Haggai – “My feast” He is the first prophet after the captivity and the releasing of the Jews to go back to their own lands. In chapter 5 v 1 and 6 14 he is referred to as Haggai the prophet. See 2:3. He may have been one of the few who saw the temple of Solomon before its destruction in 586 BC. If so, he must have been around 80 years old when he prophesied. Haggai appears to be the senior of Zechariah because his name is mentioned when both their names are mentioned in the scriptures. The book is dated 520 BC and covers a period of 4 months.

Haggai. See above for more detail.

Haggai appears in 520 BC and makes his prophesy. Appeals had been made to the Persian government by the Samaritans to stop the Jews from rebuilding the temple. The rebuilding was stopped. They did not have much zeal and were disillusioned by everything that happened. They started doing other things and the land became unproductive as God judged them.

After Haggai prophesies the rebuilding starts again. In 516 BC the temple is completed. In 458 BC there is another expedition in which Ezra returns. In 444 BC there was another expedition in which Nehemiah returns. Zerubbabel leads the first expedition. The prophets Zechariah and Haggai are contemporary.

Matthew 6:33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you.

It consists of four messages:-

• An exhortation to rebuild the temple. Chapter 1.
• The glory of that future temple. Chapter 2:1-9.
• Obedience brings blessing. Chapter 2:10-19.
• God will finally triumph. Chapter 2:20-23.

• God must come first When they start to rebuild the temple then God provides. Before things were barren. You must put God first to profit spiritually and physically.
• Discouragement – The second temple was not as great as the first. Do not despise the day of small things. Later in Herod’s temple Jesus came. He urges greater in a spiritual sense “Little is much when God is in it”.
• See Haggai 2:11-14. Holiness is not passed on but uncleanness is. They thought God would pass holiness upon them for rebuilding the temple their hearts were not right. Our sin can however, corrupt the work we are involved in.