Zephaniah
Chapters: 3
Setting: Late 7th century BC, under the reign of King Josiah, in Judah
Summary: The genealogy that opens the Book of Zephaniah is fairly detailed, stretching back four generations (possibly to Hezekiah, the old king of Judah) and we're told that he is a "son of Cushi", which means he's of Ethiopian descent. Zephaniah's prophecy condemns idolatry (again, with the focus on Baal) and is full of a sense of urgency, given that "the great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly" (1:14). This coming Day of the Lord – a theme across several prophetic books – will entail, in Zephaniah's vision, the destruction of other nations and the vindication of Jerusalem. Enemy nations that he envisages being wiped out include Ethiopia, Assyria and Nineveh, while he foresees that a "remnant of Israel" (3:13) will survive, and that the Jewish diaspora will be restored to Jerusalem. Much of the book follows the standard prophetical tropes, but my favourite thing about Zephaniah is the exuberance of his language, best captured in some of the exclamations and quotes below.
Key quotes: "Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off" (1:7). "And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung" (1:17). "Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation" (2:9). "Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem" (3:14).
Haggai
Chapters: 2
Setting: After the Babylonian captivity, in the late 6th century (520 BC), in the Persian province of Yehud
Summary: Here, compared to Zephaniah, we have no biographical info on Haggai at all, but instead we're given very specific chronological info – "In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month" (1:1). Haggai's prophecy is focused on the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, and his frustration that there isn't enough will among his fellow returnees from the Babylonian captivity to get involved in the project – "this people say, the time is not come" (1:2). This lead to Haggai bemoaning the general lack of direction among his people (see 1:6 quote below). As well as to the people, Haggai's prophecy is also addressed to Zerubabbel, the governor of Judah at that time, and to Joshua, its spiritual leader or "high priest". He wants to encourage them to understand that God's blessings will only come once the temple is built, entailing an abundance of material and spiritual wealth that will even exceed that of the first temple period. However, Haggai's faith in Zerubabbel as the new messiah – God's "signet" ring (2:23) – is misplaced; in fact, the Jews would remain under Persian rule and without their own secular leader for another four centuries, until the Maccabean revolt.
Key quotes: "Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes" (1:6). "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace" (2:9). "And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother" (2:22).
Zechariah
Chapters: 14
Setting: After the Babylonian captivity, in the late 6th century (520 BC), in the Persian province of Yehud
Summary: A contemporary of Haggai, Zechariah was also prophesying during the reign of Persian king Darius, whose late father Cyrus had issued the edict allowing the Jews to return to their homeland in 538 BC. The Book of Zechariah can be split into two distinct parts the first (chapters 1-8) is similar in content to the Book of Haggai, with its focus on the rebuilding of the temple, but its style is closer to the Book of Daniel with its string of dream visions, while the second section (chapters 9-14) focuses on oracles against the nations, and the style of writing is very different to the first, almost as if there are (at least) two authors of the book. There are 8 visions in total, each of which is explained to Zechariah by an angelic interpreter:
1) Red, white and speckled horses (1:7-15) – linked to the 8th vision, and the image of the four horseman of the apocalypse in the Book of Revelation, the red may denote war and bloodshed and the white the new era of peace in Jerusalem.
2) Four horns and four carpenters (1:18-21) – the horns represent the nations (Assyria, Babylon) that destroyed and scattered Israel, and the carpenters represent the Persians who repair the damage.
3) Man with a ruler (2:1-5) – symbolic of the grand new project of building the second temple.
4) Joshua and Satan (3:1-7) – Joshua, clothed in "filthy garments" (to symbolise the sin of Israel), overcomes Satan (who, as in the Book of Job, represents a prosecuting lawyer rather than evil) and is rewarded with new "raiment", symbolising the messianic glory that will come from obeying God.
5) Golden candlestick (4:1-6) and two olive trees (4:10-14) – Joshua and Zerubabbel are represented by the two trees, which are lit by the light of the candlestick, a symbol of God's spirit guiding them during the temple rebuilding project.
6) Flying scroll (5:1-4) – this isn't Zechariah witnessing a food fight (the KJV calls it a "flying roll"), but a symbol for scriptural law that will punish sinners during the second temple period.
7) Two winged women carrying a woman in an ephah (5:5-11) – the woman in the basket, or ephah, symbolises God's covenant with Israel, which was carried off to Babylon for 70 years of captivity.
8) Four chariots (6:1-8) – symbolising four "spirits of the heavens", or angels.
This final vision is followed by the image of Joshua wearing a crown, a prophecy of God's coming kingdom if the people remain faithful to the covenant. Chapter 6 also mentions The Branch, an image from the Book of Isaiah about a fresh new branch emerging from a withering tree, a metaphor for the family tree of King David, from which the future messiah will grow forth. It's unclear if the messiah is Zerubabbel, as seems most likely in the context, or someone else. This messianic kingdom is described poetically (using images of shepherds) in the second section of the book, with a clear shift in space – Hadrach (apparently in northern Syria) – and time (unspecified). Some scholars believe that this mighty force overpowering the Persian empire is actually Alexander the Great, whose clearing away of Israel's enemies allowed the Jewish diaspora to return home. Scholars have also pointed to the fact that chapters 12-14 use language similar to the New Testament gospels, perhaps a sign of later textual manipulation, and it seems to be no coincidence that this last section ends with an apocalyptic vision of a final battle of the "heathen" kingdoms against Israel, leading to defeat for the foreign nations and the vindication and establishment of a new Jerusalem.
Key quotes: "Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you" (1:3). "And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him" (3:1). "Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit" (4:6). "And speak unto him, saying . . . Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall . . . build the temple of the Lord" (6:12). "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass" (9:9). "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn" (12:10). "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south ... And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles" (14:14-16).
Malachi
Chapters: 4
Setting: After the rebuilding of the second temple (515 BC>)
Summary: The Book of Malachi takes aim at the people and priests of Israel, who had fallen back into bad practices after the second temple was built. Often seen as an appendix to the Book of Zechariah, there are very few historical details, though it seems as if the purpose of Malachi's prophecy is to reassure the people of Jerusalem that the coming messianic kingdom really is on its way. The book starts with an odd tone of bitterness, with God reflecting on the battle between Jacob and Esau in Genesis – "And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness" (1:3) – as if to emphasise that his heart is still with Israel and not Edom. In chapter 2, God takes aim at the priests, whom he accuses of breaking the covenant of Levi by not respecting his divine law, threatens them with banishment from the tabernacle. In chapter 3, we return to the standard prophetical theme of the coming Day of the Lord, but here we get a specific list of those who will face punishment – "sorcerers ... adulterers ... false swearers ... those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me" (3:5). Quite why widows and orphans are listed is beyond me, but I did like the almost Marxist inclusion of tyrannical bosses who oppress their workers. Closing the book in chapter 4 is a final message, which has been reiterated throughout the prophetical books and the Old Testament more widely, of the need to follow the law of Moses and show family loyalty.
Key quotes: "For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts" (1:11). "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts" (2:7). "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (3:10). "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (4:4-6).
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