Haggai 2.1-2-Identification of the Date, Origin, Agency and the Recipients of the Second Message (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday June 11, 2023

Haggai: Haggai 2:1-Identification of the Date, Origin, Agency of the Second Message

Lesson # 8

Haggai 2:1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, (NIV84)

As we noted in our introduction to the book of Haggai, the structure of this book is built around four messages.

Each presents the date and divine origin of the prophecy as well as the recipients.

As we also noted, the first message was delivered by Haggai on the first day of the sixth month of King Darius’ second year, which was Elul 1 according to the Jewish calendar, which in our modern Julian calendar was August 29, 520 B.C. (Hag. 1:1-11).

It was addressed to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah and Joshua the high priest.

This message accuses the Jewish remnant of abandoning the rebuilding of the Lord’s temple (1:2-6), which is followed by an exhortation for them to rebuild again (1:7-8).

The Lord asserts that this failure to complete this project is the reason why they have been impoverished since their return from exile (1:9-11).

The remnant responds to the message by beginning to work on this rebuilding project (1:12-15).

Haggai 2:2-9 contains the second message the Lord communicated to Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest through the agency of the prophet Haggai.

Haggai 2:2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’ 6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” (NIV84)

The second message was to be communicated to the remnant of Judah by Zerubbabel and Joshua.

Haggai 2:1 asserts this message was communicated by the Lord on the twenty-first day of the seventh month.

Although the year is not explicitly mentioned, the assumption is that this message was delivered during the second year of Darius’s reign (cf. 2:10).

The seventh month was the Jewish month Tishri, which according to our modern calendar would be October 17, 520 B.C.

The twenty-first day of Tishri marked the seventh and last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Lev 23:33–36, 39–43; Num 29:12–40; Ezek 45:25).

It also coincided with the date 440 years earlier (960 B.C.) when Solomon finished building his temple (1 Kgs 6:38; 8:2).

October 18, 520 B.C. would mark the anniversary of Solomon dedicated the temple in 959 B.C. (2 Chr. 7:8-10).

In fact, Tishri was a month of celebrations for the Israelites because on the first day of this month, they celebrated the Day of Atonement.

In this message, the Lord through Haggai declares that the glory of this rebuilt temple will be superior to the glory of Solomon’s temple.

So therefore, when the remnant of Judah received this second message from the Lord through the prophet Haggai they had been working on completing the rebuilding of the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem for a month since the first message communicated to them came on the first day of the previous month.

This second message would encourage this remnant since it asserts that the glory of this rebuilt temple would be superior to Solomon’s.

Now, as was the case in Haggai 1:1, the prophet word formula appears again in Haggai 2:1 to introduce this second message to the remnant of Judah.

This prophet word formula contains the expression ḏeḇǎr-yeh·wā(h)ʹ (דְבַר־יְהוָ֜ה), “The word of the Lord” which appears 270 times in the Old Testament and fives alone in the book of Haggai (1:1, 3; 2:1, 10, 20).

It is used the majority of the time in the Old Testament to refer to a Word spoken by Yahweh to a prophet as a technical expression for the prophetic word of revelation.

It is the formula that gives the prophetic books of the Old Testament their distinctiveness.

This expression in the Old Testament also is an earmark of inspiration indicating that what the prophet is communicating to people in writing is inspired by the Holy Spirit and is a revelation of God’s will (cf. 2 Peter 1:20-21).

It is the typical introductory phrase used among the prophetic books (cf. Jeremiah 1:2; Ezekiel 1:3; Hosea 1:1; Joel 1:1; Jonah 1:1; Micah 1:1; Haggai 1:1; Malachi 1:1).

This formula in Haggai 2:1 asserts this second message originates with the Lord and not the prophet.

This message refers to the content or what the Lord, the God of Israel said to the prophet Haggai.

The content of this second message is recorded in Haggai 2:2-9.

However, the exact manner in which Haggai received this message is not identified for the reader.

Now, Haggai 2:1 identifies the prophet Haggai as the instrument or agency which the Lord employed to communicate this second message to the leadership of the remnant of Judah.

Haggai 2:2 identifies Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah and Joshua the high priest as the recipients of this second of four messages from the God of Israel through the prophet Haggai.

Zerubbabel is also the grandson of King Jehoiachin according to the genealogies of Jesus found in Matthew and Luke (Matt. 1:12-13; Luke 3:27) and he is named in Ezra 2:2 as one of the leaders of the Jewish remnant returning from Babylon.

His father is identified as Shealtiel who is identified in Scripture as the son of Jeconiah, the last king of Judah before the final Babylonian deportation in 586 B.C. (1 Chr. 3:17; Ezra 3:8; 3:2; Neh. 12:1; Hag. 1:12, 14; 2:2, 23; Matt. 1:12; Luke 3:27).

Therefore, Zerubbabel was a descendant of king David because he was from Judah and descendant from the kings of Judah (Hag. 1:1).

Joshua the son of Jehozadak is identified in Haggai 2:1 as the high priest of the remnant of Judah and he was taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. (1 Chron. 6:15; cf. Ezra 3:2, 8; Neh. 12:1, 8), but then returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel in approximately 537 B.C. (Ezra 2:2).

The descendants of his family also returned (Ezra 2:36; cf. 2:40) and he evidently was the grandson of Seraiah, who was the high priest when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, whom Nebuchadnezzar executed at Riblah (2 Kgs. 25:18-21; Jer. 52:24-27).

Together, Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah and Joshua, the high priest of this kingdom represented the political and religious leadership in the nation respectively.

They led the remnant of Judah in completing the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.