In this message we will cover the book of Haggai, a book that is concerned with the building of the house of Jehovah in relation to Israel’s welfare and Messiah’s coming.
Haggai 1:1 is the introductory word.
The name Haggai in Hebrew means “My feast” or “the feast of Jehovah,” signifying that Haggai the prophet, who had been born in captivity in Babylon, expected earnestly to return from the captivity that the feasts of Jehovah might be restored.
The time of Haggai’s ministry was 520 B.C., at the time of Zechariah (Ezra 5:1).
The place of his ministry was Jerusalem.
The object of his ministry was the returned Israelites.
The subject of the prophecy of Haggai is Jehovah’s dealing with the returned captives for the building of His house.
The central thought of the book of Haggai is that the building of the house of Jehovah is related to the welfare of God’s people today and to the coming of the millennial kingdom with its Messiah in the age of restoration. In the Old Testament the house of God, or the temple, was a type first of Christ as the house of God individually, and then of the church, the Body, the enlarged Christ, as God’s house corporately. Thus, we should consider that Haggai refers to us, since we are the reality of the type. Jehovah’s dealing with the returned captives signifies His dealing with us in the recovery.
The revelation concerning Christ in the book of Haggai covers two matters.
First, this book reveals Christ in His being the Desire of all the nations (2:7).
Second, this book reveals Christ in His coming as the Messiah (typified by Zerubbabel the governor) in the coming age (2:23).
Haggai has three sections: the introductory word (1:1); Jehovah’s rebuke and charge concerning the delay of the building of His house (1:2-15); and the prophecy concerning the house of Jehovah in the millennium and the promise of Messiah in the coming kingdom (2:1-23).