Where it fits

Haggai is the 37th book of the Bible, with two chapters, and one of the most precisely dated. It contains four messages given over about four months in 520 BC, the second year of the Persian king Darius (1:1; 1:15; 2:10; 2:20). About 18 years earlier, the exiles had returned from Babylon under Cyrus's decree and laid the temple's foundation, but opposition had stopped the work (Ezra 3–4). Haggai preached with Zechariah (Ezra 5:1). Read straight through, it takes about five minutes.

The prophet and his message

The first message, on the first day of the sixth month, is aimed at the governor, Zerubbabel, and the high priest, Joshua. The people had been saying that it wasn't the time to rebuild God's house (1:2). Haggai points out that they were comfortably living in paneled houses while the temple lay in ruins (1:4). He then asks them to consider their ways (1:5, 7): they have planted much and harvested little, eaten without being satisfied, and earned wages that seemed to go into a purse with holes. Their priorities were upside down. Remarkably, the leaders and the people listen. Within about three weeks, they begin to work (1:12–15), after God stirs up their spirit.

A month later, the work is underway, and the older people, who remembered Solomon's temple, are discouraged because this one seems like nothing by comparison (2:3). Haggai tells them to be strong and work, because God is with them, his Spirit remains among them, and he will shake the heavens and the earth, and the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former (2:4–9). In the third message, he uses a question about holy and unclean things to say that sacrifice can't make a disobedient people holy, but that from this day, God will bless them (2:10–19). In the last, on the same day, God speaks to Zerubbabel, promising to make him like a signet ring, a mark of his chosen authority (2:20–23).

Three ideas to hold on to

1. Put God's work first. The people had neglected the temple to build their own homes, and found that nothing satisfied (1:5–11).
2. God is with those who do his work. “I am with you” is God's encouragement to a small, discouraged group (1:13; 2:4).
3. Small beginnings aren't the end. A temple that seems like nothing will receive glory (2:3, 9).

Passages people ask about

• Haggai 1:1–11. The call to consider your ways.
• Haggai 1:12–15. A people who listen and obey.
• Haggai 2:1–9. Be strong, for God is with you.
• Haggai 2:10–19. From this day I will bless you.
• Haggai 2:20–23. Zerubbabel the signet ring.

How it points to Jesus

Haggai's promise of a greater glory points beyond the second temple, which Herod later expanded, to Jesus, who spoke of his own body as the temple (John 2:19–21). Hebrews quotes Haggai's promise to shake the heavens and the earth to describe a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:26–28). Zerubbabel, the signet-ring governor, is in the line of David and appears in the genealogies of Jesus (Matthew 1:12–13; Luke 3:27), and Haggai's promise to him hints at the chosen king to come.

A common misunderstanding

Haggai is sometimes used to say that if you put God first, he'll make you wealthy. In the book the connection is more specific: it was a particular people at a particular moment who were told that God's house mattered and that their neglect had consequences. It is also easy to use the book to guilt people into giving or volunteering, which isn't Haggai's tone. His message is mostly encouragement, and its refrain is “I am with you.” A translation question also comes up in 2:7, where “the desired of all nations” can also be read as the treasures of the nations. Both are possible.