The Book of Haggai and the Rebuilding of the Temple in 520 B.C. By the Jewish Exiles

The book of Haggai next to Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament and deals with the God of Israel using the prophet Haggai to issue four messages to the remnant of Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity.

The purpose of these messages was to encourage this remnant to complete the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem which was destroyed by the third and final Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C.

These messages were delivered over a period of fourth months in 520 B.C. during the second year of the Persian king Darius Hystaspes (522-486 B.C.) and were delivered to this postexilic community 18 years after their initial return from Babylon.

The first message Haggai delivered to the remnant of Judah appears in Haggai 1:1-11, the second appears in Haggai 2:1-9, the third is recorded in Haggai 2:10-19 and the fourth and final message is found in Haggai 2:20-23.

There are three main characters in the book of Haggai.

First, there is Darius Hystaspes, the king of the Persian empire which was the superpower of the ancient world at the end of the sixth century B.C. and he is also mentioned in Ezra 5 and Zechariah 1.

The second main character is Zerubbabel who was the leader of the Jewish exiles from Babylon and the governor of Judah.

Lastly, there is Joshua who was the high priest and was thus responsible for leading nation in the worship of Yahweh.

Almost seventy years had passed since the city of Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple had been destroyed by the third and final Babylonian invasion of this city in 586 B.C.

At that time, the southern kingdom of Judah was deported by Nebuchadnezzar, however, the Medo-Persian empire in fulfillment of the prophecies of Daniel (Dan. 2:32, 39; 7:5, 17; cf. Dan. 5-6) defeated the Babylonian empire.

Then, in 538 B.C., Cyrus the Great announced a policy, which would allow the Jewish remnant in Babylon to return and reestablish Jerusalem.

In fact, 150 years before the temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C., and the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt in 444 B.C, the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1 predicted that Cyrus would carry out the Lord’s wish to rebuild Jerusalem and her temple.

Isaiah 44:28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.” ’ (NIV)

For fifteen years, the rebuilding of the Lord’s temple had been abandoned by the remnant of Judah.

Under the leadership of Sheshbazzar, 50,000 Jewish exiles returned from Babylon to begin work on restoring Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple and approximately two years later in 536 B.C., they completed the foundation with much rejoicing (Ezra 3:8-10).

However, their success disturbed the Samaritans and their other neighbors who lived in fear of the political and religious implications of a rebuilt temple in a restored Jewish state.

Consequently, they stridently opposed the project and were successful in temporarily stopping the restoration but in 522 B.C. Darius Hystaspes (522-486 B.C.) became king of Persia (Ezra 4:1-5, 24).

During this monarch’s second year, both Zechariah and Haggai exhorted the Jewish remnant to rebuild the temple.

Tattenai, the governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai and their colleagues attempted to interfere with the rebuilding efforts, however, Darius ruled in favor of the Jews after investigating the matter in the royal records (cf. Ezra 5:3-6; 6:6-12). In 516 B.C., the temple was finished and dedicated (Ezra 6:15-18).

We must remember that the work had begun on the temple but was not completed when the Lord issues these commands in Haggai 1:8.

Ezra 3:2-3 assert that the priests were offering sacrifices on a rebuilt altar.

In fact, significant work had already been done to rebuild the temple since Ezra 3:10-11 asserts the builders had established the Lord’s temple, which resulted in the priests and Levites giving thanks and praise to the Lord.

However, Ezra 4 reveals that the project never came to completion because the enemies of Judah successfully persuaded the Persian monarch Artaxerxes to stop the projection.

Therefore, the temple was not in ruins but rather was still in a state or disrepair.

Haggai 1:1 In 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 Jozadak, the high priest: 2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’ ” 3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” 7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” 12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. 14 So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. (NIV)

In Haggai 1:8, through the prophet Haggai, the Lord was commanding the remnant of Judah to go up to the hill country in order to bring back lumber for the express purpose of completing the rebuilding of the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem.

We must remember that all the timber of Solomon’s temple was burned in the last invasion of Judea by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.

Therefore, it was necessary that the remnant of Judah obtain large quantities of timber from the forests on the nearby hills surrounding the city of Jerusalem.

The hills of Judah were thickly wooded in Old Testament times and in fact, Nehemiah 8:15 asserts that olive, myrtle and palm were available in the hill country of Judah.

In Haggai 1:8 also asserts that the Lord would be delighted by the remnant of Judah by obeying the command to complete the rebuilding of the temple.

Haggai 1:12 asserts that Zerubbabel as well as Joshua, along with the whole remnant obeyed the Lord their God’s voice and thus, they were demonstrating respect for the Lord.

Then, Haggai 1:13, the Lord asserts that His personal presence was with this remnant because of their obedience.

This means that the Lord was experiencing fellowship with them and would enable them to complete this task assigned to them by the Lord and would encourage them and enable them to complete the task of rebuilding the temple.

The Lord’s declaration in Haggai 1:13 that He would be with this remnant also has an active sense in that the Lord Himself would be actively involved in this work since Haggai 1:14 asserts that He would energize Zerubbabel and Joshua and the entire remnant of Judah to complete this task.

Haggai 1:14 asserts that the Lord caused Zerubbabel’s soul son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, as well as the Joshua’s soul, the high priest son of Jehozadak along with each and every member of remnant of Judah to be energized.

Therefore, when the Lord informs the remnant of Judah that He was with each and every one of the them, it means that He is energizing them to perform the task of completing the work of rebuilding of His temple in Jerusalem.

The Lord energized the soul of Zerubbabel, Joshua and each member of the remnant of Judah in the sense that He convicted the conscience of each of them with the message He communicated to them through Haggai.

Lastly, the Lord energized the soul of each member of this remnant in the sense that He moved them through the message He communicated to them through Haggai to exercise their volition in a way which resulted in the completion of the rebuilding of the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem.

Haggai 1:15 records the exact date in which the remnant of Judah resumed the work of completing the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem.

Haggai 1:1 records the exact day in which the Lord communicated to the remnant of Judah through the prophet Haggai that He wanted this remnant to resume the work of rebuilding His temple.

Therefore, a comparison of Haggai 1:1 with Haggai 1:15 indicates that there was an elapse of 23 days from the issuing of the message to rebuild and the obedient response of this remnant to the message.

This delay can be explained by a couple of factors.

First, the harvest of figs, grapes and pomegranates was in the month of Elul.

Secondly, a period of planning and the gathering of materials to complete the project of rebuilding the temple preceded the actual construction.