Haggai

Haggai prophesied in 520 BC, eighteen years after the first exiles returned from Babylon under Zerubbabel.Haggai's precise dating system uses Persian regnal years: 'the second year of Darius the king' (Darius I Hystaspes, 522-486 BC), with exact days given—1st day of 6th month, 24th of 6th month, 21st of 7th month, 24th of 9th month—making this among Scripture's most precisely dated books. This chronology aligns perfectly with Ezra 4-6, which describes the temple rebuilding. Zerubbabel's designation as God's 'signet' (2:23) is profoundly messianic: signet rings bore the king's authority and identity. Though Zerubbabel mysteriously disappears from history after this (possibly recalled to Persia), he appears in both Matthew's and Luke's genealogies of Christ. Though they had laid the temple's foundation, opposition and discouragement had halted construction while the people built their own 'cieled houses.' Haggai's pointed message challenged this misplaced priority: 'Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?' Economic hardship—sowing much but harvesting little, earning wages that disappeared 'into a bag with holes'—resulted from neglecting God's house. Haggai's four dated oracles (five specific dates within a four-month period make this one of Scripture's most precisely dated books) called for temple completion. The prophet encouraged the builders not to despair that this temple seemed inferior to Solomon's glory: 'The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former'—a prophecy fulfilled when Christ, 'the desire of all nations,' entered this very temple. Zerubbabel, the governor, is singled out as God's signet ring, a messianic type pointing to Christ.