The MAJOR & MINOR Prophets - The 16 Writing Prophets Of The Hebrew Canon

The foundation was laid, but things did not progress. More than a dozen years went by, years of gloomy circumstances that are detailed in Ezra 1-6. The temple was still not built, the foundations were silted with debris and the area was getting overgrown with weeds. The returned Jews and their leaders were overcome with discouragement. Their biggest problem was the hostility of the local inhabitants, imported peoples who had no use for the former occupants or some new religion. The building of a temple, the object of the Jews · return, became the major focus for these conniving adversaries. $GYHUVDULHV IURP WKH PRQJUHO UDFH RI WKH 6DPDULWDQV KDG ´KLUHG FRXQVHORUVµ WR PLVUHSUHVHQW WKH cause of the Jews all through the reign of Cyrus; and at the accession of his successor, Artaxerxes, they had managed to bring about a complete suspension of the project (Ezra iv.). 6 Finding it easier to stop building than to fight their neighbors, the work on the temple ceased in 534 B.C. The pessimism of the people led to spiritual apathy, and they became preoccupied with their own building projects. They used political opposition and a theory that the temple was not to be rebuilt until some later time (perhaps after Jerusalem was rebuilt) as excuses for neglecting the house of the Lord. 7 Enter the Prophets! 7KHUH·V QRWKLQJ OLNH D WHDP RI +RO\ 6SLULW - LQVSLUHG SURSKHWV WR VWLU SHRSOH·V HQWKXVLDVP for God and His projects! Two men of God, one older (Haggai) and one younger (Zechariah), showed up on the scene, AND THINGS CHANGED! ´ Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. So Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets RI *RG ZHUH ZLWK WKHP KHOSLQJ WKHPµ (Ezra 5:1-2, emphasis added). Where did these good guys come from? The Bible is silent about Haggai, but Zechariah is listed among the priests who made the journey with Zerubbabel (Nehemiah 12:1). My humble suggestion may at first seem far-fetched, but I think the prophets were sent or encouraged by Daniel. Does it not seem inconceivable that Haggai and Zechariah with all of their zeal for God would have simply lived for a dozen years with the discouraged, persecuted remnant of Jews and their forlorn temple foundation without saying something ? Daniel, whose mighty prayers started the restoration (Daniel 9) would be very concerned to see the project succeed. Ezekiel knew, Haggai and Zechariah knew--the prophetic people who were praying and watching their calendars knew, the time had come! A divine edict (through Jeremiah) rested on this project, and every captive Jew was concerned, especially if they had relatives that had returned to Jerusalem. I think the entire prophetic community was alerted to pray! The fiery zeal of the two prophets is reflected in their two books; these messages snapped the despondent leaders and people out of their drugged state of apathy and discouragement. These men pressed the battle, forcing the sluggish leaders back to life and excitement. Once again,

6 J. Sidlow Baxter , Explore the Book , Haggai, p. 227. 7 The New Open Bible Study Bible, p. 1062.

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