In 538 BC, King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return from Babylon and rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1–3). They laid the foundation with shouting and weeping, because the older people remembered Solomon’s temple (Ezra 3:10–13). Then opposition came, the work stopped, and it stayed stopped for more than fifteen years (Ezra 4:24). In the second year of King Darius, probably 520 BC, the Lord raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to get the work moving again (Haggai 1:1; Ezra 5:1–2). Within about four years the temple was finished and dedicated with joy (Ezra 6:14–16). Enlarged centuries later by Herod, it was the temple Jesus taught in.
Haggai’s message is short and direct. The people said the time wasn’t right to build the Lord’s house, while they lived in finished, paneled homes (Haggai 1:2–4). Twice the Lord says, “Consider your ways” (1:5, 7): you plant a lot and harvest little, you eat and are still hungry, and your wages go into “a bag with holes” (1:6). The leaders and people listened, the Lord “stirred up” their spirits, and they went back to work (1:12–14). When the older people wept that the new temple was nothing compared to the old, the Lord answered, “be strong … and work: for I am with you” (2:3–4). The Lord gave the early Saints a similar rebuke when they delayed building the Kirtland Temple (Doctrine and Covenants 95:3).
Zechariah adds encouragement and visions. The Lord tells Zerubbabel, the governor, that the temple will be finished “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit” (Zechariah 4:6), and asks who would despise “the day of small things” (4:10). In chapter 3 the high priest Joshua’s filthy garments are replaced with clean ones, a picture of what only the Savior can do. Zechariah also foresaw details of the Savior’s life: the King riding on a donkey (9:9; Matthew 21:4–5), thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12–13), the one who was pierced (12:10; John 19:37) and the wounds in His hands (Zechariah 13:6; Doctrine and Covenants 45:51–52). The book ends with “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD” written even on horses’ bells and cooking pots (Zechariah 14:20–21), the words Latter-day Saints see on our temples.
Twenty-five minutes goes quickly. Adults have real, good things competing for their time: work, children, aging parents, callings, health. Haggai never tells the people to stop farming or building homes; he tells them to put the Lord’s house first and see what happens to everything else. Keep the conversation practical and free of guilt. The messianic prophecies are ready as a bonus step for this Christmas season.
