Haggai was one of the first prophets after the Babylonian exile. He encouraged the people in Judah and the governor Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, which had lain in ruins since Nebuchadnezzar's destruction in 586 BC. His prophecies focused on God's promises of blessing if the people prioritized the Lord's house.
Schlüsselereignisse
Call to Rebuild the Temple
Haggai delivered God's word to Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua, telling the people to stop prioritizing their own houses and begin rebuilding the Lord's temple.
1In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
6You have sown much and harvested little. You eat, but are never full. You drink, but your thirst is never quenched. You put on clothes, but cannot keep warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.
12Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.
14So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
2Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Say to them:
4Yet be strong now, Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD, and get to work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts.
9The glory of this latter house will be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will grant peace, declares the LORD of hosts.
Haggai explained that the people's material difficulties were due to their neglect of the temple, but that God would now bless them from the day they began the work.
16Ever since then, when someone came to a grain heap expecting twenty measures, there were only ten; when someone came to the wine vat to draw off fifty, there were only twenty.
18Think carefully from this day on, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, the day the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid. Think carefully:
19Is there still seed left in the barn? The vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded. But from this day on I will bless you.
22I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overturn chariots and their riders; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.
23On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts.
Haggai is mentioned together with the prophet Zechariah as among the prophets who encouraged the Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem during King Darius' reign.
1Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo, the prophets, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.
2Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak set to work and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
14So the elders of the Jews went on building and prospering through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.