Behold! The Rebuilder: Finding Yeshua in Haggai
When God spoke through the prophet Haggai, His people had returned from exile, but their hearts remained distant. They had laid the temple’s foundation sixteen years earlier, but opposition and distractions had halted the work. Haggai’s message was simple yet powerful:
“Consider your ways.” (Haggai 1:5)
The prophet Haggai ministered during the same generation as Ezra and Nehemiah, in the years after Israel's return from Babylonian exile. While Ezra restored worship and Nehemiah rebuilt the city's walls, Haggai—alongside Zechariah—urged the people to rebuild the temple. His brief but powerful messages (around 520 B.C.) reignited the hearts of a weary remnant, reminding them that God's presence had not departed and that His glory would again fill the house.
Here’s the timeline in context:
538 B.C. – Cyrus of Persia decrees that the Jews can return to Jerusalem (Ezra 1).
537–536 B.C. – Zerubbabel leads the first group of exiles home; the foundation of the temple is laid (Ezra 3).
Work stops soon after because of opposition and discouragement (Ezra 4).
520 B.C. – Haggai and Zechariah begin to prophesy (Ezra 5:1–2). Their messages stir the people and leaders to resume rebuilding.
516 B.C. – The Second Temple is completed (Ezra 6:15).
Later (458–445 B.C.) – Ezra arrives to reform worship and teach the Law (Ezra 7). Nehemiah follows to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls (Nehemiah 1–6).
So, Haggai’s ministry overlaps directly with the early chapters of Ezra—especially Ezra 5–6—and happens about 60 years before Nehemiah’s reforms.
In short:
Haggai = the prophet who reignites the rebuilding of the temple.
Ezra = the priest and scribe who restores worship.
Nehemiah = the governor who rebuilds the walls.
Haggai is a short book—just two chapters—but it’s filled with Behold Moments that reveal both God’s heart and a foreshadowing of the coming Messiah. While it tells the story of rebuilding what was lost, it is above all about beholding God’s faithfulness when everything feels unfinished.
Behold #1 – “You looked for much, and behold, it came to little.” (Haggai 1:9)
The first behold in Haggai is not a gentle invitation but a wake-up call. God says,
“You looked for much, and behold (hinneh), it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away.”
It’s the moment God holds up a mirror. The people were pouring energy into their own comfort while His house lay in ruins. Their harvests were shrinking, their labor felt empty, and they couldn’t understand why.
The behold here means, “Look closely. Pay attention.” It’s a divine interruption meant to re-orient their sight from self-effort to sacred purpose. Sometimes God allows the drought, the disappointment, or the depletion so we’ll finally lift our eyes and behold what He’s doing beneath it all.
Behold #2 – “Behold, I am with you.” (Haggai 1:13)
After confronting their misplaced priorities (“You dwell in paneled houses while My house lies in ruins”), Haggai doesn’t leave them in shame. He brings comfort:
“Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, ‘I am with you,’ declares the Lord.”
After the rebuke comes reassurance. God’s messenger brings the simplest and most restoring truth:
“I am with you.”
Though the word hinneh (behold) isn’t used here, the moment itself is pure beholding—the people stand still before the reality of God’s presence. The same God who withheld rain now pours out mercy. His nearness becomes the cornerstone for every new act of obedience.
Rebuilding and Beholding
Every rebuilding begins here: not with effort, but with awareness—with the choice to behold the One who has never left.
It’s the same divine assurance spoken to Moses, to Joshua, to Mary—and echoed by Jesus Himself:
“Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
Every rebuilding season begins with this truth: God’s presence precedes our progress. Before a single stone was set, the Lord reminded His people that His nearness was their true foundation.
When we behold God’s “with-ness,” we remember that obedience is not about striving—it’s about presence.
Behold #3 – “Be strong... for I am with you.” (Haggai 2:4–5)
In chapter two, Haggai speaks to the leaders and the remnant who were discouraged by their small beginnings. Compared to Solomon’s temple, their work looked unimpressive. But God whispers again:
“Be strong, all you people of the land... Work, for I am with you... My Spirit remains in your midst.”
Here is a Behold Moment of courage. The Spirit that hovered over the waters in Genesis now hovers again over a people rebuilding in faith.
This is a foreshadowing of the Spirit’s indwelling presence through Christ. When Jesus ascended, He sent the Helper—the same Spirit who hovered in creation and who stirred the hearts of the remnant—to dwell in His people. The promise “My Spirit remains” becomes fulfilled in the Church, the living temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16). Amen!
The work may look small, but the Spirit within us is not.
Behold #4 – “I will shake the heavens and the earth.” (Haggai 2:6–7)
God declares a coming shaking—a movement that will reorder kingdoms and reveal His glory.
“I will shake all nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory.”
The phrase “treasure of all nations” points us forward to Jesus, the true Desire of Nations (as many older translations phrase it). The temple that Haggai called them to rebuild would one day be visited by the incarnate Son of God. The glory of that house would not be gold, but God made flesh—Jesus standing in its courts. I mean, how awesome is that?!?!
When Haggai speaks of shaking the heavens and the earth, he’s pointing to the advent of the Kingdom—the same shaking described in Hebrews 12:26- 28, where only the unshakable things of God remain. The shaking is not for destruction, but for restoration.
Behold the shaking—and behold the Savior who steadies us through it.
Behold #5 – “On that day… I will take you, O Zerubbabel.” (Haggai 2:23)
The book ends with a personal promise to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah:
“I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you.”
The signet was the seal of the king—an emblem of authority and belonging. God’s covenant with David seemed broken in exile, but here He reaffirms it. Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, carries the promise forward—and in Matthew 1:12, his name reappears in the genealogy of Jesus.
Through Zerubbabel, the line of the Messiah is preserved.
Through Jesus, the authority symbolized by the signet ring is restored.
Through the Spirit, that seal now rests on every believer.
We, too, bear the imprint of divine belonging:
“You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 1:13)
Beholding Jesus in Haggai
When we read Haggai with eyes open to Jesus, the message changes from guilt to grace, from rebuilding a structure to restoring a soul.
In Haggai 1, the presence of God reawakens purpose.
In Haggai 2:4–5, the Spirit empowers obedience.
In Haggai 2:6–9, the Son is promised as the coming glory.
In Haggai 2:23, the seal of redemption is secured through Christ.
The call to “consider your ways” becomes an invitation to behold His ways—to see that even in our ruins, God is rebuilding something eternal.
So, if your life feels like the unfinished temple—walls half-built, dreams delayed—take heart. The same God who stirred the remnant still stirs hearts today. And just as He filled that temple with glory, He fills you with His Spirit, sealing you with His love.
Behold, the Rebuilder still works. And He is with you.
Citations:
Outline of Haggai (Laney, J. Carl, BLS 502) – which places Haggai’s ministry at 520 B.C., concurrent with the events of Ezra 5–6.
