Haggai

Haggai is the thirty-seventh book of the Bible and the tenth of the minor prophets. It is short, only two chapters, and unusually well dated. Each of its four oracles is given a specific date in the second year of the Persian king Darius, which works out to 520 BC. The book is traditionally attributed to the prophet Haggai, who appears as a contemporary of the priest Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua in the book of Ezra.

The historical setting is the period after the first wave of exiles has returned from Babylon. They have been back in Jerusalem for about sixteen years. They laid the foundations of a new temple early on but stopped work when opposition mounted, and the temple has sat unfinished while the people built houses for themselves.

Haggai's message is sharp and practical. The people are working on their own homes while God's house lies in ruins, and their harvests are failing as a result. He calls them to resume the work. They do. The book records the date the work restarts and includes a series of encouragements: God is with them, the silver and gold belong to him, the latter glory of this temple will be greater than the former.