Lesson: ;Haggai 1:12; 2:1-9
Golden Text: “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:9).
I.
INTRODUCTION.
In last week’s lesson we saw how God was deliberately
causing problems for the Israelites who had returned from Captivity.
They were allowed to return home to rebuild the temple, but after laying
the foundation and facing opposition from their neighbors they stopped
working. Of course this displeased the Lord and as a result of
their disobedience in completing the temple, they had no economic
success. In this week’s lesson, Haggai continues to give God’s
message to the people through their leaders. However, this time
instead of rebuking them for disobedience, he encouraged God’s people to finish
the temple. They now understood that God was causing all their
problems in order to draw them back to Him.
II. ANOTHER
MESSAGE (Haggai 1:12; 2:1-2).
Haggai 1:13-15 is not a part of
this week’s text, but should be mentioned in order to get a better understand of
this week’s lesson. God’s message of rebuke
given to the people through Haggai in the
previous lesson had produced the desired results. Both the
leaders and the people considered their behavior of disobedience and joined
hands together to build the temple (see Haggai 1:13-14). We are
told that they began to rebuild the temple “In the four and
twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king” (see
Haggai 1:15) which would have been 24 days after Haggai gave his first message
to the people (see Haggai 1:1).
A. Obedience to the first message (Haggai
1:12). This verse says “Then Zerubbabel
the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all
the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the
Lord their God had sent him, and the people did fear before
the Lord.” As mentioned in the previous lesson, “Zerubbabel the
son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech” were the civil and
religious leaders in Judah after the return from Captivity.
“Zerubbabel” was the governor of Judah (see Haggai 1:1)
and “Joshua” was the high priest, being a descendent of
“Josedech” who was the high priest when the Captivity took
place. These two leaders along with “all the remnant of
the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the
prophet.” This
simply means that everyone who had returned to Judah obeyed
what the Lord said through Haggai, that it was time to build God’s house.
The phrase “as the Lord their God had sent him” reveals that the people fully accepted Haggai as God’s prophet
who spoke for Him. Their obedience was also seen in the fact that
“the people did fear before the Lord.” The people’s obedience and fear for the Lord showed an attitude
of awe and reverence toward Him. The Lord then assured the people
that He was with them (see Haggai 1:13) and this encouraged them to get to work
(see Haggai 1:14). Note:
God’s people could’ve continued to
rebel and refuse to obey God’s Word as we sometimes do. They
could’ve said this was just the opinion of the prophet and not worth the time or
effort to go along with what he said. But to their credit, they
“obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the
prophet.” Whenever the Word is presented to us it’s wise to
deliberately bring ourselves under its authority. We don’t have to
worry that we will be misled or deceived because the Holy Spirit will guide us
as we listen (see John 9:13).
B. The beginning of the second message (Haggai
2:1-2).1. (vs. 1). This verse says “In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying.” This second message from God through Haggai came almost a month after the people restarted the building project. The “seventh month” was “Tishri” which corresponds to our September-October. The “one and twentieth day” was the 21st and was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (see Leviticus 23:39-44). We are not told if this feast was observed at this time or not. Not all of Jewish religious life had been re-established at this point in time.
2. (vs. 2). The second message began here as God said to Haggai “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying.” The prophet was directed to speak to “Zerubbabel,…governor of Judah and to Joshua… the high priest, and to the residue of the people.” The term “residue” means remnant and refers to all the Jewish people who had returned from the Captivity.iii
III. ANOTHER CHALLENGE (Haggai 2:3-5)
A. A disappointing comparison (Haggai 2:3). This verse says “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?” Knowing the thoughts of the elderly Jews who had seen the glory and greatness of Solomon’s Temple, the Lord asked “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory?” In other words God was asking how many people were still around who had seen the first temple, the one that Solomon built. Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. It was now 520 B.C. about 66 years later, so there were probably some elderly Jews still living who remembered the temple “in her first glory.” The second question God asked regarding the temple in its unfinished state was “and how do ye see it now?” He wanted the people to take a good look at what was being built at that moment. What did they think about what had been done so far? The final question God asked was “is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?” God was asking those who had seen the first temple in all of its glory to compare it with what had been done so far with the current temple. If they did compare the two, they would conclude that this temple they were rebuilding was “as nothing” meaning it couldn’t compare in any way to the first one which was Solomon’s temple.
B. A strong encouragement (Haggai 2:4-5).
1. (vs. 4). In this verse Haggai said “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts.” The words “Yet now” introduces the point God wanted to make through the comparison of the two temples. In spite of what might be an inferior structure, the people were not to stop working. The Lord encouraged the leaders “Zerubbabel, and Joshua” as well as “all ye people of the land” to “be strong.” God encouraged His people by assuring them of His presence. He said “for I am with you.” The presence of God made all the difference in the world. When they were disobedient they couldn’t expect this kind of assurance. But now they had corrected their priorities by putting God first, and therefore He would bless them with His presence. God could urge them to “be strong” because “the Lord of hosts (or armies)” was with them. This is a reference to God’s almighty power to accomplish His own pleasure. As “the Lord of hosts (or armies)” God is surrounded by His armies of heavenly power and might indicating that the Lord is able to gather all His armies of angels, saints, and sinners to fulfill His purposes and help His people (see Psalms 46:7-11). After encouraging the people to be strong three times, God also commanded them to “work” or to do it, meaning to complete the temple. David had said a similar thing to Solomon before the building of the first temple (see I Chronicles 28:10, 20). Even though it appeared that the new temple would be a lesser structure than the first one, the people would be doing what God wanted and that was the most important thing
2. (vs. 5). To further give the remnant good reason to believe God’s Word regarding His presence, in this verse the Lord said “According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.” God was saying that the people could trust His promise to be with them based on His commitment to the covenant He made with Israel when they came out of Egypt. The covenant God referred to was made at Mt. Sinai when He claimed the nation of Israel as His people (see Exodus 6:7; 19:5-6; 29:45-46). Even though as a nation God’s people repeatedly disobeyed Him, the covenant still held up and God could say “so my spirit remaineth among you.” Since the Holy Spirit was present to give the people strength for the task of completing the temple, the Lord could also say to this remnant “fear ye not.” They didn’t have to fear hostile neighbors who had hindered the work earlier (see Ezra 4:1-5, 17-24) nor the Persian Empire. Likewise today, Christians need to trust God’s promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (see Hebrews 13:5). Therefore, we don’t have to be afraid of anything or anyone (see Psalms 91:4-9; 118:6; Hebrews 13:6).
IV. A PROMISE OF GLORY (Haggai 2:6-9)
A. God will send glory (Haggai 2:6-7).
1. (vs. 6). This verse says “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land.” God’s statement here was also given to encourage the people to complete the temple. Again, Haggai makes it plain that this prophecy was from “the Lord of hosts” or the Lord of armies. The phrase “Yet once, it is a little while” does not refer to an event that will happen soon in Haggai’s day. It refers to an event that will take place, but the actual timing could be in the distant future. However, the timing is always according to God’s eternal plan (See II Peter 3:8). The Lord describes this event He is referring to in terms of an earthquake for He will “shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land.” In other words, the time is coming when God will shake up the heaven and earth, the sea and dry land, and all the nations of the world. This is a reference to a yet future time of judgment to begin after the Great Tribulation (see Matthew 24:29-30; Mark 13:24-27; Luke 21:25-27).
2. (vs. 7). In this verse God again says “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.” The Lord reiterated His previous statement that He will “shake all nations.” As we mentioned in the commentary on verse 6, this refers to a future event when the Lord returns in judgment following the Great Tribulation. The phrase “and the desire of all nations shall come” is most likely a reference to the coming of the Messiah to set up His kingdom. However, it can also refer to His first coming which could also be seen as a shaking of all nations (see Acts 17:1-6). Again, as “the Lord of hosts” God also said that He will “fill this house with glory.” This no doubt is a reference to Christ’s first coming. His appearance in the temple at that time filled it with glory that the first temple never knew for God Himself was there in the flesh (see Luke 2:27; John 1:14). Note: These words from God were meant to encourage the Jews to continue the work of the temple by assuring them that the Lord, who is the God of nations, would in a short period of time (but in His own time) show His infinite power and bring about the overturning of world powers in preparation for the setting up of the Messiah’s millennial kingdom.
B. God will send greater glory (Haggai 2:8-9).
1. (vs. 8). In this verse Haggai continued to say “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.” God was saying that even if the people didn’t have the wealth needed to build a grand temple like Solomon’s, He did. The Lord had all the silver and gold required, so the people didn’t need to be discouraged about that. Note: God wanted the temple built and He had all the resources necessary even silver and gold. But what God needed was willing hands. God has chosen to do His work through people. He provides the resources, but willing hands must do the work. Every believer needs to ask themselves this question: Are my hands available for God’s work in this world?
2. (vs. 9). In our final verse God went on to say through Haggai “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.” Again speaking as “the Lord of hosts” who has the power and might to accomplish His purposes and keep His promises, God first said “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former.” This second temple is often referred to as Zerubbabel’s temple because he was one of the leaders in the rebuilding project. This was the same Temple that went through major remodeling under King Herod. This temple truly did receive greater glory than Solomon’s temple because Jesus visited it many times. This never happened to the first temple. The phrase “and in this place will I give peace” is another reference to the greater glory of the second temple because it experienced the presence of the “Prince of Peace” (see Isaiah 9:6). Note: It’s important to note that Zerubbabel’s temple, remodeled by Herod was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., so Haggai’s prophecy about this second temple will ultimately be fulfilled by the future millennial temple. For the Jews, rebuilding the temple was a spiritual work that would end with God’s future plan of the millennium.
V. Conclusion. In this week’s lesson God promised His people that He would be with them as they continued to rebuild the temple. They had no reason to be afraid. God has promised never to leave us nor forsake us (see Hebrews 13:5). Knowing this will empower us to do His will and lead to a successful spiritual life. In the Person of the Holy Spirit, God will be with us forever. We don’t need to fear outward circumstances or inner doubts because we can trust God’s promises.
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