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Old Testament Notes
Haggai was active when the Jews had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. They had built their own houses first, and had run into opposition from their enemies and were not putting much effort into rebuilding the Temple (Ezra 4:23-5:2). Haggai was concerned that they should get their priorities right, and rebuild the Temple to God's glory
Haggai 1:1 - "the second year of Darius the king" : the date was ca. 520 BC.
Zerubbabel was the Jewish governor appointed by the Persians - see Ezra 3:2, Ezra 4:2, Ezra 5:2
Joshua the priest (also called Jeshua) - see Ezra 3:2, Ezra 4:3, Ezra 5:2
Haggai 1:2 - the people were dragging their feet about rebuilding the Temple
Haaggai 1:4 - the people had already built their own fancy houses
Haggai 1:6 - because their priorities were wrong, there never seemed to be enough of anything for the people
Haggai 1:12 - for once, the leaders and people got the message
Haggai 2:3-9 - rebuilding the Temple was going to be a lot of work, and take a lot of resources, so now God gave the leaders and people encouragment, that He would provide what they needed, and the Second Temple would eventually be even more glorious than the previous one.
Haggai 2:11-23 - up until now the people had had their priorities wrong, and so God had not blessed their work. Now that they had re-examined their lives and re-ordered their priorities, they would receive God's blessing
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
