Both Haggai and Zechariah throw light on the year 520 and after, when the rebuilding of the Temple was commenced. Haggai was shocked to find that nearly twenty years after Cyrus had allowed the exiles to return, the Temple was still in a ruined state. His description of the poverty of the community (1:6) suggests that the people were too occupied in scraping a bare living to be concerned about it. They used the foundations for sacrifice anyway and were used to seeing them in their burned-out and damaged state. Haggai, however, felt that if they made the effort to rebuild the Temple, God would reward them with the fruits of the earth and the book of Malachi records such blessings in vivid description as if God had opened the windows of heaven. God told Haggai that it would be greater than the old temple. For a detailed description of the Temple read Ezekiel 41-48.
Experiencing the Greater Glory of the Latter House
Haggai 2:1
In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,
On 17th of October the LORD spoke to Haggai the prophet. He said, ‘Speak now to:
- Zerubbabel; he is leader of Judah and son of Shealtiel
- Joshua; he is the High Priest and the son of Jehozadak
- The remnant of the people also.
Say this to them.
Cross References
- 2Pe 1:21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Haggai 2:2
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,
Cross References
- Neh 8:9 Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law.
Haggai 2:3
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?
Four years later when the Temple spoken about by Ezekiel is finally built it was greater than the Temple that Solomon built.
Cross References
- Ezr 3:12 Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy;
- Zec 4:9-10 "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. "For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel--these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth."
- Mat 24:1-2 And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down."
Haggai 2:4
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.
Only on the last day accounted for in this brief book did Haggai get back to the subject of harvests. He said that God wanted his people to "give careful thought" again─this time to the dramatic difference they would see in their harvests now that they had put God first. "From this day on I will bless you," God said through Haggai (2:18-19).
Cross References
- Jos 1:6 "Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
- Zec 8:9 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built.
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.
This is what we agreed upon when you came out of Egypt.
Cross References
- Exo 29:45-46 "And I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. "And they shall know that I am the LORD their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the LORD their God.
- Exo 33:14 And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest."
- Isa 63:11-14 Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them, Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, Who divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name...
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;
In the construction industry scaffolding is built around a building and when the building is completed the scaffolding is removed. Likewise, when nations have served their purposes they are dismantled. In Amos you will note the destruction of many nations that were ripe for destruction.
Cross References
- Hag 2:21 "Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah saying, 'I am going to shake the heavens and the earth.
- Heb 12:26-28 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN." And this expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
- Mat 24:29,30 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT... and the powers of the heavens will be shaken...
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.
God can and does shake all nations by changing their leaders and by changing their form of government, often this is done by wars. In my commentary of Amos you will see that nation after nation suffered wars and some were exterminated.
Cross References
- Eze 21:27 'A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I shall make it. This also will be no more, until He comes whose right it is; and I shall give it to Him.'
- Dan 2:44 "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed...
- 1Ki 8:11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.
Haggai 2:8
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
Probably the people were wandering where the gold would come from since it would take tons to restore the temple.
Cross References
- 1Ki 6:20-34 And the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length... and he overlaid it with pure gold... And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished.
- 1Ch 29:16 "O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build Thee a house for Thy holy name, it is from Thy hand, and all is Thine.
- Isa 60:17 "Instead of bronze I will bring gold, And instead of iron I will bring silver...
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.
While Ezekiel was in exile he wrote about the new Temple that was to be built by the returning exiles. The complete description is detailed in Ezekiel chapters 41-48
Haggai 2:10
In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Haggai said that God had glorious plans for Israel, plans that would shake the whole earth. But he referred to God's presence with them and how all nations would come to this temple.
Haggai 2:11
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
It was the business of the priests to know what the law said. They were not to ask what their opinion was but rather what the law said.
Haggai 2:12-14
If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
The answer was no. This means a good person cannot make another person good. Only God can make someone good. But a bad person can make another person bad! This is what verse 13 means. God says that some Jews are bad. They make the other Jews bad by their association. Holiness is not infectious. "One bad apple spoils the barrel," the saying goes; but one good apple doesn't clean up the rotten ones. In a similar vein, Haggai asked, "Which is contagious, good or evil?" In the Old Testament law, he found that consecrated meat─set aside to be used in sacrificial worship─did not "spread" its holiness. But a person who became "unclean" did spread his or her defilement. Under the Old Testament law, evil spread, but goodness did not. The Israelites' failure to rebuild the temple had defiled everything they touched even their good deeds.
Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
To understand this, think about water. If you put dirty water into clean water, it will all be dirty. If you put clean water into dirty water, it will still all be dirty.
Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
Cross References
- Exo 29:37 "For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
- Mat 23:19 "You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering?
Haggai 2:15-16
And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD: Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.
They are asked to ponder the past and lay it to their hearts so that their course in the future would be different. Now, think again about this. Think, before you build one stone on another in the temple of the LORD. When you came for 20 bushels of corn there were only 10. And when you came for 50 wineskins of wine there were only 20.
Cross References
- Zec 8:10-12 'For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for animal... 'But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,' declares the LORD of hosts.
- Mal 2:2 "If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name," says the LORD of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you...
Haggai 2:17
I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.
I hit you with blight, mildew and hail. I did this to all your work, but you did not turn to me. This is what the LORD says.
Cross References
- Deu 28:22 "The LORD will smite you with consumption... and with blight and with mildew...
- Amo 4:9 "I smote you with scorching wind and mildew... Yet you have not returned to Me," declares the LORD.
Haggai 2:18
Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider it.
Cross References
- Deu 32:29 "Would that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would discern their future!
- Luk 15:17-20 "But when he came to his senses, he said... 'I will get up and go to my father...'
- Ezr 6:14 And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo.
Haggai 2:19
Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
Cross References
- Hab 3:17-18 Though the fig tree should not blossom... Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
- Lev 26:3-13 'If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season...
- Psa 128:1-6 How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways.
Haggai 2:20-22
And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth. And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.
This tells us that God is king of history! History is the story of the world. God decides what will happen. And he decides what will not happen. I will knock down the kings of the earth. I will destroy the strong *kingdoms of the world. I will destroy their arms and those that use them. Their soldiers will fall from their horses. They will fight each other.
Cross References
- Psa 46:6 The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted.
- Dan 2:34-35 "You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
- Zec 14:3 Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.
Haggai 2:23
In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.
Some 78 years before, King Jehoiachin had been captured and taken to Babylon. God had rejected him: "Even if you, Jehoiachin . . . , were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off" (Jeremiah 22:24). But now his grandson Zerubbabel had come back to Jerusalem, chosen again as the Lord's "signet ring." Such a ring was used in place of a signature, to impress the king's seal on important documents. God had accepted men from the royal line of David as his chosen leaders again. The complete fulfillment of this prophecy would have to wait for Zerubbabel descendant Jesus, a son of David who fully imprinted God's image on humanity.
Cross References
- Jer 22:24 "As I live," declares the LORD, "even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off;
- Isa 49:1-3 Listen to Me, O islands... The LORD called Me from the womb... And He said to Me, "You are My Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory."