Haggai
Haggai is a post-exilic prophet who must contend with the problem of unfulfilled hopes. Isaiah's prophecies of restoration paint an idyllic picture (Is 35:1; 51:3), but the post-exilic community is confronted by a harsh reality. They see drought and foresee a desert encroaching onto their fields, a food shortage, and poverty.
Oracle One
Haggai names the recurrent drought a divine rebuke for putting off the rebuilding of the temple (1:2).
The people admit to their failures 1:13.
Oracle Two
Haggai declares that the temple, which the people see as nothing, is filled with God's splendor.
Oracle Three
Haggai seems to declare that the temple is reconsecrated and the problem of unacceptable offerings overcome.
The import of this pronouncement is not self evident.
| A. Regarding Purity | The Connection between A and B | B. Regarding the Temple |
| If one carries consecrated meat in the fold of one's garment it does not communicate holiness through a fold to other food (2:12) | Before the construction of the temple began, food and wine was scarce and produce was blighted with mildew and crops with hail (2:15-17) | |
| If one contracts corpse uncleanness one communicates it to food one touches (2:13) | Once the temple's foundation was laid, the Lord blessed you (2:18-19) |
Oracle Four
God promises to elevate Zerubbabel's status to God's royal representative, presumably as Davidic king.
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Haggai is redefining reality; what is real is not physical but spiritual. Within this prophetic message, we can locate a shift in the understanding of idolatry from worship of the wrong god to wrong worship of God..
Note also, unlike earlier prophets, Haggai defers to a priest for a decision.