HAGGAI was a Prophet of Judea after the Exile who along with Zechariah played important roles in the rebuilt of the Lord’s temple.
The messages relayed by Haggai and Zechariah stired the heart of the Jewish leaders and subsequently led to the completion of the second temple, 65years after the destruction of the first temple.
Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.
HAGGAI 1:12 ESV
In a big game with only an inning or two left, every baseball coach worth his salt knows to bring in his ace “closer,” a pitcher whose sole job is to stop the other team from scoring runs and ensure victory. The
prophet Haggai must have been an amazing closer.
Many prophets had spent nearly their whole lives relaying God’s messages to His people but with little positive response. Haggai’s prophetic ministry, on the other hand, appears to have spanned only four months, but by God’s providence it resulted in the completion of the second temple.
HAGGAI was a Prophet of Judea after the Exile.
The first temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians several decades earlier, and now many Jews had returned from exile and had begun to rebuild the temple. The project had been at a standstill for many years due to opposition from hostile neighbors, but the Lord began to stir the hearts of the Jewish leaders once again through the words of Haggai and Zechariah. These two prophets called for the people to finish what they had started, and the people responded.
Haggai may have been very old when he delivered his prophecies to God’s people, because Haggai 2:3 seems to imply that he saw the first temple with his own eyes before it was destroyed. The first temple was destroyed over sixty-five years before Haggai delivered his messages.