 1 to 15, and 2, 1 to 23. The first part divides further into two segments, the oracle proper addressed directly to Zerubbabel and Joshua, that is, the governor and the priest, 2, 10 to 19 is addressed to the people, perhaps, and then we have 2, 20 to 23.

What's the content of these texts? In the first one, we have a call to rebuild the temple with the prophet's appeal, verses 1 to 11, and the people's response. Then we have, I mean, in light of their discouragement, we have oracles of encouragement, a three-part sermon, a call to recognize God's presence, God is here, God is with us, verses 1 to 9 of chapter 2, a call to recognize God's order, 2, 10 to 19. The world is not in chaos.

And third, a call to recognize God's reign. This is the gospel according to Haggai.