Prophet Haggai
550 BC
📖 About This Event
The Prophet Haggai prophesied in 520 BC, just sixteen years after the return of the first group of exiles to Jerusalem. The people had laid the foundation of the Second Temple but had allowed the work to cease due to opposition and discouragement. Haggai's message was direct and urgent: 'Is it a time for you yourselves, being in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways! Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and behold, it came to little, and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house' (Haggai 1:4-9).
Haggai's prophecy encouraged the people to resume the work of rebuilding the Temple, and he promised that the glory of this latter house would be greater than the glory of the former (Haggai 2:9). This prophecy points forward to the presence of Christ in the Second Temple, which would indeed be greater than the glory of Solomon's Temple. Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the high priest, heeded Haggai's call, and the work of rebuilding the Temple resumed with renewed vigor.
The Catholic Church sees in Haggai's message a call to put God first in all things. Just as the people of Haggai's time had prioritized their own comfort over the worship of God, so Christians today are called to make the worship of God and the building of His Church the priority of their lives. The promise that the glory of the latter house would be greater than the former finds its fulfillment in the presence of Christ in the Temple and in the Church, which is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Key Scripture: Haggai 1-2; Ezra 5:1-2; 6:14