Haggai, Zechariah (NIV Application Commentary)

The setting: Jerusalem. Recently returned from Babylonian captivity, the Jews are occupied with personal pursuits while the temple of Yahweh lies in ruins. To the prophets Haggai and Zechariah falls the task of calling God’s people to their forgotten priority: rebuilding his house. Heeding prophetic admonition, the people overcome the obstacles that face them and prosper in their work––thanks largely to the vision and encouragement of the prophets. The books of Haggai and Zechariah represent a golden period in Old Testament history, but they are often overlooked. Yet these two minor prophets speak a major message to the church today. It is one that calls us, as a community of faith, to the priority of God’s house, and inspires us with glimpses of its future glory. Exploring the links between the Bible and our own times, Mark J. Boda shares perspectives on Haggai and Zechariah that reveal their enduring relevance for our twenty-first-century lives.

About the NIVAC Series

The NIV Application Commentary Series is unique. Most Bible commentaries help us make the journey from our world back to the world of the Bible. They enable us to cross the barriers of time, language, and geography that separate us from the biblical world. Yet they only offer a one–way ticket to the past and assume that we can somehow make the return journey on our own. Once they have explained the original menaing of a book or passage, these commentaries give us little or no help in exploring its contemporary significance.

Recently, a few commentaries have included some contemporary application as one of their goals. Yet that application is often sketchy or moralistic, and some volumes sound more like printed sermons than commentaries.

The primary goal of the NIV Application Commentary Series is to help you with the difficult but vital task of bringing an ancient message into a modern context. The series not only focuses on application as a finished product but also helps you think through the process of moving from the original meaning of a passage to its contemporary significance. These are commentaries, not popular expositions. They are works of reference, not devotional literature.

The format of the series is designed to achieve the goals of the series. Each passage is treated in three sections: Original Meaning, Bridging Contexts, and Contemporary Significance.