Priorities (Haggai 1:3-8)
I. Contemporary Relevance of Haggai
I. Historical Background
The Persian Empire
The Persian Empire
A. Babylon and the Destruction of the Temple
Babylon and the Destruction of the Temple
B. The Influence of Persia
. Biography of Haggai
Biography of Haggai
. Biography of Haggai
III. Significance of the Book
IV. Contemporary Relevance of Haggai
III. Significance of the Book
Relevance of Haggai
1. Contemporary Relevance of Haggai
“But seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt 6:33). With these words Jesus summarized the acceptable priorities of life for those who would follow him. Such a view on life appears to have been for Jesus’ disciples an entirely new and unexpected concept, one both liberating in its potential but no less intimidating in its demands. His disciples shared a natural inclination to worry about the basic necessities of life. A significant portion of their waking hours was spent providing for such basic family essentials as food, clothing, and shelter. But these concerns, if not balanced by a sense of urgency with regard to the service of God, can easily undermine a proper sense of what is actually most important in life, namely the advancement of the kingdom of God. In fact, preoccupation with such concerns can lead to a type of personal decision making that focuses first on meeting temporal human needs and offers God only what is left over after essential matters of personal security and comfort have first been decided.
This is not, however, the path of authentic discipleship. Jesus instead urged his followers to seek first the eternal priorities of the kingdom of God. In so doing, they could rest assured that their Heavenly Father was not only aware of their temporal needs, but that he would bountifully supply those needs for his people. In order to illustrate this truth, Jesus called attention to the natural order of creation. If God provides in abundance for defenseless birds and for vulnerable flowers (Matt 6:28–30), how can we expect that he will do less for mankind, who is the very pinnacle of his creation? And if God’s common grace is such that provisions for life’s necessities are generally available for all, does not logic suggest that these provisions will be no less available for those who seek to follow the will of God? Equipped with this confidence in divine provision, those who would serve God are free to focus their efforts and attention on what they can contribute to God’s work in their midst. Their Heavenly Father is neither unconcerned over their condition in life nor careless about providing for their day-to-day needs.
It seems that every generation of believers, from ancient times to modern, must learn this lesson anew. It is a truth that was ignored, if in fact it was grasped at all, by the people of God to whom the prophet Haggai ministered in the sixth century B.C. Although they verbally might have articulated a belief to the contrary, their actions clearly disclosed their inverted priorities. In reality they sought first the kingdom of self and its comforts; they would get around to the work of God after those priorities had first been settled. But there was for them an unexpected irony. Due to the withdrawal of God’s blessings upon their efforts, they painfully discovered that none of life’s necessities was added to them to the degree that they would like—in spite of their determined efforts to the contrary. Their hard work was reduced to nothing. Their crops failed because of disease and disaster; their harvests yielded only meager results. Whatever financial profits they gained quickly disappeared, passing as it were through a shabby bag riddled with holes and unable to retain what was deposited in it (Hag 1:6). In spite of their determined efforts, the prosperity that they craved eluded them. Their experience calls to mind a paradox: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it” (Mark 8:35; Matt 16:25; Luke 9:24).
It fell to the prophet Haggai to show why the attitude of the postexilic Israelite community did not honor the God they professed to serve. Haggai’s ministry was one of calling his generation to a renewed commitment to the task of the immediate restoration of Jerusalem’s temple and normalization of the religious life of Israel. In large measure this task that lay before them was a test of whether they would put God first in their lives. It was a test whose momentous significance the prophet drove home in a relentless and uncompromising fashion. The people would have to decide whose interests mattered most to them—their own or the Lord’s.
Haggai’s message to the postexilic community of Israel is one that the church of the twenty-first century needs to reflect on. To “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” is for us—as it was for them—a calling that runs the risk of being eclipsed by self-serving interests. Far too often the affluence of God’s people, rather than encouraging a self-imposed measure of personal sacrifice in order to advance the cause of God’s work in this world, leads instead to a hoarding of resources and to an ugly self-indulgence. The Book of Haggai vividly points out this inconsistency and calls for the people of God to move beyond such worldly ways of thinking. Haggai’s sermons, though first given two-and-a-half millennia ago, have a fresh and vital message for the present generation of believers. In many ways the modern church mirrors the spiritual lethargy and unresponsiveness of Haggai’s original audience. But the fact that his postexilic community eventually responded to the prophetic word and committed themselves to a great task for God’s glory holds out hope that we too may lay aside every quest for personal advantage that detracts from the greater cause of the kingdom of God in our midst.
2. Significance of the Book
The Book of Haggai is brief; it has only two chapters and a total of thirty-eight verses. Of all the writings in the Hebrew Bible only Obadiah is shorter. The brevity of this book has contributed to an unfortunate neglect of Haggai within various communities of faith. Most parishioners probably would be hard pressed to remember ever having heard a sermon or lesson based on Haggai. Neither in Judaism nor in Christianity has the book attracted much of interest among readers of Scripture. But the book has not escaped attention altogether. The history of Christian interpretation of the book has its formal beginnings in the patristic period. Origen, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret, and Jerome all wrote commentaries on the Twelve, although Origen’s work unfortunately has not been preserved. Patristic exposition of Haggai tended to be typological, with Jehozadak and Zerubbabel being identified with Christ, the church, or John the Baptist.2 Occasionally the Minor Prophets received attention during the medieval period, and at the time of the Reformation both Luther and Calvin commented on the Twelve. Recent biblical scholarship has shown enthusiastic interest in the period of postexilic restoration in general, including the contribution of Haggai. But it is fair to say that the Book of Haggai has been relatively overlooked by most readers of Scripture, in part because of its brevity.
Another factor in this neglect of Haggai has to do with the message of the book itself. Like Zechariah, Haggai is a book with a very different feel to it compared to the other prophetic writings of the Old Testament. In fact, Haggai and Zechariah have rightly been referred to as a “continental divide” in the development of the prophetic literature of the Old Testament. The uniqueness of the message of these prophets of the restoration has sometimes led modern students to a rather low view of the content of their writings. Wolff, though he does not agree with the following sentiment, says that “Haggai is one of the most minor of the minor prophets, indeed one of the most despised.”4 The claim is not without warrant. Certainly the Book of Haggai has received its share of criticism, and the prophet himself has often been maligned by those who fail to see a theological depth to his message. Haggai is thought to be preoccupied with material things and devoid of the lofty concerns that characterized the writings of earlier biblical prophets.
But how should a prophet’s ministry be evaluated? Only in comparison to the rich ethical emphasis and elevated theology that is to be found in the classical prophets? It is true that by such a method Haggai will not fare very well. A better approach, however, might be to evaluate a prophet in terms of his faithfulness to the word that he claims came to him by divine revelation. After all, if we take seriously the idea that the prophet was a spokesman for God whose message had a divine origin that was ultimately separate from the human individual himself, our opinions will have to be adjusted accordingly. The calling of the Old Testament prophet was to deliver faithfully the message that he had received from God without addition, subtraction, or alteration of any kind. Judged in this way, Haggai—though his message was without question very different from that of an Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel—is to be viewed as a worthy servant of the Lord. He received from the Lord a prophetic word that was destined to be unpopular and at times even strident. Yet he relentlessly repeated this message, pressing his people to respond in an appropriate way. He was in the end one of the most successful prophets described in Old Testament literature.
The fact that the Book of Haggai is brief, direct, and singular in its intent and purpose does not necessarily mean that a modern reader will find it easy to understand. In some ways the brevity of the book only contributes to the occasional elusiveness of its meaning. We may assume that some things in Haggai that seem unclear to us probably were obvious to the original audience. For example, the author or editor of the book assumed a great deal in terms of the history of this period and in terms of Old Testament content and teaching that are relevant to the message of the book. The writer takes for granted what some modern readers of his message fail to grasp: namely, that the Jewish temple was vested with unusual theological significance in the religious life of ancient Israel and that there could be no normalization of the religious and national experience of those Jews who returned from the exile apart from the rebuilding of the temple. Understanding Haggai’s message therefore requires uncommon familiarity with the historical, religious, and theological roots that he takes for granted. Furthermore, in a number of places certain details of the book are elusive so far as their exact meaning is concerned. The result is that many interpreters disagree on how best to understand various specifics of Haggai’s message. In addition, various questions of unity and integrity with regard to the original form of this book have also been raised by some interpreters. The decisions made on these issues will affect, sometimes significantly, our understanding of portions of the book.
In short, in spite of its brevity and its limited focus, the Book of Haggai is not without problems and difficulties sufficient to test the patience of modern readers. It is surprising therefore to read that “the exegesis of Haggai is in most respects relatively easy. Problems of text and translation are few.” Perhaps in a general sense this is true, at least when Haggai is compared to certain other books of the Old Testament that may rightly be said to be more difficult. But this should not be taken to mean that there is not work to do in recovering an accurate understanding of this portion of the prophetic writings of the Old Testament. As is true with any ancient text, Haggai has its share of interpretational difficulties. If there are fewer exegetical problems in this book than in certain other Old Testament writings, it is only due to the fact that the book is relatively brief. The reader who would grasp its historical and theological message will not lack for issues upon which to reflect and over which to labor.
3. Historical Background
The sixth-century B.C. holds great historical importance not only for biblical history in particular but for the history of influential ideas in general. It was, as is well known, the century that produced such philosophical and religious thinkers as Confucius, Zoroaster, Buddha, and several of the ancient Greek philosophers as well. It was the century that saw the rise of the influential Achaemenid Dynasty in Persia, with such illustrious rulers as Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius. In terms of the history of Israel the sixth-century is especially remembered as the period of the exile to Babylon and the subsequent return and restoration to the ancient homeland. It was the time of prophetic figures such as Haggai and Zechariah, of civil leaders such as Zerubbabel governor of Judah, and of religious leaders such as Joshua the high priest. It was also the time of the construction of the Second Temple, which was destined to serve the religious needs of the Jewish people for almost five centuries—from 515 B.C. until the extensive renovations of that temple that began in the eighteenth year of the reign of Herod the Great (ca. 20 B.C.). The sixth-century in the ancient Near East was a time characterized by breathtaking historical events and despotic charismatic leaders. It was a time of tremendous innovation and change that drastically altered previously existing political landscapes, religious structures, and intellectual climates. It was for ancient Israel a period of incredible lows and unanticipated highs—rapid changes that amounted to the political and religious equivalent of a roller coaster ride of daring speeds and unprecedented heights.
The Book of Haggai is brief; it has only two chapters and a total of thirty-eight verses. Of all the writings in the Hebrew Bible only Obadiah is shorter. The brevity of this book has contributed to an unfortunate neglect of Haggai within various communities of faith. Most parishioners probably would be hard pressed to remember ever having heard a sermon or lesson based on Haggai. Neither in Judaism nor in Christianity has the book attracted much of interest among readers of Scripture.