An enduring biblical-theological question is the posture of the people of God toward governing authorities, especially when these authorities do not recognize God’s reign. The biblical witness attests to many different configurations of such relationships, with attendant challenges and opportunities. This paper explores this question by looking at the experience of the Judahite community, focusing on its portrayal in the prophetic witness of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. These prophets spoke to a small, politically insignificant community against the backdrop of the Persian Empire. This paper demonstrates that the theological response to this political reality was to focus on signs of YHWH’s current presence in this community and anticipate a future marked by YHWH’s sovereignty over the nations. In response, the community was called to covenant obedience and trust. Present faithfulness thus anticipates future renewal.
This can be demonstrated first by examining the calls to fidelity in the Temple rebuilding project (Hag 1:1–2:5; Zech 3:1–10; 4:1–14) in the face of disappointment and nostalgia. Covenant obedience and the promise of divine presence can be found throughout the rest of the vision complex (Zech 1:7–6:15), echoed in several places in Malachi (Mal 1:12–14; 3:6–12). Zechariah 7–8 then link YHWH’s sovereignty over the nations with the community’s embrace of covenant requirements. These passages build towards demonstrations of YHWH’s reign over the nations found in Zech 9–14 including the promise of the humble king (Zech 9:1–10) and YHWH’s presence in Zion (Zech 12:1–9; 14:1–21). This study hopes to provide one piece of a biblical framework for how God’s people should interact with the powers of this world while acknowledging the ultimate authority of the kingdom of God.