But to return to our subject. It has been already stated that the
first care of the returned exiles was to re-establish their religion.
To do this, they were under the necessity of having new revelations.
True, they had the writings of Moses and of the prophets, and they had
inspired interpreters, like Ezra and Nehemiah. True, their aim was not
to construct a new economy, but simply to re-establish the old one. And
yet even this they could not do acceptably to God without the aid of
revelation. Hence God raised up three prophets--Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi, the last three of the old covenant. What an overwhelming proof
of the necessity of continuous revelation!
HAGGAI, B.C. 520-518, is thought to have been born in Babylon, and to
have emigrated with Zerubbabel.
His book contains four prophetic messages. In the first the people are
reproved for neglecting to build the temple, while they were adorning
their own houses, and a command is given to begin the construction
immediately (chapter i, 1-11), to which command the people, led by
Zerubbabel and Joshua, willingly responded (i, 12-15). But in a month
the zeal of the people seems to have cooled off and the second message
is delivered, declaring that the Spirit of God was still with the
people. "A little while," God says, "and I will shake the heavens,
and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land" (which according to
Paul, Hebrews xii, 22-28, was fulfilled when the old dispensation was
superseded by the gospel dispensation), "and the desire of all nations
(Messiah) shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith
the Lord of Hosts," (chapter ii, 1-9), which "glory" is thought to
refer to the presence of Christ in this second temple instead of the
Shekinah that had illuminated the first temple. In the third message,
delivered two months afterwards, the people are being rebuked for
polluting themselves while working in the holy building and offering
sacrifices. God reminds them that He had blessed them abundantly, from
the time they had laid the corner-stone of the temple (chapter ii,
10-19). The fourth message is delivered the same day. It contains a
general prediction {369} of the overthrow of the kingdoms of the world
and the promise of a special blessing to Zerubbabel at that time. It
is clear enough that the right interpretation of this promise can be
comprehended by no man, until divine revelation shall make it known.
ZECHARIAH was, like Haggai, born in Babylonia and went to Palestine
with Zerubbabel. The general object of his ministry is identical with
that of Haggai, and through the encouragement and wise counsels of
these prophets the people prospered, and the temple was completed in
six years. But besides this general object, Zachariah describes through
direct predictions and symbolic acts, the history of the Jews until
the end of time. Daniel deals with the history of the world; Zechariah
with the history of the covenant people. Among the predictions of this
prophet we will here notice some of the last. According to the ninth
chapter, the surrounding heathen nations are to be destroyed. Messiah
shall come as a king (_v_. 9) and establish His reign upon the earth.
"His dominion shall be from sea even to sea and from the rivers to the
ends of the earth" (verse 10). Scenes of destruction are to intervene,
however, but the Lord will deliver His people, both Judah and Ephraim
(chapter x, 1-12). "I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will
save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them;
and they shall be as though I had not cast them off; for I am the Lord
their God, and will hear them. And they of Ephraim shall be like a
mighty man," a glorious prediction of the restorative work, commenced
in our own day by God, through His servant Joseph, the prophet. We are
further told that Jerusalem shall be besieged by many nations and the
result thereof (chapter xii, 1-14); Christ shall finally appear and all
the world will become "Holiness to the Lord" (chapter xiv).
Thus prophecy, so far from leading us to expect that revelation finally
will cease, being superfluous, expressly states that Christ Himself in
person will appear and communicate His will to men. "Why?" it may be
asked; and the answer is clear: "Because revelation is essential to
true religion."
MALACHI, B.C. 420-397, was the successor of Haggai and the last prophet
of the old covenant. The temple had now been finished and the service
of the altar established. But a spirit of worldliness and insincerity
is getting hold of both the priesthood and the people, and this prophet
is especially commissioned to warn them against their sins.
But his warnings are not heeded. The people prepare themselves for
calamities. The Spirit of prophecy is withdrawn {370} for a period of
four hundred years. The temple and the people are given into the hands
of Antiochus Epiphanes. The old dispensation is virtually closed.