Haggai: Historical Context

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1)     Second shortest book after Obadiah.

2)     Biblical Timeline

A)   3 Stages of Babylonian Captivity (Curse: Deut. 28:48-52, 64-68)

1)     605 BC – 2 Chron. 36:5-7

2)     598 BC – 2 Chron. 36:9-10

3)     587 BC – 2 Chron. 36:17ff. (note vv. 19-20)

(a)   Burned the temple

(b)   Broke down the walls around Jerusalem

(c)   Carried away captives

B)    3 Stages of Restoration (Restoration: Deut. 30:1-3)

1)     539 BC – 2 Chron. 36:22-23 / Ezra 1:1-3a

2)     458 BC – Ezra 7

3)     444 BC – Nehemiah rebuilds the walls around Jerusalem

C)    Haggai belongs in the 1st stage of restoration.

1)     Ezra 1:3b – Go home and rebuild the temple.

2)     Ezra 3:1-2 – The rebuilt the altar.

3)     535 BC – Ezra 3:8-10 – They laid the foundation of the temple.

3)     PROBLEM: Ezra 4:1-5

A)   I want to give you a taste of the next several years in the Persian Empire.

B)    Cyrus died, and his son Cambyses II the took the throne (530-522 BC).

C)    Just to make sure his brother, Bardiya (Smerdis) didn’t try to take the throne, Cambyses had him killed.

D)   After he killed his brother, he left for Egypt to expand the Persian Empire (525 BC).

E)    While he was gone, an imposter, who we call Pseudo-Smerdis said he was the real Bardiya and he took the throne (522 BC).

F)    Cambyses heard about this and started for home, but he died on the way (April 522 BC).

G)   With Cambyses dead and an imposter on the throne, Darius, an officer in the army, raised a coup and with 6 other nobles killed Pseudo-Smerdis (Sept. 522 BC).

H)   This triggered an empire-wide revolt against the Persian Empire. Babylon, Media, Elam, Armenia, Parthia, and Egypt all took advantage of this time and declared their independence. We have records of this time, and Darius said he fought 19 battles and captured 9 rebel kings in a single year.

I)      POINT (cf. Ezra 4:4-5): You can imagine that the Persians don’t much patience for this kind of thing.

4)     Ezra 5:1 – Enter, Haggai and Zechariah.

A)   Hag. 1:1 – Aug. 29, 520 BC.

B)    The Babylonian captives got home 19 years ago. They rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation of the temple in 535 BC, and then the work just stopped for the next 15 years.

C)    Illustration: The California High-Speed Train Project

1)     In 2008 (18 years ago), California voters approved Prop. 1A to start an 800-mile rail system through California. It was going to cost 33 bil. and be finished in 2020.

2)     The groundbreaking happened in 2015.

3)     As of today (18 years later):

(a)   It’s going to cost 231 bil. now.

(b)   And we’re just focusing on a 171-mile stretch

(c)   It should be ready between 2030-2033.

4)     POINT: It’s been 18 years and there is no train!

5)     It seems like a reasonable question: What have you being doing for 18 years? Where did all the money go that was supposed to fund this project?

D)   Haggai shows up 19 years after the Jews got back to Jerusalem, and he says,

1)     Where’s the temple?

2)     Where did all of the money go (Ezra 1:3-4)?

3)     What have you guys been doing for the last 15 years?

4)     Hag. 1:1-5.