THE BOOK OF HAGGAI
Chapters 1-2
The Summons to Rebuild the Jerusalem Temple and the Necessary Spiritual Renewal of the Covenant People in Preparation for the Coming of the Davidic Messiah
Lord God,
As members of the Body of Christ, we live with covenant obligations
like the first peoples of the earth You called to live in a covenant relationship
with You based on blessings for obedience and judgments for disobedience. The
difference between the covenant relationships that came before the First Advent
of the Christ and New Covenant inaugurated in the blood of God the Son is that
the old covenants promised temporal blessings and judgments while the covenant
in Christ Jesus brings eternal blessings and judgments. Send Your Holy Spirit
to lead us in our study of the Book of Haggai in which You send Your prophets
to the people of Judah who returned from the Babylonian exile. He told them to
tell the people that rebuilding the Temple destroyed by the Babylonians and
their renewing their covenant relationship heralds a new phase in the history
of salvation that is necessary to bring the dawn of the promised Messianic Era.
We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
+ + +
When the
prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews who were in
Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel who was over them,
Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak began rebuilding the Temple
of God in Jerusalem: with them were the prophets of God, supporting them.
Ezra 5:1-2
How shall we
extol Zerubbabel? He was like a signet ring on the right hand, so too was
Joshua son of Jozadak; they who in their days built the Temple and raised a
Sanctuary sacred to the Lord, destined to everlasting glory.
Sirach 49:11-12/13-14
The prophet Haggai was one of the three post-exile prophets. Along with the prophets Zechariah and Malachi, he returned to Judah after the Edict of King Cyrus in 539 BC allowed the Jews exiled to Babylon to return to their homeland. His mission directly impacted events recorded in the Book of Ezra (Ezra 5:1). Haggai's prophetic ministry is precisely dated according to the lunar calendar to the year 520 BC in the second year of the reign of Darius I of Persia (ruled 521-486 BC), a decade after the death of King Cyrus I of Persia (Hag 1:1, 15; 2:1, 10, 20). Probably using the Hebrew liturgical calendar, he refers to events in Judah between August and December of the year 520 BC in four sermons.
Darius I, the Great, ruled the Persian Empire from 522-486 BC. He was a successful and accomplished military commander, a gifted administrator who continued Cyrus' generous policies toward non-Persian peoples, and a builder of monuments. The most famous monument from his reign is the Behistun Inscription that Darius had carved on a cliff face in what is today western Iran. Written in three languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian, the inscription described Darius' rise to power and provided the key for deciphering the ancient Akkadian language of Mesopotamia, a western Semitic language spoken in both Assyria and Babylon before Aramaic became the language of the region.
When the returned exiles from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin first arrived in Judah, they immediately rebuilt Yahweh's altar of sacrifice on the foundations of the original altar of the First Temple and reestablished the rituals of worship in the morning and evening (afternoon) Tamid sacrifice and the other rituals of worship (Ex 29:38-42; Ezra 3:1-6). After the Samaritans (Gentiles who occupied what had been the Northern Kingdom of Israel and who adopted the worship of Yahweh) interfered with the rebuilding, work on the Temple stopped for about seventeen years from 537-520 BC (Ezra 4:1-5). God intervened by sending His prophet Haggai to speak to Zerubbabel, the Davidic prince and governor appointed by the Persians, to the High Priest, Joshua (Jeshua in Ezra 1), and the people. Haggai's first oracle dates to August of 520 BC.
Part of the Book of Haggai is in prose and part is poetic. The book always refers to the prophet in the third person which some commentators believe suggests the work was not composed by Haggai but is a collection of the oracles of his mission written by his disciples. The record of his ministry must have been assembled soon after the events since the book does not contain any mentioned of the completion of the Temple rebuilding project (in c. 517/16 BC), nor does it refer to the later absence of Zerubbabel who is a central figure in the story (Ezra 6:13-18).
The Book of Haggai contains four precisely dated oracles with short accounts of how the leaders of the Jews and the people reacted to them:
| BIBLICAL PERIOD | #9 THE REMNANT OF JUDAH RETURNS | |||
| FOCUS | Yahweh commands Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the people to continue rebuilding the Temple | The blessings and Messianic promises associated with rebuilding the Temple | ||
| COVENANT | The Sinai Covenant and Davidic Covenant | |||
| SCRIPTURE | 1:1-15---------2:1-9-----------------2:10-19------------------2:20-----------------23 | |||
| DIVISION | Oracle #1 | Oracle #2 | Oracle #3 | Oracle #4 |
| TOPIC | The command to rebuild the Temple | The future glory of the rebuilt Temple | A warning concerning ritual and spiritual purity | Zerubbabel and his link to a Messianic promise |
| The renewal of the Temple | Present and future blessings for a spiritually renewed people | |||
| LOCATION | Jerusalem | |||
| TIME | August to December 520 BC | |||
Persian Kings of the Achaemenid Dynasty
The themes of the Book of Haggai are the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple as Yahweh's dwelling place among His covenant people, and the hope of a Messianic David. The first oracle takes place on the first day of Elul, the sixth month in the Liturgical Calendar (see the handout). Haggai 2:3 may be interpreted to mean that Haggai was born in Judah before the destruction of the Temple in 587 and then exiled as a child in 586 BC. If Haggai saw Solomon's Temple, it would suggest that he was at least seventy-five years old when he prophesied in 520 BC. Ezra 3:12-13 reveals that among the exiles were those who had witnessed the glory of Solomon's Temple. However, it is also possible that he was born in Babylon during the captivity.
Our study uses the New Jerusalem Bible translation with references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), the New American Bible (NAB), and the three volumes of the Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English.
Oracle #1: Haggai 1-15 ~ The Summons to Rebuild the Temple
Haggai 1:1-11 ~ The Prophet's Call and His Message
1 In the
second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of
Yahweh was addressed through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel
governor of Judah and to Joshua son of Jehozadak the high priest as follows, 2"Yahweh Sabaoth says this, This people says:
The time has not yet come to rebuild the Temple of Yahweh.'" 3 (And the word of Yahweh was addressed through
the prophet Haggai, as follows,) 4"Is
this a time for you to live in your paneled houses, when this House lies in
ruins? 5 So now, Yahweh Sabaoth
says this, Think carefully about your behavior. 6 You have sown much and harvested little; you eat but never have
enough, drink but never have your fill, put on clothes but feel no warmth. The
wage-earner gets his wages only to put them in a bag with a hole in it.' 7 Yahweh Sabaoth says this, Think carefully
about your behavior. 8 Go up into
the hills, fetch timber and rebuild the House; and I shall take pleasure in it
and manifest my glory there, Yahweh says. 9
The abundance you expected proved to be little. When you brought the
harvest in, I blasted it. And why?, Yahweh Sabaoth declares, because while my
House lies in ruins, each of you is busy with his own house. 10 That is why the sky has withheld the rain and
the earth withheld its yield. 11 I
have called down drought on land and hills, on grain, on new wine, on olive oil
and on all the produce of the ground, on humans and animals and all your labors.'"
Haggai 1:1 refers to the Jewish High Priest as "Joshua" and his father as "Jehozadak;" however, in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah the are called "Jeshua" and "Jozadak" (Ezra 2:2; 3:2, 8, 9; 4:3; 5:2; 10:18; Neh 7:7; 12:1, 7, 10, 26). Jeshua/Yeshua and Joshua are the same Hebrew name, and the name the Angel Gabriel told Mary to name baby Jesus (Lk 1:31). Joshua/Jeshua son of Jehozadak is a descendant of the first high priest, Aaron the brother of Moses (1 Chron 5:29/3-41/15).
Haggai 1:1 ~ In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of
the sixth month, the word of Yahweh was addressed through the prophet Haggai to
Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel governor of Judah and to Joshua son of Jehozadak
the high priest
The King Darius referred to in verse 1 is Darius Hystaspes, also called
Darius I or Darius the Great, who ruled Persia from 522-486 BC. It is a decade
after the death of Persian King Cyrus, the friend and protector of the Jews. God
addresses His words through His prophet to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the leaders
of the community.
The dates in Ezra and Haggai follow the Liturgical lunar calendar of the Jews. The first date is August 29, 520 BC in our calendar but the first day of the sixth month of Elul and the monthly Feast of the New Moon in the Jewish liturgical calendar. The monthly observance of the Feast of the New Moon involved compulsory sacrifices and cessation from all work (Num 28:11-15).
Question: Haggai's first oracle is addressed to the Jewish leaders
Zerubbabel and Joshua, called Jeshua son of Jozadak in the Book of Ezra (i.e.,
Ezra 2:2, 8, 9; 3:1, 8; 4:1; 5:2; etc.). Who was Zerubbabel? See
1 Chron 3:17;
2 Kng 24:8-12, 17;
Ezra 2:1-2; 3:2;
Hag 1:1, 14; 2:2, 21;
Mt 1:12 and
Lk 3:27.
Answer: Zerubbabel was one of the twelve prominent
men of Judah and Benjamin who led the faithful remnant of the Kingdom of Judah
back to their homeland. He was a Davidic descendant and the grandson of King Jehoiachin/Jeconiah
who was taken captive by the Babylonians and where Zerubbabel was born. He was
the governor of the Persian Province of Judah during the reign of Persian King Darius
I, and his name appears in the genealogies of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew
and Luke.
Zerubbabel had a Babylonian name and therefore must have served in the Babylonian royal court. It was a common practice for the Babylonians to give captives who they educated for service in the government Babylonian names like they gave Daniel the Babylonian name Belteshazzar. Zerubbabel means "shoot of Babylon."
Question: Who was Joshua/Jeshua? See
2 Kng 25:18-21;
1 Chron 5:41;
Jer 52:24-27;
Hag 1:1, 12-14;
Zech 3:1-8.
Answer: He was the grandson of Seraiah, the last
High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple before the Babylonian destruction. His
connection to the pre-exilic priesthood authorizes him to reestablish the rituals
of worship in the rebuilt Temple. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah call him
the "high priest" (Hag 1:1, 12-14; Zech 3:1-8).
Haggai's first oracle is in two parts:
In his first oracle, Haggai presents three images:
Three times God tells the people to "think carefully"
about their behavior (Hag 1:5, 7, and repeated in 2:15 and 18 (twice).
Question: What problems were the returned exiles having in
addition to the trouble caused by their neighbors the Samaritans. What does
Haggai tell them is the cause of their problems?
Answer: In addition to not trusting God to deal with the
Samaritans, they were selfishly putting their needs before their obligation to
rebuild the Temple. They have worked hard for themselves, but their efforts produced
a disappointing harvest because of the drought Yahweh caused by holding back
the rain. They never have enough to eat or drink. Haggai tells the Jews that
their lack of success is because of their behavior. They have put all their
efforts into their houses but have neglected their obligation to Yahweh in rebuilding
His house, the Jerusalem Temple.
The reference to paneled houses in verse 4 suggests that they were taking special care to line the inner walls of their homes with wood; it was an extravagant measure while Yahweh's "house" was in ruins with no walls.
When Yahweh took the children of Israelites as His covenant people, He had Moses draw up a covenant treaty with the Israelites at Mt. Sinai that identified His obligations to them as their Great King and their obligations to Him as a vassal people. In a Covenant Treaty, both the dominant king and his vassal swear an oath in treaty form, thereby creating a covenant bond between the two parties. A covenant treaty is ratified in three ways:
For example, at the covenant ratification at Mt. Sinai, Moses read the treaty (Ex 24:4a):
Biblical covenants with Yahweh, however, were unique in that they were not just a treaty between a Great King and His vassal(s), but they also created a family bond through the blood sacrifice with the Divine King and the subject of the Covenant Treaty becoming "one blood." There are seven covenants between God and individuals and God with Israel as a corporate covenant people in the Old Testament, and one New Covenant in Christ Jesus in the New Testaments (see the chart Yahweh's Eight Covenants).
The standard Biblical covenant had five parts:
Pagan covenant treaties had a sixth part calling on the pagan gods of both nations to witness the treaty. Covenant treaties are not contracts. Contracts concern material possessions while covenants are concerned with the non-material like loyalty, service, and obedience.
Haggai's message reminds the people of Judah that the conditions of the Sinai Covenant Treaty are still in place. Their lack of prosperity indicates that the sanctions concerning blessings and judgments in Israel's Covenant Treaty with Yahweh in Leviticus 26:3-13 (blessings), 26:14-46 (judgments) and Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (blessings), 28:15-69/29:1 (judgments). See the documents Covenant Treaty in Scripture and Covenant Treaty Format in Sacred Scripture.
Question: What are those conditions that result in blessings or
judgments in Leviticus and Deuteronomy?
Answer: Obedience to Yahweh will mean His protection in the
temporal blessings of prosperity in the land, many children, the absence of
sickness and wars. However, disobedience will result in Yahweh withdrawing His
protection, and the people will be subject to droughts, illness, and wars, and
exile.
Haggai 1:12-15 ~ The Jewish
Leaders' and the Peoples' Positive Response
12 Zerubbabel son
of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak the high priest and the entire remnant of
the people, paid attention to the voice of Yahweh their God and to the words of
the prophet Haggai, which Yahweh their God had sent him to deliver. And the
people were filled with fear before Yahweh. 13
Haggai, the messenger of Yahweh, then passed on Yahweh's message to the
people, "I am with you, declares Yahweh." 14
And Yahweh roused the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel governor of
Judah, the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak the high priest and the spirit of
the entire remnant of the people; they came and set to work in the Temple of
Yahweh Sabaoth, their God. 15 This
was on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
God "roused the spirit" of Zerubbabel, the Davidic prince (grandson of King Jehoiachin and nephew of Sheshbazzar, prince of Judah who led the first group of returning exiles) and governor of the Persian Province of Judah (Ezra 1:8; 3:2; Hag 2:2; Zech 4:6-10; Mt 1:12). He also "roused the spirit" of Joshua (called Jeshua in the Book of Ezra) the High Priest (Ezra 3:2), and the people so they would respond positively to His commands to rebuild the Temple through His prophet. In the Book of Ezra, God also "roused the spirit" of King Cyrus to issue the Edict allowing the Jews to return to their homeland, and He "roused the spirits" of certain exiles to respond to the invitation to return (Ezra 1:1, 5). The people of Judah decided they were, rightly, more afraid of offending God than they were afraid of the threats of their neighbors concerning rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple.
Question: God encouraged the people's resolve to
continue the rebuilding project by making them what promise?
Answer: In verse 13, God told Haggai to tell the
people: "I am with you!"
God gives us the same message when we respond obediently to His commands and prohibitions. He is "with us" when we strive to live righteous lives free from sin by observing the New Covenant law of love of God and neighbor, keeping the Sabbath and Holy Days of obligation, living the Sacraments Christ gave us to sustain us on our journey to salvation and adhering to the teachings of the Church. In obediently rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple, the Jews who returned from the exile were rebuilding their relationship with Yahweh, and in living in obedience to our New Covenant obligations, we are "building up" and strengthening our relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ.
15 This was on
the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
Twenty-four days after Haggai's first oracle, the people
set to work rebuilding the Temple.
Oracle #2: Haggai 2:1-9 ~ The Future Glory of the Temple
1 In the second
year of King Darius, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of
Yahweh was addressed through the prophet Haggai, as follows, 2 "You are to speak to Zerubbabel son of
Shealtiel governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak the high priest and to
the remnant of the people. Say this, 3 Is
there anyone left among you who saw this Temple in its former glory? And how does
it look to you now? Does it not seem as though there is nothing there? 4 But take courage now, Zerubbabel! Yahweh
declares. Courage, Joshua son of Jehozadak high priest! Courage, all you people
of the country! Yahweh declares. To work! I am with you, Yahweh Sabaoth declares,
5 and my spirit is present among
you. Do not be afraid! 6 For Yahweh
Sabaoth says this: A little while now, and I shall shake the heavens and the earth,
the sea and the dry land. 7 I shall
shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will flow in, and I
shall fill this Temple with glory, says Yahweh Sabaoth. 8 Mine is the silver, mine the gold! Yahweh Sabaoth
declares. 9 The glory of this new
Temple will surpass that of the old, says Yahweh Sabaoth, and in this place, I
shall give peace, Yahweh Sabaoth declares.'"
This oracle dates to October 520. Yahweh knows the people will be sorrowful
as they work on rebuilding the Temple because it will not possess the magnificence
of Solomon's Temple.
Question: In verse 1, what is significant about the
21st day of the seventh month of Tishri in the liturgical calendar?
See the chart of the Liturgical calendar in the handout and Lev 23:33-36;
Num 29:12, 32-35,
Dt 16:13-16.
Answer: It is the last day of the seven-day feast of Shelters
(also called Tabernacles or Booths) held from the 15th to the 21st
and which every man of the covenant was required to attend. The 21st
was the day before the sacred assembly on the eighth day.
It was the third God-ordained annual pilgrim feast held in the early fall at the time of the harvest when the covenant people gathered the fruits of their labors (see Ex 23:14-15; 34:20; Dt 16:16; 2 Chron 8:13). Scripture mentions this feast during the reigns of King Solomon (2 Chron 8:13), Hezekiah (2 Chron 31:3), and after the exile (Ezra 3:4; Hag 2:1; Zech 14:16-19). Jesus attended the Feast of Shelters where He announced His Messianic mission to fill God's people with His Spirit on the last day of the feast (Jn 7:2-3, 14, 37-41). The Feast of Shelters remembered the deliverance from bondage in Egypt and the dedication of the desert Sanctuary as God told the people at Sinai when He said, "You will keep this feast in the seventh month. For seven days you will live in shelters: all the citizens of Israel will live in shelters, so that your descendants may know that I made the Israelites live in shelters when I brought them out of Egypt, I, Yahweh your God." (Lev 23:42-43).
Question: God calls for Zerubbabel, Joshua, and
the people to have courage (repeated three times), and He encourages them to begin
work on the Temple in what three ways?
Answer:
6 For Yahweh
Sabaoth says this: A little while now, and I shall shake the heavens and the
earth, the sea and the dry land.
In verses 6-9, the promise of the greater glory of the
Second Temple is an eschatological allusion to the riches of the Messianic era in
which the Second Temple plays a role as a gateway to a new phase in God's
divine plan. This second Oracle reminds us that Haggai's mission is two-fold:
to convey God's command to rebuild the Temple and the promise of a new Messianic/eschatological
era that the rebuilt Temple and spiritually renewed people will inaugurate.
The "shaking of the heavens and the earth" in verse 6 is wording that appears
later in the Letter to the Hebrews 12:25-26 ~ Make sure that you never
refuse to listen when he speaks. If the people who on earth refused to listen
to a warning could not escape their punishment, how shall we possibly escape if
we turn away from a voice that warns us from heaven? That time his voice made
the earth shake, but now he has given us this promise: I am going to shake the earth
once more and not only the earth but heaven as well.
7 I shall shake
all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will flow in, and I shall
fill this Temple with glory, says Yahweh Sabaoth.
The word "treasures" in Hebrew has a wide range of
meaning. The Hebrew root to which the noun belongs means "to desire, wish,
delight in;" and in Hebrew, the noun means "that which is desired, riches,
treasures" (Navarre Bible: Minor Prophets, Haggai, page 282). Verse 7
is the most quoted verse by Catholic Christians from the Book of Haggai and
only occurs here in the Bible. Using St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate translation: et
veniet Desideratus cunctis gentibus which means: the Desire of all
nations shall come, the Church interprets this verse as a direct prophecy of
Jesus, the Messiah, who is the "Desire of all nations." Commentaries on Haggai
appear in the works of Church Fathers St. Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret of
Cyprus, and St. Jerome among others who saw this verse as a Messianic prophecy
referring to Jesus' Kingdom of the Church to whom all the nations will flock
(also see Is 60:7-11). The language in verses 6-9 is similar to that of
apocalyptic passages of several pre-exile prophets like Isaiah (Is 2:2); Amos
(Amos 5:8), and Zephaniah (Zeph 1:4).
8 Mine is the silver,
mine the gold! Yahweh Sabaoth declares.
Silver and gold were also materials provided for Solomon's
Temple (1 Chron 29:2, 7), and now God will provide the same rich gifts for
Zerubbabel's Temple (Ezra 6:5).
The Church Fathers also saw Haggai's prophecy in verse 9: The glory of this new Temple will surpass that of the old, says Yahweh Sabaoth, and in this place, I shall give peace, Yahweh Sabaoth declares as a reference to the presence of Jesus, the "Prince of Peace," in the Second Temple during the years of His ministry. St. Cyril of Alexandria wrote: "The glory of the new temple, the Church, is much greater than the glory of the old. Those who give of themselves and work devoutly to build the new temple will receive Christ himself, as their reward from the Savior and as a gift from heaven; he is our peace, the peace of all mankind, the one through whom we can go to the Father in the one Spirit. He himself said: and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts'" (Commentarius in Aggaeum, 14).
Oracle # 3: Haggai 2:10-14 ~ Haggai's Warning Concerning
the Necessity of the Ritual Purity of the People
10 On the twenty-fourth
day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh was
addressed to the prophet Haggai as follows, 11
"Yahweh Sabaoth says this, Ask the priests to give a ruling on this: 12 If someone is carrying consecrated meat in the
fold of his gown and allows the fold to touch bread, broth, wine, oil or food
of any kind, will that become holy?'" The priests replied, "No." 13 Haggai then said, "If anyone rendered unclean
by contact with a corpse touches any of these things, will that become unclean?"
The priests replied, "It will become unclean." 14 Haggai
then spoke out. "It is the same with this people," he said, "the same with this
nation, in my view, Yahweh declares, the same with everything they turn their
hands to; and whatever they offer here is unclean."
11 "Yahweh
Sabaoth says this, Ask the priests to give a ruling on this:
In addition to service at Yahweh's altar of sacrifice and
the Sanctuary during the daily liturgy of worship, the responsibilities of the
priests included interpreting teaching the people the commands and prohibitions
of the Law.
In part 1 of the third oracle, through His prophet, Yahweh urges the priests to be observant concerning the purity laws that are necessary for right worship. The observance of ritual purity was a reflection what was understood to be the "clean" spiritual condition of the covenant people in the rituals of sacrifice and worship in obedience to Yahweh's repeated commands that a holy God deserves a people consecrated to Him in holiness ( Lev 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7, 26; Num 15:40; Dt 7:6; 14:2, 21b; 26:19; 28:9). If anyone allows holy food from the Temple sacrifice to come in contact with what is profane, the food is no longer holy but is defiled by that which is ritually "unclean." A holy object could not pass along its holiness, and ceremonial uncleanliness was easily transmitted (Num 19:11-13, 22).
Question: What is the second example Haggai uses
to make his point concerning ritual purity in the offering of holy sacrifices?
See Num 19:11-22.
Answer: Haggai uses the law concerning
contamination by touching a corpse as an example of becoming ritually unclean
that requires ritual purification before approaching Yahweh in worship and
sacrifice.
The question concerning things becoming holy or unclean in verses 11-14 could be understood in two different ways:
Question: Although worship continued on the site
of the Temple with the rebuilt altar of burnt offerings in 538 BC, what does Haggai
tell the priests in verse 14?
Answer: He tells them an unclean people cannot
offer clean sacrifices, and, therefore, all their sacrifices have been "unclean."
If the people are ritually "unclean," so are their sacrifices. It was the reason the "unclean" Samaritans were discouraged from participating in the rebuilding of the Temple.
Haggai 2:15-19 ~ Promise of Agricultural Prosperity
15 "So now think
carefully, today and henceforth: before one stone had been laid on another in
the sanctuary of Yahweh, 16 what state were you in? You
would come to a twenty-measure heap and find only ten; you would come to a vat
to draw fifty measures and find only twenty. 17 Everything
you turned your hands to, I struck with wind-blast, mildew and hail, and still
you would not return to me, Yahweh declares. 18 So think carefully, today and henceforth
(from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day the foundation of
the sanctuary of Yahweh was laid, think carefully) 19 if seed-corn is still short in the barn, and if
vine and fig tree, pomegranate and olive tree still bear no fruit. From today
onwards I intend to bless you."
Again, we hear to command to "think carefully" repeated in verse 15 and twice in verse 18 that was a command in the first Oracle in 1:5 and 7.
18 So think
carefully, today and henceforth (from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month,
from the day the foundation of the sanctuary of Yahweh was laid, think
carefully) 19 if seed-corn is still
short in the barn, and if vine and fig tree, pomegranate and olive tree still
bear no fruit. From today onwards I intend to bless you.
August and September were the months for harvesting
grapes, figs, and pomegranates which the harvest of olives was from September
to November. These harvests, like the grain harvest earlier in the spring, had
produced poor yields because the people had not been obedient in continuing
work on the Temple. However, now that they have resumed work on the rebuilding
project, Yahweh gives His people a promise of blessings on the land and its
agricultural yield following the completion of the Temple.
Verses 15 and verse 18 repeat the command in 1:5 and 7 to "think carefully." Haggai asks the priests and the people to do an examination of conscience concerning their state of ritual purity required in their relationship with their God. The physical state of ritual purity for the Old Covenant people was intended to reflect their internal condition.
Question: Is the same examination of conscience
required of us in the New Covenant relationship with God, and when should we "think"
on the condition of our souls? What did St. Paul write concerning this matter
that went beyond the physical state of purity? See 1 Cor 11:26-29.
Answer: Yes. St. Paul wrote that every Christian
must examine himself spiritually to determine if he is in a state of grace and only
then can he/she consume the sacred meal of communion if believing in the
presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Oracle # 4: Haggai 2:20-23 ~ A
Messianic Oracle for Davidic Prince Zerubbabel
20 On the twenty-fourth day of
the month the word of Yahweh was addressed a second time to Haggai, as follows,
21 "Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah. Say this, I
am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I shall
overturn the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kings of the
nations. I shall overthrow the chariots and their crews; horses and their riders
will fall, everyone to the sword of his comrade. 23 When
that day comes, Yahweh Sabaoth declares, I shall take you, Zerubbabel son of
Shealtiel my servant, Yahweh declares, and make you like a signet ring. For I
have chosen you, Yahweh Sabaoth declares.'"
Like Oracle # 3, the 4th Oracle is in December
520 BC, and Haggai addresses it specifically to Zerubbabel.
Question: Who is Zerubbabel and what is his
connection to King David and Jesus Christ? See Matthew's genealogy of Jesus in
Mt 1:12-16 that Biblical scholars believe is Jesus' legal descend through
Joseph and Luke's genealogy in Lk 3:27-32, understood to be the bloodline link
to Mary.
Answer: Zerubbabel was a descendant of King
David. The two genealogies split between David's son Solomon and Nathan but
come together again in Zerubbabel.
23 When that day comes, Yahweh
Sabaoth declares, I shall take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel my servant, Yahweh
declares, and make you like a signet ring. For I have chosen you, Yahweh
Sabaoth declares.
The prophet Joel also speaks of "that day," in Joel 1:15,
referring to the "day of Yahweh" when He will intervene directly in human
history by a mighty act, especially associated with heralding the coming of the
Messiah to consummate the healing of humanity. A "signet" was a type of seal either
worn as a ring or on a chord around the neck. Its function was to leave an
impression in wax or clay that served as the owner's signature to authority or
authenticate a document or to ensure that a document was sealed shut by the
owner (cf., Gen 41:42). Persian King Darius I used his signet ring to seal the
stone over the lion's den in Daniel 6:17. Rulers also gave signet rings to individuals
as signs of a high office like the signet ring Esther's husband, King Xerxes,
presented to Haman (Esth 3:10ff) and later to Mordechai (Esth 8:2, 8). It
could also indicate a pledge of full payment for a debt. In this passage, it
may even serve as the reversal of the curse placed on Zerubbabel's grandfather,
King Jehoiachin in Jeremiah 22:24.
In 2:23, God selected Zerubbabel as the centerpiece of His Divine Plan; he is God's own "signet ring," stamped with God's name as His representative. He now serves as a guarantee that future glory for the covenant people will come from his descendant and God's servant, the Davidic Messiah.
Haggai predicts that Yahweh will set Zerubbabel as the center of a Messianic dynasty that will continue through him as a descendant of the great King David. This prophecy would have assured the people that Yahweh had not forgotten the Davidic covenant of an eternal Davidic kingdom and the promise of a spiritual restoration through a Davidic "shepherd" just as Ezekiel, the 6th century BC prophet of the exile, promised the people as Yahweh's divine messenger:
The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows, "I shall raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and put him in charge of them to pasture them; he will pasture them and be their shepherd. I, Yahweh, shall be their God, and my servant David will be ruler among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken. I shall make a covenant of peace with them (Ez 34:1, 23-25a).
In the Gospel of John, Jesus, son of Zerubbabel, son of David, will tell the Jewish crowds:
"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep... I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep (Jn 10:11, 14-15).
The physical Temple of God in Jerusalem was only a "sign" of what was to come. Jesus is Himself the new and greater Temple (Mt 12:6) whose destiny was to be destroyed in death and rebuilt in His Resurrection on the third day (Jn 2:19-21). In the New Covenant in Christ Jesus, every Baptized Christian becomes a temple of God's presence (1 Cor 6:19). St. Peter called Christians the "living stones" built into a spiritual temple that gives pleasing worship to God (1 Pt 2:5; CCC 583-86, 593, 756, 797-98). And at the same time, Christians are incorporated into the Body of Christ as "living stones" to become the Kingdom of His Church, united into a holy spiritual temple in which the Spirit of God dwells (1 Cor 3:16; 2 Cor 6:16); Eph 2:19-22). At the end of time as we know it, when the Christ returns in glory, He will destroy death and create a new Heaven and earth, and He will bring down the heavenly temple of the New Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God among the angels and saints (Rev 21:1-4).
Questions for discussion or reflection:
What connection will Jesus have to the rebuilt Second
Temple? How many events in His life with take place there, beginning with His
dedication and presentation at the Temple forty days after His birth in
Luke 2:11-38? Also, see
Luke 2:41-50; John 2:13-22 (first year of Jesus' mission);
John 7:37-39 at the Feast of Shelters;
Matthew 21:12-16 (Sunday of His last week in Jerusalem), and
Mark 11:15-19 (Monday of His last week in Jerusalem).
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2018 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
Catechism References (*indicates Scripture is
quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Yahweh's Covenants (CCC 710)
Abrahamic Covenant (CCC 72, 992, 2571)
Sinai Covenant (CCC 62, 204, 1962-64, 2810)
Davidic Covenant (CCC 215, 238*, 441*, 709*, 2465*)
New Covenant (CCC 1965-74)
Temple (CCC 593, 756, 797-98, 809, 1197, 1265, 1695, 2580, 2684)
Jesus and the Temple (CCC 576, 583-86, 593)
Christians as the temple of the Holy Spirit (CCC 364, 1197, 1265, 1695, 2684)
See the chart on Yahweh's Eight Covenants.