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The year was 521 b.c. The Temple, once an impressive piece of architecture and the dwelling place of Yahweh, had been burned to the ground and was now a shell of its former self. The Israelites, once the envy of their Samaritan and Edomite neighbors, were dispirited and depressed. They had lost their confidence in God. Their national symbol was a half-built, unusable place of worship. It was at this time that God reached out to them through the prophet Haggai with words of comfort, challenge, and encouragement.
Wanting to wake the people out of their depression and give them new hope, God used Haggai to speak about rebuilding the Temple and making its glory shine more brightly than ever before. He urged them to change their attitude, and he pointed to their governor, Zerubbabel, as having a special role in his plans for them and for the Temple.
Haggai called the Israelites to repent for the way they had given up on the Temple and turned to work on their own homes instead. “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” he asked (Haggai 1:4). Haggai’s words struck them to the heart, and they repented. Led by Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua, they set out to finish the Temple.
As the Israelites began to…
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