Christians and Rebuilding the TempleThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged...
(Visigothic-Mozarabic Bible – Codex Legionensis 2) Consecration of the Desert SanctuaryA sanctuary is the consecrated area around the altar of a church or temple. It also means a place of safety where one can flee for protection. In the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms, God is referred to as a sanctuary, a refuge from..., c960CE
Lutheran biblical scholar PaulThe Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, was the author of several New Testament letters and the founder of many Christian communities. Hanson accused Haggai (and Zechariah) of excessive involvement in the political program of temple rebuilding, squandering the moral authority of the prophet. Similarly, Martin Luther himself cautioned the readers of Haggai that they should not think of the prophet as addressing the physical rebuilding of the temple, but about the abiding nature of the Word of God:
If we should consider the subject matter unsympathetically, the prophet will seem quite trivial on the surface, especially in our day. Everything about which he prophesies, especially about rebuilding the temple, has ceased. As a consequence, we must consider the subject matter correctly, so that we look not so much at it as at the Word of God. [Luther Works, Lectures on the Minor Prophets XVIII. Hilton Oswald, ed. (St Louis, Concordia, 1975)].
Many Christians consider the need to rebuild a physical temple in Jerusalem to have been ended by Jesus’ words to the SamaritanSamaritans were a people who mostly lived between Galilee and Judea and were avoided or shunned by mainstream Judaism. Jesus' message, however, was so inclusive that he often spoke favorably of Samaritans as he did with the woman at the well (John 4) and in... woman in John 4:21: “A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem… but in spirit and truth.” The EpistleAn epistle, simply, is a letter or message. As many as twenty-one of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament are epistles, letters written to churches or persons for instruction, pastoral care, or discipline. to the Hebrews argues that the sacrificial system came to the end of its usefulness with Jesus’ death and resurrection (see, especially Hebrews 8-10). Most Catholic, Orthodox and mainline Protestant Christians do not expect a physical rebuilding of another temple with attendant sacrificial systems in Jerusalem.
Yet other Christians read passages from Daniel, Haggai, EzekielEzekiel was a priest and prophet who was raised in Jerusalem and exiled to Babylon in 597 BCE. and elsewhere (in addition to Matthew 24:15 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) as indicating that another (third) temple must be built before the coming of the eschaton. This view is particularly prominent among dispensationalists and evangelical Christians, but is certainly not limited to them. Charles Wesley, the great hymnist of the Methodist tradition, wrote in 1762:
We know, it must be done,
For God hath spoke the word,
All Israel shall their Saviour own,
To their first state restor’d:
Re-build by his command,
Jerusalem shall rise,
Her temple on Moriah stand
Again, and touch the skies.
The Temple Institute, among other organizations, seeks to apply the encouragements of Haggai to the modern world, in order to remove obstacles – the Dome of the Rock – and rebuild the Jerusalem Temple. This little book, then, remains at the center of geopolitics and religious divides in the 21st century.
A Chosen Ruler
Political leaders across times and places have aspired to claim divine support. This is no less true in the 21st century C.E. than it was in the sixth century B.C.E. Haggai’s prophecyProphecy is the gift, inspired by God, of speaking and interpreting the divine will. Prophets such as Amos, Isaiah, and Ezekiel spoke words of judgment and comfort to the people of Israel on behalf of God. of kingdoms being shaken before the emergence of someone who speaks for God has been an attractive prophecy (Haggai 2:20-23). Rashi (the great 11th century C.E. Jewish sage and commenter), citing the TalmudThe Talmud is one of the most important texts of Judaism. (Avodah Zarah 9a), argues that Zerubbabel stood before the Lord throughout his lifetime, but PersiaPersia was a southwestern Asian country. The Persian empire was a series of empires that occupied what is currently Afghanistan and Iran from 600 B.C.E. forward. Rulers of the Persian empire mentioned in the Bible are Cyrus and Darius. fell a scant 34 years after the completion of the Second Temple.
Despite the explicit linkage with Zerubbabel, many have sought to claim the authority of God’s servant to act in God’s name. Kings and princes have claimed divine right to rule throughout the centuries. Frequently, in electoral politics, God is invoked on one side or another (or by all sides) to bolster the reputation of a political candidate or policy goal. Recent elections in the United States see Christians arguing for why a chosen candidate is a better fit for their understanding of what God is doing in the world.
This is the downside of the political prophecies of Haggai that biblical scholar Paul Hanson warns about. Instead of simply arguing for righteousness and just behavior, Haggai “names names,” and claims a particular person as the divinely chosen leader of the fractured but emerging community. When leaders are truly chosen by God for a task, this clarity can be a blessingBlessing is the asking for or the giving of God's favor. Isaac was tricked into blessing Jacob instead of his firstborn Esau. At the Last Supper Jesus offered a blessing over bread and wine. To be blessed is to be favored by God.. But more often, claims to know who God has chosen for civil leadership are proffered on multiple sides, and those claims are frequently at odds with each other.
The difference for Haggai seems to have been in noticing that God had chosen Zerubbabel for a particular task – leading the people in rebuilding a relatively small Temple – that was accomplished in a relatively short amount of time (approximately four years). Zerubbabel was responsive to God stirring up his spirit, and functioned as God’s agent for a specific task, for a specific time.
