Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi

With Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi the Old Testament comes to a close. These three prophets spoke to the Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon. Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the people to finish rebuilding the temple; Malachi, a few decades later, confronted the spiritual coldness of a generation grown used to religion. All three look to the future: they announce the Lord’s coming to his temple, a humble king riding on a donkey and a messenger who would prepare the way. After Malachi the prophetic voice fell silent for some four hundred years, until John the Baptist appeared.

Haggai: “Consider your ways”

In 520 BC, the second year of King Darius, the building of the temple had been at a standstill for about sixteen years. The people were saying: “The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” Meanwhile everyone was busy building and beautifying his own house. Then God spoke through the prophet Haggai:

“Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.”

Haggai 1:4-6

Haggai explained that the poor harvests and the sense that money never stretched far enough had a spiritual cause: they had put their own priorities above God. The message was heard. Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the high priest and all the people obeyed, and God gave them a short, powerful promise: “I am with you, saith the Lord” (Haggai 1:13). Twenty-four days later they resumed the work.

A month later some elders grew discouraged comparing the new temple with the glory of Solomon’s. Haggai encouraged them: “be strong… and work: for I am with you.” And he added a remarkable promise: God would shake the nations, “and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory… The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former… and in this place will I give peace” (Haggai 2:7-9).

The book ends with a special word for Zerubbabel, a descendant of David: God would take him and make him “as a signet”, for he had chosen him (Haggai 2:23). It was a sign that the promise made to David still stood.

Zechariah: visions of hope

Zechariah began to prophesy in the same year as Haggai. He came from a priestly family and was probably young. His name means “the Lord remembers”. His book, the longest of the minor prophets, contains eight night visions full of symbols: horsemen patrolling the earth, a man with a measuring line for Jerusalem, the high priest Joshua in filthy garments that are exchanged for clean robes, a golden lampstand fed by two olive trees, a flying scroll and chariots coming out between two mountains of brass.

In the vision of the lampstand, God gave Zerubbabel a word that has become one of the most quoted in the Bible:

“Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Zechariah 4:6

And to those who despised the modest beginnings of the rebuilding, God asked: “who hath despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10).

Zechariah’s messianic prophecies

The second half of Zechariah contains some of the clearest prophecies about the Messiah in the whole Old Testament. It announces a king who would come to Jerusalem in an unexpected way:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

Zechariah 9:9

Zechariah also speaks of a rejected shepherd whose wages would be thirty pieces of silver, later cast to the potter in the house of the Lord (Zechariah 11:12-13). He announces that the people would look upon “me whom they have pierced” and mourn as one mourns for an only son (Zechariah 12:10). He prophesies a fountain opened for cleansing from sin (Zechariah 13:1), and that the shepherd would be struck and the sheep scattered (Zechariah 13:7). And he concludes with a vision of the day when the Lord will be king over all the earth and his feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4, 9).

Zechariah also delivered a message of justice: “Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor” (Zechariah 7:9-10).

Malachi: the messenger

Malachi probably prophesied around 430 BC, in Nehemiah’s time. His name means “my messenger”. The temple had been rebuilt, but the early fervour had faded. The priests offered blind, lame and sick animals; the people divorced lightly, withheld tithes and said: “It is vain to serve God.”

The book is built as a dialogue. God makes a statement, the people answer with a cynical question, and God responds. It opens with a declaration of love: “I have loved you, saith the Lord.” And the people reply: “Wherein hast thou loved us?” God confronts their indifference but also invites them to return: “Return unto me, and I will return unto you” (Malachi 3:7).

Malachi is known for his teaching on tithing and generosity: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). He also reminded them that God hates divorce and treachery against the wife of one’s youth (Malachi 2:14-16).

But his most important message is the announcement of a messenger:

“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Malachi 3:1

And the Old Testament ends with these words:

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

Malachi 4:5-6

Four hundred years of silence

After Malachi there were no more recognised prophets in Israel for about four hundred years. It was a period of great change: the Persian empire fell to Alexander the Great, Greek culture spread throughout the East, the Jews suffered persecution under Antiochus IV Epiphanes and fought for their freedom in the Maccabean revolt, and finally Rome conquered Jerusalem in 63 BC. In that time the Old Testament was also translated into Greek, the so-called Septuagint, and synagogues arose. It seemed that God was silent, but he was preparing “the fulness of the time” (Galatians 4:4).

Places in the story

Interesting facts

Lessons for our lives

Putting God first brings blessing. Let us not despise small beginnings. God’s work is done by his Spirit, not our strength. Faith includes justice and mercy towards the weak. Religious routine can chill the heart. God always invites us to return to him. Generosity is an expression of trust.

On the road to Jesus

These three prophets directly prepare for Jesus’ coming. The Desire of all nations filled the second temple with glory when Jesus entered it. Zechariah’s prophecy of the humble king riding on a donkey was fulfilled on Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered Jerusalem (Matthew 21:4-5). The stricken shepherd was Jesus on the cross, and his disciples were scattered (Matthew 26:31). The thirty pieces of silver were the price of his betrayal. The pierced one was Jesus, whose side was opened by a spear (John 19:37). The messenger announced by Malachi was John the Baptist (Matthew 11:10), and the Lord who would suddenly come to his temple was Jesus Christ. The Old Testament ends with a promise; the New Testament begins with its fulfilment.

In the next episode we will meet John the Baptist, the messenger who prepared the way of the Lord.

Prayer

Lord, forgive me for the times I have put my own things before yours. Help me not to despise small beginnings and to trust not in my strength but in your Spirit. Thank you for Jesus, the humble King, the stricken Shepherd, the Lord who came to his temple. Return to me, for I return to you. Amen.