PURPOSE: The rebuilding of the Temple had stalled. This book was a call to the people of Jerusalem to complete the rebuilding of God’s Temple.
AUTHOR: The prophet Haggai, whose name essentially means “Let’s celebrate the Lord!” Haggai is the first of three prophets to exhort, encourage, and inspire God’s people after the Babylonian captivity. The other two were Zechariah and Malachi.
DATE WRITTEN: 520 BC.
THE BOOKS SETTING: 66 years prior to the writing of this book the Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed. King Cyrus of Persia had allowed the exiled Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple in 538 BC. They’d begun the rebuild but had been unable to complete it. Thru the ministries of Zechariah and Haggai the Temple was completed between the years of 520-516 BC.
A SPECIAL FEATURE OF THE BOOK: “Haggai was the first of the postexilic prophets along with Zechariah & Malachi. The literary style of this book is simple and direct.” [TLASB - p. 1940]
THE BLUEPRINT:
1) THE CALL TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE (Haggai 1:1-15)
2) ENCOURAGEMENT TO COMPETE THE TEMPLE (Haggai 2:1-23)
The Temple rebuild began when the exiled Jews first came home from Babylon. They started right away doing God’s work with the correct attitude, but their enthusiasm waned as time went on. As a result, the rebuild came to a sudden halt and sat unfinished.
This is a message for any believer on the earth today. The Lord wants us to continue on and follow thru with his call to build up the Kingdom. Stopping while making excuses is totally unacceptable. We must get our kingdom priorities straight. God’s call to us all is to set our hearts on that which is right and just do it.
Up next are the Mega-Themes of the book of Haggai. Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.
In his name & for his glory,
Richard Keller
Bread of Life Ministries
Resource: The Life Application Study Bible.
No comments:
Post a Comment