Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Haggai 2:21
Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;
I will shake – Haggai closes by resuming the words of a former prophecy to Zerubbabel and Joshua, which ended in the coming of Christ. Even thus it is plain, that the prophecy does not belong personally to Zerubbabel, but to him and his descendants, chiefly to Christ. There was in Zerubbabels time no shaking of the heaven or of nations. Darius had indeed to put down an unusual number of rebellions in the first few years after his accession; but, although he magnified himself on occasion of their suppression, they were only so many distinct and unconcerted revolts, each under its own head. All were far away in the distant East, in Babylonia, Susiana, Media, Armenia, Assyria, Hyrcania, Parthia, Sagartia, Margiana, Arachosia. The Persian empire, spread probably over 2,000,000 square miles, or more than half of modern Europe, was not threatened; no foreign enemy assailed it; one impostor only claimed the throne of Darius. This would, if successful, have been, like his own accession, a change of dynasty, affecting nothing externally.
But neither were lasting, some were very trifling. Two decisive battles subdued Babylonia: of Media the brief summary is given the Medes revolted from Darius, and having revolted were brought back into subjection, defeated in battle. The Susianians killed their own pretender, on the approach of the troops of Darius. We have indeed mostly the account only of the victor. But these are only self-glorying records of victories, accomplished in succession, within a few years. Sometimes the satrap of the province put the revolt down at once. At most two battles ended in the crucifixion of the rebel. The Jews, if they heard of them, knew them to be of no account. For the destroyer of the Persian empire was to come from the West Dan 8:5, the fourth sovereign was to stir up all against the realm of Grecia Dan 11:2, and Darius was but the third. In the same second year of Darius, in which Haggai gave this prophecy, the whole earth was exhibited to Zechariah as Zec 1:11, sitting still and at rest.
The overthrow prophesied is also universal. It is not one throne only, as of Persia, but the throne, i. e., the sovereigns, of kingdoms; not a change of dynasty, but a destruction of their strength; not of a few powers only, but the kingdoms of the pagan; and that, in detail; that, in which their chief strength lay, the chariots and horsemen and their riders, and this, man by man, every one by the sword of his brother. This mutual destruction is a feature of the judgments at the end of the world against Gog and Magog Eze 38:21; and of the yet unfulfilled prophecies of Zechariah Zec 14:17. Its stretching out so far does not hinder its partial fulfillment in earlier times. Zerubbabel stood, at the return from the captivity, as the representative of the house of David and heir of the promises to him, though in an inferior temporal condition; thereby the rather showing that the main import of the prophecy was not temporal. As then Ezekiel prophesied, Eze 34:23. I will set up One Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, My servant David Eze 37:24-25; And David My servant shall be king over them; and My servant David shall be their prince forever; and Jeremiah Jer 30:9. They shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them; and Hosea, that Hos 3:5. after many days shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, meaning by David, the great descendant of David, in whom the promises centered, so in his degree, the promise to Zerubbabel reaches on through his descendants to Christ; that, amid all the overthrow of empires, God would protect His sons sons until Christ should come, the King of kings and Lord of lords, whose Dan 2:44. kingdom shall never be destroyed, but it shall break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms, and shall stand fast forever.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. I will shake the heavens and the earth] Calmet supposes that the invasion of Cambyses, and his death, are what the prophet has in view by this shaking of the heavens and the earth: but this invasion and defeat happened three years before they had begun to work at the temple; and how could it be made a matter of interest to Zerubbabel? Calmet answers this, by translating the words in the past tense; and shows that the fact was recalled to Zerubbabel’s attention, to fix his confidence in God, c. Bp. Newcome says we may well understand this and the twenty-second verse Hag 2:22 of the calamity undergone by Babylon in the reign of Darius of the Macedonian conquests in Persia; and of the wars which the successors of Alexander waged against each other: others under stand it of the Romans.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Speak my word, and in my name, saith the Lord.
To Zerubbabel governor of Judah: see Hag 1:1,12.
I will shake the heavens and the earth: see Hag 2:6.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. to ZerubbabelPerhapsZerubbabel had asked as to the convulsions foretold (Hag 2:6;Hag 2:7). This is the reply: TheJews had been led to fear that these convulsions would destroy theirnational existence. Zerubbabel, therefore, as their civilleader and representative is addressed, not Joshua, their religiousleader. Messiah is the antitypical Zerubbabel, their nationalRepresentative and King, with whom God the Father makes the covenantwherein they, as identified with Him, are assured of safety in God’selecting love (compare Hag 2:23,”will make thee as a signet”; “I have chosen thee”).
shake . . . heavens(seeon Hag 2:6, 7); violentpolitical convulsions accompanied with physical prodigies (Mat 24:7;Mat 24:29).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah,…. The former discourse or prophecy chiefly related to the people, for their encouragement in building; this is directed to the prince over them, to support him under all the changes and revolutions made in the world; that he should be regarded by the Lord in a very tender manner, and his government continued, as a type of Christ and his kingdom:
saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; make great commotions, changes, and revolutions in the world, by wars, and otherwise: the Persian kingdom being subdued by the Grecian; the Grecian by the Romans; the Roman empire by the Goths and Vandals; and the antichristian states, both Papal and Mahometan, by the vials of God’s wrath poured out upon them, by means of Christian princes: such revolutions are often designed by the shaking of the heavens, especially by earthquakes in the book of the Revelation; see Re 6:14.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Hag 2:21. Speak to Zerubbabel, &c. See this passage explained in the note on Hag 2:6, &c.
REFLECTIONS.1st, Having set themselves heartily to their work, God encourages them by a second message, about a month after the former, to proceed in the building. Some, probably who had seen the former temple, which had been destroyed about seventy years, beheld with grief the present structure, so little comparable to that for magnificence; and perhaps discouraged the hearts of the builders, suggesting what an insignificant house this would be; but God bid the prophet say, Be strong, O Zerubbabel and Joshua, and all ye people of the land, and work, nor be disheartened at any obstacles. And he suggests, for this purpose, the most reviving grounds of encouragement.
1. God will be with them with his special presence, and the comforts of his Spirit, according to his covenant when he brought them out of Egypt, and took them for a peculiar nation to preserve his name: therefore they need not fear, success should crown their labours. The Spirit of Jehovah, the Spirit of wisdom and might, should be their guide, their stay and consolation; and if he be with us, then shall we be strong.
2. In this temple shall the Messiah incarnate appear, and give it far greater glory than ever Solomon’s temple could boast of: Yet once, it is a little while before this shall come to pass; for though the coming of Christ was distant five hundred years, it was a little while in God’s sight, or compared with the time since the first promise had been given; and yet once may have reference to God’s appearance on Sinai, when he revealed himself in such tremendous majesty, shaking the heavens and the earth, as now should again be done. Before the coming of Christ, the nations and all their rulers had been shaken in pieces as by an earthquake, through the prevalence of the Roman arms; and when Christ appeared, his Gospel made a shaking among the nations, awakening the consciences of men, and changing their natures; destroying and silencing the oracles of the heathen, and abolishing all the ceremonial institutions, Heb 12:27. And the desire of all nations shall come; He, whose salvation is to extend to all nations, the desirable object which every miserable sinner so greatly needs, and whom all should long for as their only hope and refuge; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord, by the presence of the incarnate Jehovah, which should far exceed in glory the Shechinah of old. It is true they might say, that their treasures were utterly insufficient to adorn the temple, as it had been overlaid by Solomon with gold; but God anticipates the objection. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, these were his own before Solomon bestowed them on his building; and he could, if he had pleased, have given them enough to have done so likewise; but his glory was not by these exalted. Far greater should be the glory of this latter house than of the former; though neither ark, nor shechinah, nor urim and thummim, nor celestial fire was there; the fulness of the Godhead bodily resident in Jesus should far surpass all these; and the miracles that he wrought, and the Gospel that he declared, exalted the latter house far above the former: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts; not temporal peace, for under the second temple the Jews enjoyed little of that, but spiritual peace, which Jesus the Prince of Peace came to purchase, preach, and communicate to all his believing people.
2nd, The discourse contained in the 10th and following verses is designed,
1. To humble them under a sense of their pollution and sinfulness; and in order hereunto the prophet is sent to inquire of the priests, not so much for his information, as their conviction. He puts two questions to them concerning the law, of which they were the expounders, [1.] Whether a person carrying holy flesh in his garment, sanctified by the touch of it any common meat? to which they answered, No; for though the garment must be washed before it could be employed in common uses, Lev 6:27 yet it communicated no virtue to what it touched. [2.] Whether, if a person unclean touched any of these, it should be unclean? they said, It shall be unclean, Num 19:22 so much more easily is pollution communicated than purity. Then answered Haggai, applying the case to the priests and people, So is this nation before me, saith the Lord; their ritual devotions and services, like the garment carrying holy flesh, could not sanctify; while their hearts being unclean, every thing they touched received defilement; and especially, as seems to be the intention of the prophet to shew, was this the case with them while they neglected the building of God’s house; and this they are called upon to consider, and lay to heart, that, in their reflections on the past, they might lie low before God, from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord; from that day, when they left off the work about seventeen years before, they had been under the constant marks of God’s displeasure, the sure proof of their sins. Their harvest had failed their expectations; the heap of corn which should have yielded twenty measures, when it came to be threshed gave but ten; and when from the quantity of grapes that he put into the press, the vine-dresser hoped to draw out fifty measures, there were but twenty. Blasting, mildew, and hail, destroyed the fruits of the earth; yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord, continued unhumbled under those providences, and resumed not the work of the sanctuary: all which they should remember, and humble their souls before the Lord.
2. To encourage them, he bids them observe, from the day forward that they began to turn to God, and set themselves heartily to his neglected service, what a blessed alteration would appear. Is the seed yet in the barn? No: they had just sown it, and it was not yet come up, and uncertain what harvest it would produce; their fruit-trees, it being winter, were now bare; but, saith God, from this day will I bless you with plenty of all good things, and to their full conviction demonstrate how much they consulted even their own advantage in returning to his work and service. Note; They who faithfully apply themselves to God’s work shall assuredly find his blessing, sometimes in providential gifts of this world’s goods, but always in the comfort that he will bestow upon their souls.
3rdly, The same day in which Haggai had delivered the above mentioned message to the people in general, he is sent to Zerubbabel in particular, with encouragement to him under the difficulties of his office, and the dangers to which he saw himself and the nation exposed from their weakness and the powerful nations around them.
1. He may expect to see strange revolutions, like the shakings of heaven and earth. The throne of kingdoms, the Persian monarchy, would be overthrown, and the kingdoms of the heathen be destroyed, with their chariots and horsemen, every one by the sword of his brother; which may include the successive monarchies, the Grecian and Roman, and be extended to all the enemies of Christ’s church and people to the end of time.
2. Zerubbabel shall be protected and defended in the midst of these commotions; or rather the promise respects his glorious descendant the Messiah, of whom he was the figure. He is emphatically the servant of the Lord, raised up to do his pleasure. I will make thee as a signet, for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of Hosts; he is the elect of God, in whom his soul delighteth, precious as a signet, and intrusted with all power in heaven and in earth. See the note on Hag 2:6, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Hag 2:21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;
Ver. 21. Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah ] Governors are sure to meet with many difficulties and discouragements (high seats are never but uneasy), and had need therefore of singular consolation, that they may hold on their course, like the sun in the firmament, and show themselves to be of an undaunted resolution. We may well say to governors, as that prophetic Simeon spoke to the pillars which he whipped before the earthquake: Stand fast, for ye shall be shaken.
I will shake the heavens and the earth
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
governor. See note on Hag 1:1.
I will shake. Compare the Structure p. 1276; and note on Hag 2:6. Hebrew I am shaking, or about to shake. Referring to a nearer shaking than Hag 2:6.
the heavens and the earth. See note on Deu 4:26.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Zerubbabel: Hag 1:1, Hag 1:14, 1Ch 3:19, Ezr 2:2, Ezr 5:2, Zec 4:6-10
I will: Hag 2:6, Hag 2:7, Psa 46:6, Eze 26:15, Eze 38:19, Eze 38:20, Joe 3:16, Heb 12:26, Heb 12:27, Rev 16:17-19
Reciprocal: Ezr 3:2 – Zerubbabel Ezr 5:14 – whom Neh 12:1 – Zerubbabel Job 9:6 – shaketh Job 26:11 – pillars Psa 29:8 – shaketh Isa 2:19 – when he Isa 13:13 – I will Isa 24:21 – the Lord Eze 21:27 – General Zec 4:7 – O great Zec 8:9 – the prophets Zec 14:3 – General Mat 24:7 – nation shall Luk 21:10 – Nation shall Rev 6:12 – the sun
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hag 2:21. Zerubbabel was governor in the sense of being captain or leader in the work of the temple (Ezr 1:1-4 Ezr 3:8; Neh 12:1). This message was a repetition of the prediction shown in verses 6-9 concerning the “shaking” that God was going to do,
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2:21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I {m} will shake the heavens and the earth;
(m) I will make a change, and renew all things in Christ, of whom Zerubbabel is here a figure.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Haggai was to tell Zerubbabel that Yahweh was going to shake the heavens and the earth. Again a divine judgment is in view (cf. Hag 2:6). That Zerubbabel, not Joshua or the people, is the recipient suggests that the message deals with a royal prediction.