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| Major Dates |  |
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| Major Events | |||||
| Major Characters | Ezra & Nehemiah | Haggai | Zechariah | Malachi | Maccabees |
| Other Important Events | - priest and descendant of Aaron - Ezra was a scribe who was the final editor of the Torah - cupbearer to the Persian King Artzerxes (465-424 BC) - visited Jerusalem to assist with the Temple's restoration - his narrative contains stirring accounts of conflicts with enemies who plot against rebuilding his city's walls - Temple reconstruction is completed and the people enter into a covenant to observe God's law as given by Moses - Nehemiah tells of Ezra reading the Mosiac Law to a great assembly of the people, while the Levites interpret the laws to them after shich Ezra leads the assembly in a confession of sin and in the worship of God |
- Haggai encouraged the Hebrews to rebuild the temple and permission was given to rebuild the temple to find blessings from the Lord - Haggai urges the leaders of the Judean community to take personal charge, in order to hasten completion. - He called for the priests to purify the cultic worship, and he links earlier Israelite traditions with the promise of a coming messianic age |
- By recording 8 symbolic visons around 519 BC consisiting of God and an angel, Zechariah encouraged the rebuilding of the temple and the return of the exiles, especially their leaders Joshua and Zeribbabel - The description of the triumphant coming of the humble king was taken by the New Testament writers as prefiguring Christ's entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday |
- name means "my messenger" but is not the actual name of the prophet - Malachi critized priests and rulers who dishonored God by giving blemished scrifices and marrying pagans - Malachi gave hope to the people that the day of God's justice was coming - In the New Testamentthis prophecy is taken by the Gospels as fulfilled in the John the Baptist |
- the Mazzabees revolted against Antiochus who was persecuting the Jews in Palestine in the 2nd century BC - Their victory and rededications of the temple is remembered in Hanukkah - What the doctrine expresses is the customary belief that the people of Israel have been specifically chosen by God as his partner, and they alone are privileged to know and worship him but the people must follow the law he gave them |
| Where in the Bible | Ezra 1,1-10,44 |
Haggai 1,1-2,23 | Zechariah 1,1-14,21 | Malachi 1,1-3.24 | 1 & 2 Maccabees |