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The Book of Haggai is the thirty-seventh book of the Old Testament and also the thirty-seventh book of the Bible. Haggai records four messages from Yahweh to Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the High Priest and the people, spoken through the prophet Haggai. These messages exhorted the leadership of Judah to resume the rebuilding of the temple that had began a decade prior once the people of Judah had been permitted to return by Cyrus, King of Persia.
Summary[]
Haggai contains four messages each dated with precision. Haggai received the first message on August 29th, 520 B.C, the second on October 17th, the third and the fourth both on December 18th.
On August 29th, Haggai received a message from Yahweh to be spoken to Zerubbabel and the remnant of Israel. The people of Judah had built their own houses, complete with paneling (indicating quality and care in building), yet had claimed it was not the proper time to continue the rebuilding of the temple. While the people have worked hard to have food, drink and clothing they struggled to meet their basic needs, because they neglected Yahweh's temple, so he did not allow their work to amount to anything. Therefore, the people of Judah should gather wood from the mountains and finish rebuilding the temple.
At an assembly of the people, a short time after Haggai received this message, Haggai proclaimed this message to the people. Zerubbbael, alongside Joshua the high priest and the rest of the people heard the message and obeyed. They began construction efforts on September 21st, 520 B.C..