Haggai lived in the year 520 BC, nearly 70 years after the exile to Babylon. The kingdom of Babylon has since collapsed and the world is now ruled by the Persians. They allowed the Israelite exiles to return to Jerusalem and to start the job of rebuilding. So all is looking bright for the near future: unfortunately not so from Haggai's point of view. He accuses Israel of wrongly rebuilding their own homes while the Temple lay in ruins and then must address shattered expectations of how grand the new Temple could be. Throughout he keeps pointing the people to the promise of God's future kingdom and he calls them to work in hope despite current disappointment.