Minor Prophets III E-Book

Dr. Brian J. Bailey

• Herausgeber: Zion Christian Publishers
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Dr. Bailey’s third volume on the Minor Prophets is an excellent commentary on the last three prophetic prophets of the Old Testament: Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. You will see the godly character that He desires each of us to emulate as we study the lives of these three anointed prophets. These excellent men reveal the heart of God for the restoration of His people, which is one of the main focuses of the coming revival of the last days.

Leseprobe

MINOR PROPHETS III

Haggai – Malachi

Dr. Brian J. Bailey

“Minor Prophets III: Haggai - Malachi”

© 2002 by Brian J. Bailey

Front cover design:

 © 2005 Brian J. Bailey and his licensors

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews.

All Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the

King James Version Bible unless otherwise stated.

Published as an e-book on September 2017

in the United States of America

E-book ISBN 1-59665-693-X

For more information, please contact:

Zion Christian Publishers

A Zion Fellowship ® Ministry

P.O. Box 70

Waverly, New York 14892

Phone: [phone]

Toll free: 1-877-768-7466

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Editorial team: Carla Borges, Sarah Heyer, Elizabeth Humphreys, Mary Humphreys, David Kropf, Justin Kropf, Lois Kropf, Hilary Sigsby, and Caroline Tham.

We wish to extend our thanks to these dear ones for without their many hours of invaluable assistance, this book would not have been possible. We are truly grateful for their diligence, creativity, and excellence in the compilation of this book for the glory of God.

THE MAP OF ISRAEL

INTRODUCTION

This book entitled Minor Prophets III comprises a commentary on the last three prophets of the Old Testament. The history of Israel in ancient times is that of a nation that came up out of Egypt to inhabit the land of Canaan.

Mightily favoured by God, with His presence manifested in signs and miracles, the Israelites were the recipients of His laws. Although so favoured, they knowingly disobeyed God with the result that He raised up prophets to warn and bring them back to Him. Thus, throughout Scripture we have records of these men speaking on behalf of the Lord.

However, Israel would not listen; so God brought upon them the judgments that He had declared through Moses the Lawgiver. Essentially these judgments concerned the division of the land into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah, both of which went into captivity. Israel was taken captive in 722 B.C. by the Assyrians, and Judah in 586 B.C. by the Babylonians, yet God promised restoration in the land.

This promise of restoration was fulfilled by the decree of Cyrus in 536 B.C. when the Jews returned to rebuild the Temple of Solomon, which became known as the Restoration Temple. The prophetic books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi covered this Restoration Period, which lasted until approximately 444 B.C. They are termed the post-exilic prophets since their ministries commenced after the exile in Babylon. Their primary duty was to return the Jews to the purposes of God, the temple writings, and the service of God until the time of the first coming of their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

THE BOOK OF HAGGAI

Background

Haggai is the first of the post-exilic prophets. He prophesied between August and December of 520 B.C., in the second year of Darius, the king of Persia, some 16 years after the return from Babylonian Captivity was decreed by Cyrus in his first year, 536 B.C.

Persian Kings

The Sequence of Temple Restoration

• The Altar was erected—7th month, 1st day, 1st year of the reign of Cyrus.

• The Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated.

• The foundation of the Temple was laid—2nd year, 2nd month of the reign of Cyrus.

• Building was halted until the 2nd year of Darius (520 B.C.), when through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah, the ruler Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest began to build. It was confirmed by a decree of Darius I (Ezra 6:8).

• The Temple was finished—the 6th year of Darius, 3rd day, month Adar (516 B.C.).

Note: The name of Artaxerxes is added to the text later by the author, to denote finality of approval (Ezra 6:14).

Introduction

Haggai prophesied during the Restoration Period, when Israel came back from Babylonian captivity. The messages of the prophets—Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi—during this period are quite different from the messages of the other prophets. They are very relevant to our days, because they are speaking of restoration, which will be one of the main focuses in the coming revival.

Haggai was the first prophet to arise after the exile. He prophesied during the time that Persia dominated the Middle East and Israel. Zephaniah had prophesied approximately 70 years before him at the beginning of the exile, as did Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.

Haggai prophesied after the 70 years of captivity, foretold by Jeremiah. The prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the fall of Babylon, and the return to the land of Israel had also been fulfilled. The Babylonian Empire, which had destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C., fell to the Persian Empire, at the time of Haggai. Concerning Cyrus, Isaiah 44:28 says, “That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.” This prophecy was given about 150 years before the event and was fulfilled when the temple was rebuilt in the time of Haggai.

There were two people charged with the restoration of the temple: Joshua the High Priest and Zerubbabel. Under Zerubbabel (who was a prince of Judah and a descendant of David), about 40,000 free men and 7,000 menservants and maidservants returned to Jerusalem. This is recorded for us in Ezra chapters 1-2. The decree to rebuild the temple was given in March of 536 B.C. by Cyrus, in his first year (Ezra 6:8). Then the Israelites restored the altar in the seventh month of that year. After that the foundation of the temple was laid in the second month of the second year of Cyrus in 535 B.C. (Ezra 3:8-10).

King Darius the Mede captured Babylon in October of 539 B.C. Cyrus, who was the captain of Darius’ army at that time, actually took Babylon for Darius (Isa. 44:28). Darius the Mede reigned for three years, after which Cyrus, nephew of Darius and captain of his army, became the first king of Persia in 536 B.C., bringing the Persians into power. As Darius’ captain, Cyrus, in a sense co-reigned with him during the three years Darius was king. For this reason, some historians list Cyrus as reigning from 539 B.C., but in actuality he did not take the sole possession of the throne until 536 B.C. He was captain to his uncle, Darius the Mede, who reigned from 539 to 536 B.C.

The foundation of the Temple in Jerusalem was laid in 535 B.C., but the enemy hindered and blocked the work for nearly 15 years. The rebuilding of the Temple began again in 520 B.C., due to the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah, in the reign of Darius of Persia (Ezra 5:1-5). The Temple was at last completed in 516 B.C. We can see from these dates that the enemy was able to block the work that had been given by decree of the king for many years. We must persevere in prayer against the decrees of authorities or against wicked people who use authorities to block the work of the Lord.

God raised up two prophets at this time: Haggai and Zechariah. They both prophesied and encouraged the leaders, Zerubbabel and Joshua, to finish the work in the time of Darius, king of Persia, in 516 B.C. When the temple was restored, they observed the Feast of Tabernacles. This is a type of the Last Day Church, for the Church will spiritually celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles after being restored. This is why Haggai’s message is extremely relevant to our days.

Haggai’s recorded prophetic ministry lasted 15 weeks. Everyone’s ministry and calling is different because the Lord uses His people in different ways. Jesus’ ministry lasted for 3 ½ years, and John the Baptist’s was only about 18 months. However, Hosea and Daniel prophesied about 60 years.

God might use some of us for a short period of time, while others may be used for a long time. This may be analogous to a piano keyboard. Some of the keys are used nearly all the time, such as middle C, but other keys have their moment of glory only in one or two pieces. They are used only for a brief moment, yet they are essential to the piece for which they are chosen.

Haggai is a book of restoration. The significance concerning the restoration of the temple is that the feast Israel celebrated at that time was the Feast of Tabernacles. The Early Church experienced great glory. Then came the Middle Ages (or the Dark Ages—a time of great spiritual darkness and confusion). Afterwards God used men like Martin Luther and John Wesley to restore certain truths to the Church.

There has been a constant restoration taking place to bring the Church back into the fullness of its glory, and to an even greater glory than the Early Church experienced. Haggai and Zechariah are the two prophets who prophesied during the restoration of the temple, but their prophecies also have an application for the Last Day Church. They did not prophesy during the Feast of Pentecost, which symbolises the Early Church outpouring, but during the Feast of Tabernacles. It was the last of Israel’s major feasts and it symbolises the Last Day Church.

In 1967, when Israel got their land back, they blew the trumpet on Mount Sinai. By this, the Spirit of God was signifying that the Church was at the Feast of Trumpets. Then in 1973 there was the War of Yom Kippur, which started on the Day of Atonement. The Lord was showing that His Church had come to the feast of the Day of Atonement. The Last Day Church must come to maturity and glory before Christ returns. The Lord will accomplish this through the Feast of Tabernacles, when the glory of our risen Lord will be poured out in abundance upon His Church. We are now in the days when the Feast of Tabernacles is going to be celebrated spiritually by the Church.

Outline

Haggai prophesied in a space of fifteen weeks during the second year of Darius I. There were five recorded messages.

Part 1 – Consider your ways and build the house of the Lord (1:1-12).

1st day of the 6th month

Part 2 – I am with you (1:13-15).