CHRIST IN EVERY BOOK PROPHETS DANIEL THROUGH MALACHICHRIST IN EVERY BOOK PROPHETS DANIEL THROUGH MALACHI
In one of his conversations with a mixed group of neighbors and priests, William Tyndale (1494–1536) said: “Now the Scriptures are a clue which we must follow, without turning aside, until we arrive at Christ; for Christ is the end.” “And I tell you,” shouted out a priest, “that the Scriptures are a Daedalian labyrinth, rather than Ariadne’s clue—a conjuring book wherein everybody finds what he wants.” “Alas!” replied Tyndale; “you read them without Jesus Christ; that’s why they are an obscure book to you.”
—GARY H. EVERETT1
DANIEL
Daniel is among the first group of exiles taken to Babylon around 605 BC. Despite being selected to serve Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, he inspires his fellow exiles by remaining unflinchingly loyal to God. Critical scholars argue that the book was authored in the second century BC by some unknown person or persons who wrote “prophecies after the fact” and put them in the mouth of Daniel circa 600 BC.2 Without this sort of makeshift explanation, it’s hard for these critics to deny that Daniel’s amazingly accurate prophecies were inspired by God. Conservative scholars make a stronger case, in accordance with both Jewish and Christian tradition, that the book was written during Daniel’s captivity in Babylon.
A storehouse of phenomenal prophecy, the Book of Daniel lays the groundwork upon which many other prophecies are built. For example, in the Book of Revelation, John writes as if the reader is familiar with Daniel’s predictions, which serve as a backdrop for some of John’s own prophecies. “Daniel is to the Old Testament what the Book of Revelation is to the New Testament;” writes Warren Wiersbe, “in fact, we cannot fully understand one without the other. Prophetically, Daniel deals with the “times of the Gentiles (see Luke 21:24), that period of time that began in 606 B.C. with the captivity of Jerusalem and will end when Christ returns to earth to judge the Gentile nations and establish His kingdom.”3
The book serves as an object lesson in faith under trial and adversity. Daniel unfailingly trusts God to deliver him from dangerous predicaments. In turn, God richly rewards Daniel and his friends for their faithfulness by protecting them against hostile forces determined to kill them because of their refusal to bow to the worldly powers. Daniel’s faith serves as a timeless example that Christians should emulate. “Daniel’s righteousness,” argues Larry Richards, “stood to the exiles as a beacon, pointing them toward the way to live for God no matter where they might be.”4 Daniel remains a uniquely inspiring example for Christians today.
The book’s main theme is that God alone is sovereign in history and over human affairs.5 Daniel’s ancillary themes, according to John Walvoord, are that God is “loving, omnipotent, omniscient, righteous, and merciful. He is the God of Israel, but He is also the God of the Gentiles.”6 God is the One who guides the powers and principalities of the material world: “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding” (Daniel 2:21).
God is eternal. By contrast, all the powerful men in history—men who built cities, or transformed societies, or created great armies that toppled other nations like toothpicks—were here and gone in the blink of an eye. In the end, as hymnist Isaac Watts reminds us, “Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away.”7 This message is applicable to Christians, especially those who are prosperous or influential—success is wonderful, as long as we remember Who is in control. “It is God who lifts up and who puts down,” Mark Dever insists. “Do not forget that. If you are a follower of Christ in a position of power and authority, do not let yourself be fooled by that power and authority. It did not come from you, you will not keep it, and you will be held accountable for how you use it.”8
The Jewish exiles in Babylon are reassured by the message that God is in control, for they naturally wonder whether God’s everlasting promises to Israel concerning the land and the Davidic kingdom are still in force. After all, they had been whisked from their land with seemingly no possibility of return. Daniel’s remarkable prophecies resoundingly answer these questions: the Jews would occupy the land again, though not completely, until the time preceding Christ’s second coming.
The exiles must have felt conflicted. On the one hand, having been vanquished, taken captive, and seen their Temple destroyed, they could conclude that their God had been defeated. This could have been enough, says C. Hassell Bullock, “to turn orthodoxy to agnosticism, piety to skepticism, and faith to irresolution.”9 On the other hand, wasn’t history playing out exactly as God, through His prophets, said it would? Babylonia had utterly destroyed Judah and exiled its people, then the Babylonians in turn had been defeated by the Medo-Persians as if they were pawns on a divine chessboard.
God’s sovereignty is further affirmed by His numerous interventions in history, as recorded by Daniel. These include His supernatural interpretation of dreams, His protection of Daniel’s friends from the fiery furnace, His deliverance of Daniel from the lions’ den, and Daniel’s prophetic visions. To top it off, there is the miraculous appearance of handwriting on the wall of King Belshazzar’s palace. This occurs during a feast in which the king and his lords, wives, and concubines are blasphemously drinking wine from the vessels of gold and silver that his father, Nebuchadnezzar, had looted from God’s Temple. This haunting event presages the death of Belshazzar and the fall of his empire at the hands of Darius the Mede, which transpires that very night (Daniel 5:1–30).10
Through Daniel, God furnishes overwhelming evidence of His sovereign hand of protection over His exiled people to assure them He had not abandoned them, was still protecting them, was administering justice on the world’s powers, and still had a plan for them. “Daniel was written to encourage the exiled Jews by revealing God’s program for them, both during and after the time of Gentile power in the world,” observes John MacArthur. “Prominent above every other theme in the book is God’s sovereign control over the affairs of all rulers and nations, and their final replacement with the True King.”11
Interestingly, except for chapter 1, which is a historical introduction, the first half of the Book of Daniel (chapters 2–7) is written in Aramaic and the second half (chapters 8–12) in Hebrew. It’s unlikely this was accidental, as the first section is mostly a prophetic history of the Gentile nations, and the last section relates a prophetic history of the Jews.12 J. Sidlow Baxter persuasively argues that the use of the two languages points to the earlier date for the book’s authorship. He explains that before Daniel’s time Jews did not understand Aramaic (see 2 Kings 18:26), and after his time they had difficulty understanding Hebrew (see Neh. 8:8). In Daniel’s time, however, the people understood both languages. So why, asks Baxter, would an imposter of Daniel writing four hundred years after the fact, who was on a mission to console his people, write half the book in a language unintelligible to them? Alternatively, if he wanted it preserved in the Hebrew language for future reference only, why would he write half of it in the common tongue of his own day?13
There are numerous messianic prophecies in Daniel. Christ is the Stone “cut out by no human hand” that will crush the kingdoms of this world upon His return (Daniel 2:34, 35, 44, fulfilled in Luke 1:33; 1 Cor. 15:24; 2 Peter 1:11; Rev. 11:15). He is the Son of Man who “was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13, 14, fulfilled in Matt 26:27–29; Mark 14:22–24; Luke 22:15–20; 1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 8:8–12, 10:15–17, 12:24, 13:20). Furthermore, His kingdom “shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High” (Daniel 7:27, fulfilled in Luke 1:33; 1 Cor. 15:24; Rev. 11:15, 20:4, 22:5).
In one of the most remarkable of all messianic prophecies—of all biblical prophecies, in fact—Daniel predicts the precise date of Christ’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. That prophecy is even more extraordinary than it seems. The prediction, which I believe is clearest in the NIV Bible, reads as follows:
“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him” (Daniel 9:24–27).
It was customary (and seen elsewhere in Scripture, e.g., Gen. 29:26–27)14 to speak of seven years as a week, so “seventy weeks” in this prophecy means seventy periods of seven years, or a total of 490 years. Conservative scholars, therefore, interpret this prophecy to describe God’s plans for and dealings with the nation of Israel and its land over a period of 490 years (though not wholly continuous years). After 490 years He will “bring in everlasting righteousness,” meaning the establishment of the messianic kingdom at the second coming of Christ, as the ultimate fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant and other covenants by Jesus Christ.
This 490-year period breaks down into three chronological periods:
1. Seven weeks (forty-nine years).
2. Sixty-two weeks (434 years).
3. A final week (seven years).
As described in verse 9:25, the 490-year period begins “from the time the word goes out to restore and build Jerusalem.” Though Persian King Cyrus issued his decree in 538 BC permitting the Israelites to return from exile and rebuild their Temple, this is not the triggering event described in this prophecy. That event is the later decree issued by King Artaxerxes (Neh. 2) that authorized the Israelites to reconstruct Jerusalem’s city walls. Nehemiah 2:1–8 pinpoints the date of this decree as “in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,” which we know to be March 5, 444 BC.15 The 490-year period begins on this date.
So the first of the three periods—lasting seven “weeks,” or forty-nine years—begins in 444 BC, and many scholars believe this was how long it took the people to rebuild the city walls, the Temple, the streets, and a trench, and to fully remove the city’s debris.16 The second period of sixty-two “weeks” (434 years), according to the text of the prophecy, runs consecutively with the first period for a total of 483 years. Thus, from Artaxerxes’ decree on March 5, 444 BC, “until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’” (Daniel 9:25). Some have posited that this 483-year period, calculated according to the Jewish calendar (consisting of 360-day years), would end on March 30, 33 AD, or Nisan 10 in AD 33—believed to be the precise date of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.17
It’s astonishing that a prediction made hundreds of years before Jesus was born could be so accurate. Rejecting the possibility of supernatural intervention, however, some critical scholars deny that the Book of Daniel was actually written by Daniel, arguing that some of his remarkable prophecies must have been written after the fact. But the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls proves that the Book of Daniel must have been completed before 200 BC. Therefore this prophecy, which pertains to Christ, must have been written well before the prophesied events.
Continuing with this prophecy, verse 9:26 says that after the 483-year period, the Anointed One will be put to death and the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed. Conservative scholars believe the language suggests an interval between the second and third periods, and that Christ’s crucifixion occurred in that interval, as did the sacking of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple by the Roman Titus in 70 AD. Many scholars also believe we are still in this interval period, which is the present Church age, and that the final “week” (seven years) will begin sometime after the Rapture, when believers will be “caught up” to meet the Lord (Thes. 4:17). Known as the Great Tribulation, this seven-year period will end with Christ’s arrival and His establishing His millennial kingdom, in fulfillment of God’s covenants and in culmination of God’s redemptive and salvation history.
There are differing views as to when and even if the Rapture will occur. Some scholars believe it will happen in the middle of the tribulation period while others predict it will be afterward. Some claim it will occur only partially (meaning only certain believers will be raptured) and some argue it will not occur at all.18 Indeed, there are various views on many other aspects of these future events, including Christ’s millennial kingdom, all of which are beyond this book’s scope.
Daniel features several other prophecies that also point to Christ’s return and His future kingdom. A prophecy in chapter 2 involves a dream of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar that no one in the kingdom but Daniel can describe and interpret. Daniel tells the king that in his dream, the king saw a large statue with a head of pure gold, a chest and arms of silver, a lower body and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. “A rock was cut out, but not by human hands,” which “struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.” Then the entire statue disintegrated into fine pieces, and the rock grew into a huge mountain filling the whole earth. Daniel explains to the king that the different body parts represent different earthly empires (the first three being identified in chapter 8 as Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, respectively, while scholars believe the fourth to be Rome). The crushing rock represents a kingdom established by God, which scholars interpret as Christ’s future kingdom.
Another prophecy in chapter 7 resembles the chapter 2 prophecy except that Daniel himself has the dream, in which he envisions four great beasts representing the same four empires. This dream is more complex, involving the Anti-Christ and other matters, but it also predicts Christ’s everlasting kingdom. The interrelated prophecies of chapters 2, 7, and also 8 include predictions of the coming Messiah and His future reign.
Many see verses 12:1–2—describing the final resurrection of the just and unjust—as a prophecy of Christ judging people for eternal life and eternal punishment, as described in John 5:28–29.19 Additionally, some regard God’s protection of Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace and His defense of Daniel in the lions’ den as foreshadowings of the salvation Christ offers us.20
EZEKIEL
Poor Ezekiel—God calls on him to communicate a message containing exotic, surreal visions that he is commanded to act out in a way seemingly akin to the game of charades. He’s told to construct a miniature model of Jerusalem under siege, with camps arranged outside it and battering rams planted against it all around. He is then to place an iron griddle “as an iron wall” between himself and the city, “and set your face toward it and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it.” This, God tells Ezekiel, is a sign for Israel (4:3)—a warning of the coming Babylonian siege of Jerusalem.
Then God tells him to lie on his left side for 390 days, signifying that “the house of Israel” would be punished for 390 years. Next, he should lie down on his right side for forty days, representing forty years that “the house of Judah” would be punished (Ezek. 4:3–6). He’s also instructed to bind himself up in ropes inside his house (3:25). God makes Ezekiel’s tongue cling to the roof of his mouth to prevent him from reproving the rebellious people (3:26–27). God tells him He’s going to take his wife from him but he would not be allowed to mourn the loss (24:15–16). Ezekiel is carried off in visions (8:7) to witness what God has in store. In another such “living parable,” he’s told to simulate an escape by preparing “an exile’s baggage” and digging through the wall at night with his baggage as a sign of Judah’s coming captivity (12:1–6).
Ezekiel obeys God’s commands. As a result, the people think he’s deranged—and some still do. According to one scholarly paper ostensibly employing a Freudian analysis of Ezekiel’s behavior, Ezekiel is “a true psychotic characterized by a narcissistic-masochistic conflict, with attendant fantasies of castration and unconscious sexual regression . . . schizophrenic withdrawal . . . and delusions of persecution and grandeur.”21 Others speculate that he’s catatonic, a paranoid schizophrenic, given to fits of ecstasy, or has a tendency toward psychic abnormality.22 All of this illustrates the lengths some scholars will go to avoid any hint of the supernatural, as if it’s difficult to believe that a God who created the universe could instruct one of His prophets to engage in apparently bizarre behavior to deliver His messages to the people—or even transport him to another place and time, which happens repeatedly in the book (8:3, 37:1–14, 40:1).
Ezekiel ministers mostly in captivity in Babylonia, directing his messages both to his fellow exiles and to the Jews remaining in Judah. He warns his people that Judah will fall due to the people’s sins, though many believe that the worst has passed and that Judah will survive. After Judah does fall, Ezekiel shifts his message to one of hope for its future restoration.23
Establishing its principal theme, the book begins by relating the prophet’s vision of God’s glory (chapters 1–3). Then chapters 4–39, in essence, describe God’s glory departing from Israel and God’s rationale for removing it—though chapters 25–32 switch themes to describe God’s judgment on the nations. Subsequently, chapters 33–39 offer a message of hope for the coming glory that is prophesied in chapters 40–48, which close out the book by portraying God’s glory returning to Israel in future days.
Though God will restore Israel in the future, He always acts in furtherance of His own glory. God illustrates this principle when He states, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all countries and bring you into your own land” (Ezek. 36:22–24). According to the ESV Study Bible, “The primary purpose of Ezekiel’s message was to restore God’s glory before the people who had spurned it in view of the watching nations.”24
Put simply, God is demonstrating His sovereignty. He will accomplish His salvation purposes for mankind through His chosen nation of Israel, and He will restore Israel itself despite its recurring disobedience. Israel may forfeit its blessings in the short run, even for prolonged periods, but in the end, God’s redemptive plan will not be thwarted. C. Hassell Bullock explains this vividly in his description of God’s reaction throughout history to the Hebrews’ disobedience. Even after Jerusalem falls, the people remain morally inflexible, unchanged, and unrepentant. “Ezekiel,” writes Bullock, “as clearly as any of the prophets, set up the opposite poles and then showed how Yahweh (God) resolved the polarization.”25 God says He will turn His face from Israel (7:22), yet He will not hide His face from them anymore (39:29); Israel drives God from the sanctuary (8:6), but He nevertheless gives them instructions for a new Temple where He will reside everlastingly (37:26–28, 40–48). God’s glory moves from the Temple (11:23) and returns (43:1–5). He gives up the land for the people throughout biblical history (14:12–20), but then returns them to it (47:13–48:35). Israel breaks the Mosaic covenant (16:59), but God establishes an everlasting covenant with them. The shepherds neglect His flock (34:10), and He responds by becoming the good Shepherd (34:11).
Throughout, says Bullock, Israel’s apostasy stands in stark contrast to God’s holiness. But to remedy this deplorable state of affairs, God doesn’t emphasize Israel’s repentance. Rather, He proactively moves to bring about major changes to save and restore Israel. Ezekiel (and the other prophets) had tirelessly warned Israel to no avail, and disaster came upon it. “And now in the face of appalling destruction and despair,” writes Bullock, “hope could be found only in the Person and actions of Yahweh Himself.”26 It seems that, in the end, the more Israel sins, the more God’s grace abounds. In fact, that’s what Paul says in his explanation of Christianity to the Romans. Due to Christ’s sacrifice, Paul writes, “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Romans 5:20).
Messianic prophecies fill the Book of Ezekiel, including the following: the Lord, the sanctuary (Ezek. 11:16–20, fulfilled in Rev. 21:22); a tree planted by God, a tender twig that becomes a stately cedar on a lofty mountain (Ezek. 17:22–24, fulfilled in Matt. 13:31–32); the humble are exalted; the rightful king (Ezek. 21:26–27, fulfilled in Luke 1:52); the good and faithful shepherd (Ezek. 34:23–24, fulfilled in John 10:11); the great purification (Ezek. 36:25–36, fulfilled in John 1:25–28); and the great resurrection and gift of the Spirit (Ezek. 37:1–14, fulfilled in John chapter 20 and Acts 2:33).27 Many also see the prophecies of Ezekiel 44–48 as pertaining to the second coming of Christ.28 Gary Staats sees chapter 48 as depicting a type of the heavenly Jerusalem that is described in Revelation 21–22, where Christ is with His Father.29
The Book of Ezekiel is Christ-directed in many other respects. Ezekiel addresses the Davidic kingship, with his oracles of doom against those currently occupying David’s throne (Ezek. 17:1–21, 19:1–9, 10–14, 21:25–27, 30–32); his oracles of hope for a future Davidic dynasty that would rule over God’s people regathered from exile (Ezek. 17:22–24; 29:21); and his visions of a prince and his future successors, who would be stewards of the new Temple, administer social justice, and correct the Davidic dynasty’s past abuses of the people (Ezek. 44:1–3, 45:7–9, 16–25, 46:1–24, 48:21–22).30
In addition, the term “Son of man”—the phrase Jesus invokes most often to refer to Himself in the New Testament—is used more than ninety times in this book to address Ezekiel. The term has two separate meanings, connoting either a human being or a divine one. Jesus applies it to Himself in both ways,31 as He is fully God and fully man.
Finally, like Jeremiah, Ezekiel announces the New Covenant, predicting that one day God will inaugurate a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, and that God will give His people a new heart and a new birth (Ezek. 34:25–31, 36:24–27, 37:26–28, fulfilled in John 3:1–16).
HAGGAI
One of the main reasons the returning Jewish exiles manage to rebuild the Temple despite persistent opposition is that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah shame them and exhort them to finish the task. Ministering in Judah in 520 BC, Haggai is the first prophet in Jerusalem after the return. He scathingly rebukes the people for living in their paneled houses while allowing the house of God to lie in rubble. But Haggai isn’t speaking on his own behalf; no prophet does. He relates that God is commanding the people to “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” (Haggai 1:8). God also reminds His people again of the covenant He’d made with them when He brought them out of Egypt. Rebuild His Temple, He tells them, and He “will fill this house with glory . . . and the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former. . . . And in this place I will give peace. . . . From this day on I will bless you” (Haggai 2:7–9, 19).
What a perfect illustration of God’s patience and grace! Israel has constantly disobeyed and disappointed Him, even after He returned them to their land, and has forgotten and neglected His faithfulness and blessings. Nevertheless, He is anxious to forgive them and to dwell with them and bestow His peace and glory upon them.
Haggai attaches profound importance to rebuilding the Temple. It’s no mere symbolic exercise, but an integral part of the messianic program God had promised through His prophets and His covenants. Gerard Van Groningen explains that if “the messianic promises concerning the royal Person of the Davidic house and the kingdom were to be realized, it was necessary that the remnant of the covenant people do their part. They were to build the temple, the symbol of Yahweh’s presence with them and the type of him who was to come and dwell among them (John 1:14–18).”32
The Temple is a symbol of God’s presence, to be sure, but it’s much more. It’s an important and ongoing reminder of God’s special relationship with His people. When God freed them from captivity in Egypt He commanded them to build a dwelling place for Him—the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:1, 35:4–29). Once it had been built, God entered into it and filled it with His glory (Exodus 40:33, 34–37). Dwelling among His people, God would lead and sustain them.33 The same was true for Solomon’s Temple that replaced the Tabernacle. Once it was completed, not only was the Ark of the Covenant placed inside it, but it was filled with God’s glory cloud (1 Kings 8:10; 2 Chron. 5:13). Haggai’s announcements make clear that God is not only still present among His people, but also that His covenants remain in full force and effect.
Haggai’s essential declaration is in verse 1:13: “I am with you.” This, says Van Groningen, is at the core of the covenant promises God had made to Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, and Solomon. Note that this is simply a shortened form of the statement we identified earlier as the promise underlying all God’s covenants: “I will be their God and they shall be my people.” God’s promises are unchanging and completely reliable; the people’s disobedience does not nullify the covenant promises.
As the first post-exilic prophet, Haggai’s message is crucial because the people have to understand that no matter what hardships they’ve endured or whatever doubts they might have about God’s faithfulness, all his promises are still valid. Therefore, it is vital that the Temple be rebuilt and that the three Old Testament offices—prophet, priest, and king—resume functioning to help carry out God’s covenant plans. Another key “building” project must be resumed as well: “the building of the Davidic house that represented God’s kingdom”34—meaning the Davidic dynasty that God promised to establish forever.
Ultimately, this book teaches that we must keep our hearts and minds set on God and not allow our earthly priorities to lead us away from Him. It’s a comforting reminder to us that even in seemingly dark times God is faithful. We can rely on Him to honor His promises.
We Christian readers of the Old Testament must be forever mindful, as we’ve stressed repeatedly, that in the Bible God not only unfolds the progressive revelation of His salvation history, but that He is always superintending history and directing it toward its final conclusion in Jesus Christ. Many Israelites, especially during their exile, and continuing into their return and restoration, seem to have lost faith in God’s sweeping control of history and His blessed promises, not all of which are fully realized in their days. We Christians have an advantage over our Old Testament brothers in that we have read the rest of the story, and we also have the entire Old Testament laid out before us in a way that demonstrates the continuity and integrity of God’s plan—both in revelation and in actual history. Haggai’s admonitions to the Jewish remnant concerning God’s covenant promises are important for us to remember, constituting another example of the Old Testament’s relevance today.
The Book of Haggai also demonstrates that we must put God first in our lives. It may seem like a costly sacrifice to turn ourselves toward God when we’re caught up in our daily struggles, but in the end we’ll be richly rewarded through our renewed connection with Him. Moreover, while we acknowledge that God is sovereign and carries the laboring oar, we are not relieved of our duty to do our part. God was fully capable of building the Temple by Himself and is fully capable of building our “temple,” but He wants us to participate. He wants us to be engaged.
Haggai, though not among the Major Prophets or even among the most profound of the Minor Prophets, is an undeniably courageous and godly man who steps out in faith against formidable opposition. He is also an effective messenger, successfully coaxing the people into completing the Temple project.
Haggai stresses that this second Temple will have even greater glory than the original and that God will give peace there (Haggai 2:9). This points to the essential role of the second Temple in God’s redemptive plan.35 There is also a foreshadowing of the Messiah in Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah and descendant of David who led the first band of Israelites back to the land and helped erect the Temple’s altar and its foundation.36 In Haggai 2:23, Zerubbabel is referred to with the messianic title, “My Servant” (cf. 2 Samuel 3:18; 1 Kings 11:34; Isaiah 42:1–9; Ezek. 37:24, 25). That verse has further messianic significance because God tells Zerubbabel He will make him like a signet ring, “for I have chosen you.” A signet ring is a symbol of honor, authority, and power, like a king’s scepter, used to seal letters and decrees.37 What makes Zerubbabel unique in the Davidic line is that he resumes and reestablishes the line after its interruption by the exile. He thereby becomes like a signet ring in the center of the messianic line that seals both branches together.38 Significantly, Zerubbabel is in the line of Christ on both Joseph’s side (Matt. 1:12) and Mary’s side (Luke 3:27).39
Finally, Haggai writes, “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake the nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts’” (Haggai 2:6). The writer of Hebrews quotes this passage and applies it to Christ as the final king in His unshakable kingdom (12:25–29).
ZECHARIAH
Zechariah is a contemporary of Haggai’s who also encourages the people to complete the Temple. But he focuses more on the people’s need to repent and renew their covenant with God, a theme also found in the Book of Haggai but is more prominent here. Zechariah has the long view in mind. He does not, Warren Wiersbe reminds us, “see a weak nation in a ruined city; he looked down the centuries and saw the future of the city and the coming of Jerusalem’s King, the Messiah.”40 Zechariah not only insists that the people rebuild the Temple, but that they grasp the moral and spiritual truths concerning their faith and their God. Without this, writes James Hastings, “the Temple and its worship would be hollow mockery.”41 As Dr. Thomas Howe observes, “God was not concerned with the glory of the temple except in the sense that the neglect of the temple was a sign of their lack of commitment to Him. . . . The dilapidated condition of the temple reflected on the nature of God. . . . The glory of Israel is not her physical temple, but the spiritual temple, and ultimately her Messiah. All those who oppose her will be crushed. All those who trust will be rescued. Ultimately, the nations will be subjugated and come to serve and worship the Lord at Zion.”42
The messages of Haggai and Zechariah are so consistent that some scholars suggest we should view the short Book of Haggai as an introduction to the longer Zechariah, which amplifies Haggai’s key message—“From this day on I will bless you” (Haggai 2:19).43 Haggai tells the people that God wants them to remember the exodus from Egypt and His covenant with them, and Zechariah stresses this theme of remembrance even more. In fact the name “Zechariah” means “The Lord remembers,” signifying that God has not forgotten His people despite their conquest by a foreign empire. God is always present with His people even if their difficult circumstances make it seem otherwise.44 Zechariah encourages the people spiritually as they re-engage in the Temple project (see Ezra 5:2), promising them future blessings on the nation including the coming Messiah. As John MacArthur puts it, Haggai “was used to start the revival, while Zechariah was used to keep it going strong with a more positive emphasis, calling the people to repentance and reassuring them regarding future blessings.”45
Indeed, MacArthur deems Zechariah the most messianic book of the Old Testament. There’s a reason for that even aside from the book’s abundant messianic prophecies: the gospels quote or allude to as many or more passages from Zechariah as from any other prophet.46 Because the prophets would soon be silent for some four hundred years, argues MacArthur, God is using Zechariah “to bring a rich, abundant outburst of promise for the future to sustain the faithful remnant through those silent years.”47
The book’s messianic prophecies include: God living among His people and dwelling in their midst (Zech. 2:10–13, fulfilled in Rev. 21:3, 24); a new priesthood (Zech. 3:8, fulfilled in Eph. 20–21; 1 Peter 2:5); Christ as the Enthroned High Priest (Zech. 6:12–13, fulfilled in Heb. 5:5–10, 7:11–28, 8:1, 2); Christ riding on a donkey during the Triumphal Entry (Zech. 9:9–12, fulfilled in Matt. 21:4–6; Mark 11:1–10; Luke 19:28–38; John 12:13–15); He is the Lord who shall save His flock (Zech. 9:16, fulfilled in John 3:16); betrayed by a friend and sold for thirty pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12–13, fulfilled in Matt. 26:14–15, 27:9); the money was used to buy the potter’s field (Zech. 11:12–13, fulfilled in Matt. 27:9–10); His body was pierced (Zech. 12:10, fulfilled in John 19:34, 37); and He is the Shepherd Who was smitten and the sheep were scattered (Zech. 13:1, 6–7, fulfilled in Matt. 26:31; John 16:32).
In this book Christ is portrayed in His first and second comings as Servant and King, Man and God. Zechariah further anticipates Christ in the following passages: He is seen as the Angel of the Lord Who commands the salvation of His people (Zech. 3:1–5; Rev. 10); the Righteous Branch (Zech. 3:8, 6:12, 13); the Servant of God Whom He shall bring forth (Zech. 3:8; Mark 10:45); the Foundation Stone with seven eyes upon which God’s Church and kingdom is built and Who will remove the iniquity of the land (Zech. 3:9; 1 Cor. 3:10–11; 1 Peter 2:6–8); the king-priest (Zech. 6:13); the humble king (Zech. 9:9, 10); the cornerstone, tent peg, and battle bow (Zech. 10:4); the Good Shepherd (Zech. 11:4–13); the cleansing fountain and Savior of Israel, whose blood covers the sins and uncleanliness of the people (Zech. 13:1); and the coming Judge and righteous king (Zech. 14)48 Who shall stand on Mount Olive when He returns (Zech. 14:4; Acts 1:6–11).
Finally, some commentators suggest Zechariah presents Christ’s dual nature: as man (6:12) and as God: “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me” (13:7).49 F. W. Lindsey writes, “In Zechariah 13:7 the Lord is claiming identity of nature or unity of essence with His Shepherd, thus strongly affirming the Messiah’s deity.”50
MALACHI
Most scholars believe this book was written late in the fifth century BC, probably during Nehemiah’s return to Persia around 433–424 BC. At the time, the people are back in the land, the Temple is standing, and sacrifices are being made there. Yet the people are discouraged because they have not experienced the glories prophesied by Isaiah.51 Malachi rails against the spiritual decadence shown by their corrupted worship practices, resumption of intermarriage with pagans, dishonoring of God’s name in worship, withholding of tithes, and their criticism of God Himself.
Malachi is more concerned, though, with the cynical attitude these sins reflect than the sins themselves.52 Spiritual practices are not supposed to be by rote; their acceptance to God depends on the sincerity and purity of those making the offerings.53 One is not righteous because he goes through the motions of external obedience to the Law. God looks at the heart. The people have apparently come to take God’s promises of future blessing for granted, but Malachi sets them straight, telling them that the Messiah would also come in judgment. “Behold, he is coming . . . but who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver” (Mal. 3:1–3).
So Malachi is, in essence, appealing to the people to repent of their sins and return to God, and promising that if they respond they will be blessed, but if not they will be judged. J. Sidlow Baxter confirms that “the coming One who was the nation’s hope of future blessing was coming to judge (not merely, as was being presumed, to bless the nation indiscriminately!).”54 Indeed, “Malachi now shows them that the Divine promise is a two-edged sword. Not only will the coming ‘Day’ slay the enemies outside the nation, but also the wicked inside the nation.”55
The book is structured as a formal dispute or debate between God and His people. God, through Malachi, asks the people questions and they often respond disrespectfully, even questioning His authority. We should read carefully the six oracles (direct communications from God) and the people’s responses. Take, for example, the fourth (2:17–3:6) and sixth oracles (3:13–4:3), in which God accuses the people of using hard words against Him. In each case the people question the charge, presumptuously demanding proof. Addressing their response to the fourth oracle, God says that they have wearied Him by complaining that “everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them,” or by asking “Where is the God of justice?” (2:17). Speaking to their response to the sixth oracle, God explains again how they have used hard words against him: “You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape’” (3:14–15).
In both cases the people accuse God of allowing the righteous to suffer and the evil to prosper. Intending to indict God’s fairness and justice, they indict themselves instead, for the responses reveal their impure hearts and their abject superficiality. Are they only serving God for what they can get out of the bargain? Do none of their actions flow from love and obedience? Is it all a matter of a cynical negotiation to them by which they will obey God only as long as there’s something to be gained?
Christians today should take Malachi’s message to heart—we must not be selfish, calculating, and shortsighted. Our faith must be properly motivated. Malachi speaks to us as Christians concerning our own spiritual apathy. It’s easy to become complacent and to fall away if times get tough or if we lose sight of God’s overall plan. But in the end, God sees our hearts, so there’s no point in fooling ourselves. We don’t get right with God by merely going through the motions. Yes, we should do good works, but those works must flow from a heart that is in a proper relationship with God.
The Book of Malachi has several key messianic prophecies, including verse 3:1: the Messiah would be preceded by a forerunner, a messenger who will prepare the way before Him. This is fulfilled by John the Baptist (Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27) and by Jesus, Who physically came to the Temple. To fulfull this prediction, the Messiah had to come before the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. Additionally, verses 4:5–6 promise that Elijah will return before the day of the Lord comes. This too is believed to predict the coming of John the Baptist, who will precede Christ (Matt. 11:14, 17:10–12; Mark 9:11–13; Luke 1:17). It’s noteworthy that Malachi makes two references to John the Baptist because John is the prophet who will break the four-hundred-year silence following Malachi’s ministry. Scholars believe that Malachi is prophesying both Christ’s first and second comings.56
Finally, the reference in verse 4:2 to “the sun of righteousness” is taken by some to be a messianic prophecy, but others say it refers to the day of the Lord in general.57 David Clark and Howard Hatton write that Christian tradition, going back to early times, interprets the phrase as relating to the coming of the Messiah. They say that may be true, but they believe the prophet’s main intention was to describe the day of the Lord.58
Malachi’s prophecy closes out the Old Testament. After him, God remained silent for four centuries. But through the warnings and exhortations of His many Old Testament prophets—both Major and Minor—He left behind clear guidance on living an obedient life. Though they did not always obey, His people now understood what God expected from them as His chosen people. An epoch of history had closed, one filled with disobedience and violence, exile and destruction—yet always infused with hope, grounded in God’s promises.
Though the trying days of the Old Testament were followed by a difficult period of silence from God’s prophets, God had not abandoned His people. But after this period, writes James Lee Beall, “The people were so unaccustomed to hearing God speak that they needed a messenger before the messenger. . . . Before people could be alerted to hear Him, they needed to be awakened through the prophetic preaching and baptism of John, the . . . herald.”59
When John the Baptist arrived on the scene and broke this period of prophetic silence, many mistook him for the ultimate Prophet, but he quickly denied it, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16).
It wasn’t long before God validated John’s prophecy—and indeed the entirety of Old Testament prophecy and His covenantal promises. As shepherds were keeping watch over their flock one night, “an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord’” (Luke 2:9–11).
God’s dealings with Israel in Old Testament times and His record of those dealings in the Old Testament were the indispensable precursor for the arrival on earth of God Himself—our Savior, Jesus Christ. When Jesus arrived, His path had been laid by His many forerunners who, in ways sometimes clear and other times vaguely implied, had foretold of His coming, and the glories He would bestow on all the nations of the world.