Post-exile Prophets

The first group of three Minor Prophets in the 9th century BC: Obadiah, Joel and Jonah were followed in the 8th century by: Amos, Hosea and Micah. In the 7th century were: Nahum, Zephaniah and Habukkuk. We come now to the final group of three Minor Prophets who ministered both during after the exile: Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

The post exile period of biblical history (586–400 BC) was one of the most important periods in world history. It was an era when a number of religious movements appeared. Taoism, and Confucianism flourished in China in this period. Buddha was born in India about 550 BC. The sacred writings of Hinduism were written about 500 BC. It was also a time of great thinkers like Socrates (469–399 BC) and Plato (427–347 BC).

Historical Background 586–400 BC

The post exile period was a time of great political upheaval. Judah fell to Babylon in 586 BC. Babylon was overthrown by Cyrus in 539 BC. Egypt was conquered by the Persians in 525 BC. Greece struggled to force back the Persian invasion but toward the end of this period Persia itself was in a state of instability.

The Fall of Babylon

Towards the end reign of his forty seven year reign Nebuchadnezzar devoted most of his attention to building projects around Babylon. He was succeeded by his son Amel-Marduk in 562 BC. In the Bible this king is called Evil-Merodach. He was responsible for releasing King Jehoiachin of Judah who had been taken captive to Babylon in 597 BC. Amel-Marduk was followed on the throne by Neriglissar (560–556 BC), Labashi-Marduk (556 BC) and Nabonidus (556–539 BC).

Nabonidus was more interested in archaeology than in governing the empire. He spent a great deal of time away from the capital. Belshazzar his son was in effect king in his father’s absence. The Book of Daniel calls Belshazzar ‘king’ although he occupied a secondary position under his father Nabonidus. The Book refers to Nebuchadnezzar as the ‘father’ of Belshazzar (although he was his grandfather) because he was the greatest predecessor on the throne.

In 550 BC Cyrus revolted against his overlord Astyages the Mede. By 546 BC Cyrus had pushed his conquests to Lydia in Asia Minor. In 539 BC he determined to challenge Babylon for the rule of the world. According to Daniel 5, Belshazzar made a desperate attempt to regain the favour of Babylon’s gods as Cyrus approached his capital. Exactly how Cyrus gained access to the city is not clear but he certainly overcame it. Cyrus appointed Gubaru as king over the fallen Babylonian empire while he pressed on to other conquests in the East. The Jews knew this Gubaru as Darius the Mede. Daniel held a position of great honour in this MedoPersian administration.

The Edict of Cyrus – King of Persia (539–530 BC)

During his ten year reign Cyrus established a reputation for himself as a great liberator. He permitted all peoples who had been deported to Mesopotamia by the Assyrians and Babylonians to return to their native lands. The Jews benefited from this policy. The edict allowing them to return to Judea is contained in Scripture in two versions, the official Aramaic form (Ezra 6:3–5) and the popularized Hebrew version (Ezra 1:2–4).

Under the leadership of Zerubbabel (Sheshbazzar) a group of about fifty thousand Jews returned to the Promised Land in 538 or 537 BC. Many chose to remain in Babylon because during the exile there they had become prosperous merchants. Only the most spiritually committed returned to the ruins of Palestine to rebuild their nation and their temple.

The first order of business upon their return was the rebuilding of the altar on the site of the ruined temple in Jerusalem. To these devout Jews worship was central. As soon as they had settled in their homes, the foundations of the temple were prepared. Materials were gathered for the immediate reconstruction of the house of the Lord. At that point, however, opposition arose from the peoples of the land. The builders became discouraged and the temple work stopped. Not one stone was set on that foundation for over fifteen years.

The Reign of Darius the Great of Persia (522–486 BC)

Cambyses succeeded his father Cyrus as ruler of the Persian empire. This king is not mentioned in the Bible. Nothing of significance happened as far as the Jews were concerned during his reign. Cambyses died under mysterious circumstances while on a campaign to Egypt in 522 BC. One of his generals, Darius, claimed the throne.

From 522–520 BC Darius had to crush rebellions against his rule in various parts of the empire. In 520 BC God raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah. In August of 520 BC Haggai preached a sermon in which he challenged the people of Judea to build God’s temple and the work resumed immediately. Three other messages of Haggai are recorded. All were delivered before the end of the year 520 BC. Just before Haggai delivered his last oracle, Zechariah was called to deliver his first message. He too focused on the work of temple building.

In spite of opposition, the temple work was concluded by March 515 BC. Zerubbabel who had commenced the work back in 538 BC was also involved in bringing the work to its completion.

The Reign of Xerxes of Persia (485–465 BC)

The death of Darius triggered new rebellions, especially in Babylon and Egypt. Xerxes was finally able to consolidate his power. He then determined to expand his empire into Europe. A great assembly was called to plan the invasion of Greece. Esther 1 probably alludes to that planning session.

In 480 BC the expedition to Greece was undertaken. Xerxes met with devastating defeats in a sea battle at Salamis, and in land battles at Thermopylae and Plataea. The Persian king then retreated to his capital at Shushan (Susa) to rebuild his forces. About this time Xerxes’ advisors suggested that a new queen be selected to replace Vashti who had been deposed prior to the invasion of Greece when she refused to obey the command of her husband. In 478 BC, after a lengthy search process, the Jewess Esther was selected to be Xerxes’ queen, i.e., the leading wife of his harem. Some five years later Esther was able to use her influence with the king to foil the plot of the prime minister to exterminate the Jewish people.

In 466 BC Xerxes made one last attempt to invade Greece. This effort was even more disastrous than the first. The following year Xerxes was assassinated.

The Reign of Artaxerxes of Persia (465–424 BC)

In his seventh year of rule, Artaxerxes commissioned Ezra, a Jewish scholar, to be secretary of state for Jewish affairs in the entire region ‘beyond the river’, i.e., west of the Euphrates. He was given the authority to enforce the law of God among his people even to the extent of executing those who resisted him.

After a perilous journey of four months, Ezra and a group of returning exiles arrived in Judea in July of 457 BC. He discovered that several of the leading Jewish men had married heathen women. Ezra organized a procedure to investigate and resolve all alleged cases of religious intermarriage. Ezra attempted to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Ezra 4:11–23) but under pressure from the people of the land Artaxerxes ordered that the work cease until he ordered otherwise.

Thirteen years after Ezra’s mission, Nehemiah became governor of Judea. He had royal permission to rebuild the city. In spite of a determined effort by the people of the land to stop the project, the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt in 52 days. Completion of the walls was celebrated with a dedication service in which two groups of leaders walked the walls in opposite directions. Nehemiah led one of those groups; Ezra led the other.

Jerusalem was repopulated to further protect it from the local enemies. At the same time Nehemiah instituted other reforms designed to bring the post exile community into compliance with the law of God. After twelve years Nehemiah returned to the Persian court perhaps to have his commission as governor renewed. In his absence many of the abuses which Nehemiah and Ezra had corrected reappeared. Most likely the ministry of Malachi should be assigned to this period of Nehemiah’s absence from Jerusalem.

About 420 BC Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem. He dealt decisively with the problems of Sabbath abuse and intermarriage with the heathen. In his absence Tobiah, the Ammonite leader who had so bitterly opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem, had been assigned a chamber in the temple courts where he could reside when visiting the city. Nehemiah threw Tobiah out of those chambers. Thus OT history concludes with a dramatic effort by Nehemiah to purge Jerusalem of the corrupting influence of unbelievers.

Haggai In Judah

2 chapters / approx. 7 minutes to read. The messages of Haggai were used by God to provoke His people into action to rebuild the temple of the Lord.

The Man: The name Haggai means ‘festive’ or ‘festival’. The name suggests that Haggai may have been born on one of the great OT holy days. No other person in the Bible has this name but appears on a 5th century BC tablet at Nippur. The name also appears frequently in the Elephantine papyri from the same period.

Not much is known about Haggai, not even the name of his father. From 2:3 some think that he had seen the first temple. This would mean that in 520 BC he would have been about eighty.

The Mission: Haggai’s ministry lasted only four months, from late August to mid-December of 520 BC. He had a one track mind. His focus was on the building of the temple of God. For some fifteen years no work had been done on the temple. The community leaders, Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest, were discouraged. Under the preaching of Haggai and his younger contemporary Zechariah (Ezra 5:1; 6:14) the Lord stirred up the hearts of the post exile community. In six months Haggai accomplished more than any other OT prophet. By the time he retired or died, the work of reconstructing the house of God was well under way.

The Message: The Book of Haggai contains only 38 verses. It is second only to Obadiah in brevity. The book is made up of four oracles delivered on three different occasions. These oracles are precisely dated in terms of the year, month and day of the reign of Darius the Great.

Outline of Haggai:

A call to action – reproof (chapter 1)

A call to courage – encouragement (chapter 2:1-9)

A call to patience – blessing (chapter 2:10-19)

A call to hope – promises (chapter 2:20-23)

The key exhortation in the book is ‘consider your ways’ (literally, ‘set your heart upon your ways’). This challenge appears twice in a complete form (1:5, 7) and three times in an abbreviated form (2:15, 18). The use of the imperative ‘be strong’ is used three times in 2:4. Haggai uses rhetorical questions five times in the book.

The main predictions in Haggai are the shaking of the present order so that the kingdom of Christ might be ushered in (2:6–7, 21–22); the coming of the Desire of Nations (2:7); the greater glory of the temple in the messianic age (2:9); and the elevation of Zerubbabel (i.e., one of his descendants) to authority in the messianic age (2:23). Only the first of these predictions is cited and explained in the NT (Heb. 12:26, 27).

Zechariah In Judah

14 chapters / approx. 40 minutes to read.

A large part of the book centres on eight visions Zechariah received in one night.

The Man: Zechariah had a very common name. At least thirty individuals in Scripture were called Zechariah. The name means ‘The Lord has remembered.’

The prophet is said to be the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo (1:1, 7). In the Book of Ezra (5:1; 6:14) he is called simply the son of Iddo. In Nehemiah (12:4) a priest named Iddo is named among those who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel in 538 BC. This Iddo is said to have had a son named Zechariah (Neh. 12:16). It is possible but not certain that the author of the Book of Zechariah is the one named in Nehemiah 12:16.

Little is known about his personal life. He was a contemporary of Haggai given the date assigned to his first oracle. If he is the one mentioned in Nehemiah 12 then he functioned as a priest in the days of Joiakim who succeeded Joshua as high priest (Neh. 12:12, 16). Zechariah was probably born and educated in Babylon.

A careful study of the chronology of the book indicates that Zechariah was a young man when he began to preach. In Matthew 23:35 Jesus referred to a Zechariah son of Berechiah who was slain in the courts of the temple. The phrase ‘son of Berechiah’ does not appear in the parallel passage in Luke 11:51. It is also absent from some manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew. Most commentators think Jesus was alluding to the death of Zechariah son of Jehoiada (2 Chron. 24:17–22). Jesus may have been referring to some other Zechariah.

The Mission: Haggai had been preaching in Judea since August, 520 BC when Zechariah joined him sometime in October or November of that same year (1:1). The last dated message in the book is assigned to December, 516 BC. No doubt he lived to see the temple rebuilt and dedicated (March, 515 BC). His ministry, however, probably continued much longer. Zechariah would have been in his sixties when the Persians were defeated in their attempted invasions of Greece in 490 and 480 BC. He would have seen Greece rising steadily as a potential enemy of his people.

The Message: The Book of Zechariah in its entirety can be classified as apocalyptic literature. There is a progression from the local scene to the world scene; from a point in time to the end of time. Visions are prominent along with an angelic interpreter of those visions. Angels feature prominently as well as animal and number symbolism. God had already worked out his purposes in heaven, and all that remained was for him to initiate those purposes on earth. It is one of the most difficult of the prophetic books to interpret.

It consists of 14 chapters and falls naturally into two divisions. The first part (chapters. 1–8) is generally regarded as the work of the post exile Zechariah who is mentioned with Haggai in Ezra 5:1 and 6:14. The second part (chapters. 9–14) differs from the first in both style and subject material.

Outline of Zechariah:

Message during the construction of the Temple Introduction (1:1-6)

8 visions and a symbolic action (1:7-6:15) 4 messages (chapters 7-8)

Message after the completion of the Temple Cycle one (chapters 9-11) Cycle two (chapters 12-14)

More than two thirds of the book is predictive especially in personal messianic prophecy.

Malachi In Judah

4 chapters / approx. 12 minutes to read. Malachi was the last of the OT prophets.

The Man: His means ‘my messenger’. Malachi is not appear elsewhere in the OT nor is it mentioned in the NT. The name stands alone in 1:1 without any further definition as to family or home town.

The Mission: The Book of Malachi fits the situation in which Ezra and Nehemiah worked. Opinions differ to the precise relationship between the prophet and the governor. Five different positions have been proposed. Malachi prophesied (1) before the coming of Ezra in 457 BC; (2) between Ezra and Nehemiah’s coming in 445 BC; (3) as a co-worker with Nehemiah; (4) between the two governorships of Nehemiah, i.e., after 432 BC; and (5) just after Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem for his second governorship.

One piece of evidence helps to narrow down the range of possibilities. Malachi challenged his audience to present an offering to their governor (Mal. 1:8). Yet the Scriptures declare that Nehemiah did not require gifts from those he governed (Neh. 5:15, 18). Therefore it could be concluded that Malachi ministered at a time when Nehemiah was absent from Jerusalem. If this is correct then Malachi ministered between the two governorships of Nehemiah, some time between 432 and 425 BC.

Malachi’s mission in the last half of the 5th century BC was to correct the abuses and attitudes of the Jewish community as well as to announce the coming of the Sun of Righteousness and the day when men throughout the world would worship God in spirit and in truth.

Jerusalem in Malachi’s time had just been rebuilt and repopulated, but the temple had been functioning for almost a century. The Persians ruled the world at the time. Their philosophy generally was to grant religious freedom to subject peoples. While some of the neighbouring peoples made life difficult for the Jews, for the most part during this period the Jews were free to practice their faith as they saw fit.

Spiritually the Jews of the 5th century had lost the joy of their salvation and their zeal for the Lord. The priesthood was degenerate. The people offered faulty sacrifices and the priests approved them for presentation before God. Religious apathy and disbelief were widespread. Tithes were neglected. Divorce was common. Yet the people and priests refused to admit that anything was wrong. This is the situation Malachi encountered. He had laid bare the rotten foundation upon which their relationship to God rested.

The Message: In his message Malachi reaches back to Moses, and reaches forward to the Messiah and his forerunner, John the Baptist. The 55 verses which make up the Book of Malachi are arranged in 3 chapters in the Hebrew Bible. The ancient versions, however, organized the same material into four chapters. The English translations have followed the four chapter arrangement.

Outline of Malachi:

Introduction – Yahweh’s sovereign love (1:1-5)

The priests sin against love (1:6-2:9)

The people sin against love (2:10-4:3)

Final exhortation (4:4-6)

Malachi uses the method of dialogue seven times in the book. Malachi makes an affirmation or assertion about some sin or problem in the community. The people then object to the charge by interrogating Malachi. They demand that Malachi explain the charge and present his evidence. The pattern of the book then is assertion, objection and refutation. The prophet refutes the objection by presenting his case.

The theme of Malachi is ‘the sovereign love of God’ (1:1–5). Both the priests (1:6–2:9) and the people (2:10–4:3) had sinned against that love.