Haggai 1:1-11; 2:5-9 - T. Constable Exposition
I. 1:1-11
A CALL TO BUILD THE TEMPLE CH. 1: This first main part of the book contains two oracles that warned the returnees of the consequences of allowing the temple to remain unfinished, two exhortations to act, and a promise of the Lord's help.
v. 1: In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying - Like Ezekiel, Jonah, and Zechariah, the Book of Haggai contains no formal title. Yahweh sent a message to Zerubbabel ("born in Babylon" or "seed of Babylon," an allusion to his birthplace) and Joshua ("Yahweh saves") through the prophet Haggai, though it went to all the Israelites too (Haggai 1:2; Haggai 1:4). Zerubbabel was the political governor (overseer) of the Persian province of Judah who had led the returnees back to the land (Ezra 2:2; et al.). He was the son of Shealtiel ("I have asked of God," Ezra 3:2; Ezra 3:8; Ezra 5:2; Nehemiah 12:1; et al) and the grandson of King Jehoiachin (Jeconiah), one of the descendants of King David (cf. 1 Chronicles 3:17-19; Matthew 1:12).
▪ Zerubbabel apparently had two fathers (1 Chronicles 3:17-19). Perhaps his other father, Pedaiah, was his uncle. If this was a levirate marriage (cf. Deuteronomy 25:5-10), Pedaiah would have married a woman and then died. Shealtiel, Pedaiah's brother, would then have married the widow who gave birth to Zerubbabel in place of Shealtiel, Zerubbabel's physical father. Another possibility is that Shealtiel adopted Zerubbabel after Pedaiah died. A third option is that one of these men was really a more distant ancestor of Zerubbabel, perhaps his grandfather.
▪ Joshua was the high priest of the restoration community and a descendant of Aaron. He was the son of Jehozadak, who had gone into Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C. (1 Chronicles 6:15; cf. Ezra 3:2; Ezra 3:8; Nehemiah 12:1; Nehemiah 12:8).
▪ The Lord gave Haggai this message on the first day of the sixth month in the second year that Darius I (Hystaspes) ruled as king over Persia. This was Elul 1 (August 29), 520 B.C. [Note: R. A. Parker and W. H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C.-A.D. 75, p. 30, established the equivalent modern (Julian) dates.] When the Israelites returned from exile in Babylon, they continued to follow the Babylonian calendar and began their years in the spring rather than in the fall (cf. Exodus 23:16; Exodus 34:22). Each new month began with a new moon, and the Israelites commonly celebrated the occasion with a new moon festival (cf. Numbers 28:11-15; Isaiah 1:14; Hosea 2:11). This first prophetic revelation that God gave in the Promised Land following the return from exile came on a day when most of the Israelites would have been in Jerusalem. The meaning of Haggai's name (festal, or festal one) was appropriate in view of when the Lord gave this first prophecy through him. The fact that the writer spoke of Haggai in the third person does not exclude Haggai himself from being the writer since this was a common literary device in antiquity. [Note: Taylor, p. 52.]
▪ In the historical books of the Old Testament, the writers usually dated the events in reference to a king of Judah or Israel, but the Jews had no king now. They were under the control of a Gentile ruler, in "the times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24; cf. Daniel 2; Zechariah 1:1). "The times of the Gentiles" are the times during which Israel lives under Gentile control. These times began when Judah lost her sovereignty to Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C., and they will continue until Messiah's second coming when He will restore sovereignty to Israel.
A. Haggai's First challenge 1:1-6
v. 2: "This is what the LORD of armies says: 'This people says, "The time has not come, the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt." - Haggai announced that his message came from Yahweh of armies, Almighty Yahweh. This title appears 14 times in Haggai and 265 times in the Hebrew Bible. "Yahweh" occurs 34 times in the 38 verses of Haggai. The Lord told Zerubbabel and Joshua that the Israelites were saying that the time was not right to rebuild the temple. By referring to them as "these people" rather than "my people," the Lord was distancing Himself from them. Construction on the temple had begun 16 years earlier but had ceased due to opposition from the Israelites' neighbors who were mostly Samaritans (Ezra 3:8-13; Ezra 4:1-5; Ezra 4:24).
▪ When the Jews considered resuming construction, most of them said it was not yet the right time. Contrast David's great desire to build a house for the Lord (2 Samuel 7:2). Their decision may have rested on the continuing threat from their neighbors. Or perhaps they felt that to finish the temple then would violate Jeremiah's prediction of a 70-year captivity (Jeremiah 25:11-12; Jeremiah 29:10). Another possibility is that they thought God Himself would finish it (Ezekiel 40-48). [Note: See R. G. Hamerton-Kelly, "The Temple and the Origins of Jewish Apocalyptic," Vetus Testamentum 20 (1976):12.]
▪ "To refuse to build the [Lord's] house was at best saying that it did not matter whether the Lord was present with them. At worst it was presuming on divine grace, that the Lord would live with his people even though they willfully refused to fulfill the condition of his indwelling that he had laid down." [Motyer, p. 974.]
▪ "The need to rebuild is urgent, because temples in their world are the center for administering the political, economic, judicial, social, and religious life of the nation. In other words, rebuilding I AM's temple would symbolize his rule over the life of his people and his prophesied rule of the world (cf. Zechariah 1:14-17)." [Note: Bruce K. Waltke, An Old Testament Theology, p. 846.] Today many Christians do not do God's will because they feel the time is not precisely right.
▪ "Too often we make excuses when we ought to be making confessions and obeying the Lord. We say, 'It's not time for an evangelistic crusade,' 'It's not time for the Spirit to bring revival,' 'It's not time to expand the ministry.' We act as though we fully understand 'the times and the seasons' that God has ordained for His people, but we don't understand them (Acts 1:6-7)." [Note: Warren W. Wiersbe, "Haggai," in The Bible Exposition Commentary/Prophets, p. 441.]
vv. 3-4: Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 "Is it time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses while this house remains desolate?" - Haggai then spoke to the people for the Lord, in this disputation speech, not just their leaders (Haggai 1:2). He rhetorically asked if it was proper for them to build their own houses but not rebuild His. They should have put the glory of their God ahead of their own comfort (cf. 2 Samuel 7:2; Philippians 2:21). Their priorities were upside down.
▪ "Their problem was not lack of goods but of good." [Note: Motyer, p. 977.]
▪ "Paneled houses" apparently describes quite luxurious homes, though the Hebrew word sapan ("paneled") can mean simply houses with roofs. Wooden paneling or plaster that covered the walls and possibly the ceilings seems to be in view.
▪ King Cyrus had provided the Jews with money to buy hardwood timber to rebuild the temple (Ezra 3:7; 1 Esdras 4:48; 1 Esdras 5:54). It appears that the restoration Jews had used this superior wood to build their own homes rather than to rebuild the temple.
▪ "Many Christians are like those ancient Hebrews, somehow convincing themselves that economy in constructing church buildings [or financing God's work] is all-important while at the same time sparing no expense in acquiring their personal luxuries." [Note: Alden, p. 581.]
▪ "Whereas the house of God today is no longer material but spiritual, the material is still a very real symbol of the spiritual. When the Church of God in any place in any locality is careless about the material place of assembly, the place of its worship and its work, it is a sign and evidence that its life is at a low ebb."
vv. 5-6: Now then, the LORD of armies says this: "Consider your ways! 6 You have sown much, only to harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but there is not enough for anyone to get warm; and the one who earns, earns wages to put into a money bag full of holes." - The Lord called "the people" to evaluate what they were doing in the light of their present situation (cf. Haggai 1:7; Haggai 2:15; Haggai 2:18 [twice]). They were not experiencing God's blessings very greatly. They sowed much seed but harvested only modest crops (cf. Haggai 1:10-11; Haggai 2:15-17; Haggai 2:19). The food and drink that they grew only met their minimal needs. They had so little fiber from which to make clothing that their clothes were very thin and did not keep them warm. Their purses seemed to have holes in them in the sense that the money they put in them disappeared before they could pay all their bills. This may be the first reference to coined money in the Bible. The Lydians in Asia Minor were the first to coin money, in the sixth century B.C., and there is archaeological evidence that there were coins in Palestine when Haggai wrote. [Note: See Ephraim Stern, Material Culture of the Land of the Bible in the Persian Period 538-332 B.C., pp. 215, 236; and idem, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. Vol. II: The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Periods, 732-332 BCE, pp. 558-59.] This was divine chastening for disobedience (cf. Leviticus 26:18-20; Deuteronomy 28:41). They should have put the Lord first.
▪ "An affluent generation of Christians that is wasting God's generous gifts on trivia and toys will have much to answer for when the Lord returns." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 445.]
B. Haggai's second challenge 1:7-11
vv. 7-8: The LORD of armies says this: "Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the]mountains, bring wood, and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be honored," says the LORD . - Again the Lord called the people to reflect thoughtfully on what they were doing (cf. Haggai 1:5). He urged them to go to the mountains where trees grew abundantly, to cut them down, and to continue rebuilding the temple (cf. Ezra 3:7). The completed temple would please and glorify Him.
▪ "The important thing is not the size or magnificence of the house, but the existence of it-that they want the indwelling God among them." [Note: Motyer, p. 977.]
▪ "The hills of Judah were well wooded in Old Testament times, and from Nehemiah 8:15 we know that olive, myrtle and palm were available. It was customary to set layers of wood in stone walls to minimize earthquake damage (cf. Ezra 5:8); this wood, and heavy timber, long enough to stretch from wall to wall of the Temple to support the roof, would probably have to be imported (Ezra 3:7)." [Note: Baldwin, p. 41.]
▪ "When work is gladly done in order to please God it also brings Him glory." [Note: Ibid.]
v. 9: "You start an ambitious project, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of armies. "It is because of My house which remains desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. - The Israelites had looked for much blessing from the Lord, but they had found very little. When they brought their grain home, the Lord blew it away. Apparently their grain was so light and small that much of it blew away with the chaff when they threshed it. The reason was clear. They had neglected the temple and had given all their time and energy to providing for themselves by building their own houses.
▪ There are six occurrences of the phrase "declares the LORD of hosts" in Haggai (Haggai 1:9; Haggai 2:4; Haggai 2:8-9; Haggai 2:23 [twice]) and six occurrences of the shorter phrase "declares the LORD" (Haggai 1:13; Haggai 2:4 [twice], 14, 17, 23). This is unusual for a book as short as Haggai. Obviously the writer wanted to emphasize the divine origin of his message to the people.
vv. 10-11: Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on mankind, on cattle, and on all the products of the labor of your hands." - The hot weather and poor harvests that the returned exiles were enduring were due to their selfish behavior (cf. Leviticus 26:19-20; Deuteronomy 28:22-24). Dew was the only form of moisture that plants enjoyed during the hot summer months, beside artificial irrigation, but even that was unavailable. The Lord had decreed drought that affected all their essential products and all aspects of their lives (cf. Deuteronomy 28:38).
▪ "Those who plan to give to God 'once they have enough for themselves' will never have enough for themselves!" [Note: Dyer, p. 816.]
C. A Promise of Future Glory for the Temple 2:5-9
v. 5: 'As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit remains in your midst; do not fear! - The Lord reiterated the promise He had made to the Israelites when they left Egypt in the Exodus. His Spirit would stay in their midst, so they did not need to fear (cf. Ex. 19:4-6; Ex. 33:14). The returnees could identify with their forefathers who departed from Egypt because they had recently departed from another captivity in Babylon. As the Lord had been with them in the cloudy pillar, so He was with them now. As David had encouraged Solomon to build the first temple with the promise that God would be with him (1 Chron. 28:20), so Haggai encouraged Zerubbabel and Joshua to build the second temple with the same promise.
"There must have been those who were theologically naive and doubted that God could be with them if the temple and the ark in particular were not intact.
▪ "Undoubtedly fear gripped many of the returnees-fear that God had written an eternal 'Ichabod' over Jerusalem, fear that no amount of praying or piety would induce him to bless them again, fear that the whole endeavor was in vain, fear that the political enemies would in fact win, fear that all was lost." [Alden, p. 585.]
v. 6: For this is what the LORD of armies says: 'Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. - The basis of their confidence and lack of fear was a promise from Almighty Yahweh. He would do again in the future what He had done at the Exodus and at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:16; Exodus 19:18; Psalms 68:8; Psalms 77:16-18). Shaking the heavens and the earth describes an earthquake, which was an evidence of the Lord's supernatural intervention (cf. Isaiah 2:12-21; Isaiah 13:13; Ezekiel 38:20; Amos 8:8). This will occur when Christ returns to the earth (Joel 3:16; Matthew 24:29-30).
▪ The writer of Hebrews quoted this verse in Hebrews 12:26. He then added that we who are in Christ have an unshakable kingdom that will endure the coming cosmic earthquake (Hebrews 12:28-29). Haggai's prophecy still awaits fulfillment.
▪ "The New Testament writer sees in Haggai's language an implicit contrast between the transitory nature of the old economy and the abiding permanence of the new economy that was initiated by the mission of Jesus."
v. 7: I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of armies. At the same time. - Almighty Yahweh would shake all the nations; His return will upset the political and governmental structures of the world (cf. Zechariah 14:1-4). The nations would bring their wealth to the Israelites, like the Egyptians gave their treasures to the departing Hebrews at the Exodus (cf. Exodus 3:21-22; Exodus 11:2-3; Exodus 12:35-36).
▪ Some English translations have "the desire of all nations will come." This "desire" could be an impersonal reference to the wealth that the nations desire (cf. Isaiah 60:5; Zechariah 14:14). Or this could be a personal reference. In this case it could be a messianic prophecy, which is why some translations capitalized "Desire." Charles Wesley followed this second interpretation when he wrote the Christmas hymn "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." "Come, Desire of nations, come! Fix in us Thy humble home. The Hebrew text does not solve the problem, which is interpretive. Perhaps the Lord was deliberately ambiguous and had both things in mind: the wealth of the nations and Messiah.
v. 8: 'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD of armies. - This verse seems to support the view that impersonal wealth is in view in Haggai 2:7. The Lord reminded the people that He controlled all the silver and gold in the world, so He could cause the nations to bring it to the temple in the future.
▪ "The point may well be that because all such things are His and are therefore not of value to Him, His own glory is what is central." [Note: Merrill, p. 41.]
▪ This reminder would have encouraged Haggai's contemporaries as they rebuilt the temple as well. God could bring more financial resources to them so they could glorify their presently modest temple.
v. 9: 'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the LORD of armies, 'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the LORD of armies." - Even though the present temple was less glorious than Solomon's temple, the Lord promised that the final glory of the temple would be greater than its former glory. The Lord also promised to bring peace to the site of the temple, Jerusalem. Neither of these things has happened yet, so the fulfillment must be future (millennial). Lasting peace will only come when Messiah returns to rule and reign (cf. Isaiah 2:4; Isaiah 9:6; Zechariah 9:9-10). Jesus Christ's adornment of the second temple, as renovated by Herod the Great, with His presence hardly seems to fulfill the exalted promises in this prophecy. [Note: Chisholm, "A Theology . . .," p. 421.]
▪ The Lord used the occasion of the feast of Tabernacles to encourage the builders of the temple in Haggai's day. This feast looked back to the Exodus, reminded the Israelites of their wilderness wanderings, and anticipated settlement in the Promised Land. This message also looked back to the Exodus, referred to the present temple construction, and anticipated the glory of the future temple.
EW Commentary - Hag. 1:1-11; 2:5-9
A. God rebukes the returning remnant for their misplaced priorities.
1. (1) Introduction.
1 In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
a. In the second year of King Darius: The prophecy of Haggai gives us several specific chronological marking points (Haggai 1:1, 1:15, 2:1, 2:10, 2:20). Here we learn that the prophecy began in September, 520 B.C.
i. This makes Haggai the first among the post-exilic Minor Prophets. Of the 12 Minor Prophets, the first 9 spoke before Judah was carried away captive, exiled to Babylon. The last 3 Minor Prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi) each spoke to those who returned from the 70-year exile.
ii. "Gone was the glory of the former kingdom and temple. Gone was the great population. All that was left was the rubble of Jerusalem, the remnant of the people, and the task of restoration." (Boice)
iii. In 538 B.C. Cyrus King of Persia allowed the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem after 70 years in captivity. Two years later (536 B.C.) construction on the temple began, led by Zerubbabel. The work stopped after two years (534 B.C.). After 14 years of neglect, work on the temple resumed in 520 B.C. and was finished four years later in 516 B.C. (Ezra 6:15).
iv. We notice the dates are reckoned by a pagan king because there was at that time no king over Israel. Yet the date was still important to God. "There is a set time for each of his messages to come to men, and God would have them give heed to every message as soon as it is delivered to them. If they do not, he keeps count of the days of their delay" (Spurgeon).
b. The word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet: In the difficult years of the return from exile God spoke to His people through the prophet Haggai.
i. Haggai is also mentioned twice in the Book of Ezra, the priest who oversaw the work of rebuilding the temple:
Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. So Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them, helping them. (Ezra 5:1-2)
So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. (Ezra 6:14)
ii. The name Haggai is probably an abbreviated form of the phrase, "Festival of Yahweh." Some speculate that he was born on the day of a major feast in Israel.
c. Zerubbabel... Joshua: Haggai introduced us to two leading figures in Jerusalem during these difficult days of rebuilding the temple. Zerubbabel was the governor of Jerusalem, and a descendant of the last legitimate ruler of Judah (Jechoniah). Joshua was the high priest.
2. (2) An excuse for not rebuilding the temple.
"This is what the LORD of armies says: 'This people says, "The time has not come, the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt."
a. The time has not come: Haggai gave this first word in September, 520 B.C. At that time the exiles had been back in Jerusalem for 18 years - but the work of rebuilding the temple laid idle for the last 14 years.
i. The work started gloriously: When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: "For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel." Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid (Ezra 3:10-11).
ii. Despite the glorious beginning, after two years the work stopped, mired in discouragement and derailed by a lack of focus. When Haggai prophesied the foundation to the temple was laid and the altar was rebuilt but the temple wasn't yet rebuilt.
b. This people says: God's people - the citizens of Jerusalem - told themselves that it wasn't yet time to resume work on the temple. There were some good reasons why they might say this, and why the work of rebuilding the temple was hard:
· The land was still desolate after 70 years of neglect.
· The work was hard.
· They didn't have a lot of money (Haggai 1:6) or manpower.
· They suffered crop failures and drought (Haggai 1:10-11).
· Hostile enemies resisted the work (Ezra 4:1-5).
· They remembered easier times in Babylon.
c. The time has not come, the time that the LORD's house should be built: The people made their excuse sound spiritual. They couldn't speak against the idea of building the temple, so they spoke against its timing. They said, "It isn't God's timing to rebuild the temple."
i. Because of the great obstacles against the work, God's people began to rationalize and decided that it wasn't time to rebuild after all. "If it's so hard, evidently, God doesn't want us to do it - at least no time soon."
ii. They may have said "the time has not come" because they thought that the 70 years of captivity mentioned in Jer. 25:11-13 and 29:10 had not yet been fulfilled. According to Usher's chronology of these events, they were in the 69th year since the last siege of Jerusalem. Even in this, the people of God lacked faith. There were three "waves" of captivity - 605 B.C., 597 B.C., and 587 B.C. In Daniel's prayer in Daniel 9, he was bold enough to ask God to take the earliest starting point to determine the 70 years - and God did. Unbelief made these returned captives think that God's mercy might not come to Israel until 18 years later.
d. This people: We never like to hear God speak to His people this way - saying, "this people" instead of "My people." He said this because He saw their excuses and their poor priorities and noticed that they were not living like His people.
i. We should remember that these weren't "bad people." They were the remnant that returned from Babylon. Hundreds of thousands of people went into the Babylonian captivity and only about 50,000 returned. Those who did were the most committed to the LORD and to the restoration of Jerusalem.
3. (3-4) Haggai exposes their wrong priorities.
3 Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 "Is it time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses while this house remains desolate?"
a. Then the word of the LORD came: God saw and heard their excuses and poor priorities - and He had something to say to them through Haggai the prophet.
b. It is time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses: The people said that it wasn't time to rebuild the temple, but their actions said that it was time to live in nicely rebuilt houses.
i. "Solomon first built a house for God, and then for himself." (Trapp)
c. And this temple to lie in ruins: This was the real problem - not that God's people lived in paneled houses, but that they lived in such personal comfort and luxury while the temple was in ruins.
i. The problem was simply wrongly ordered priorities. They were content to let the cause of the Lord suffer at the expense of their comfort. Instead, they should have felt no rest until the work of God was as prosperous as their personal lives, and been as willing to sacrifice for work of God as they were for their personal comfort and luxury.
ii. It is easy to see how this happened over 14 years. At first the work is stopped because it is so difficult and some obstacle in the construction prevented progress.
· "We can't get much done at the temple, and I'm tired of living in a wreck. Time to start the remodel at home."
· "God wants me to give attention to things at home - home comes first."
· "I would fund more construction at the temple but all my money is tied up with my home renovation."
· "I'm not living extravagantly - look at the other houses in my neighborhood! Look at the chariots in their driveway!"
· "Someone should get to work on the temple. I hope someone steps up to the job - I've got to finish paneling my living room."
· "The temple hasn't been open for business for well more than 50 years - a little while longer won't matter."
· "This isn't the right time - later will be better."
· "The altar is there and we can at least sacrifice to the LORD. We're getting by."
iii. The excuses sound familiar - but God saw through them in the days of Haggai, and He sees through similar excuses today. The prophet Haggai was like an alarm clock: unwelcome but necessary.
iv. "Many Christians are like those ancient Hebrews, somehow convincing themselves that economy in constructing church buildings is all-important while at the same time sparing no expense in acquiring their personal luxuries." (Alden)
v. Houses: "It seems to intimate some of them had more than one house, a city and a country house, and whilst God's house lay waste; they thus lavish out their wealth on private worldly conveniences, but grudge their charge against God's house... Do you owe so much to yourselves, and so little to your God?"
4. (1:5-6) Consider your ways and the result of them.
5 Now then, the LORD of armies says this: "Consider your ways! 6 You have sown much, only to [c]harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but there is not enough for anyone to get warm; and the one who earns, earns wages to put into a money bag full of holes."
a. Consider your ways: The Hebrew figure of speech for this phrase is literally "put your heart on your roads." Haggai asks God's people to consider what direction their life was headed, and if they really wanted it to continue that way.
b. You have sown much, and bring in little: The cause of their financial difficulties was their wrong priorities. They suffered setback after setback because the blessing of God wasn't on their pocketbook.
i. Haggai describes a double curse. Instead of much, little was reaped; and the little that was brought home melted away without doing any good (earns wages to put into a bag with holes). "I do not know of any passage in the Bible that better describes the feverish yet ineffective activity of our own age" (Boice).
ii. These judgments were a fulfillment of promises God made hundreds of years before in the time of Moses (Deuteronomy 11:16-17). The people of Israel were being judged and they didn't even know it - they probably wrote it all off as bad luck or tough economic times, but God was trying to tell them something.
iii. Sometimes our priorities are out of order and we seem to suffer no financial hardship. In such times we should never presume on the mercy of God - we should turn to Him and re-order our priorities before He needs to use crisis to get through to us.
c. You drink, but you are not filled with drink: If our priorities are wrong, nothing will satisfy us. Each accomplishment soon reveals that there must be something more, something that can really satisfy, Nothing fills the God-shaped void in our life except putting Him first.
i. "Had your little been as the righteous man's little, you might have lived on it, and rejoiced in it; but it had not such a blessing upon it; it was blasted, and so was weak, and empty, and profited little." (Poole)
5. (1:7-11) What they must do: rebuild the temple.
7 The LORD of armies says this: "Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains, bring wood, and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be honored," says the LORD . 9 "You start an ambitious project, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of armies. "It is because of My house which remains desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld [i]its dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on mankind, on cattle, and on all the products of the labor of your hands."
a. Go up to the mountains and bring wood: God called them to work. Sometimes God's cause needs work, work that is supported by prayer, not work that is neglected because of pretended spiritual service.
i. It was work to be embraced by individuals without thinking, "Someone else will do it." When David Livingstone applied to a missionary society in Scotland because he wanted to bring Jesus to Africa they told him, "Young man, when God sees fit to evangelize Africa He will do it without your help." This is not the case at all - God will do it, and He wants and often will wait for our participation.
b. That I may take pleasure in it and be glorified: It was time for God's people to start being concerned with pleasing Him instead of themselves. In their nice houses and prosperous lives they took pleasure and were glorified; now it was the LORD's turn. God was also telling them to do it with the right kind of heart; a heart that wanted to please and glorify God
c. You looked for much, but indeed it came to little: When God was neglected, nothing worked right. They were able to accomplish some things (like building their own houses), but it didn't bring the satisfaction that it should have.
d. For I called for a drought on the land: We can imagine the people of God depressed and discouraged because of the drought. They thought it was all an attack of Satan, and they prayed fervently against what they said was Satan's plot. Yet it wasn't Satan's doing at all, but it was the LORD who called for a drought on the land. The problem wasn't Satan, but their priorities.
e. On the grain and the new wine and the oil: Because they neglected the LORD, He neglected to bless their three basic crops.
2. (2:5) Carry on the work in strength and assurance.
5 'As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit remains in your midst; do not fear!'
b. As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt. The same God that did great things in the past was among them today, so they could be encouraged.
i. "Undoubtedly fear gripped many of the returnees - fear that God had written an eternal 'Ichabod' over Jerusalem" (Alden)
c. My Spirit remains among you: Under the Old Covenant the Holy Spirit was among the people. Under the New Covenant He would be in God's people.
3. (2:6-9) Why the rebuilt temple will be more glorious than the temple of Solomon.
6 For this is what the LORD of armies says: 'Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of armies. 8 'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the Lord of armies. 9 'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the LORD of armies, 'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the LORD of armies."
a. Once more... I will shake heaven and earth: This is the only portion of Haggai quoted in the New Testament (Hebrews 12:26). It announces God's intention to shake the present order in His coming day of judgment.
b. They shall come to the Desire of All Nations: Through the centuries, most see this as a prophecy of the Messiah coming to this temple rebuilt in the days of Haggai and Ezra. This understanding began with the ancient rabbis and continued among Christians, and fits in well with the promise of filling the temple with glory.
i. Some point out that this word for Desire can also be translated treasures. We know that the Gentiles will bring tribute to the LORD in the Millennium (Isaiah 60:5) - but that won't bring treasure to this temple that was rebuilt in the days of Ezra and Haggai.
ii. The true Desire of All Nations is Jesus, even if the nations themselves do not know it. "He is the one, the true Reformer, the true rectifier of all wrong, and in this respect the desire of all nations. Oh! if the world could gather up all her right desire; if she could condense in one cry all her wild wishes; if all true lovers of mankind could condense their theories and extract the true wine of wisdom from them; it would just come to this, we want an Incarnate God, and you have got the Incarnate God! Oh! Nations, but ye know it not! Ye, in the dark, are groping after him, and know not that he is there" (Spurgeon).
iii. Knowing that Jesus is the Desire of All Nations also encourages our missionary work. "Brethren, I may add, Christ is certainly the desire of all nations in this respect, that we desire him for all nations. Oh! That the world were encompassed in his gospel! Would God the sacred fire would run along the ground, that the little handful of corn on the top of the mountains would soon make its fruit to shake like Lebanon. Oh! When will it come, when will it come that all the nations shall know him? Let us pray for it: let us labor for it" (Spurgeon).
c. "The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine," says the LORD of hosts: They didn't need to be discouraged if they didn't have money for the building project. They had to boldly trust the God who owned every resource, and then give generously.
i. When we really trust God, we will give generously. Hudson Taylor, the groundbreaking missionary to the interior regions of China in the second half of the nineteenth century experienced this principle early in his life. As a young man he preached in boarding houses in the poor slums of London. A poor man asked Taylor to come back to his room and pray for his wife who suffered complications from childbirth was near death. The man had no money at all, and couldn't afford to pay a priest to come and perform last rites. Taylor went to the man's room and found the heartbreaking situation - several children, the afflicted mother and a three-day-old baby living in absolute filth and squalor, with absolutely no food or money. Taylor knew he had a $20 coin in his pocket that would meet their needs, but it was all the money he had in the world himself. He began to speak to the family about God when the Lord spoke to his own heart: "You hypocrite! Telling these unconverted people about a kind and loving Father in heaven, and not prepared yourself to trust him without your $20." Taylor wished that he had two $10 pieces, and he would gladly have given them one - but all he had was one $20 coin. He was taken aback, but decided to lead the family in the Lord's Prayer. As soon as he said the words "Our Father," the Lord convicted him of his hypocrisy again. He struggled through the prayer under tremendous conviction and then gave the father the $20 piece. That provision saved the life of the mother and rescued the family.
ii. The lesson is plain. Knowing God provides should make us more generous, instead of less generous ("I don't have to give to their need, because God will provide for them some other way").
d. The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former: The glory of this temple was in fact greater. First, Herod remodeled this second temple into something greater than Solomon's temple. Second, the LORD of Glory - Jesus - personally visited it and worshipped there.
i. "Because Christ shall appear and preach in it, who is the brightness of his Father's glory." (Trapp)
ii. Some scholars speculate that Herod remodeled the temple with the intent of fulfilling the glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former, so that he might fulfill it instead of the Messiah.
e. And in this place I will give peace: The promised peace is shalom. It means far more than stopping conflict - it is the establishment of a lasting, righteous, good.
Hag. 1:1-11; 2-5-9 - Extra Commentary
Chapter 1:
It is believed, by many scholars, that Haggai the prophet was born during the Babylonian captivity. In 539 B.C. Babylon fell and the Jews returned to Israel. One of the first projects was the rebuilding of the temple. They laid the foundation, and problems arose with the neighboring people. They stopped construction on the temple.
God raised up Haggai and Zechariah to prophesy to them of the need of rebuilding the temple. In Ezra's time, they began again to rebuild the temple.
Verses 1-11: Discouraged by the opposition of her neighbors (Ezra 4:1-5, 24), the people had wrongly concluded that it was not yet time for them to rebuild the temple (verse 2).
With a biting query, the Lord reminded them that it was not right for them to live in paneled houses while the temple lay in ruins (verse 4), and urged them to consider carefully the consequences of their indifference (verses 5-11).
Haggai 1:1 "In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,"
"Second year of Darius the king": Not to be confused with Darius the Mede (Dan. 5:31). Darius became king of Persia (in 521 B.C.), having ascended to the throne after the death of Cambyses.
As an officer of Cambyses and the great-grandson of Cyrus the Great's brother, Darius retained the loyalty of the Persian army and thereby defeated other contenders for the throne. He reigned until his death (in 486 B.C.).
"Darius" refers to Darius I (Hystaspis), the ruler of Persia (from 521 to 486 B.C.). The "sixth month" was the month of Elul (and corresponds to August 29, 520 B.C.).
"Zerubbabel" was the governor of Judah, and was the leader recognized by the Jews. He was a descendant of "Shealtiel" and was the grandson of Jehoiachin, (Jeconiah in Matthew 1:12; 1 Chron. 3:17, 19), and thus he was in the Davidic line.
Though it is highly questionable if he is to be identified with Sheshbazzar (Ezra 1:8, 11; 5:14, 16), his role as civil leader (Ezra 2:2), and overseer of the temple rebuilding project (Zech. 4:6-10), is certain.
(In 1 Chronicles 3:17-19), Zerubbabel's father is listed as Pedaiah, the brother of Shealtiel. Apparently Salathiel died without a son and his brother "Pedaiah," married his widow and gave birth to "Zerubbabel. The purpose of such a levirate marriage was to maintain the dead husband's line; hence Zerubbabel was legally the son of Salathiel.
Shealtiel was cursed by God (in Jeremiah 22:4), and could not be in the line of Jesus. He ruled only 3 months and 10 days (2 Chron. 36:9; in 598-597 B.C.), and was taken into captivity, where he lived out his life.
Zerubbabel reestablished the Davidic throne, even though it will not again be occupied until the time of Messiah (Psalm 2:110).
The high priest, "Joshua," was "the son of Josedech" (also known as Jozadak (Ezra 3:2); and as Jehozadak (1 Chron. 6:15), who had been the "High Priest" at the time Judah was carried captive into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.
Spelled Jeshua (in Ezra 3), Joshua was a descendant of Zadok (1 Chron. 6:15), and the religious leader of the exilic community that returned to Jerusalem. He reestablished the high-priestly line of Aaron through Eleazar.
Haggai addresses the civil and the religious representatives of the people, so as to have them as his associates in giving God's commands. Thus priest, prophet, and ruler jointly testify in God's name.
It appears that Haggai had returned to Judah by permission of Cyrus in the first year of the reign of Darius. Zerubbabel was reigning as governor of Judah at this time.
God sent the message by Haggai to Zerubbabel, because he was in charge. Joshua was the High Priest at the time and the message was sent to him also. Zerubbabel was descended from the family of David, and Joshua was descended from Aaron.
Verses 2-6: "Ceiled houses" refers to ceilings paneled with fine woods. Such a practice was common for the residences of kings (1 Kings 7:7; Jer. 22:14). In contrast, the Lord's house lay in ruins.
The command, "Consider your ways," is issued five times throughout the course of this prophecy (verses 5, 7, 2:15, 18). It is a plea on the part of God for the people to take note of what they are doing, and amend their ways accordingly.
Haggai 1:2 "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built."
"This people say": Haggai begins his message by quoting a popular expression of the people, saying it was not time to build the temple. Though propelled by the hostile opposition of their neighbors (Ezra 4:1-5, 24), and the lack of economic prosperity (verses 9-11), the roots of their reluctance lay ultimately in their selfish indifference to the Lord.
God's displeasure is noted in His reference to them as "This people" and not "My people." They wanted their wealth for themselves, not a temple.
We noted earlier, that the return of Judah, had immediately built the foundation for the temple in Jerusalem. That really was as far as they got. The opposition of neighbors, and excuses pertaining to their own homes being built, stopped them from going any further.
They kept putting of the building of the Lord's house, saying, the time was not right. God now sends them a message by Haggai, showing His displeasure at their attitude.
Haggai 1:3 "Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,"
And the word of the Lord came. "Before, he prophesied nothing, but only recited the saying of the people. Now he refutes it in his prophecy, and repeats, again and again, that he says this not of himself, but from the mind and mouth of God."
It is characteristic of Haggai to inculcate thus frequently, that his words are not his own, but the words of God. Yet "the prophets, both in their threats and prophecies, repeat again and again, "Thus saith the Lord." Teaching us, how we should prize the word of God, hang upon it, have it ever in our mouth, reverence, ruminate on, utter, praise it, make it our continual delight."
Again, it is emphasized that the message, coming from the mouth of Haggai, was really the Word of the Lord.
Haggai 1:4 "(Is it) time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house (lie) waste?"
"This house lie waste" (see Ezra 3:1-13), for the start of the second temple. Selfish indulgence, revealed by the prophet's rhetorical query, demonstrated their hypocrisy and misplaced priorities. Walls and ceilings overland with cedar were common in wealthy residences (1 Kings 7:3, 7; Jeremiah 22:14).
They had not followed the following Scripture:
Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
They were more concerned with their own homes, than they were in the house of God. They should have built the temple first.
Haggai 1:5 "Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways."
"Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts": The Lord God omniscient and omnipotent, that saw all their actions, and could punish for them; since they were so careful of their own houses, and adorning them, and so careless of his house. He would have them now sit down, and seriously think of these things, and of what he should further observe unto them.
"Consider your ways": Their sinful ways, and repent of them, and forsake them. Particularly their ingratitude before observed; and their civil ways, their common ways of life. Their labor, work, and business, they were continually employed in. And observe the event of them; what success they had, what these issued in.
Whether there were not some visible tokens of the divine displeasure on them, which rendered all their attempts to support and enrich themselves and families vain, and of no effect. And they would do well to consider to what all this was to be imputed; whether it was not chiefly owing to this, their neglect of the house of God.
And this he would have considered, not in a slight cursory way; but with great earnestness, diligence, and application of mind. "Put", or "set your hearts upon your ways"; so it may be literally rendered.
They have just been released from 70 years of captivity in Babylon, because of their indifference to God. Now, they are doing the same things all over again. Perhaps, they should consider what they are doing. It is as if God is questioning whether they have really changed or not.
Haggai 1:6 "Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages (to put it) into a bag with holes."
Using 5 pairs of poetic contrasts, each concluding essentially the same thing, Haggai painted a vivid picture of their economic and social distress. Their selfish lack of concern for God's house had only caused them more hardship (Matt. 6:33). This was Solomon's message in Ecclesiastes, restated, "All is vanity."
Their labors are not blessed of God. Because of their selfishness, they have not given anything to God for Him to multiply back to them. They labor, but in vain.
Malachi 3:9-11 " Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, (even) this whole nation." "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that (there shall) not (be room) enough (to receive it)." "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts."
They had already forgotten that God blesses their generosity, not their greed.
Haggai 1:7 "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; consider your ways."
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways": What they have been; what has been the consequence of them; and to what the above things are to be ascribed. This exhortation is repeated, to impress it the more upon their minds; and to denote the importance of it, and the necessity of such a conduct (see Haggai 1:5).
This is another warning to examine their actions, and see whether they are pleasing to God, or not. Haggai says, "You had better consider what you are doing".
Haggai 1:8 "Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord."
"Go up ... bring wood ...build": Three imperatives give the remedy for their trouble. The long captivity of 70 years had let the forests grow so there was ample wood. They were to use it to rebuild the house of the Lord, and therein He would be glorified. By putting God first, He would then be honored in their worship and they would be blessed in the secondary matters of life.
Compare this pitiful project (Ezra 3:12; Hag. 2:3), to the opulence of Solomon's first temple (1 Chron. chapters 28 and 29; and 2 Chron. chapters 2 to 6).
There was much wood in the very close proximity of the temple area. They could get the wood to build the temple there. God would be pleased with their building. It would not have to have the cedars of Lebanon. When they build the house of the Lord first, it glorifies God and man.
Haggai 1:9 "Ye looked for much, and, lo, (it came) to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? Saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that (is) waste, and ye run every man unto his own house."
"Run every man unto his own house": Because the Jews were zealous to pursue their own interests, the prophet drew a contrast between the one who eagerly ran to care for "his own house," while disregarding God's house ("My house").
God did not bless them, because they had forgotten Him. The temple was for God, and for man. It was a place of fellowship. God loved these people. He wanted to be near them. They wanted a rich harvest, but they had forgotten who sent the big harvest. They hurried and built their own houses, but forgot about God's house.
It had been over 15 years since they had put the foundation of the house down, and they had not built upon it. It is as if they have forgotten God.
Verses 10-11: Economic catastrophe, resulting from God's withholding of the summer dew, was the price for their disobedience (Deut. 7:13). Grain, wine, and oil were the primary crops of the land. Cattle also languished because of the absence of spiritual health (Joel 1:18-20).
Haggai 1:10 "Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed (from) her fruit."
"Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew": It appears from the following verse that God had sent a drought upon the land, which threatened them with scarcity and famine.
God will not send the dew they need, or multiply their fruit. Until they build Him His house. It is a sin of omission. They have omitted the worship of God from their lives.
Leviticus 26:19 " And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:"
Haggai 1:11 "And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon (that) which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands."
"And I called for a drought upon the land": God called to the people and they would not hear. It is His ever-repeated complaint to them. "I called unto you, and ye would not hear." He called to His inanimate creatures to punish them, and "they" obeyed.
So Elisha tells the woman, whose son he had restored to life:
2 Kings 8:1 "The Lord hath called for a famine, and it shall also come upon the land seven years."
Seven year famines were known in the ancient Near East (see Gen. 41:29-32).
"And upon men": In that the drought was oppressive to man. The prophet may also allude to the other meaning of the word, "waste," "desolation." They had left the house of the Lord "waste," therefore God called for waste and desolation upon them.
The only times these people reach out to God, is when they are in need. It sounds a bit like us, doesn't it? God will bring the drought to get them to repent, and do their first work. The drought cuts off food for man and beast. Their labor will be in vain. Without rain, nothing will grow.
Chapter 2:
Haggai 2:5 "[According to] the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not."
Spoken at the close of the feast commemorating God's provision during the wilderness wanderings, His covenant commitment and the promise that His Spirit would be with them as "when you came out of Egypt" would be most reassuring (1445 B.C.). He had not forgotten them over the last 9 centuries (Exodus 33:14).
"My Spirit": The third Person of the Triune Godhead (Num. 11:16-17).
Exodus 29:46 "And they shall know that I [am] the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I [am] the LORD their God."
If they were faithful and kept the commandments of God, God would bless them abundantly. If they did not obey God then curses would come upon them. The building of this temple showed they wanted God to be their God. He will bless them for their love of Him. He will be their God, and dwell with them. The following Scripture is what God wanted all along.
Revelation 21:3 "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God."
Verses 6-7: "I will shake": The shaking of the cosmic bodies and the nations goes beyond the historical removal of kingdoms and the establishment of others, such as the defeat of Persia by Greece (Dan. 7).
Rather, the text looks to the cataclysm in the universe described in Revelation (chapters 6-19), the subjugation of the nations by the Messiah, and the setting up of His kingdom which will never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44; 7:27; Zechariah 14:16-21; Matthew 25:32; Luke 21:26; Hebrews 12:26; Rev. 19:19-21).
Haggai 2:6 "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];"
For the further encouragement of the builders of the temple, they are told, from the Lord of hosts that in a little time, when such circumstances should meet as are here pointed at, the Messiah should come, and appear in this house, giving it a greater glory than even Solomon's temple had.
For that this passage is to be understood of the Messiah and his times is clear from the apostle's application of it, (Heb. 12:25). Even the ancient Jews themselves understood it of the Messiah.
Yet once, or, "once more", as the apostle in the above place quotes which suggests that the Lord had before done something of the kind, that follows. Shaking the heavens, etc. as at the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. And would do the same again; and more abundantly in the times of the Gospel, or of the Messiah.
Bishop Chandler renders the words, "after one kingdom (the Grecian), it is a little while; (or after that), I will shake all the heavens", etc. And though it was five hundred years from this prophecy to the incarnation of Christ: yet this was but a little while with God, with whom a thousand years are as one day.
And indeed with men it was but a short time, when compared with the first promise of his coming at the beginning of the world. Or with the shaking of the earth at the giving of the law, soon after Israel came out of Egypt.
"And I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land": Which either intends the changes and revolutions made in the several kingdoms and nations of the world, between this prophecy and the coming of Christ.
Which soon began to take place. For the Persian monarchy, now flourishing, was quickly shook and subdued by the Grecians. And in a little time the Grecian monarchy was destroyed by the Romans.
I believe the Scripture above has jumped over, until the time when Jesus will destroy the evil of all nations, and He will reign in Jerusalem as King. Just before Jesus sets up His kingdom, there will be a terrible calamity upon the earth.
Matthew 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:"
In God's time table of all of eternity, it was but a little time.
Haggai 2:7 "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."
"Desire of all nations": While some view the phrase as referring to Jerusalem (e.g., Ezra 6:3-9), it seems preferable to see a reference here to the Messiah. The Deliverer for who all the nations ultimately long.
"I will fill this house with glory": This is no Scripture to indicate that God's glory ever did come to Zerubbabel's temple, as the first temple was filled with the Shekinah glory (1 Kings 8:10-11; 2 Chron. 5:13-14). However, His glory will fill the millennial temple (Ezekiel 43:5).
This glorification cannot refer to Christ's physical presence in Herod's temple, for the events (of verses 6-9), cannot be accounted for historically. The context speaks of the establishment of His earthly, Davidic, millennial kingdom and His presence in the temple during that kingdom.
The temple in Jerusalem will be restored to its greatness at that time. The nations of the world had been worshipping false gods. God will shake them to the point; they will give up the worship of false gods that cannot help them.
Luke 21:10-11 "Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:" "And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven."
Read the rest of this chapter (in Luke), to get the full impact. They will turn to the One, True, Living God who can help them. The glory of God will rest in the temple in Jerusalem. God wins the victory over the entire world system. Jesus will reign as King of kings.
Haggai 2:8 "The silver [is] mine, and the gold [is] mine, saith the LORD of hosts."
"Silver ... gold": Economically destitute, the people were reassured that He is the possessor of all things (Psalm 50:12).
Everything we know belongs to God. "Silver" spiritually means redemption, and "gold" means the purity of God. From the physical and the spiritual standpoint, silver and gold belong to God.
Haggai 2:9 "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."
"The glory of this latter house": The Jews viewed the temple in Jerusalem as one temple existing in different forms at different times. The rebuilt temple was considered a continuation of Solomon's temple (verse 3).
However, the eschatological glory of the millennial temple, i.e., the latter temple, will far surpass even the grandeur of Solomon's temple (the former temple; see Ezekiel chapters 40-48 for the detailed description of the millennial temple).
This refers to Christ's physical presence in the second temple (greatly modified by Herod).
Ezekiel (chapters 10 and 11), had earlier witnessed the departure of God's glory from Solomon's temple, prior to its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar.
Although the builders of the second temple prayed for the Shekinah glory to return, there is no record that it ever did. This prophecy would be fulfilled only in the return of that glory in the embodiment of Jesus Christ. Of whom His disciples said, "and we beheld his glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father" (John 1:14).
"I will give peace": This peace is not limited to that peace which He gives to believers (Rom. 5:1), but looks ahead to that ultimate peace when He returns to rule as the Prince of Peace upon the throne of David in Jerusalem (Isa. 9:6-7; Zech. 6:13; Acts 2:30).
This is saying that the latter house will be more glorious than the one Solomon had built. One greater than Solomon will reign, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the King of peace, and He brings perfect peace to all the earth.
2 Thessalonians 3:16 "Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord [be] with you all."
The glory of the Lord filled Solomon's temple, when he dedicated it to God. The glory that will be in this temple is the continual presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
