{"id":22867,"date":"2022-09-24T09:44:32","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T14:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-haggai-21\/"},"modified":"2022-09-24T09:44:32","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T14:44:32","slug":"exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-haggai-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-haggai-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Haggai 2:1"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the seventh [month], in the one and twentieth [day] of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying, <\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

1 5. The Circumstances out of which the Prophecy arose<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month<\/em> ] It has been pointed out that this was the seventh and last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:33-36<\/span>; Lev 23:39-43<\/span>); and it has been suggested that the depressing contrast between the former Temple and the present would be heightened and brought home to the people by the rites and services of the festive season. “The return of this festal celebration, especially after a harvest which had turned out very miserably, and showed no signs of the blessing of God, could not fail to call up vividly before the mind the difference between the former times, when Israel was able to assemble in the courts of the Lord’s house, and so to rejoice in the blessings of His Grace in the midst of abundant sacrificial meals, and the present time, when the altar of burnt sacrifice might indeed be restored again, and the building of the temple be resumed, but in which there was no prospect of erecting a building that would in any degree answer to the glory of the former temple.” Keil’s Minor Prophets<\/em>, Clark’s Theol. Libr. See also Pusey ad loc<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Ch. Hag 2:1-9<\/span>. The Second Prophecy<\/p>\n

The first prophecy had been one of severe rebuke and earnest call to duty. The second is one of encouragement to those, who having promptly obeyed the first, were in danger of being depressed and disappointed by the comparative meagreness and unworthiness of the results of their labours. When the foundations of the second Temple were laid some years before this, we read of the distress which its character and dimensions occasioned, to those of the returned captives who were old enough to remember the former Temple in its glory. The joyous shouts of the younger portion of the assembly, who rejoiced to see the sanctuary of their faith restored, blended strangely with the sad lamentations of their elders, who mourned over the departed splendour of the past. Now that a month of vigorous work was beginning to tell, and the contrast which had been apparent even in the foundations stood out in bolder relief in the rising walls of the edifice; now that many an “ancient man,” laudator temporis acti<\/em>, had passed his disparaging comment on each new feature of the growing structure, and told with fond regret of the “exceeding magnifical” house (1Ch 22:5<\/span>) that had once been there, the danger of dejection and discouragement on the part of the people was increased. With the gracious design of counteracting this, Haggai is directed to deliver a prophecy, which stimulates them to carry on and complete their undertaking, not only by the assurance of the divine presence and favour, but by the promise that in God’s good time that house, so mean and despised, should be filled with a glory that should exceed that of Solomon’s Temple in the days of its greatest magnificence.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month – <\/B>This was the seventh day of the feast of tabernacles, Lev 23:34<\/span>, Lev 23:36<\/span>, Lev 23:40-42<\/span>. and its close. The eighth day was to be a sabbath, with its holy convocation, but the commemorative feast, the dwelling in booths, in memory of Gods bringing them out of Egypt, was to last seven days. The close then of this feast could not but revive their sadness at the glories of their first deliverance by Gods mighly hand and outstretched arm, and their present fewness and poverty. This depression could not but bring with it heavy thoughts about the work, in which they were, in obedience to God, engaged; and that, all the more, since Isaiah and Ezekiel had prophesied of the glories of the Christian Church under the symbol of the temple. This despondency Haggai is sent to relieve, owning plainly the reality of its present grounds, but renewing, on Gods part, the pledge of the glories of this second temple, which should be thereafter.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Hag 2:1-2<\/span><\/p>\n

Came the Word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Encouraging the people<\/strong><\/p>\n

The recovery of the Jews from the disasters attending the Babylonian Captivity was necessarily slow and painful. The handful of patriots who returned with Zerubbabel were poor, weak, and despised. They found Jerusalem and the temple heaps of ruins, covered with weeds and rubbish. The first two years witnessed the rebuilding of the altar, the re-establishment of the burnt sacrifices, and the laying of the foundation of the second temple amid the liveliest conflict of emotions. Just at this point a second oracle, full of Divine encouragement, came to Haggai. Weak hands were strengthened, timid hearts were cheered, religious faith and patriotic zeal were kindled into a glow of enthusiasm that never failed until the work was done. We note four considerations by which the prophet wrought this happy change in the temper of his people.<\/p>\n


I. <\/strong>Jehovahs abiding presence. Regarded from a merely human point of view there were many and cogent reasons either for an abandonment of the work, or for its postponement until a more auspicious time. The hostility of the neighbouring peoples showed itself in persistent plots to harass the returned exiles, in fomenting discords among them, and in discrediting them at the Persian court. In comparison with the number, wealth and influence of their adversaries, were not the Jews themselves weak and contemptible? Only a few years had passed since their return to a ruined city and a desolate land. In their poverty and distress would it not be audacious folly to undertake the rebuilding of a structure that had taxed the resources of the kingdom in its meridian glory and power? Had not this generation borne burdens enough without being crushed under another? Why not relinquish this enormous load to a better equipped posterity? Moreover, since they returned from Babylon, had not the Lord withheld the legitimate increase of the fields and vineyards? In these straitened circumstances did not the care of their families demand all their time and substance? It might be a pardonable, but was it not a rash enthusiasm in the prophet that had incited them to waste a month of labour on this hopeless task? Religious leaders are always unreasonable! These discouraged Jews could have invented a hundred excuses for abandoning the work. Self-justification is easy when one is eager to recede from an unwelcome task or duty. All human objections, however, are as chaff before an explicit Divine command. The voice of prophecy, re-awakened after long silence, had spoken the authoritative word. However sore the discipline to <\/strong>which their sins had subjected them, they were His people still, a holy seed, a very small remnant indeed, but one over whose preservation He had watched with jealous care. With loving reiteration Jehovah exhorts them to forget their own weakness in joyful recognition of His omnipotence; to assure themselves that the hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, is not as a sojourner in the land, nor as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night. As He covenanted with them when they came out of Egypt, so His Spirit abideth among them. Be strong and work, saith the Lord of hosts; for I am with yea, and fear ye not. There is no better ground for victorious confidence than that. His presence is infinitely more desirable than unlimited worldly wealth and power. We, likewise, face the depressing problems of our own day, grappling with them as we can, only to be overwhelmed by the consciousness of our inability. Through repeated failures we learn that without Divine help we can do nothing. We are overmatched in the battle. All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.<\/p>\n


II. <\/strong>Jehovahs exhaustible resources. What if Jehovahs people are poor, insignificant, despised? He who is in the midst of them is the rightful owner of the worlds treasures. The silver and the gold <\/em>are His. He will shake all the nations, and the costliest things of all the nations shall come into His sanctuary. Now, see, when the people really trusted the <\/strong>Lord and went to work (Ezr 6:3-9<\/span>), how wonderfully the prophets word was fulfilled; how the expense of rearing the massive walls, and the cost of the wood-work were defrayed from the treasury of the Persian Empire; how the priceless vessels of silver and gold, that Nebuchadnezzar had carried to Babylon for his own glory, as he thought, but really for safe keeping during the exile, were all restored again; how the adversaries of the Jews, who had plotted against them, were compelled by the royal decree to furnish them day by day with young bullocks, rams and lambs for sacrifices, and with wheat, salt, wine, and oil as the priests had need. Not only this, but from the very day (Hag 2:19-20<\/span>) when the rebuilding of the temple began, Jehovah would bless their land with affluence, instead of smiting it with blasting, with mildew, and with hail. Gods work never stops for lack of means when men are willing to obey Him, and to launch out confidently on His promises. The silver and the gold are forthcoming, not by miracle, but through natural channels, as surprising sometimes as actual miracles. Is the time ripe for carrying the Gospel into the heathen world? See how the millions are poured every year into the Lords treasury. If men will not <\/strong>give spontaneously, as did Darius, to the furtherance of Gods purposes, He compels them to bring the best of their substance, as the Samaritans were forced to do. God scatters His resources neither extravagantly nor in conformity to the whims of men. The law of parsimony withholds Him from giving so freely as to make unnecessary the discipline of anxiety and struggle. Even when social and moral reformations are greatly needed He does not purchase transient success by lavish expenditures. Moral results are not permanently secured by material agencies. God could have supplied the early Church with means enough to have freed every slave in the Roman Empire. Instead, He projects into humanity two lofty ideals, the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, confident that these ideals will ultimately and for ever accomplish what neither gold nor force can do. Nor does He waste His resources in perpetuating institutions that have survived their usefulness. Local churches, as well as individual saints, are but temporary factors. Holy relics He suffers with absolute indifference to moulder into common dust.<\/p>\n


III. <\/strong>Jehovahs gracious purposes. Haggai prophesied in a transition period. The older men who heard him had witnessed the wreck of the Jewish monarchy. The return of the captives to Jerusalem was the glimmering dawn after a dark and stormy night. The glory of the past was a memory; that of the future a dream. Transition periods are always charged with doubts and fears, with peril and pain. The sorest trials are alleviated by an assurance that they lead to higher and richer experiences. And yet men would often forego these if they could thereby escape the trial. They cling to long-cherished errors because they dread the effort and pain of adjusting themselves to new truths. Hoary abuses linger in the community, in the State, in the Church, because men shrink from the sharp but transient evils attending a crisis. Modem science, philosophy, criticism,–the forces that are <\/strong>continually precipitating these crises–are not enemies but friends. Gods purposes do not move backward. A new and better world always emerges from the chaos of the old. So long as Gods hand directs the development every transition will be, not toward darkness and anarchy, but toward truth and order. Haggai encouraged his people with the assurance that their sufferings were not meaningless. Painful as their national discipline had been, it was but an unavoidable step in the evolution of a sublime purpose. Not only did he assure them that Jehovah, their covenant-keeping God, was still in the midst of His People; not only were His resources inexhaustible, and ready to be poured out in their behalf; but He had also a purpose of grace concerning them and the whole world, immeasurably exceeding the brightest memories of the past. Despicable as this new house might appear to those who had seen the splendours of Solomons temple, the new would nevertheless outshine the old. Greater shall be the latter glory of this house than the former, saith the Lord of hosts. Observe that it is the latter glory (R.V.) and not the latter house (A.V.); for whatever be its material condition, Jehovah knows of but one abiding dwelling on His holy hill of Zion. That messianic day, moreover, will be characterised by universal peace. For in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. Peace, first of all, between man and God, that which every true heart yearns for supremely, but which is not found in the world. Peace also between man and man. Inter national rivalries, the ambition of conquerors, royal greed of power will no longer hurl nation against nation in bloody strife. Peace, finally, between man and the wild beasts of the field (Isa 11:6-9<\/span>). The distrust between them will cease. As nature has shared in mans curse, so it will share in the benefits of mans redemption.<\/p>\n


IV. <\/strong>Jehovahs little while, Some of the despondent ones might have retorted, Such glowing pictures were painted by the older prophets, but they are as far from realisation as ever. No, says Haggai; it is only one period more, a very brief one, and then Jehovah will work signs and wonders among the nations to arouse them from indifference, to turn them unto Himself, and thus prepare for the golden age. In a measure His utterance was fulfilled at once, but in its larger signification it still awaits complete fulfilment. The centuries after the Exile were really a brief preface to the messianic period which began with the coming of Christ into His temple, and which still continues. Men are impatient at the moderate pace of events in the kingdom of God. They wonder why He does not force men into swift obedience by stupendous displays of power. Because love and obedience are not wrought by force. Love conquers the kingdom of hatred only inch by inch. Viewing these things by and by from the side of eternity, men will see that earths longest periods are only Jehovahs little whiles. The world is ripening faster than we think. Who knows but that the full glory of the messianic time may be close at hand? Whether near or far, every mans supreme duty to God and to his fellow-man is so to live, by the Holy Spirits help, as to make the world better, and thus to hasten the advent of that golden age. (P. A. Nordell, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Gods message to His people by Haggai<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>The Divine message often comes from one man to many. It now came by Haggai.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>All temples but the temple of nature are to be built by man himself. God could have studded the world with temples; but He has honoured human nature by leaving it to men.<\/p>\n

3. <\/strong>Any postponement of duty is opposed to the will of God. All duty requires the utmost promptitude. The Jews were now dallying with duty. The subject of these verses is–God requires human labour purely for religious objects. True labour in every form should be religious.<\/p>\n


I. <\/strong>This labour should be stimulated by the view of religious decadence. The temple, once the glory of the country, was now in ruins, etc. Into what a low state has genuine religion sunk in our country! It is cold, formal, worldly, conventional.<\/p>\n


II. <\/strong>That this labour should be performed by the most vigorous exertion. Be strong, O Zerubbabel, be strong, O Joshua, be strong, all ye people of the land. Why?<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>Because it is right, and therefore you may throw your conscience into it.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>Because it is worthy of all your faculties. Call out and honour all the faculties of your nature.<\/p>\n

3. <\/strong>Because it is urgent. The highest interests of your countrymen and your race depend upon it.<\/p>\n


III. <\/strong>This labour should enlist the co-operation of all. It concerns all–young and old, rich and poor.<\/p>\n


IV. <\/strong>This labour has a guarantee of divine assistance. For I am with you, says the Lord of hosts. (Homilist.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CHAPTER II <\/P>

When this prophecy was uttered, about<\/I> four years before the<\/I><\/P>

temple was finished, and<\/I> sixty-eight after the former one was<\/I><\/P>

destroyed, it appears that some old men among the Jews were<\/I><\/P>

greatly dispirited on account of its being so much inferior in<\/I><\/P>

magnificence to that of Solomon. Compare<\/I> Ezr 3:12<\/span>.<\/P>

To raise the spirits of the people, and encourage them to<\/I><\/P>

proceed with the work, the prophet assures them that the glory<\/I><\/P>

of the second temple should be greater than that of the first,<\/I><\/P>

alluding perhaps to the glorious doctrines which should be<\/I><\/P>

preached in it by Jesus Christ and his apostles<\/I>, 1-9.<\/P>

He then shows the people that the oblations brought by their<\/I><\/P>

priests could not sanctify them while they were unclean by<\/I><\/P>

their neglect of the temple; and to convince them that the<\/I><\/P>

difficult times they had experienced during that neglect<\/I><\/P>

proceeded from this cause, he promises fruitful seasons from<\/I><\/P>

that day forward<\/I>, 10-19.<\/P>

The concluding verses contain a prediction of the mighty<\/I><\/P>

revolutions that should take place by the setting up of the<\/I><\/P>

kingdom of Christ under the type of Zerubbabel<\/I>, 20-23.<\/P>

As the time which elapsed between the date of the prophecy and<\/I><\/P>

the dreadful concussion of nations is termed in<\/I> Hag 2:6<\/span>,<\/P>

A LITTLE WHILE, the words may likewise have reference to some<\/I><\/P>

temporal revolutions then near, such as the commotions of<\/I><\/P>

Babylon in the reign of Darius, the Macedonian conquests in<\/I><\/P>

Persia, and the wars between the successors of Alexander; but<\/I><\/P>

the aspect of the prophecy is more directly to the amazing<\/I><\/P>

victories of the Romans, who, in the time of Haggai and<\/I><\/P>

Zechariah, were on the<\/I> VERY EVE of their successful career, and<\/I><\/P>

in the lapse of a few centuries subjugated the whole habitable<\/I><\/P>

globe; and therefore, in a very good sense, God may be said by<\/I><\/P>

these people to have shaken “the heavens, and the earth, and<\/I><\/P>

the sea, and the dry land;” and thus to have prepared the way<\/I><\/P>

for the opening of the Gospel dispensation.<\/I> See Heb 12:25-29<\/span>.<\/P>

Others have referred this prophecy to the period of our Lord’s<\/I><\/P>

second advent, to which there is no doubt it is also<\/I><\/P>

applicable; and when it will be in the most signal manner<\/I><\/P>

fulfilled. That the convulsion of the nations introducing this<\/I><\/P>

most stupendous event will be very great and terrible, is<\/I><\/P>

sufficiently plain from Isaiah xxxiv., xxxv., as well as from<\/I><\/P>

many other passages of holy writ.<\/I> <\/P>

NOTES ON CHAP. II<\/P>

<\/P>

Verse 1<\/span>. In the seventh month<\/B><\/I>] This was a new<\/I> message, and intended to prevent discouragement, and excite them to greater diligence in their work.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The seventh month<\/B>, which the Hebrews called Tisri, and Ethanim, and it answers to part of our September and to part of October. <\/P>

The one and twentieth day;<\/B> some seven weeks after the first, mentioned in the first chapter, and about one month after they began to build, or at least prepared for building the temple. <\/P>

Came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai:<\/B> see Hag 1:1<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1. seventh month<\/B>of the Hebrewyear; in the second year of Darius’ reign (Hag1:1<\/span>); not quite a month after they had begun the work (Hag1:15<\/span>). This prophecy was very shortly before that of Zechariah.<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

In the seventh [month]<\/strong>,…. The month Tisri, which answers to part of September and part of October:<\/p>\n

in the one and twentieth [day] of the month<\/strong>; being a month, wanting three days, from the time the Jews came and worked in the house of the Lord, Hag 1:14<\/span> it was toward the close of the feast of tabernacles: see Le 23:34<\/span>:<\/p>\n

came the word of the Lord by the Prophet Haggai<\/strong>; the word of prophecy, as the Targum: this was from the Lord, not from the prophet himself; he was only the messenger sent with it to deliver it:<\/p>\n

saying<\/strong>; to him the prophet, giving him orders as follow:<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Glory of the New Temple- Hag 2:1<\/span> and Hag 2:2<\/span>. “ In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came through Haggai,” <\/em> viz., to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the remnant of the nation, that is to say, to the whole of the congregation that had returned from exile; whereas the first appeal was only addressed to Zerubbabel and Joshua (see the introduction to Hag 1:1<\/span>), although it also applied to the whole nation. Just as in the second year of the return from Babylon, when the foundation for the temple, which was about to be rebuilt, was laid in the reign of Cyrus, many old men, who had seen the temple of Solomon, burst out into loud weeping when they saw the new foundation (Ezr 3:10<\/span>.); a similar feeling of mourning and despair appears to have taken possession of the people and their rulers immediately after the work had been resumed under Darius, and doubts arose whether the new building was really well-pleasing to the Lord, and ought to be carried on. The occasion for this despondency is not to be sought, as Hitzig supposes, in the fact that objections were made to the continuance of the building (Ezr 5:3<\/span>), and that the opinion prevailed in consequence that the works ought to be stopped till the arrival of the king’s authority. For this view not only has no support whatever in our prophecy, but is also at variance with the account in the book of Ezra, according to which the governor and his companions, who had made inquiries concerning the command to build, did not stop the building while they sent word of the affair to the king (Ezr 5:5<\/span>). Moreover, the conjecture that the people had been seized with a feeling of sadness, when the work had so far advanced that they were able to institute a comparison between the new temple and the earlier one (Hengstenberg), does not suffice to explain the rapid alteration which took place in the feelings of the people. The building could not have been so far advance din three weeks and a half as that the contrast between the new temple and the former one could be clearly seen, if it had not been noticed from the very first; a fact, however, to which Ezr 3:12<\/span> distinctly refers. But although it had been seen from the very beginning that the new building would not come up to the glory of the former temple, the people could not from the very outset give up the hope of erecting a building which, if not quite equal to the former one in glory, would at all events come somewhat near to it. Under these circumstances, their confidence in the work might begin to vanish as soon as the first enthusiasm flagged, and a time arrived which was more favourable for the quiet contemplation of the general condition of affairs. This explanation is suggested by the time at which the second word of God was delivered to the congregation through the prophet. The twenty-first day of the seventh month was the seventh day of the feast of tabernacles (cf. Lev 23:34<\/span>.), the great festival of rejoicing, on which Israel was to give practical expression to its gratitude for the gracious guidance which it had received through the wilderness, as well as for the blessing of the ingathering of all the fruits of the ground, which ended with the gathering of the orchard-fruits and with the vintage, by the presentation of numerous burnt-offerings and other sacrifices (see my biblische Archologie<\/em>, i. p. 415ff.). The return of this festal celebration, especially after a harvest which had turned out very miserably, and showed no signs of the blessing of God, could not fail to call up vividly before the mind the difference between the former times, when Israel was able to assemble in the courts of the Lord’s house, and so to rejoice in the blessings of His grace in the midst of abundant sacrificial meals, and the present time, when the altar of burnt-sacrifice might indeed be restored again, and the building of the temple be resumed, but in which there was no prospect of erecting a building that would in any degree answer to the glory of the former temple; and when the prophecies of an Isaiah or an Ezekiel were remembered, according to which the new temple was to surpass the former one in glory, it would be almost sure to produce gloomy thoughts, and supply food for doubt whether the time had really come for rebuilding the temple, when after all it would be only a miserable hut. In this gloomy state of mind consolation was very necessary, if the hardly awakened zeal for the building of the house of God was not to cool down and vanish entirely away. To bring this consolation to those who were in despair was the object of the second word of God, which Haggai was to publish to the congregation. It runs as follows:<\/p>\n

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The Glory of the Latter House.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD>

B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 520.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE>

      1 In the seventh month,<\/I> in the one and twentieth day<\/I> of the month, came the word of the LORD<\/B> by the prophet Haggai, saying,   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,   3 Who is<\/I> left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it<\/I> not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?   4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD<\/B>; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD<\/B>, and work: for I am<\/I> with you, saith the LORD<\/B> of hosts:   5 According to<\/I> the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.   6 For thus saith the LORD<\/B> of hosts; Yet once, it is<\/I> a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;<\/I>   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<\/B> of hosts.   8 The silver is<\/I> mine, and the gold is<\/I> mine, saith the LORD<\/B> of hosts.   9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD<\/B> of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD<\/B> of hosts.<\/P>

      Here is, I. The date of this message, v.<\/I><\/span> 1<\/span>. It was sent on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, when the builders had been about a month at work (since the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month), and had got it in some forwardness. Note, Those that are hearty in the service of God shall receive fresh encouragements from him to proceed in it, as their case calls for them. Set the wheels a going, and God will oil them.<\/P>

      II. The direction of this message, v.<\/I><\/span> 2<\/span>. The encouragements here are sent to the same persons to whom the reproofs in the foregoing chapter are directed; for those that are wounded by the convictions of the word shall be healed and bound up by its consolations. Speak to Zerubbabel, and Joshua, and the residue of the people,<\/I> the very same that obeyed the voice of the Lord<\/I> (ch.<\/I><\/span> i. 12<\/span>) and whose spirits God stirred up to do so (ch.<\/I><\/span> i. 14<\/span>); to them are sent these words of comfort.<\/P>

      III. The message itself, in which observe,<\/P>

      1. The discouragements which those laboured under who were employed in this work. That which was such a damp upon them, and an alloy to their joy, when the foundation of the temple was laid, was still a clog upon them–that they could not build such a temple now as Solomon built, not so large, so stately, so sumptuous, a one as that was. This fetched tears from the eyes of many, when the dimensions of it were first laid (Ezra iii. 12<\/span>), and still it made the work go on heavily–that the glory of this house, in comparison<\/I> with that of the former, was as nothing,<\/I> v.<\/span> 3<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. It was now about seventy years since Solomon’s temple was destroyed (for that was in the nineteenth year of the captivity, and this about the nineteenth after the captivity), so that there might be some yet alive who could remember to have seen it, and still they would be upbraiding themselves and their brethren with the great disparity between this house and that. One could remember the gold with which it was overlaid, another the precious stones with which it was garnished; one could describe the magnificence of the porch, another of the pillars–and where are these now? This weakened the hands of the builders; for, though our gracious God is pleased with us if we do in sincerity as well as we can in his service, yet our proud hearts will scarcely let us be pleased with ourselves unless we do as well as others whose abilities far exceed ours. And it is sometimes the fault of old people to discourage the services of the present age by crying up too much the performances and attainments of the former age, with which others should be provoked to emulation, but not exposed to contempt. Say not thou that the former days were better than these<\/I> (Eccl. vii. 10<\/span>), but thank God that there is any good in these, bad as they are.<\/P>

      2. The encouragement that is given them to go on in the work, notwithstanding (v.<\/I><\/span> 4<\/span>): Yet now,<\/I> though this house is likely to be much inferior to the former, be strong, O Zerubbabel! and be strong, O Joshua!<\/I> Let not these leading men give way to this suggestion, nor be disheartened by it, but do as well as they can, when they cannot do so well as they would; and let all the people of the land be strong<\/I> too, and work;<\/I> and, if the leaders have but a good heart on it, it is hoped that the followers will have the better heart. Note, Those that work for God ought to exert themselves with vigour, and then to encourage themselves with hope that it will end well.<\/P>

      3. The grounds of these encouragements. God himself says to them, Fear you not<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 5<\/span>), and he gives good reasons for it.<\/P>

      (1.) They have God with them, his Spirit and his special presence: Be strong, for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts,<\/I> v.<\/span> 4<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. This he had said before (ch.<\/I><\/span> i. 13<\/span>), I am with you.<\/I> But we need to have these assurances repeated, that we may have strong consolation. The presence of God with us, as the Lord of hosts,<\/I> is enough to silence all our fears and to help us over all the discouragements we may meet with in the way of our duty. The Jews had hosts against them, but they had the Lord of hosts with them, to take their part and plead their cause. He is with them; for, [1.] He adheres to his promise. His covenant is inviolable, and he will be always theirs, and will appear and act for them, according to the word that he covenanted with them when they came out of Egypt.<\/I> Though he chastens them for their transgressions with the rod,<\/I> yet he will not make his faithfulness to fail. [2.] He dwells among them by his Spirit, the Spirit of prophecy. When he first formed them into a people he gave his good Spirit to instruct them<\/I> (Neh. ix. 20<\/span>); and still the Spirit, though often grieved and provoked to withdraw, remained among them. It was the Spirit of God that stirred up their spirits to come out of Babylon (Ezra i. 5<\/span>), and now to build the temple, Hag. i. 14<\/span>. Note, We have reason to be encouraged as long as we have the Spirit of God remaining among us to work upon us, for so long we have God with us to work for us.<\/P>

      (2.) They shall have the Messiah among them shortly–him that should come.<\/I> To him bore all the prophets witness and this prophet particularly here, Hag 2:6<\/span>; Hag 2:7<\/span>. Here is an intimation of the time of his coming, that it should not be long ere he came: “Yet once, it is a little while,<\/I> and he shall come. The Old-Testament church has but one stage more (if we may say so) to travel; five stages were now past, from Adam to Noah, thence to Abraham, thence to Moses, thence to Solomon’s temple, thence to the captivity, and now yet one stage more, its sixth day’s journey, and then comes the sabbatism of the Messiah’s kingdom. Let the Son of man, when he comes, find faith on the earth, and let the children of promise continue still looking for him, for now it is but a little while<\/I> and he will come; hold out, faith and patience,<\/I> yet awhile, for he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.<\/I>” And, as he then said of his first appearance, so now of his second, Surely I come quickly.<\/I> Now concerning his coming it is here foretold, [1.] That it shall be introduced by a general shaking (v.<\/I><\/span> 6<\/span>): I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land.<\/I> This is applied to the setting up of Christ’s kingdom in the world, to make way for which he will judge among the heathen,<\/I> Ps. cx. 6<\/I><\/span>. God will once again do for his church as he did when he brought them out of Egypt; he shook the heavens and earth at Mount Sinai, with thunder, and lightnings, and earthquakes; he shook the sea and the dry land when lanes were made through the sea and streams fetched out of the rock. This shall be done again, when, at the sufferings of Christ, the sun shall be darkened, the earth shake, the rocks rend–when, at the birth of Christ, Herod and all Jerusalem are troubled<\/I> (Matt. ii. 3<\/span>), and he is set for the fall and rising again of many.<\/I> When his kingdom was set up it was with a shock to the nations; the oracles were silenced, idols were destroyed, and the powers of the kingdoms were moved and removed, Heb. xii. 27<\/span>. It denotes the removing of the things that are shaken.<\/I> Note, The shaking of the nations is often in order to the settling of the church and the establishing of the things that cannot be shaken. [2.] That it shall issue in a general satisfaction. He shall come as the desire of all nations<\/I>–desirable to all nations, for in him shall all the families of the earth be blessed<\/I> with the best of blessings–long expected and desired by the good people in all nations, that had any intelligence from the Old-Testament predictions concerning him. Balaam in the land of Moab had spoken of a star that should arise out of Jacob, and Job in the land of Uz of his living Redeemer; the concourse of devout men from all parts at Jerusalem (Acts ii. 5<\/span>) was in expectation of the setting up of the Messiah’s kingdom about that time. All the nations that are brought in to Christ, and discipled in his name, have called him, and will call him, all their salvation and all their desire.<\/I> This glorious title of Christ seems to refer to Jacob’s prophecy (Gen. xlix. 10<\/span>), that to him shall the gathering of the people be.<\/I><\/P>

      (3.) The house they are now building shall be filled with glory to such a degree that its glory shall exceed that of Solomon’s temple. The enemies of the Jews followed them with reproach, and cast contempt upon the house they were building; but they might very well endure that when God undertook to fill it with glory. It is God’s prerogative to fill with glory; the glory that comes from him is satisfying, and not vain glory. Moses’s tabernacle and Solomon’s temple were filled with glory when God in a cloud took possession of them; but this house shall be filled with glory of another nature. [1.] Let them not be concerned because this house will not have so much silver and gold about it as Solomon’s temple had, v.<\/I><\/span> 8<\/span>. God needs not the silver and gold to adorn his temple, for (says he), The silver is mine, and the gold is mine.<\/I> All the silver and gold in the world are his; all that is hid in the bowels of the earth (for the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof<\/I>), all that is laid up in the exchequers, banks, and treasuries of the children of men, and all that circulates for the maintaining of trade and commerce; it is all the Lord’s.<\/I> Every penny bears his image as well as Csar’s; and therefore when gold and silver are dedicated to his honour, and employed in his service, no addition is made to him, for it was his before. When David and his princes offered vast sums for the service of the house of God, they acknowledged, It is all thy own, and of thy own, Lord, have we given thee,<\/I>1Ch 29:14<\/span>; 1Ch 29:16<\/span>. Therefore God needs not sacrifice, for every beast of the forest is his,<\/I> Ps. l. 10<\/I><\/span>. Note, If we have silver and gold, we must serve and honour God with them, for they are all his own, we have but the use of them, the property remains in him; but, if we have not silver and gold to honour him with, we must honour him with such as we have, and he will accept us, for he needs them not; all the silver and gold<\/I> in the world are his already. The earth is full of his riches,<\/I> so is the great and wide sea also.<\/I> [2.] Let them be comforted with this, that, though this temple have less gold in it, it shall have more glory than Solomon’s (v.<\/I><\/span> 9<\/span>): The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former.<\/I> This was never true in respect of outward glory. This latter house was indeed in its latter times very much beautified and enriched by Herod, and we find the disciples admiring the stones and buildings of the temple, how fine they were (Mark xiii. 1<\/span>); but it was nothing in comparison with Solomon’s temple; and, besides, the Jews own that several of the divine glories of the first temple were wanting in this–the ark,<\/I> the urim<\/I> and thummim,<\/I> the fire from heaven,<\/I> and the Schechinah;<\/I> so that we cannot conceive how the glory of this latter house should in any thing exceed that of the former, but in that which would indeed excel all the glories of the first house–the presence of the Messiah in it, the Son of God, his being presented there the glory of his people Israel,<\/I> his attending there at twelve years old, and afterwards his preaching and working miracles there, and his driving the buyers and sellers out of it. It was necessary, then, that the Messiah should come while the second temple stood; but, that being long since destroyed, we must conclude that our Lord Jesus is the Christ, is he that should come,<\/I> and we are to look for no other.<\/I> It was also the glory of this latter house, First,<\/I> That, before the coming of Christ, it was always kept free from idols and idolatries, and was never polluted with those abominable things, as the first temple often was (2Ki 23:11<\/span>; 2Ki 23:12<\/span>), and in this its glory excelled all the glory of that. Note, The purity of the church, and the strict adherence to divine institutions, are much more its glory than external pomp and splendour. Secondly,<\/I> That, after Christ, the gospel was preached in it by the apostles, even all the words of this life, Acts v. 20<\/span>. In the temple Jesus Christ was daily preached, Acts v. 42<\/span>. Now the ministration of righteousness and life by the gospel was unspeakably more glorious than the law, which was a ministration of death and condemnation,<\/I>2Co 3:9<\/span>; 2Co 3:10<\/span>. Note, That is the most valuable glory which arises from our relation to Christ and our interest in him. As, where Christ is, behold a greater than Solomon is there,<\/I> so the heart in which he dwells, and makes a living temple, behold it is more glorious than Solomon’s temple, and will be so to eternity.<\/P>

      (4.) They should see a comfortable end of their present troubles, and enjoy the pleasure of a happy settlement: In this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.<\/I> Note, God’s presence with his people in his ordinances secures to them all good. If God be with us, peace is with us. But the Jews under the latter temple had so much trouble that we must conclude this promise to have its accomplishment in that spiritual peace which Jesus Christ has by his blood purchased for, and by his last will and testament bequeathed to, all believers (John xiv. 27<\/span>), that peace which Christ himself preached as the prophet of peace, and gives as the prince of peace. God will give peace in this place;<\/I> he will give his Son to be the peace, Eph. ii. 14<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

HAGGAI – CHAPTER 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE TEMPLE COMPARED<\/strong><\/p>\n

Verses 1-9:<\/p>\n

The First and Latter Temples<\/strong><\/p>\n

Verse 1 relates <\/strong>that on the 21st day of the seventh Hebrew month, (October) “the word of the Lord” came again to Haggai the prophet, with the second message from the Lord; It is one he too delivered and wrote, as moved by the Spirit; It was delivered but shortly before that of Zechariah. This message came and was given less than a month after that one of the previous chapter Hag 1:1<\/span>; Hag 1:15<\/span>, in the second year of the reign of Darius, the king of Persia. See also Heb 1:1<\/span>; 2Pe 1:21<\/span>; Act 10:43<\/span>; Rev 19:10<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 2 relates <\/strong>that God directed Haggai to bear His message as a witness to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, Joshua, the high priest of Judah, and to all the residue (remnant) of the returned Jews in the country of Judah and the Jerusalem, Temple area especially. It was to be given to them to obey, to act upon, much as the mother of our Lord directed the frustrated wedding servants, “whatsoever He tells you all to do, do it,” Joh 2:5<\/span>; Jas 1:22<\/span>; Eph 2:10<\/span>. They were told to rise up and build and God would bless them. An old writer urged,” set the wheels a going and God will oil them.” The idea is, “do you best for God and He will do the rest.”<\/p>\n

Verse 3 calls <\/strong>upon Haggai to elicit a testimony from the old men of Israel, who had survived the 70 years of captivity in Babylon and now returned, to tell the younger generation of the glorious beauty of the former Temple, that stood when they were young. They now beheld the shame of their ruins and had tasted of the captivity oppression, away from their land, and were given an opportunity to build and obey God again. Many of the elders and chief priests of former years now stood and wept aloud, as they reflected their sins and Divine chastisement that justly fell upon them, Ezr 3:12-13<\/span>. The renewed sacrifice altar was void of five things prominent in the, former Temple. There was no: 1) sacrifice, 2) no Shekinah glory or cloud representing God’s presence, 3) no ark or cherubims, 4) no Urim or Thummim, and 5) no spirit of prophecy at the ancient ruins, with only an altar now restored.<\/p>\n

They are asked to tell how the Temple area, with only a long delayed foundation in the midst of 70 years of ruins, looks to them now. And remember “man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart,” Zec 8:6<\/span>; Zec 4:10<\/span>; 1Co 1:27-28<\/span>; See also 1Sa 16:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 4 calls <\/strong>upon the governor, high priest, and all the remnant of the Jews, to be courageous, be strong, and work at rebuilding the Temple, with assurance that the Lord had pledged, “I am with (in close affinity with) you all.” His presence and strength always tend toward success, Zec 4:6<\/span>; Zec 8:9<\/span>; Exo 3:12<\/span>; Mr 16;20; Act 7:9<\/span>. To work was David’s charge to Solomon regarding the building of the first Temple, 1Ch 28:10<\/span>; 2Ch 19:11<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 5 certifies <\/strong>that in harmony with God’s covenant He made with the Israelites, when He led them out of Egypt, His Spirit still remained or abided among them, to help them and their work, Zec 14:6<\/span>. He therefore charged them to fear not or be not in a state of fear and anxiety. Wherever the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, not bondage, See? Exo 19:5-6<\/span>; Exo 24:10-11<\/span>; Exo 29:45-46<\/span>; Neh 9:25<\/span>; Isa 63:11<\/span>; Zec 14:6<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 6 foretells <\/strong>that it is yet only a little while, a brief time, until the Lord shall shake (shake up) all nations, described as the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. This speaks of judgment and turmoil among the nations and upon the people preceding the coming of the “desire of all nations” or the “prince of peace,” Heb 12:26-28<\/span>. There is hardly a prophecy of the Old Testament concerning the coming of the Messiah that does not in some way allude to His Second Coming; The first coming of Christ “shook up” (troubled) Herod and all that were in Jerusalem, <\/strong>when the wise men inquired of Him, Mat 2:3<\/span>. Though His first coming shook men from all walks of life and all nations, His “yet” coming, in judgment and final triumph, will shake them more, Heb 10:36-37<\/span>. His glory will be greater than all the furniture of the Temple and the wealthy of Israel, Zec 2:5<\/span>; Eze 43:4-5<\/span>; Exo 40:34-35<\/span>; 1Ki 8:11<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 7 further <\/strong>affirms that the Lord Jehovah will shake (disturb) all nations, races, and governments. And the desire (desired one), the Redeemer of all nations and people, shall be drawn to Him, Gen 3:15<\/span>; Gen 49:10<\/span>; Zec 9:9<\/span>; Act 1:9<\/span>. Job and Abraham the early patriarchs longed for Him, Job 19:25-27<\/span>; Job 33:23-26<\/span>; Joh 8:56<\/span>. The glory of the rebuilt Temple was also to be filled with glory; It was a foreshadow of the greater glory of the “house that Jesus built,” the church, that was greater than the “house that Moses built,” Heb 3:1-6<\/span>. As the first Temple was filled with a cloud of glory, so Jesus Christ, and the church that Jesus built, on which the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost, was and is yet filled with greater glory; Though Moses had a glory countenance at the giving of the law; Jesus had a more glorious one, Luk 2:10-11<\/span>; Joh 1:14<\/span>; Mat 17:1-5<\/span>; 2Co 3:7<\/span>; Act 2:1-4<\/span>. All this bespeaks a greater glory, at the coming of our Lord, Mal 3:1<\/span>; Psa 24:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 8 recounts <\/strong>that Jehovah, the Lord of hosts, is owner, holds title deed or ownership certificate on the Earth’s silver and gold. All who get or hold and use it other than for His honor do it as thieves and robbers, absconders of properties of another, Job 41:11<\/span>. Though Israel’s second Temple was lacking the abundance of gold and silver of the first Temple, it, like the church, received a greater glory through the Spirit of the Lord, 2Co 3:7-11<\/span>. That new Jerusalem shall have the Old adornment, Rev 21:10-22<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 9 resounds <\/strong>the pledge of the Lord of hosts that greater glory should come to this rebuilt Temple than to the former Temple, to this latter house, to replace the former. Though not realized by the prophets themselves, this phrase “house of the Lord”, of the future, incontestably looked forward to, often alluded to, the “house that Jesus built,” the program of worship and service that He called His church, Heb 3:1-6<\/span>; 1Ti 3:15-16<\/span>; Mar 13:34-35<\/span>. In this place (Jerusalem) He pledges ultimate peace. when He, as Prince of Peace, King of kings, Lord of lords, and Bridegroom joined to His bride, shall dwell in and reign from Zion, Isa 2:1-5<\/span>; Luk 1:33<\/span>; 1Co 15:24-28<\/span>. Note also that though He gave peace and made peace through the “blood of His cross,” He is yet to gather all people to Him in earthly peace, as the full fruition of the “Shiloh,” (Shalom one) who was and is to come, Col 1:23<\/span>; Gen 49:10<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The Prophet now states another reason why he had been sent by God, in order that he might obviate a temptation which might have hindered the work that was begun. We have seen that they were all stirred up by the celestial spirit to undertake the building of the Temple. But as Satan, by his many arts, attempts to turn back the godly from their course, so he had devised a reason by which the desire of the people might have been checked. Inasmuch as the old people, who had seen the splendor of the former temple, considered this temple no better than a cottage, all their zeal evaporated; for, as we have said, without a promise there will continue in men no ardor, no perseverance. Now we know what had been predicted by Ezekiel, and what all the other Prophets had testified, especially Isaiah, who had spoken highly of the excellency of the Church, and shown that it was to be superior to its ancient state. (Isa 33:21<\/span>.) Besides, Ezekiel describes the form of the Temple, and states its dimensions. (Eze 41:1<\/span>.) As then the faithful had learnt from these prophecies that the new Temple would be more splendid than the ancient, they were in danger, not only of becoming cold in the business, but also of being wholly discouraged, when they perceived that the new Temple in no respect reached the excellency and grandeur of the ancient Temple. And these things are described at large by Josephus. <\/p>\n

But we may easily conclude, from the words of the Prophet, that there was then a danger lest they should lay aside the work they had begun, except they were encouraged by a new exhortation. And he says that this happened in the seventh month, and on the first day of the month. <\/p>\n

Here arises a question, How was it that they so soon compared the new with the old building. Seven or eight days had passed since the work was begun: nothing, doubtless, could have been then constructed, which might have afforded a ground of comparison. It seems then strange, that the Prophet had been so soon sent to them. An answer to this will be easily found, if we bear in mind. that what I have stated at the beginning of the first chapter, that the foundations of the Temple had been previously laid, but that there had been a long interruption: for the people had turned to their own private concerns, and all had become so devoted to their own advantages, that they neglected the building of the Temple. For it is wholly a false notion, that the people had returned from exile before the appointed time, and it has been sufficiently refuted by clear proofs; for scripture expressly declares, that both Cyrus and Darius had been led by a divine impulse to allow the return of the people. Hence, when the Jews returned to their country, they immediately began to build the Temple; but afterwards, as I have said, either avarice, or too anxious a desire for their own private benefit, laid hold on their minds. As then the building of the Temple had been for some time neglected, they were again encouraged, as our Prophet has shown to us. They had now hardly applied their hands to the work, when, through the artifice of Satan, such suggestions as these crept in—“What are ye doing, ye miserable men! Ye wish to build a Temple to your God; but what sort of Temple will it be? Certainly it will not be that which all the Prophets have celebrated. For what do we read in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel? Have not all these testified that the Temple which would be rebuilt after our return from Babylonian exile would be more splendid than the other? But we now build a shed. Surely this is done without authority. We do not then fight under the guidance of God; and it would be better for us to leave off the work; for our service cannot be approved of God, except it be founded on his Word. And we see how far this Temple comes short of what God has promised.” <\/p>\n

We now hence learn, that it was not without reason that Haggai was sent on the eighth day to recover the people from their indifference. And hence also we may learn how necessary it is for us to be constantly stimulated; for Satan can easily find out a thousand impediments, by which he may turn us aside from the right course, except God often repeats his exhortations to keep us awake. Eight days only have elapsed, and the people would have ceased from their work, had not Haggai been sent to encourage them again. <\/p>\n

Now the cause of this cessation, which the Prophet designed to obviate and to remove, ought to be especially noticed. The people had before ceased to work, because they were immoderately devoted to their own interest, which was a proof of base ingratitude and of profane impiety: for those who had no care for building the Temple were most ungrateful to God; and then their impiety was intolerable, inasmuch as they sought boarded houses to dwell in, being not content with decent houses without having them adorned, while the Temple was left, as it were, a wilderness. But the cause was different, when Haggai was sent the second time; for their indifference then arose from a good principle and a genuine feeling of religion. But we hence see what a subtle contriver Satan is, who not only draws us away openly from God’s service, but insinuates himself in a clandestine manner, so as to turn us aside, under the cover of zeal, from the course of our vocation. How was it that the people became negligent after they had begun the work? even because it grieved the old men to see the glory of the second, so far inferior to the first Temple. For though the people animated themselves by the sound of trumpets, yet the old among them drowned the sound by their lamentations. Whence was this? even because they saw, as I have said, that this Temple was in no way equal to the ancient one; and hence they thought that God was not as yet reconciled to them. Had they said, that so great an expense was not necessary, that God did not require much money to be laid out, their impiety should have been openly manifested; but when they especially wished that the splendor of the Temple would be such, as might surely prove that the restoration of the Church was come, such as had been promised by all the Prophets, we doubtless perceive their pious feeling. <\/p>\n

But we are thus reminded, that we ought always to beware of the intrigues of Satan, when they appear under the cover of truth. When, therefore, our minds are disposed to piety, Satan is ever to be feared, lest he should stealthily suggest to us what may turn us aside from our duty; for we see that some leave the Church because they require in it the highest perfection. They are indignant at vices which they deem intolerable, when they cannot be corrected: and thus, under the pretext of zeal, they separate themselves and seek to form for themselves a new world, in which there is to be a perfect Church; and they lay hold on those passages in which the Holy Spirit recommends purity to the Church, as when Paul says, that it was purchased by Christ, that it might be without spot or wrinkle. As then these are inflamed with a zeal so rigid that they depart from God himself and violate the unity of the Church; so also there are many proud men who despise the Church of God, because it shines not forth among them in great pomp; and they think that God does not dwell in the midst of us, because we are obscure and of no great importance, and also because they regard our few number with contempt. <\/p>\n

In all these there is some appearance of piety. How so? Because they would have God to be reverenced, so that they would have the whole world to be filled with the fear of his majesty; or they would have much wealth to be gathered, so that sumptuous offerings might be made. But, as I have already said, Satan thus cunningly insinuates himself; and hence we ought to fear his intrigues, lest, under plausible pretences, he should dazzle our eyes. But the best way of caution is to regard what God commands, and so to rely on his promises as to proceed steadily in our course, though the accomplishment of the promises does not immediately correspond with our desires; for God designedly keeps us in suspense in order to try our faith. Though then he may not as yet fulfill what he has promised, let it yet be our course to attempt nothing rashly, while we are obeying his command. It will then be our chief wisdom, by which we may escape all the crafts of Satan, simply to obey God’s word, and to exercise our hope so as patiently to wait the seasonable time, when he will fulfill what he now promises. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

RECONSTRUCTION IN RELIGION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hag 2:1-9<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

JUST thirty years ago, this text made to me its first appeal. I had graduated from the theological seminary and was being installed as pastor at Lafayette, Indiana. The preacher for the occasion was Dr. George C. Lorimer, then of Chicago. The sermon was eloquent; but the mental deposit for me was not in what the preacher said that day, but in the words of the Prophet from whom he quoted. The marvel is that after one had been so profoundly impressed by a text he could put off its discussion for full thirty years, and the only adequate explanation exists in the riches of the Word. The sincere student of Scripture is seldom sore pressed for a text; on the contrary, they crowd upon his spirit with such insistent demands for consideration that his chief difficulty is in making choice.<\/p>\n

Again, while the Word of God is forever settled in Heaven<\/strong> and the truths it embodies are as unchangeable as the Christ it reveals, an important text takes on immense interest under special circumstances. Now that the war is over, the one great theme of newspaper, magazine, political, social, and economic platform, is reconstruction. World-leaders are giving to that subject foremost and even fine consideration. They propose to reconstruct the lands desolated by devilish conduct; to reconstruct the cities destroyed by the infernal bomb and the malignant match; to reconstruct the commercial relations that have been so seriously disturbed; to reconstruct the occupations that have been jolted into dislocation; to reconstruct the nations that have been despoiled and well nigh destroyed; to reconstruct the world that has been shaken as if by the final earthquake of the prophetic Word. Is it a mental omission or a telling tribute, that religion has occupied so small a place in this extended discussion? Is it because leaders look upon religion with indifference, or rather because they regard it not as a fruit to be attained by endeavor, but rather as a force assumed as naturally essential to success in any or all the aforementioned endeavors?<\/p>\n

Whatever may have been in the mind of politician statesman, it lies in the preachers mind that all reconstruction is destined to failure in proportion as it ignores religion, and assured success in proportion as it regards it.<\/p>\n

This text, intended originally to depict the glory of Solomons Temple, the comparative degradation of its successor, and the final greatness of Gods House, has a marvelous application to this very moment. In interpreting it you will permit me to call your attention to three things: The Powers to be employed; the Promises to be remembered; the Prophecies to be regarded.<\/p>\n

THE POWERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

When George C. Lorimer, thirty years since, read this text in my hearing, I saw then what I want to set in order before you now, namely, that three units of social power were the subjects of his special plea regarding spiritual interests, vizthe Statesman, the Clergyman, and the Layman.<\/p>\n

The statesman has his responsibility.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the Word of the Lord by the Prophet Haggai, saying Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah (Hag 2:1-2<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

Gods land was supposed to be ruled by Gods man. Would that that were always so! In the person of the President of the United States we have a professed Christian man, and one in whose religious pretentions the unprejudiced believe. He will necessarily be a leader, if not in fact, the leader, for reconstruction in America, and his influence will be felt in practically every nation of earth. Since the day when first the flames of war reddened the worlds horizon he has revealed an intelligent interest in the worlds weal; and since the time when our own nation became involved he has sought to save his own country from that bankruptcy of means, morals, and men which has whelmed our adversaries; and never once has he ignored postwar necessities. In the exercise of his presidential office, through the voices of the cabinet, by counsel with the leaders of thought, he appealed to the church and Christian people of America to become his co-laborers at every possible point. World-famed and non-famed Y. M. C. A. secretaries, pastors, both noted and unknown, have been made key men through whom to accomplish both the conservation of all essentials, the creation of the marital spirit, and the maintenance of that morale that makes for final victory.<\/p>\n

The victory has come! The war is over! The reconstruction period is on. Is the church of Jesus Christ, one of the greatest factors in this accomplished conquest, to be forgotten so soon as her last contribution is laid upon the altar? No! Let kings, presidents, governors, all legislative potentates remind themselves that, on their own confession, made in the darkest hour, and as often repeated as the anguish of the moments demanded, God must intervene, be not soon forgotten! And, let them remember that any education, all commerce, and all statecraft that attempts reconstruction without regard to God and the religion of His Son Jesus Christ is fore-doomed, and the fate of foolish, faithless, depleted, dying Germany awaits every people that forget God or despise His Word. This is the Word of the Lord, sent by the Prophet to the rulers of the earth!<\/p>\n

The clergyman has his opportunity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest. (Hag 2:2<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

Joshua was a man set apart to a sacred ministry. His life belonged with the Temple; his ministry was spiritual; in holy things, his station was alike envied and enviable; his service was fundamental to the peoples salvation from sin. His very name, Joshua, had the same significance, Saviour. From time immemorial, men occupying kindred offices, ministers in holy things, have been looked to as leaders in the great movements that involve the spiritual weal or woe of Gods people. It must ever remain so! For Joshua to disappoint the expectations placed in him was quite as serious as for Zerubbabel to fail; or for Joshua to come short in any whit in the work of God, was, if possible, more inexcusable than for the governor to forget. The great principles of Christianity are well nigh as immutable as the character of Christ. For twenty-five years now there has been an increasing emphasis upon what is called the social Gospel. The good Samaritan has been exalted to eminence; even the prophet of God has been made to feel again and again that preaching were folly, and practice alone was religion. And, as one listened, were he a novice in the Lord, he would necessarily conclude that on the confession of the pulpit, preachers had never been leaders in education, in philosophy, in fact, in true religion. But now a new leadership had risen to determine another Gospel; to show cloistered saints a better way, the good Samaritan way if you please.<\/p>\n

If it were not for history, the novices impressions might become permanent; but some of us cannot forget that practically every great school on this eastern seaboard and the greater and lesser ones of the West were founded by a preacher of the Gospel, and that when construction took place in America the clergymen led in it. History is rather replete with illustrations that the great social centers, especially the life-saving stations that have been established in the black heart of the modern metropolises, have seldom known other than the sacred leadership of the prophet of God. Hume, Paine, Voltairethese were exponents of liberty, fraternity, equality, the social Gospel; but Hume established no hospitals, and none do themselves the degradation of wearing his name; Paine put up no colleges, and the anachronism of the centuries exists in the circumstance that his philosophy should be permitted in the modern schools founded by the silver and gold of the saints. Voltaire started no crusade against vice; and social settlements, and centrally located missions are not accustomed to say that his virtues account for them. On the contrary, the Joshuas of the past have been the true Samaritans! Disregard them now in your reconstruction theories, or let them fail to come forward and participate to the full in the new social fabric, and you will find that when it is finished, it is only a house of death. I. M. Haldeman, New Yorks matchless minister of the Word, never said a truer thing, and seldom so important a one, as when he declared it to be the mission of the Church to make men conscious of their souls, and argued, We organize schools, colleges, universities and lay out courses of study and experiment; talk about feeding and illuminating the mind, but the soul! Nay, however these systems may cultivate the mind and fill it with knowledge or give it exercise in intellectual guessing, they never so much as cross the threshold of the soul; so that, in the end men and women graduated by thousands every year are only intellectual animals at the best; some of them equipped to thrum away at the chords of music, others to dig into the material properties of earth, some to play with the power of nature, some to make profound discoveries in the realm of law and motion, force and energy; but amid all their discoveries, achievements, and triumphs never discovering their own soul!<\/p>\n

The Church is here to do just that thing; to discover mans soul to himself, to awaken the wise man and the fool to the consciousness of the soul, to carry the individual past all his imaginations, illusions, false consciousness and bring him face to face with himself and say unto him: Know thyself; listen to the terrible motion and forces in thyself; awake to the voices that would fool thee and lead thee blindfolded past thy real self into the eternal darkness and eternal ignorance of thyself; listen to them, but listen to be warned against them, and hear the voice from off the eternal throne which bids thee arouse to the possibilities of a knowledge of thyself, thy soul, that shall lead thee to God, to Him who alone can make thy soul, thyself, worthwhile in the finding! By consequence of such relation to the soul the Church is here to awaken men to, and impress them with the fact of eternity. The Church is here to so move upon men that each man shall ask himself the question, Where and how shall I spend eternity? If that fundamental be left out of the reconstruction program the people will perish. And I say it solemnly, that to put that fundamental into that program is the business of the minister of God. And, if it appear not there, we will not have to wait for the final judgment to give answer for our failure; that judgment will begin at once.<\/p>\n

The Layman has his obligation.<\/strong> And to the residue of the people<\/em> the injunction comes be strong! <\/em>Some time since there came to my desk a sermon from an honored New York pastor. I may be privileged, at this point, to quote approvingly from that publication. There are some duties so sacred that they cannot be delegated. The soldier cannot delegate his duties; he must fight, and if it need be die, for liberty and native land. We are called to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ.<\/strong> Unless we are to be forever shamed before the ages must we not match the shining exploits of carnal warfare with the higher achievements of the spirit? There is no place in the religious world today for slackers. A religious slacker is more despicable than a military slacker! When Dr. Straton uttered those words he was truly interpreting this text.<\/p>\n

There is a vast deal of talk about the society and state of the future. Men dream great dreams of its coming greatness, and declare its proportions in eloquence. The opinion of some of us is that those proportions will be great, and its character permanent only in proportion to the place Gods truth shall be permitted to take in the same. The honored President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, is not a mental weakling. He declared of the Bible: It is the only guide of life which leads the spirit in the hour of need, and if men could be made to know it intimately and what it really is, we should have secured both social and religious freedom. Take that truth to the world. It is too big a text to leave to the governor, or to the prophet; hence Gods injuction to all the peoplework; Be strong!<\/p>\n

Now these powers, represented by the statesman, the clergyman and the layman, are backed up in the text, as they will be backed up in actual history, by certain promises.<\/p>\n

THE PROMISES<\/strong><\/p>\n

How marvelous they are! How meet also! Let me call attention to them.<\/p>\n

First, His presence is to be depended upon. <\/strong>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 (Hag 2:4<\/em><\/span><\/em>),<\/em> We sometimes forget that scarce a truth of the New Testament is, itself, new. When Christ gave the great commission, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,<\/em> He laid out for His Church a program of service and sought to enhearten them by saying, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.<\/em> But hundreds of years back of that time, God the Father had said the same to Israel. These are days when the imminence of the Coming of Jesus Christ is much emphasized, and correctly so; but while we have Biblical precedent, and even Scripture command for emphasizing the imminence of the Son, we have both for teaching, believing and practicing the imminence of the Father. When Jacob was wakened out of the dream, superinduced by resting his head upon a stone, and remembered that in his sleep he had seen angels, he said, God is in this place; and he was right! But the dream in no wise accounted for the presence of Deity; it merely started a consciousness of the same. The presence of God is Divinely pledged. How sorely it needs to be humanly apprehended. I am in doubt whether God is any less with the worthless man than with the man of worthful work; but only the latter becomes conscious of Him, and consequently he is encouraged, emboldened, inspired.<\/p>\n

He is present in mighty power. <\/strong>The Prophet intends us to understand that this presence of God assures all the strength essential to the reconstruction of the Temple, the revival of Israel, and the defeat of the adversary. Listen to the phrase, For I am with you, saith the Lord of Hosts: according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt.<\/em> At that time the sea rolled across their path; it was an impassable gulf. The desert stretched between them and Canaan; it presented an impossible journey. The land of promise was filled with opponents; their defeat and conquest seemed of all dreams the most far-fetched, and yet God had spoken even then, saying, I will be with thee. With God all things are possible.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the Philadelphia Conference, May, 1919, I had to speak to another meeting at the hour when Dr. Courtland Myers was addressing the great throng in Music Hall. I hurried to the end of my discourse in order to hear him if possible, and I got in as he was saying, That was a wonderful thing that General Foch did at the battle of The Marne. Recently someone asked the General how he had come forth from the battle. He answered immediately, By a miracle! Then he pointed up dramatically and said, The good God! For1, he said, the flower of the German Armysixteen deepan iron wallstood against poorly prepared Frenchmen only four deep at the Marne. And Dr Myers added, Do you remember what happened? I do not wonder that Foch was made commanding General. At the battle of the Marne, General Joffre sent word to General French to advance. General French, with that splendid British army, sent word back, I am sorely pressed and must have support. When Foch received Joffres order, he sent word immediately back, My right has been turned; my left is rolled up; my center is smashed! I have ordered an advance all along the line. That advance all along the line pushed the Germans back, and farther back into the swamps, and at last the run was on for the coast. From Belgium to Switzerland that line was stretched, and it has been bent, but, blessed be God, it has not been broken, and it never will be!<\/p>\n

Bless God, Myers prophecy has been made gold! Why? There is but one answer, and that is the answer of FochGod! God with usAll things possible!<\/strong><\/p>\n

His permanent presence is solemnly assured. So My spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. <\/em>That word remaineth reminds one again of the New Testament teaching Lo I am with you alway. <\/em>Gods presence is not spasmodic; His aid is not intermittent. It takes great words to voice that fact, and a common word takes on greatness by its very use, remaineth among youwith you alway.<\/em> How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word.<\/p>\n

We can well afford to make the temple central in the reconstruction of Society and hope for success, since God is with us, with us in power and with us in promise; but we cannot afford to forget<\/p>\n

THE PROPHECIES<\/strong><\/p>\n

here appendedFor 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; and I will shake all nations,<\/em> etc.<\/p>\n

Here is a prophecy of the catastrophe for this civilization. <\/strong>Truly the things that can be shaken have been, and the last four years have seen a vast deal of prophecy converted into history. It is not long since a sentence like this was received as little short of an insult by those exponents of Modernism who would have us believe that humanity holds in itself all the forces of moral and spiritual well being, and that by the cultivation of this natural good we could produce a golden age. To take any issue whatever with that false sentiment was to incite the fling Pessimist, and the name Prophet of Despair. History has long had a custom of correcting false philosophies, and the last four years of saber and shot and bomb, of devilish fumes and hellish gases and horrible inhumanities, of malignant vultures of the air, and poisoned serpents of the sea, have sufficed to show how history and prophecy are brought together, and the one is compelled to answer to the other, and the end is not yet! The civilization that has converted the term God into a military convenience, and the Gospel of His Son into a meaningless phrase, and the substitutionary sacrifice into a mere patriotic service, will be shaken again and yet again, until skies and land and sea shall learn the meaning of Gods judgment against secularism, skepticism, and sin!<\/p>\n

But believers are not thereby to be distressed. On the contrary, they should know encouragement rather, for another prophecy follows:<\/p>\n

The coming of our King, The Christ.<\/strong> The same God who said, I will shake all nations<\/em> adds And the Desire of all nations shall come. Then they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh! He, and none other is the Desire of all nations.<\/em> Malachi, the Prophet, voiced God as saying, Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His Temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts!<\/em><\/p>\n

If I may be permitted to quote from Dr. Straton again, and yet at the same time to employ an illustration that long since became the property of every preacher, I must remind you of the fact that when this King <\/strong>comes, all kings will acknowledge Him and all nations bow before Him. The illustration comes from the incident of the coronation of the great Victoria. The young Queen had been instructed to keep her seat while Handels Messiah was being rendered. All others, of course, were to rise and stand in respect to that great Name. As the great number drew near to its close, the Lord and Nobles and Clergy and People, standing with uncovered heads, fixed their eyes upon their nations ruler, and lo, while they looked, expecting her to remain distinguished by the quiet dignified posture of sitting upon the throne, her subjects about her, she saw the incongruity of the whole scheme, and when the great crowning chorus was reached, she trembled from her head to her feet as she listenedAnd He shall reign forever and ever<\/strong>; and as the line rolled out on the waves of melody, Lord of lords, and King of kings she sprang, weeping, to her feet, and removed the crown from her head to acknowledge Him, Lord of all. Aye, He shall come!<\/p>\n

Then will come the conquest of the King.<\/strong> That also is prophesied. 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 (Hag 2:9<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em> Two features will, for a full thousand years, mark the Kingdom of Heaven established on the earthGlory and Peace. The King Himself shall be crowned in glory, the people of God shall exist in glorious bodies, the administration of the earth shall itself be glorious, and the fundamental feature of that glory shall be peace<\/strong>. For four years we have been praying for peace. God has answered in part! The great international strife increasingly subsides, but this is not the peace of prophecy. This is not even a fair hint of the Heavenly peace that shall brood over the earth when once the Prince of Peace has come to His place of power.<\/p>\n

I read a few days since a clipping from the Detroit News of what Sousa did to Detroit: It is night on the Cadillac square. The illumined Liberty stands white and tall against the darkness of the sky. The incense urns breathe colored fire! A dark sea of people stands, packed from side to side of the wide concourse. The band, grouped around the feet of Liberty, is softly playing, oh, so softlylike a mothers twilight crooning Many are the hearts that are weary tonight, Waiting for the war to ceaseall the sadness of waiting and weariness in the hushed melody; all the unspoken yearnings of a million homes! It swept the crowd like a wave of homesickness. It melted down pride, patriotism and martial fervor, until just one deep emotion possessed the Souljust one: Waiting for the war to cease! The weariness and waiting trailed off toward the stars, and the white Liberty stood like a goddess, silent, unmoved, above an altar of sacrifice.<\/p>\n

And, then, then there was a waking amongst the horns, a rising protest from the trumpets, an ominous roll of storm from all the drums. A spirit was rising as a mighty wind. It came from the ancient caverns of music and swept 15,000 people aloft like leaves. It broke in massive melody and meaningMany are the hearts looking for the right<\/strong> the cornets spoke it and emphasized it; the trumpets underscored it, and echoed it; far back the screaming fifes and clarinets shrieked it aloud, like a feminine host adding their Amen; the drums flung it and sustained it through the night like a confirmation from the men in battleMany are the hearts looking for the right.the crowd, that had melted a moment before, caught the meaning. Looking for the Right said the band, and with the emphasis on the last wordfor it was words, more than notes, the band playedand then the great black host, packed on the pavement, burst forth in such a mighty roar that the 300 instruments were lost in the din, and Sousa himself became a mimic man waving a baton against a human storm.<\/p>\n

Yes, many are the hearts looking for the right; many are the minds planning for the right; many are the men hoping for the right! If the great leaders in the whole reconstruction plan were asked their objective, they would answer, The Right. But we will look in vain for the right until He returns whose right it is to reign<\/em> and under whose leadership every wrong will be corrected, and right will triumph!<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

HAGGAIOR GODS TEMPLE AND TRIUMPHS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hag 1:1<\/strong><\/span> to Hag 2:23<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

THE Prophet Haggai has been variously estimated by different students. Some have condemned his volume as a tame, uninteresting product; while others have so highly esteemed it as to insist that the phrase, Jehovahs messenger in Jehovahs message indicated his angelic character, and proved him to be nothing short of a supernatural being who visited the earth to deliver the words of this prophecy. As is usual with those who hold extreme positions, both of these are doubtless wrong. The probable history of the man is that of one of the exiles who returned with Zerubbabel and Joshua, and possibly a man of such age to have seen the first Temple in its splendor. His prophecy seems to date clearly to the year 521 B. C. The unprejudiced student of his speech will find it vigorous and will be profoundly impressed with the fact that this rugged man was sent of God, and became eminently successful in his mission. There are people who are telling us now that one can accomplish nothing after fifty years of age; but let it be remembered that Bob Burdette entered the ministry at that point in life and without a peer on the Pacific coast; and that the remarkable genius of Grace Temple, Philadelphia, Russell Conwell, had already made himself famous in two or three other professions before he felt called to be Gods spokesman to the people, and yet in the last twenty years the Lord has wrought miracle after miracle at his hands. Too often men excuse themselves from entering the ministry because the conviction of duty came not upon them in youth. God knew better what He could do with Moses when he had seen his eightieth summer than did the adopted child of an Egyptian princess. Haggai should enhearten the man who, in late life, has heard the call of God, and help him to give ready response.<\/p>\n

Again, the ministry of this man seems to have been but four months long; and only two messages ever fell from his lips. We speak often, and justly, against the short pastorate, but better four months ministry under God than forty years without Him; and two sermons preached in the power of the Spirit than two thousand delivered in the energy of the flesh.<\/p>\n

But we turn from the man to his message and call attention to three suggestions contained in these two chapters, The Temple of God, The Tests of God, and The Triumphs of God.<\/p>\n

<\/span>THE TEMPLE OF GOD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Haggai seems to have been raised up for the express purpose of preaching the restoration of the Temple. Jehovah spake after this manner,<\/p>\n

This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lords House should be built.<\/em><\/p>\n

Then came the Word of the Lord by Haggai the Prophet, saying,<\/p>\n

Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?<\/p>\n

* * Consider your ways, * * consider your ways.<\/p>\n

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 (Hab 1:2-5<\/em><\/span>; Hab 1:8<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

The neglect of Gods House is infidelity in conduct.<\/strong> A careful study of the Old Testament Scripture reveals the unchangeableness of human nature and character. This people say, the time is not come, the time that the Lords House should be built.<\/em> How modern that sounds! How many men we have known in churches who were never ready to undertake any work requiring sacrifice. They will admit it is needful; and that it ought to be done; but, with these Jews, say, The time is not come. And I find that these are not the men who treat their own business after the same manner. They are not the class who say, It is not the time to make money; it is not the time to acquire property; it is not the time to build up a great business; it is not the time to provide for a luxurious old age, and the fortunes of our children; their caution looks to one cause, and one only, and that is the cause of ChristGods house. Such characters are common; they have been the curse of churches in all ages. Any institution situated as this one is, namely, free from men who feel that their vocation in life is to stand on the breaks of church work, is to be congratulated indeed. This renewed and beautified house is made possible this morning because we have not a man in that company of officials to whom this work has fallen who was ever heard to say, It is not the time for the improvement of the House of God.<\/p>\n

The neglect of the sanctuary is commercial poverty.<\/strong> There are people who never have any money to invest in Gods House because they have to put up one for themselves. They just must provide for their families; children must be sent to college; and the stock of the business must be increased. Yes, we admit it all. It is a good thing for men to have homes of their own; it adds permanence and character to family life. It is a good thing to provide for ones family; if he does not do it he is worse than an infidel,<\/em> and hath denied the faith.<\/em> It is a good thing to educate ones children; they are a charge from God and He will hold us accountable for their training. It is a good thing to build up a business; large amounts of money are needed for the cause of our Christ. But let it not be forgotten that in nine cases out of ten when a man neglects the sanctuary for the sake of these things he is laying the foundation of his own financial failure, and like the people of Haggais day, looking for much; little will come because the House of God has been left waste while they turn every man to his own house;<\/p>\n

Ye run every man unto his own house.<\/em><\/p>\n

Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.<\/p>\n

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 labour of the hands (Hag 1:9-11<\/em><\/span>).<\/em><\/p>\n

Any observing man must have noticed that the most wicked districts of a city are always the poorest districts of a city; the most wicked towns are those in which pauperism abounds. It is written of the righteous Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper; the ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.<\/em> Irreligion impoverishes! People sometimes seem to be profoundly convinced of this fact. When drought has smitten the land, when the last green blade turns crisp, the very leaves droop, and song is parched from the throat of birds, cattle grow lean; when men drink from low water and lie down in fevers, how often they turn to God in unwonted prayer; and, in contrition and confession, ask to be forgiven, and beg for refreshing showers to quicken the earth again! Science may laugh at this; the Sacred Word of God encourages it! So long ago as the time of the dedication of the first Temple, Jehovah appeared unto Solomon by night and said unto him,<\/p>\n

I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for an house of sacrifice.<\/em><\/p>\n

If I shut up heaven and there he no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people;<\/p>\n

If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.<\/p>\n

In Kansas they used to plan against the ravages of the grasshopper; in Texas they experiment on the possible extermination of the boll weevil; and in Minnesota we send our scientists to study wheat-rust and watch the seasons with alarm lest it be too wet or too dry and the wheat fail. But the fact is the best way to fight the grasshopper in Kansas, and the weevil in Texas, and rust in Minnesota is to give attention to the sanctuary. Erect houses to God; assemble the people in prayer; and walk according to the Divine will. If it was once true that unfaithfulness upon the part of Gods people reduced an heap of twenty measures to but ten, and a wine vat of fifty vessels to but twenty<\/strong>; if it was once true that this unfaithfulness resulted in blasting, in mildew, and hail, who will dare to tell us that God has so far changed that He does not call the conduct of His professed followers into question and correct them by severe afflictions? And if it be true in Haggais day that the time when they made sacrifice to rebuild the sanctuary became the very day from which the fields yielded their fruit, the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate, and the olive tree brought forth, who will dare to stand up and say that God is not now showing favor to that people who remember His sanctuary, and make glad sacrifice for His Names sake? This is New Testament teaching. Philosophize as you will upon this point, the Word of Jesus is plain. The man who lays up treasure for himself, forgetting the Father, is only making ready for rust and moth, and even for thieves. The man who seeks first Gods Kingdom and His righteousness<\/strong> will find all essential things added unto him.<\/p>\n

The improvement of Gods House is the Divine pleasure.<\/strong> One cannot go through the Minor Prophets in careful study without being impressed with the fact that God gives no respite to His people so long as His House lies in ruins. Rebuilt it must be if they are to know the Divine favor. As Robertson Nichol says, Without the Temple continuity of Israels religion could not be maintained. An independent state with the full course of civic life was then impossible. The ethical spirit, the regard for each other and God, could prevail over their material interests in no other way than by common devotion to the worship of the God of their fathers in urging them to build the Temple. * * Haggai illustrated at once the sanity and the spiritual essence of prophecy in Israel.<\/p>\n

We remember that Henry Drummond has a booklet entitled The City without a Church in which he exploits the idea that the time will come when in all the cities of the world God will be worshiped so perfectly that no temple will be needful; every man will find Him in every place. The home will be the place of worship; the street will be the place of worship; and no church house will need to call attendance; no hour of devotion will need to be set apart for worship, for all men, everywhere, will worship at all times and under all circumstances. But Drummond overlooks the fact that his text comes out of the twenty-first chapter of Revelation, which is a description not of this world, but of the New Jerusalem, Coming down from God out of Heaven<\/em> and located in the new earth. So long as this old world stands as it is, and sin continues to smite, the sanctuary is a necessity. And men will not be forgiven who say, It is high time that I got my house repainted; it is high time that I had it wainscoted; it is high time I broadened its verandas; it is high time I hung the richest paintings upon its walls and spread more beautiful carpets upon its floors; but as for Gods House the time of its improvement is not yet. Oh how the speech of such contrasts the disposition of David who said unto Nathan, the Prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains<\/em>, and who was distressed that he should have made his own home more beautiful than the place dedicated to His Heavenly Father. And, how it contrasts with the conduct of Solomon who would not lay hand to his own palace until he had finished the Temple of God. These are the men worthy of imitation by the modern church. It was their spirit pulsing again in the heart of G. F. Handel when he wrote:<\/p>\n

I love Thy Church, O God;Her walls before Thee stand,Dear as the apple of Thine eye,And graven on Thy hand.<\/p>\n

For her my tears shall fall;For her my prayers ascend;To her my cares and toils be given,Till toils and cares shall end.<\/p>\n

Beyond my highest joy I prize her Heavenly ways,Her sweet communion, solemn vows,Her hymns of love and praise.<\/p>\n

Sure as Thy Truth shall last,To Zion shall be givenThe brightest glories earth can yield,And brighter bliss of Heaven.<\/p>\n

<\/span>THE TESTS OF GOD<\/strong><\/p>\n

But we turn from the Temple of God in this subject to the Tests of God. When Haggai, the Prophet, wanted to teach them their true condition he remembered the custom established in the time of the Pentateuch, when it was appointed that, the priests lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the Law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts.<\/em> If any troublesome question arose they were to inquire of him. Now Haggai puts to the priests two questions concerning the Law; First, 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! (Hag 2:12<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh, men and women of the nineteenth century, here is suggested a great truth for us:<\/p>\n

The clean do not necessarily convert all they touch.<\/strong> That makes an end to some of our latest theology and most modern methods. All up and down the land there are men preaching social regeneration and establishing social settlements in slum-centers, saying, If we can only come into contact with these people we will show them how to live above sin. We will set them an example, and they will become clean in person, and tidy in their homes. We will associate with them and they will learn purity of speech at our lips and cease from profanity; we will exhibit before them self-possession and they will come to hate their unholy passions. We will give them a sample of domestic beauty, and family-fussing will find an end. In other words, We will show them how to be Christians, and will say, Imitate us and so they shall be saved. But is that according to the Word of the Lord? 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?<\/em> If one go live in the midst of wicked people will they be changed by the power of his example? You who preach such a gospel, you who contribute your money to the promotion of such a philosophy, remember the criticism you pass upon Christ! He lived in Nazareth and there was no more wicked village on earth. Did He fail to set them a good example? He walked the streets of Capernaum; he taught in Chorazin; He visited again and again Bethsaida. And Capernaum went on hellward; Chorazin became more criminal; and the morals of Bethsaida blacker and blacker. Jerusalem was His favorite city; in its streets were heard His holy footfalls; He stood in its streets to speak; into its synagogues He went to teach; up and down its length and breadth He walked without sin, giving them an example of conscience, of courage, of purity, or sanity and salvation; and what came of it? Society grew more putrid still and as the sun only hastens the decomposition of the dead, so His glorious presence only the more revealed the moral putrifaction of the people with whom He dwelt. No, no, my friends; men cannot manifest forth what is not found within them, and character is not accomplished by change of outward circumstance; and salvation is not wrought by seeing another live sweetly. Ask the priest whether the clean convert all they touch and he has but one answer, No! Sometimes a moral leper will live in the church forty years and never lose one white blotch; sometimes an unregenerate man will dwell with a saved and sanctified woman for a half a century and yet die in his iniquity. Salvation is not by contact with the clean; salvation is in Christ! There is none other name under Heaven given among men.<\/em><\/p>\n

But the Prophet brings out another great truth:<\/p>\n

The unclean do defile by their contact.<\/strong> (Hag 1:13<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/em>). 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.<\/em> Where did he get that notion? From the Law of the Lord, Whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean<\/em> * * until even.<\/em><\/p>\n

But some man will say, A mere assertion does not make a truth. Ah, but this is a truth. You will find it so in the street tomorrow. There is a woman that passes you in whiteimmaculate! She touches you, and you are not a whit improved in appearance; for cleanliness is not communicable after that manner. Here is a chimney-sweep that goes by, and he rubs against you, and lo, as you look, he has left a black mark of soot. Here is a man of health that walks by; you have no sense of increased vigor when he has gone. Here is another of diseased body; you give him wide berth, lest his malady be communicated! Yes, Evil communications corrupt good manners<\/em> and the unclean do defile by their contact. I knew an office once in which young men, members of my church, forgot the vows they had taken; treated with contempt the church in which they were members; behaved like worldlings indeed, notwithstanding the profession they had made. I could not understand it, and wondered why the men in that particular office seemed to live at such a low level; and to entertain such pauperized notions of their privilege in Christ. Finally I had occasion to visit their chief, the man who was over them all, and the secret was out. He too had professed Christ; he, too, was a member of the church; but profane speech seemed to him no sin; and neglect of the sanctuary he justified; and Christianity he held in practical contempt. The unclean defile by their conduct. You remember that in the sixteenth century the sweating sickness terrorized England; in the seventeenth, the Black Plague almost depopulated the continent; and later, in the nineteenth, cholera cut down its tens of thousands. Knight, in his History of England says, Filth and imperfect ventilation were among the main causes of epidemic disease in each of these periods. Yes, Beloved, history attests the truth of Haggai! Contact with the unclean is defilement! We may not be saved because some holy person has passed, but the very look of an evil one may accomplish defilement!<\/p>\n

I believe the Devils voice <\/p>\n

Sinks deeper in our ear <\/p>\n

Than any whisper sent from Heaven,<\/p>\n

However sweet and clear.<\/p>\n

What is the message then? This<\/p>\n

Prosperity rests with true repentance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/em><\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 Lords Temple was laid, consider it!<\/p>\n

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 (Hag 2:14-19<\/em><\/span>).<\/em><\/p>\n

The way to God is right-about-face. How often men adopt another method. They forget God, and the fields parch, and the fruit fails, and they make up their minds that they must secure a better variety; plan to accomplish irrigation. They forget God and their business goes on the rocks and they say, Now how can I find some fellow who has money and inveigle him to invest with me that we may yet lift this whole plant to the point of neat net income? Ah, that is not the way! The poor prodigal knew better. He did not spend time saying, How can I recuperate my fortune? How can I so far recover it as to secure good clothing again; put up at the best inn; and appear afresh in first circles? I will watch my chance and steal some of these pigs and send them to the market. I will wait until this miserable Gentile comes to visit his swine ranch, and I will snatch his purse. He did not even say, I will make myself so invaluable to my employer that he will take me into partnership. He adopted the more direct route! 7 will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.<\/em> And he arose, and came to his father.<\/em> In less time than it takes to tell it, his poverty gave place to riches; his miserable vocation of swine-herd gave place to the office of sonship; his filthy garments went, and he was clothed in the best robe; his hunger was at an end, and he sat a son at the festal board. His unhappy thoughts no longer drove him to despair for now music was in his ears. His father did more for him in a minute than his most strenuous efforts could have accomplished in a thousand years. Let us see our way, repent and return to God. Peace He can give; prosperity He can bestow; possession He can appoint. Why be a slave of adversity when He stands ready to receive you into His own house and make you His son?<\/p>\n

But I must pass on to speak finally of<\/p>\n

<\/span>THE TRIUMPHS OF GOD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hag 2:21-23<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Look into these last verses. Haggai has another message. It came on the four and twentieth day of the month,<\/p>\n

Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Three things are perfectly clear concerning the triumphs of God.<\/p>\n

They will be attended by mighty demonstrations.<\/strong> I will shake the heavens and the earth.<\/em> Men may talk of natural law as they please, and argue, as is their wont, concerning its unchangeableness; but let not men forget that God who created this world has not released His hold upon it. Describe what orbits it may, it will never pass from the hollow of His hand. When He pleases He can shake it; when He likes He can lay His thumb upon it; when He likes He can crush its crust, and release its eternal fires; when He will He can spread His hand before the face of the sun, and fling an awful blackness over the inhabitants of the earth. And He is going to do it one day! That day will be the beginning of His mightiest triumph. The Son who has been in His counsel from eternity knew and declared this truth. 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. <\/em>The Prophet Haggai, and Gods greater Prophet, Jesus Christ, were speaking of one and the same thing. And men have always expected, and they still expect, that God will yet fulfill these words.<\/p>\n

You remember the consternation that we saw in America on the black day more than a hundred years ago. They feared the end had come. Why? Because the sun was darkened. We have heard our fathers tell what fear filled the earth when in 1833 there was a great meteoric display and the inhabitants believed the stars to be falling from their places; and, in our own day the Charleston earthquake sent the people, for miles and miles in that South land, to prayer because they believed the end was on. The earth was writhing at their feet; the sun was darkened; and a sound as of angry voices filled the air. But, beloved, these are only earnests of the awful hour of which the text speaks. When God shall march forth in triumph, the world to its very center shall quiver at His tread, and the sun shall fade out before His presence, and the moonlight die, for in that hour<\/em> He shall take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it (Job 38:13<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

Again, These triumphs will result in the overthrow of the world-kingdoms.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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. (Hag 2:22<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

This is no new teaching. The voice of Prophet joins with that of Prophet and Apostle, and their speech is one. God speaks the same through the Psalmist,<\/p>\n

Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations He hath made in the earth.<\/em><\/p>\n

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire.<\/p>\n

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth (Psa 46:8-10<\/em><\/span>).<\/em><\/p>\n

The Prophet Ezekiel spake of the same, Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee, Zephaniah was not stranger to this coming event, for at his lips the Lord had said, My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them Mine indignation, even all My fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy!<\/em> While Micah said of the same, Nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent; they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.<\/em><\/p>\n

Beloved, if the Jews of olden time failed utterly to appreciate the first coming of Christ by refusing to take literally the words of His birth and humiliation, His suffering on the Cross and death at the hands of men, let us not fail to be prepared for His Second Coming by refusing to accept utterly the references to the times of the tribulation, the clear speech concerning the overthrow of the earthly kingdoms, the darkness of the sun and the convulsion of all nature; for when God rides forth in His chariot of triumph I believe the very universe will tremble in its wake.<\/p>\n

He will reveal a Ruler of His own appointment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 (Hag 2:23<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

The rebuilding of that Temple was to be accomplished by this man, the man of Gods appointment. The same God who appointed him, empowered him; and God has another man under whose hand a more glorious Temple is yet to arise, chosen to the office of King indeed! And God will yet make Him as a signet; it is the Man Christ! The dominion of the Father will be entrusted to Him and He shall [reign] from sea even to sea<\/em>, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. All kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him.<\/em> You remember that in Tytlers History we are told of the day when the army of Richmond sang a hymn to God upon the field of battle, (Bosworth) and with loud acclamation proclaimed Henry VII king of England. This auspicious day put an end to the civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster. Henry, by marrying the princess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward V united in his own person the interests and rights of both these families. This excellent prince, who knew how to govern as well as to conquer, was one of the best monarchs that ever reigned in England. The nation under his wise and politic administration recovered the wounds it had sustained in those unhappy contests. The parliaments which he assembled made the most salutary laws, the people paid their taxes without reluctance, the nobles were kept in due subordination, and that spirit of commercial industry, in these latter ages, justly distinguished, began to make vigorous advances under the reign of Henry VII. The only failing of this prince was an economy perhaps too rigid, which, in his latter years, degenerated even into avarice. Oh, beloved, the kingliest King is yet to come to the throne; the One Man, under whose beneficent reign wars are to cease to the ends of the earth, is the Man of Gods appointment. He is to rule over the whole world. In His person Jew and Gentile will be united indeed; and by His counsel the commerce of the world will flourish in richness; and, when the record is finished it will not be found that they had to write down against Him a single failure; for, as Gods Prophet, He was without sin, and when He shall come to sit upon the thrones of the earth He will reign in righteousness.<\/p>\n

I never think of this fact without feeling to repeat the words of Joseph Parker, commenting upon the same, Oh, ye apprentices to the Deity; ye who try to do work for which ye seek the admiration of heaven, know ye that God is the Builder of His own City, the Keeper of His own House, and that not one stone can be touched by fire or by storm, because it is the Lords building, and He will bring on the topstone with shoutings of Grace, grace unto it!! And He will fill the whole house with glory as with the very morning of heaven. * * The Lord of Hosts! The Lord of Hosts! In this Name doth the King ride forth in this chapter. It is a Name of significance; it means Gods arm has in it omnipotence. Oh, rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him, and He will give thee thy hearts desire<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CRITICAL NOTES.]<\/strong> This oracle, delivered nearly a month after building had begun, designed to remove despondency, and to meet a new difficulty. <\/p>\n

Hag. 2:3<\/span><\/strong>.] The glory of the second did not answer to that of the former temple. Some of the oldest who had returned, had seen the first building, and wept at the contrast (Ezr. 3:12<\/span>). The Jews note five points of inferiority. The absence <\/p>\n

(1) of the sacred fire;
(2) the shekinah;
(3) the ark and cherubim;
(4) the Urim and Thummim;
(5) the spirit of prophecy. Nothing<\/strong>] God makes the contrast as great as possible, seems to share their feeling, and give evidence of his strong sympathy. <\/p>\n

Hag. 2:4<\/span><\/strong>. Yet<\/strong>] whatever your estimate, I give another. Strong<\/strong>] Fear not, I am with you. Work<\/strong>] Davids words to Solomon (1Ch. 28:10<\/span>; 2Ch. 19:11<\/span>). <\/p>\n

Hag. 2:5<\/span><\/strong>. Covenanted<\/strong>] God the same in promise to all generations and ages (Exo. 19:5-6<\/span>; Exo. 24:10-11<\/span>). Spirit<\/strong>] to strengthen (cf. Hag. 1:14<\/span>; Zec. 14:6<\/span>), hence continual enjoyment of Gods presence and aid. <\/p>\n

HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n

METHODS IN DIVINE TEACHING.Hag. 2:1-2<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Rebukes, warnings, and encouragements had due influence upon the people. But new difficulties now threaten and a fresh message is required. Hence came the word of the Lord again, in matter and method adapted to guide and comfort.<\/p>\n

I. God speaks to his people in different periods of time<\/strong>. In the seventh month<\/em>, in the one and twentieth day<\/em> of the month. In Hag. 2:1<\/span>; Hag. 2:10<\/span>; Hag. 2:18<\/span>, and chap. Hag. 1:1<\/span>; Hag. 1:15<\/span>, how specific the mention of time! no age is left without its prophet and Divine utterance. <\/p>\n

II. God speaks to his people in different circumstances of life<\/strong>. The Jews had passed through circumstances of indolence and zeal. Now<\/em> they begin to despond on account of an inferior temple and failing harvests (Hag. 2:9-11<\/span>). But when God stirs up a people he will help and comfort them in their work. Set the wheels a going and God will oil them, says an old writer. <\/p>\n

III. God speaks to his people in words adapted to their needs<\/strong>. We have warnings and comfort, consider and fear not, go up and build (chap. Hag. 1:8<\/span>). Revelations are given in sundry times and in divers manners, in parts and methods according to our requirements. Germs for present use and future growth. Whatsoever is Divine revelation ought to overrule all our opinions, prejudices, and interests, and hath a right to be received with full assent, says Locke. What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.<\/p>\n

CAUSES OF DESPONDENCY IN THE WORK OF GOD.Hag. 2:3<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The inferiority of the second temple to that of Solomon was a ground of discouragement in work. The old people affected the young, and though disappointment was not openly expressed, yet it suspended their labours.<\/p>\n

I. Many disaffected discouraged others in the work<\/strong>. Some old men were still alive, who thought more of former performances and attainments than present duty and hopeful signs. They discouraged others, exaggerated the evils and reflected upon the work of God. Murmurers and complainers belong to every age. If the times are bad what are we doing to mend them? asks one. Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this. <\/p>\n

II. All esteemed the work too lightly<\/strong>. Is it not in your eyes, in comparison of it, as nothing. They thought more of outward glory than spiritual blessings. We are too apt to judge by outward appearance, and forget Gods<\/em> estimate of labour. Though we are not building a material we are a spiritual temple. If not honoured with the position of some, we have responsibilities and duties. Never say that you do nothing<\/em>, if not surrounded with outward pomp, and patronized by the rich and the noble. Let us serve our own generation by the will of God.<\/p>\n

REMEDIES FOR DESPONDENCY IN THE WORK OF GOD.Hag. 2:4-5<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Notwithstanding alleged grounds of fainting, God exhorts them all to be courageous, to go on with their work, and gives reasons for the exhortation.<\/p>\n

I. Gods covenant with them is unchangeable<\/strong>. According to the word that I covenanted with you, when ye came out of Egypt. Mercies to Gods people are ensured by a pledge which is eternal and immutable. Dark may be the days and difficult the work of his people; but they are as much the object of his care as when the covenant was first ratified. They may sin and be punished for their sin; but his attitude towards them is not the result of caprice nor change. Unfaithfulness will banish God from us, but return to obedience will restore his favour and help. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. <\/p>\n

II. Gods presence with them is guaranteed<\/strong>. For I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts. God continually declares that we have no ground for fear. We need to have these assurances repeated. If hosts are against us, and the Lord of hosts is with us, this should strengthen us. His presence will compensate for past distress, aid in present duty, and be all-sufficient for the untried future. The promises of the gospel are sealed to us by the word of the Father, the blood of the Son, and the witness of the Spirit [Mason<\/em>]. <\/p>\n

III. Gods Spirit with them abides for ever<\/strong>. So my Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. Gods Spirit was with the leaders<\/em>, inspiring the prophets and sanctifying the priests; with the people<\/em> for the work of the sanctuary (Exo. 31:1<\/span>), and the confirmation of the weak. The Spirit to stir up all to duty (Ezr. 5:1<\/span>; Zec. 4:6<\/span>), and remove every hindrance to its performance. The Spirit still abides in the Church, helping to realize the Divine purpose in Christ. Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them. This should furnish, <\/p>\n

1. an antidote to fear,
2. a ground of confidence, and <\/p>\n

3. a motive to renewed consecration. Be strong and work: for I am with you (Hag. 2:4<\/span>).<\/p>\n

HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS<\/em><\/p>\n

Hag. 2:2<\/span>. The better to hearten them, the prophet is sent again, with a like message as before. Learn<\/p>\n

1. That there are none so forward for God and his work but may stand in need of continual quickening.
2. That continual preaching makes men continue in well-doing [Trapp<\/em>]. <\/p>\n

3. That all those who work for the Lord will be strengthened and encouraged in their difficulties. Speak now<\/em>, &c. The encouragements here are sent to the same persons to whom the reproofs in the foregoing chapter are directed; for those that are wounded by the convictions of the word shall be healed and bound up by its consolations.<\/p>\n

Hag. 2:3<\/span>. Important questions. What answers to be given? Some were left who had seen the first house in its glory, about sixty-eight years since. The contrast in the times and in the buildings no ground for despair. Long life is a blessing to the servant of God, if at its close he is permitted to see the revival of Gods kingdom and increasing signs of its coming glory [Lange<\/em>]. In your eyes<\/em>, that is, in your, thoughts: for God taketh notice of the inward workings of the heart [Trapp<\/em>]. Whatever they thought of the work, Gods estimate was very different. Judge not by appearances.<\/p>\n

Hag. 2:4-5<\/span>. Lessons of life<\/em>. Dwell much upon past history, and learn<\/p>\n

1. That what checks and distress may be experienced are due to unfaithfulness.
2. That God never failed to fulfil his covenant, whether he chastened or blessed.
3. That in the adversities of the present true hope lies in the presence and power of the Spirit [cf. Lange<\/em>].<\/p>\n

Hag. 2:4<\/span>. Be strong<\/em>. Here he exhorteth all ranks, first<\/em> to good affection, Be strong, or of a good courage; secondly<\/em>, to good action, Work, or be doing; for affection without action is like Rachel, beautiful but barren. Here then, that we falter not, betray not the cause of God, nor come under his heavy displeasure, who equally hateth the timorous and the treacherous, <\/p>\n

1. Be armed with true faith. Faith quelleth and killeth distrustful fear. <\/p>\n

2. Get the heart fraught with the true fear of God; for as one fire, so one fear, drives out another (Mat. 10:28<\/span>; 1Pe. 3:13-14<\/span>). <\/p>\n

3. Get and keep a clearing, cheering conscience; for that feareth no colours, as we see in St. Paul, Athanasius, Luther, Latimer, and other holy martyrs and confessors. <\/p>\n

4. Think on Gods presence as here, Be strong and be doing, for I am with you. Lastly, look up, as St. Stephen did, to the recompense of reward; steal a look from glory, as Moses (Heb. 11:26<\/span>); help yourselves over the difficulty of suffering with Christ by considering the happiness of reigning together [Trapp<\/em>].<\/p>\n

Hag. 2:5<\/span>. The word that I covenanted<\/em>. Deliverance in Egypt should remind of Gods power and presence with his Church. Encouragement is strengthened by reference to the covenant. Former appearances are types of future. <\/p>\n

1. Providences may seem to contradict promises.
2. Promises never contradict providences. Hence the continual repetition and renewed emphasis of the word.<\/p>\n

Our God is still as kind, and all His gifts
Like wondrous, like unlimited, like fair,
As when the wind first blew. Man is to God
That he hath ever been [Bailey<\/em>].<\/p>\n

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2<\/p>\n

Hag. 2:1-2<\/span>. Word<\/em>. What a beautiful sermon or essay might be written on the the growth of prophecy!from the germ no bigger than a mans hand in Genesis, till the column of cloud gathers size and strength, and height and substance, and assumes the shape of a perfect man: just like the smoke in the Arabian Nights tale, which comes up and at last takes a genies shape [Coleridge<\/em>].<\/p>\n

Hag. 2:3-5<\/span>. Despondency<\/em>. Too often a mischievous gloom enters the mind of Gods people. Their hands slacken, their energies are paralyzed for the work of God, and they sink into desponding apathy and indolence. Did we realize our present privileges and future prospects, the gleam of sunshine would be to us the earnest of what it will be, whenas Rutherford beautifully observeswe shall be on the sunny side of the Brae [Bridge<\/em>].<\/p>\n

Theres not a scene on earth so full of lightness,<\/p>\n

That withering care<\/p>\n

Sleeps not beneath the flowers, and turns their brightness<\/p>\n

To dark despair [Hon. Mrs Norton<\/em>].<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

THE SECOND MESSAGE . . . Hag. 2:1-9<\/span><\/p>\n

RV . . . In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying, Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes as nothing? Yet, now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith Jehovah, and work; for I am with you, saith Jehovah of hosts, according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, and my Spirit abode among you: fear ye not For thus saith Jehovah 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; and I will shake all nations; and the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith Jehovah of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts.<\/p>\n

LXX . . . In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the Lord spoke by Aggaeus the prophet, saying, Speak now to Zorobabel the son Salathiel, of the tribe of Juda, and to Jesus the son of Josedec, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, saying, Who is there of you that saw this house in her former glory? and how do ye now look upon it, as it were nothing before your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zorobabel, saith the Lord; and strengthen thyself, I Jesus the high priest, the son of Josedec; and let all the people of the land strengthen themselves, saith the Lord, and work, for I am with you, saith the Lord Almighty; and my Spirit remains in the midst of you; be of good courage. For thus saith the Lord Almighty; Yet once I will shake the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the choice portions of all the nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord Almighty. Mine is the silver, and mine the gold, saith the Lord Almighty. For the glory of this house shall be great, the latter more than the former, saith the Lord Almighty: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord Almighty, even peace of soul for a possession to every one that builds, to raise up this temple.<\/p>\n

COMMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE WORD OF JEHOVAH . . . Hag. 2:1-2<\/span><\/p>\n

Claiming again the inspiration of God for his message, Haggai, a month after rebuilding was resumed, addressed himself again to the civil and spiritual leaders and the people.<\/p>\n

THE FORMER GLORY . . . Hag. 2:3<\/span><\/p>\n

There were a few who had returned from captivity who longed for the good old days. The modest dimensions and decor of the second temple could not compare with the splendor of the first. (1Ki. 6:22<\/span>; 1Ki. 6:28<\/span>; 1Ki. 6:30<\/span>; 1Ki. 6:32<\/span>; 1Ki. 7:48-50<\/span>)<\/p>\n

How do you see it? asks the prophet. The temple they were building was nothing compared to their memory of the one erected by Solomon.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, several things were absent from the second temple by which it could not compare to the first:<\/p>\n

(1) The Ark of the Covenant was gone. Its fate still remains a mystery. The idea that it was taken directly into heaven has been held by some on the strength of Rev. 11:19<\/span>. The apocalyptic nature of Revelation, however, makes a literal interpretation very unreliable.<\/p>\n

(2) The Shekinah glory . . . the pillar of cloud and of fire was absent . . . proof that the full glory of God was not yet come.
(3) Following Malachi, the Spirit of prophecy was apparently silent and the inspired prophet was replaced by the professional scribe.<\/p>\n

(4) The sacred fire, kindled by God upon the altar was extinguished, and God no longer smote the priests for replacing it with strange fire. (cf. Lev. 10:1<\/span> -ff)<\/p>\n

(5) The Urim and Thummim were also gone. (cp. Exo. 28:30<\/span>) The literal meanings of these words are lights and perfections, respectively. The exact nature of them is problematical. They may have been some divine manifestation or they may have been an appendage on the breastplate of the priests. (cp. Deu. 33:8<\/span> and 1Sa. 28:6<\/span>) It has been suggested that the Urim and Thummim were jewels set in the breast plate of the high priest. (cp. Exo. 28:29<\/span>, Exo. 39:8<\/span> and Lev. 8:8<\/span>)<\/p>\n

No doubt much else was lacking. The first temple had been erected by a wise ruler of a wealthy nation in collaboration with building experts. The second was built by a vassal state, with no king and no real wealth.
This actual inferiority was exaggerated in the memory of those in whose minds sixty-six years had no doubt added even to the real glory of Solomons temple.
The key to Haggais message to those who were depressed and disappointed in the inferiority of their handiwork, is the question how do ye see it? They were overly concerned with material embellishments.<\/p>\n

I AM WITH YOU . . . Hag. 2:4-5<\/span><\/p>\n

The important thing in regard to the rebuilding of the temple, as God saw it, was that His people were back in their land, and He was with them. And His presence is according to the everlasting covenant.
Here is the heart of the prophetic message. This is the reason the remnant had been returned. This is the reason the temple must be rebuilt. His promise to bless all the nations of the earth in the seed of Abraham was the reason they became a nation in the beginning. (cf. Exodus 2:34, Exo. 19:5-6<\/span>) It is equally the reason for the restoration of their national identity.<\/p>\n

In their national pride and religious exclusiveness, they were about to forget again the reason for their existence. It was vital that, upon this restoration as in their beginnings as a people (Gen. 1:1-3<\/span>) and as a nation (Exo. 19:5-6<\/span>), that the people be once more made aware of their covenant purpose. Here is the real purpose of the preaching of Haggai, for in the reconstruction of the temple was the symbolic re-affirmation of the covenant.<\/p>\n

THE LATTER GLORY OF THIS HOUSE SHALL BE GREATER THAN THE FORMER . . . Hag. 2:6-9<\/span><\/p>\n

Through the restored remnant the Christ would come. Never again would Baal be worshipped among His people. They would forget the covenant purpose as a nation. Their religion would become a hollow form, but with it all, the faithful few would remain true and the Messiah would come in fulfillment of the covenant promise. (cp. Mat. 1:1<\/span>, Luk. 1:33<\/span>; Luk. 1:55<\/span>; Luk. 1:72-73<\/span>) <\/p>\n

Thus saith the Lord in verse six is dependent upon the covenant mentioned in verse five.<\/p>\n

The phrase in a little while has been rendered variously, it is as yet a little while, and one period morea brief one it is. The Septuagint has yet once. The sense is that of repetition.<\/p>\n

Just as the power of the Lord had shaken Sinai (Heb. 12:26<\/span>) as God manifest His moral power to Israel, so again He will demonstrate His power in the shaking of the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and . . . all nations, and the precious things of all nations. (Hag. 2:7<\/span>)<\/p>\n

The Hebrew writer sees the fulfillment of this in the coming of the new covenant. (Heb. 12:18-29<\/span>) The coming of the church, the new temple (Heb. 8:1<\/span> -ff) and ultimate fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant (Gal. 3:29<\/span>) shook and put an end to the nations of the pre-Christian world.<\/p>\n

The shaking began during the silent years between the Testaments. The Persian Empire crumbled before Alexander. Alexanders kingdom, divided after his youthful death, in turn gave way to Rome, and the west began its current domination of the east which heretofore had set the culture of the world.<\/p>\n

The desire of all nations (KJV) in verse seven is unmistakably Messianic. There could hardly be a more vivid expression of the covenant promise, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Even the rabbis saw in it the coming of the Messiah. The true riches of God, the silver and gold of verse eight will make the glory of the house of God outshine the glory of Solomons temple.<\/p>\n

And so the prophet comforts the people in such a way as to turn their minds from their ambitions of national grandeur to the glorious hope of covenant fulfillment.
The statement in verse nine, the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, is deserving of special attention. The argument of the book of Hebrews for the superiority of the new covenant over the old is a glorious re-statement of this truth.<\/p>\n

It is patently obvious that Haggai cannot be saying that when the second temple is complete it will be more splendid than the first. This simply could not be true in the nations post-exilic circumstances. Historically it was not true, even with Herods embellishments during the Roman era. Haggai is looking to something far more meaningful than stone and mortar.<\/p>\n

Lump Solomons temple, Zerubbabels temple, and Herods temple all together and their glory cannot surpass that of the real temple, the church. That the Jews identified the material temple with their ambitions for national glory was a grave error for them. Ultimately, it brought about their rejection of Jesus. But it did not alter the spiritual facts. (cp. Dan. 2:36-45<\/span>; Dan. 4:19-27<\/span>, Ezekiel 40-48, Zec. 2:3-13<\/span>; Zec. 6:9-15<\/span>; Zec. 8:13<\/span>; Zec. 8:18-23<\/span>; Zec. 9:9-10<\/span>; Zec. 14:16-21<\/span>, Psa. 145:6<\/span>; Psa. 145:9-13<\/span>; Psa. 145:21<\/span>)<\/p>\n

The true tabernacle, or temple is superior to the old because it is based on a superior revelation by a superior Revelator (Hebrews, chapters 1-3) and because it is ministered by a superior priesthood. (Heb. 4:14<\/span> to Heb. 10:18<\/span>) It is more glorious than the former because it is related to God by a better covenant and accomplishes better services. The scene, conditions and results of its ministry are ideal whereas those of the old temple were symbolic, shadowy types of the real temple. The former temple was passing away, the latter temple is eternal. The sacrifices offered in the former were dead animals. Those in the new are living men. (Rom. 12:1-2<\/span>)<\/p>\n

The promise of peace is also related to the new temple rather than the old. The peace which God gives to those who are the new temple, the spiritual house (1Pe. 2:5<\/span>), is beyond the comprehension of those who think of material glory. (Php. 4:7<\/span>)<\/p>\n

The world seeks peace in terms of silent guns and rusted swords. The world seeks peace in terms of easy going tolerance in all human relationships. The world seeks peace through positive thinking, tranquilizers and electro-therapy.<\/p>\n

But the peace which prevails in the true and more glorious temple of God is not as the world gives. (Joh. 14:27<\/span>) Such peace comes only from complete surrender to and complete trust in Him Who is the meaning of the old temple and the High Priest of the new.<\/p>\n

It is related to the reality of the Holy Spirit, not as a doctrine but as a present Person. (Joh. 14:26-27<\/span>) Haggai knew about this. In Hag. 2:5<\/span>, he says My Spirit abideth among you, fear not.<\/p>\n

Chapter XXIVQuestions<\/p>\n

Exposition of Haggai<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Write an outline of Haggai.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

Haggais first message is concerned with?<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

What were the results of the first message?<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

Discuss the ancestry of Zerubbabel in light of Hag. 1:1<\/span>, 1Ch. 3:17-19<\/span>, and Luk. 3:27<\/span>,<\/p>\n

5.<\/p>\n

The message Haggai was _____________ message.<\/p>\n

6.<\/p>\n

Haggais first message attacks _____________.<\/p>\n

7.<\/p>\n

How does the message apply to us who would build the church?<\/p>\n

8.<\/p>\n

How does Haggai account for the drought and austere conditions which had beset the people?<\/p>\n

9.<\/p>\n

Discuss Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel.<\/p>\n

10.<\/p>\n

What is the gist of Haggais second message? To whom is it addressed?<\/p>\n

11.<\/p>\n

What was missing from the second temple?<\/p>\n

12.<\/p>\n

What is meant by the latter glory of the house?<\/p>\n

13.<\/p>\n

Discuss Hag. 2:7<\/span> in light of Heb. 8:1<\/span> -ff and Gal. 3:29<\/span>.<\/p>\n

14.<\/p>\n

What is meant by desire of all nations?<\/p>\n

15.<\/p>\n

What is the gist of Haggais third message?<\/p>\n

16.<\/p>\n

What false motives might have been involved in rebuilding the temple?<\/p>\n

17.<\/p>\n

What malady confronting Haggai was also addressed by Jesus?<\/p>\n

18.<\/p>\n

Show evidence that Haggai considered his message to be Gods rather than his own.<\/p>\n

19.<\/p>\n

Discuss the shaking of the heavens and earth (Hag. 2:21<\/span> cp. Hag. 2:6<\/span>)<\/p>\n

20.<\/p>\n

Why could not this shaking have referred to the chaotic conditions of Darius early reign?<\/p>\n

21.<\/p>\n

Where in the Bible do we find the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy?<\/p>\n

22.<\/p>\n

Discuss Zerubbabel as a type of Christ. Show parallels between them.<\/p>\n

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

(1) In the one and twentieth day.<\/strong>Here, again, the day selected is significant. The twenty-first day of the seventh month (Tisri) was the seventh and last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. This was the festival of harvest thanksgiving, and its occurrence had always been marked by observances of a peculiarly joyous character. Moreover, the sacrifices on this occasion were very numerousthe number prescribed by the Talmud for the first day exceeding that of any other day in the year. Thus the scanty harvest and the small beginnings of the Lords House would both be brought into prominence. It would be but natural if feelings of despondency were excited among those who were old enough to remember the Temple of Solomon, with its costly accessories and elaborate ceremonial, and the festive rites wherewith the joy in harvest had expressed itself in a more prosperous time. There is no ground, however, for supposing that the prophet was himself one of these aged persons-<\/p>\n

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

II.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(1-9) The Third Utterance.<\/em>This utterance treats of the glory which, in a later time, is to attach itself to the sacred spot whereon the returned exiles are labouring. It was intended more especially as a message of consolation to those who remembered Solomons magnificent structure, and who now gazed sadly on the humble proportions of its successor.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

THE GLORY OF THE NEW TEMPLE, Hag 2:1-9<\/span>.<\/p>\n

These verses contain the second address of Haggai, a message of encouragement to the builders. The prophet promises, in the name of Jehovah, that the new temple, enriched by the wealth of the Gentiles and blessed with peace, shall be more glorious than that of Solomon.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:1<\/span> <\/strong> gives the date of the utterance. <\/p>\n

Seventh month <\/strong> Named Tishri, <\/em> covering the latter part of September and first part of October. <\/p>\n

The one and twentieth day <\/strong> Less than a month after the beginning of the work. We must assume, and the assumption finds support in the contents of the message, that during the interval, when the first enthusiasm had died down, people began to think more soberly about the obstacles to be encountered. Their numbers were small, the building material was costly, some of it had to be brought from a distance, there were no resources such as Solomon could draw upon, and no allies to assist in the work; instead, they had to suffer much from their neighbors. Under these discouraging conditions the fervor of some grew cold, and some malcontents, who perhaps had held aloof from the beginning, found ready listeners. What was the use of it all? They could never expect to equal the temple of Solomon. Why not quit work? Haggai saw that the enterprise was threatened with complete failure unless he could revive the former courage and enthusiasm. This he sought to do by bringing to the discouraged builders a new message of hope and inspiration. Hag 2:2<\/span> is similar to Hag 1:1<\/span>; Hag 1:12<\/span> (see there).<\/p>\n

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

God’s House Will Become A House For All Nations, Filled With Glory ( Hag 2:1-9<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ).<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

God’s first promise springing from their obedience is that, in spite of unpromising beginnings, His House will attract all nations, so that His House will be filled with glory.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:1<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

‘In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of YHWH by Haggai the prophet, saying,<\/p>\n

This was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Day of Atonement would have been held on the tenth of the month (Lev 23:26-32<\/span>, compare Leviticus 16<\/span>) and then from the fifteenth to the twenty first day would be the Feast, followed on the twenty second day by a solemn rest (Lev 23:33-36<\/span>). This was a time for celebration of the harvests of the past year, and especially for the summer fruits and vintage, and of prayer for the coming rains which would ensure a prosperous harvest in the coming year.<\/p>\n

But from what has already been said there would be little cause for celebration. The harvests had been bad, and the rains had not been forthcoming. Thus to some extent at least the celebrations would have been muted. Furthermore their coming each day into the partial ruins of Jerusalem, and their seeing the altar of YHWH open to the skies, surrounded no doubt by the sheds in which the Temple vessels were stored, would remind them of the glories that had once been. Once on this site had stood the glorious Temple of Solomon. And now all that was there was the bare altar surrounded by its sheds.<\/p>\n

True they had now determined to rebuild the Temple. But they were fully aware of what a meagre building it was going to be compared with the glory of King Solomon’s, Temple, made even more glorious by its being an enhanced memory from the past (all who were still alive who could remember it had seen it as small children who must have been filled with awe at the site). Indeed when initially they had begun to build it when they first returned, the joy had been mixed with weeping precisely for this reason (Ezr 3:10-13<\/span>). And Haggai was aware that things were no different now (Hag 2:3<\/span>). So it was in the light of these circumstances that Haggai gives his assuring words. Things are about to change.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:2-3<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah,<\/p>\n

And to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest,<\/p>\n

And to the remnant of the people, saying,<\/p>\n

Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory?<\/p>\n

And how do you see it now?<\/p>\n

Is it not in your eyes as nothing?”<\/p>\n

Haggai is now told to speak to Zerubbabel, Joshua and ‘the remnant of the people’ (those whose hearts are true) and encourage them.<\/p>\n

The sense of discouragement that there was among the people comes out here. They were still feeling battered from their poor harvest, and now as they were planning their new building it was coming home to them, and especially to those who had seen the former Temple, what a poor thing it was going to be compared with the one that it was replacing.<\/p>\n

But Haggai will have none of it. They must not look at what they are about to build, but must look ahead to what is going to result from it. For on the foundations of the Temple which they are about to build God will do such great things that all men will marvel. He will make it a House for all nations (Hag 2:7<\/span>), He will restore blessing to His people (Hag 2:19<\/span>), and He will raise up from the house of Zerubbabel the King Who is to rule over all, of Whom Zerubbabel himself is the guarantee (Hag 2:20-23<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:4-5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, says YHWH,<\/p>\n

And be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest;<\/p>\n

And be strong, all you people of the land, says YHWH,<\/p>\n

And work, for I am with you, says YHWH of hosts,<\/p>\n

According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt,<\/p>\n

And my Spirit abode among you, fear you not.”<\/p>\n

They must not be discouraged but must be strong. Let them remember how God had made His covenant with them (‘cut with them’, used of cutting a covenant) when they came out of Egypt, and how His Spirit had dwelled among them. So it would be again (compare Zec 4:6-7<\/span>, ‘not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says YHWH’). Thus they must not be afraid. For they must no longer see themselves as ‘Zerubbabel, Joshua and the remnant of the people’ but as ‘Zerubbabel, Joshua and  the people of the land<\/em> ’. With the commitment to the rebuilding and completion of the Temple they are once again ‘the people of the land’ in the eyes of YHWH. And it will all come about in His own good time.<\/p>\n

Haggai probably has in mind here the words of God spoke to Joshua on the death of Moses, ‘Be strong and of a good courage, for you will cause this people to inherit the land — only be strong and very courageous — be strong and of a good courage, do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for YHWH your God is with you wherever you go’ (Jos 1:6-7<\/span>; Jos 1:9<\/span>). There also ‘be strong’ was repeated three times.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:6-9<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For thus says YHWH of hosts: <\/p>\n

Yet once, it is a little while,<\/p>\n

And I will shake the heavens, and the earth,<\/p>\n

And the sea, and the dry land,<\/p>\n

And I will shake all nations;<\/p>\n

And the precious things of all nations shall come,<\/p>\n

And I will fill this house with glory, says YHWH of hosts.<\/p>\n

The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says YHWH of hosts.<\/p>\n

The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says YHWH of hosts,<\/p>\n

And in this place will I give peace, says YHWH of hosts.”<\/p>\n

And all the He is promising will come about because of His word. For He will ‘shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land, and He will shake the nations’. In other words in every aspect of creation, including the nations, He will exercise His divine power in the bringing about of His will.<\/p>\n

Initially this shaking of the nations took place as one after another of the great empires collapsed (as Daniel brings out), but it would continue as the early church went out to the nations and established the Kingly Rule which would shake the Roman Empire to its core. And the Scripture regularly bring out that there will be a final shaking of the nations at the end of time.<\/p>\n

The writer to the Hebrews, referring to these words, takes this a step further. He points out that things that can be shaken are clearly temporary and will therefore be removed, leaving the things that cannot be unshaken, which will remain, which he sees as the eternal Kingdom (Heb 12:26-28<\/span>). For to him Mount Zion was now in Heaven, along with the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (and Temple), the innumerable company of angels, the general assembly of the church and the firstborn who are written in Heaven, and the spirits of just men made perfect. Thus he sees these words as fulfilled in the heavenly kingdom established by Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

And the result will be that the nations will bring their precious things and their treasures to YHWH, and He will fill His house with glory. After all, all the gold and the silver already really belonged to Him. Thus He promises that the latter glory of His House will be greater than the former, that is, the initial house that they will build. They are to see it as a seed that will develop into a huge tree. This promise that the treasures of the nations would be brought to YHWH is found regularly in Isaiah (Isa 18:7<\/span>; Isa 60:5-10<\/span>; Isa 60:16<\/span>; Isa 61:6<\/span>).<\/p>\n

As often with God’s promises the fulfilment of this came in stages:<\/p>\n

Firstly it literally happened in the building of Herod’s Temple, to which indeed people from all nations did come, and to which many treasures and gifts were brought by both Jews and Gentiles, which unquestionably increased the glory of the House.<\/p>\n

The glory came even more to the Temple when the young baby was brought in Who was the future Messiah and of whom Simeon declared that He was ‘a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel’ (Luk 2:38<\/span>).<\/p>\n

But even moreso was the glory revealed His new Temple, Jesus Christ, Who would be destroyed and in three days would rise again, the Temple that had replaced the Temple of Herod (Joh 2:19<\/span>; Joh 2:21<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Then it was revealed in His new people who became the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1Co 3:16<\/span> and often), who would receive glory after glory (2Co 3:18<\/span>).<\/p>\n

And finally it was fulfilled in the new Temple in Heaven in all its heavenly splendour (regularly in Revelation), as those from many nations flocked into it as the riches of the nations (Rev 21:24<\/span>), a new Temple confirmed in Heb 12:22-24<\/span>, compare Gal 4:26<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

A Comforting Assurance<\/p>\n

v. 1. In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month,<\/strong> not even a full month after the construction of the Temple had been resumed, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying, <\/p>\n

v. 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, the rest of those who had now re-turned from Babylon, saying, <\/p>\n

v. 3. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory?<\/strong> the Temple of Solomon with its almost unequaled rich ornamentation. And how do ye see it now?<\/strong> What impression did this second Temple make upon them as they observed it?. Is it not in your eyes, in comparison of it, as nothing?<\/strong> Any kind of comparison was so much to the disadvantage of this second Temple that the older men had fallen to weeping even when they saw the foundation finished and the altar of burnt offering placed, Ezr 3:10<\/span> ff. <\/p>\n

v. 4. Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord,<\/strong> filled with reassuring comfort; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord,<\/strong> all filled with the same reassurance, and work,<\/strong> to complete the erection of the Temple; for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts; <\/p>\n

v. 5. according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt,<\/strong> when Israel was formally accepted as Jehovah’s people in the great assembly at Mount Sinai, so My Spirit remaineth among you,<\/strong> to strengthen them for the successful conclusion of their work. Fear ye not! <\/p>\n

v. 6. For thus saith the Lord of hosts,<\/strong> the same powerful God of the covenant who had entered into fellowship with them at Horeb, Yet once, it is a little while,<\/strong> but a short time as men reckon time, and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land,<\/strong> in a mighty commotion involving practically the entire known world, such as took place when the Roman emperors ordered their periodical censuses of the empire, <\/p>\n

v. 7. and I will shake all nations,<\/strong> all of them being drawn into this agitation, and the Desire of all nations,<\/strong> the long-expected Messiah, shall come; and I will fill this house,<\/strong> now so lowly and unpretentious, with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. <\/p>\n

v. 8. The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of hosts,<\/strong> for which reason it would be a small matter for Him to fill any mere earthly house with ornamentation and treasures beyond the dreams of avarice. But that is not the Lord’s chief concern. <\/p>\n

v. 9. The glory of this latter house,<\/strong> of the New Testament Church, of which this second Temple was but a feeble type and shadow, shall be greater than of the former,<\/strong> of the Jewish Church of the Old Testament, of which the Temple of Solomon was a type, saith the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace,<\/strong> namely, the peace of the redemption gained by the promised Messiah, saith the Lord of hosts. <\/strong> In this way the content of the New Testament Gospel message was proclaimed even in the Old Testament, and the believers in both instances rest their faith on the same hope. Cf Luk 2:14<\/span>; Eph 2:14<\/span>. <\/p>\n

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

EXPOSITION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hag 2:1-9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part II<\/strong>. THE<\/strong> SECOND<\/strong> ADDRESS<\/strong>: THE<\/strong> GLORY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> NEW<\/strong> TEMPLE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:1-5<\/span> 1. The prophet comforts whose who grieve at the comparative poverty of the new building with the assurance of the Divine protection and favour.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hag 2:1<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month. <\/strong>The seventh month is Ethanim or Tisri, answering to parts of September and Ootober. The twenty-first was the last and great day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Le 23:34<\/span>, etc.), when It was the custom to celebrate the ingathering of the harvest. The joyous nature of this festival was sadly marred on this occasion. Their crops were scanty, and they had. no temple in whose courts they might assemble to pay their vows and offer their thank offerings. The building which had begun to make some progress only the mere showed its poverty. Everything tended to make them contrast the present with the past. But God mercifully relieves their despondency with a new message. By the prophet Haggai <\/strong>(see note on Hag 1:1<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Speak now to Zerubbabel. <\/strong>The message is addressed to the heads of the nation, temporal and spiritual, and to all the people who had returned (see notes on Hag 1:1<\/span> and Hag 1:12<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Who is left among you! <\/strong>etc. It is quite possible that there should be some old people present who had seen Solomon’s temple. Many have thought that Haggai himself was of the number. It was sixty-eight years ago that the temple was destroyed, and we can well believe that its remarkable features were deeply impressed on the minds of those who as boys or youths had loved and admired it. Ezra tells us (Ezr 3:12<\/span>) that “many of the priests and Levites” [when the foundation first was laid] and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice.” This house. The prophet identifies the present with Solomon’s temple, as being adapted for the same purposes, to fill the same place in the national life, built on the same hallowed spot, and partly with the same materials. In the Jews’ eyes there was one only temple, whatever might be the date of its erection or the comparative worth of its decorations and materials. First<\/strong>; former, <\/em>as verse 9. How do ye see it now?<\/strong> (Num 13:18<\/span>). In what condition do ye see this house now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>of it as nothing?<\/strong> The words, “in comparison of it,” ought to be omitted, as not required by the Hebrew idiom. Does it not seem in your eyes as if it had no existence? If the injunction of Cyrus (Ezr 1:3<\/span>, etc.) had been carried out, the dimensions of. the new temple would have exceeded those of the old; but Zerubbabel seems to have been unable, with the small resources at his disposal, to execute the original design, though even so the proportions were not greatly inferior to those of the earlier temple. But the chief inferiority lay in the absence of the splendour and enrichment with which Solomon adorned his edifice. The gold which he had lavished on the house was no longer available; the precious stones could not be had. Besides. these defects, the Talmudists reckon five things wanting in this second temple, viz. the ark of the covenant, with the cherubim and mercy seat; the holy fire; the Shechinah; the spirit of prophecy; the Urim and Thnmmim. It was, according to Josephus, only half the height of Solomon’s-sixty cubits (‘Ant.,’ 15:11, 1), and it appears to have been in many respects inferior to the first building (‘Ant.,’ Ezr 4:2<\/span>). Hecabaeus of Abdera gives the dimensions of the courts as five hundred feet in length and a hundred cubits in breadth (double the width of the court of the tabernacle), and the size of the altar as twenty cubits square and ten cubits high.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:4<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Be strong.<\/strong> This is repeated three times for emphasis’ sake. The same exhortation was given by David to Solomon before the building of the first temple (1Ch 28:10<\/span>; comp. Jos 1:6<\/span>, Jos 1:7<\/span>, Jos 1:9<\/span>). Haggai seems to suggest comfort in the thought that such admonition was needed at that time as well as now when they are so depressed (comp. Zec 8:9<\/span>). And work;<\/strong> literally, and do; <\/em>: facite, <\/em>The word is used absolutely, as often (camp. Isa 44:23<\/span>; Amo 3:6<\/span>, and note there). Here it means, “Work on bravely, finish what you have begun.” I am with you<\/strong> (see Hag 1:13<\/span>, and note there). The consciousness of God’s presence gives confidence and strength.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the word that I covenanted.<\/strong> The Hebrew is simply, “the word that I,” etc. Hence some have connected it with the verb “do” in the preceding verse, the intervening words being parenthetical. But there is intended no injunction respecting the observation of the old covenant, but a consolatory message under present despondency. Others take it with the verb that fallows: “the word and my Spirit remain among you.” but it is best to leave the clause in the abrupt fashion in which it is introduced: “(Here is, here stands) the word that I covenanted with you.” If anything is supplied, we might insert, “I will confirm.” The promise of present help is confirmed by the remembrance of God’s former covenant with Israel, that they should be his peculiar people and possess the right of access to him and a claim on his help (Exo 19:5<\/span>, Exo 19:6<\/span>; Exo 29:45<\/span>, Exo 29:46<\/span>; Deu 7:6<\/span>; Jer 7:23<\/span>). This clause is entirely omitted by tile Septuagint. So my Spirit remaineth among you; <\/strong>Revised Version, and my Spirit abode among you. <\/em>But the clause refers to God’s presence among them now, which was shown by the revelations made to the prophets, as Haggai and Zechariah, and which exhibits itself in his providential ordering of events, the removal of obstacles, the furthering of the good work. Wordsworth notes that “Christ was with the ancient Church in the wilderness (see 1Co 10:9<\/span>; Heb 11:26<\/span>); and now, when the eternal Word <\/em>became incarnate, and when the Holy Spirit <\/em>was sent to be in the midst <\/em>of God’s faithful people, then this prophecy was fulfilled. Fear ye not.<\/strong> If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31<\/span>; and comp. Zec 4:6<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:6-9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

2. The prophet, to reconcile the people to the new temple, and to touch them to value it highly, foretells a future time, when the glory of this house shall far exceed that of Solomon’s, adumbrating the Messianic era.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hag 2:6<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet once, it is a little while;<\/strong> <\/em>; Adhuc unum modicum est <\/em>(Vulgate), The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (12:26, 27) quotes and founds an argument on this rendering of the LXX<\/strong>. The expression is equivalent to “once again within a little time.” I will shake,<\/strong> etc. Some difference of opinion exists as to the events here adumbrated. All, however, agree in seeing an allusion to the promulgation of the Law on Mount Sinai, which was accompanied with certain great physical commotions (see Exo 19:16<\/span>; Psa 68:7<\/span>, Psa 68:8<\/span>), when, too, the Egyptians were “shaken” by the plagues sent on them, and the neighbouring nations, Philistia, Edom, Moab, were struck with terror (Exo 15:14<\/span> :16). This was a great moral disturbance in the heathen world; the next and final “shaking” will be under the Messianic dispensation for which the destruction of heathen kingdoms prepares the way. The Israelites would soon see the beginnings of this visitation, e.g. in the fall of Babylon, and might thence conclude that all would be accomplished in due time. The prophet calls this interval “a little while” (which it is in God’s eyes and in view of the vast future), in order to console the people and teach them patience and confidence. The final consummation and the steps that lead to it in the prophet’s vision are blended together, just as our Lord combines his prediction about the destruction of Jerusalem with details which concern the end of the world. The physical convulsions in heaven and earth, etc; spoken of, are symbolical representations of political revolutions, as explained in the next verse, “I will shake all nations,” and again in Hag 2:21<\/span>, Hag 2:22<\/span>. Other prophets announce that Messiah’s reign shall be ushered in by the overthrow or conversion of heathen nations; e.g.. Isa 2:11<\/span>, etc.; Isa 19:21<\/span>, Isa 19:22<\/span>; Dan 2:44<\/span>; Mic 5:9<\/span>, etc.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

All nations <\/strong>(Luk 21:25<\/span>, where our Lord refers to the end of this world). But before Christ’s first advent there was a general shaking of empires. Persia fell; Alexander’s dominion was divided and gradually shattered before the might of Rome; Rome herself was torn with civil wars. The faith in the power of national gods was everywhere weakened, and men were prepared to receive the new revelation of one Supreme Deity, who came on earth to teach and save. Now is mentioned the object or consequence of this shaking of nations. The desire of all nations shall come.<\/strong> This is the rendering of the ancient Jewish expositors, the Chaldee Targum, and the Vulgate, which gives, Veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus. <\/em>Tile words in this case point to a person, and this person can be no one else than the Messiaih for whom “all nations consciously or unconsciously yearn, in whom alone all the longings of the human heart find satisfaction” (Perowne). But there is difficulty in accepting this view. The word rendered “the desire” (chemdath<\/em>) is <\/em>singular, the verb “shall come” (bau<\/em>) is plural, as if it was said in Latin, Venient desiderium omnium gentium. <\/em>The LXX<\/strong>. translates, <\/em> , “The choice things [or, ‘portions’] of all the nations shall come.” The plural verb seems fatal to the idea of a person being spoken of; nor is this objection answered by Dr. Pusey’s allegation that the object of desire contains in itself many objects of desire, or Bishop Wordsworth’s refinement, that Messiah is regarded as a collective Being, containing in his own Person the natures of God and man, and combining the three offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. Every one must see that both these explanations are forced and unnatural, and are conformed rather to theological considerations than to grammatical accuracy. Chemdah <\/em>is used for “the object of desire,” as 2Ch 32:27<\/span>, where it refers to Hezekiah’s treasures, and 2Ch 36:10<\/span>, “the goodly vessels” of the temple (comp. Jer 25:34<\/span>; Nah 2:9<\/span>). Nowhere is any intimation given that it is a name applied to the Messiah; nowhere is any such explanation offered of the term so applied. The word is a common one; its meaning is well ascertained; and it could hardly have been understood in any but its usual acceptation without some preparation or further definition. This acceptation is confirmed by the mention of “the gold and silver” in 2Ch 36:8<\/span>. The Revised Version cuts the knot by rendering, “the desirable things;” Perowne affirms that the plural verb denotes the manifoldness and variety of the gifts. This seems scarcely satisfactory. May it not be, as Knabenbauer suggests, that “the desire of all nations” forms one notion, in which the words, “all nations,” have a predominating influence, and so the plural ensues by constructio ad sensum? <\/em>The meaning, then, is that all nations with their wealth come, that the Gentiles shall devote their treasures, their powers, whatever they most highly prize, to the service of God. This is what is predicted elsewhere (e.g. <\/em>Isa 55:5-7<\/span>, Isa 55:11<\/span>, Isa 55:13<\/span>, 17), and it is called, metaphorically, coming with treasures to the temple. To hear of such a glorious future might well be a topic of consolation to the depressed Israelites. (For a further development of the same idea, see Rev 21:24<\/span>, Rev 21:26<\/span>.) I will fill this house with glory. <\/strong>There is a verbal allusion to the glory which filled Solomon’s temple at the dedication (2Ch 7:1<\/span>), but the especial mode in which it is to be manifested in this case is not here mentioned. The previous clause would make the reference rather to the material offerings of the Gentiles, but a further and a deeper signification is connected with the advent of Messiah (as Mal 3:1<\/span>), with which the complete fulfilment commenced.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:8<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The silver is mine.<\/strong> All the riches of the world are the Lord’s, and he disposes of them as he wills; if he has promised that the Gentiles shall offer their treasures for his service, be sure he will perform his word. There may also be intended a word of comfort for the desponding; they need not grieve because they had but poor offerings to bring to the house; he wanted not gold or silver, for all was his.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former<\/strong>. Revised Version, following the Septuagint, “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.” “This house” means the temple at Jerusalem, regard not being paid to the special building (Hag 2:3<\/span>), whether of Solomon, or Zerubbabel, or Herod. As understood by the hearers, this promise referred to the material fiches, the precious things offered by the Gentiles. To us it speaks of the promise of Christ, God incarnate, in the holy city and in the temple itself, and of his presence in the Church, wherein he abides forever. Here is the complete answer to the complaint of Hag 2:3<\/span>. In this place will I give peace.<\/strong> Primarily this means in Jerusalem, the place where the temple stood, God would grant peace from enemies, freedom from danger, and quiet enjoyment of promised blessings (comp. Isa 55:1-13 :18; Joe 3:17<\/span>; Mic 5:4<\/span>, Mic 5:5<\/span>). But the promise is not fulfilled by this; the peace promised to the spiritual temple is that peace of heart and conscience which is given by him who is the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6<\/span>), and which includes all the graces of the Christian covenant (Eze 34:25<\/span>). The first temple was built by the king whose name is “Peaceful;” the second is glorified by the presence of the “Peace bringer” (Gen 49:10<\/span>). At the end of this verse the LXX<\/strong>. has an addition not found in the Hebrew, “even peace of soul for a possesion to every one who buildeth, to raise up this shrine.”<\/p>\n

Hag 2:10-19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part III<\/strong>. THE<\/strong> THIRD<\/strong> ADDRESS<\/strong>; THE<\/strong> CAUSE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CALAMITIES<\/strong> WHICH<\/strong> HAD<\/strong> BEFALLEN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PEOPLE<\/strong>, AND<\/strong> A PROMISE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> BLESSING<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:10-17<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. By an analogy drawn from the Law, Haggai shows that residence in the Holy Land and the offering of sacrifice do not suffice to make the people acceptable, as long as they themselves are unclean through neglect of the house of the Lord. Hence comes the punishment of sterility.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hag 2:10<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month. <\/strong>The ninth month is Chisleu, answering to parts of November and December. It was now three months from the time the people had commenced to build, and two from the day when the second address was delivered. On the weather at this time depended the hope of the yearly crops. Between the second and third address Zechariah’s first prophecy wag uttered (Zec 1:2-6<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:11<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Concerning the Law. <\/strong>Others translate, “for instruction.” Ask the priests these two legal questions, such as they were appointed to expound (Deu 17:8<\/span>, etc.; Deu 33:10<\/span>; Mal 2:7<\/span>). By this appeal the prophet makes his lesson sink deeper into the people’s mind.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:12<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If one bear;<\/strong> literally, behold, one beareth, <\/em>which is equivalent to “suppose a man bears.” Perowne compares Jer 3:1<\/span>, “Lo, a man puts away his wife;” and 2Ch 7:13<\/span>. Holy flesh.<\/strong> The flesh of animals sacrificed to God, which was set apart from profane uses, and might be eaten only by the priests or persons ritually pure (Le 2Ch 6:26<\/span>; 2Ch 7:15-20<\/span>; 2Ch 10:13<\/span>; comp. Jer 11:15<\/span>). The skirt of his garment;<\/strong> literally, wing of his garment, <\/em>as Deu 22:12<\/span>; 1Sa 15:27<\/span>. Any meat;<\/strong> : <\/em>anything eatable. And said, No. <\/strong>The priests answered correctly according to Le 6:27<\/span>. Whatever touched the hallowed flesh became itself holy, but it could not communicate this holiness to anything else.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:13<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unclean by a dead body; <\/strong>Septuagint, : Vulgate. pollutus in anima. <\/em>These versions are closer to the Hebrew, “unclean by a soul,” <\/em>than the Authorized Version, but not so intelligible. “Soul” (nephesh<\/em>) is used to mean a person, and, with the attribute “dead” understood, a corpse, as Le 21:1<\/span>. The full phrase is found in Num 6:6<\/span>, Num 6:11<\/span>. Contact with a dead body produced the gravest ceremonial uncleanness, which lasted seven days, and could be purged only by a double lustration and other rites (Num 19:11<\/span>, etc.). This uncleanness was doubtless connected with the idea that death was the result of sin. Any of these. The things mentioned in the preceding verse. It shall be unclean. In accordance with Num 19:22<\/span> A polluted human being communicated his pollution to all that he touched. It was owing to the defilement that accompanied contact with the dead that the later Jews used to whiten the sepulchres every year, that they might be seen and avoided (Mat 23:27<\/span>, and Lightfoot, ‘Her. Hebr.’ in loc.<\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

Hag 2:14<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Then answered Haggai, and said<\/strong>;<\/em><\/strong> then Haggai continued and said. <\/em>He applies the principles just enunciated to the ease of the Jews, taking the communication of uncleanness first. So is this people. <\/strong>Not, my people,<\/em> because by their acts they had disowned God (Hag 1:2<\/span>). This people is defiled in my sight like one who has touched a corpse, and not only they themselves, but so is every work of their hands<\/strong>; all their labour, all that they put their hands to, is unclean, and can win no blessing. Their pollution was their disobedience in not building the house of God. They had calmly contemplated the lifeless symbol of the theocracy, the ruined temple, and made no determined effort to resuscitate it, so a blight had rested on all their work. That which they offer there <\/strong>(pointing to the altar which they had built when they first returned, Ezr 3:2<\/span>) is unclean<\/strong>. They had fancied that the sanctifying influence of the altar and its sacrifices would extend to all their works, and cover all their shortcomings; but so far from this, their very offerings were unclean, because the offerers were polluted. They who come before the Holy One should themselves be holy. Neither the altar nor the Holy Land imparted sanctity by any intrinsic virtue of their own, but entailed upon all an obligation to personal holiness (Wordsworth). The LXX<\/strong>. has an addition at the end of the verse. <\/em> <\/em> <\/em>“On account of their morning gains [or, ‘burdens’] they shall be pained in the presence of their labours, and ye hated those who reproved in the gates.” This is expounded by Theodoret thus: As soon as morning dawned ye employed yourselves in no good work, but sought only how to obtain sordid gain. And ye regarded with. hatred these who reproved, you, who sitting at the gate spake words of wisdom to all who passed by. The passage is found in no other version.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:15<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The prophet bids the people look backwards, and consider how their neglect had been visited by scanty harvests; their own experience would teach them this lesson. From this day<\/strong>; viz. the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, when this address was delivered (Hag 2:10<\/span>; comp. Hag 2:18<\/span>). And upward; <\/strong>i.e.<\/em> backward. He bids them go back in thought fourteen years when they first intermitted building. Before a stone, <\/strong>etc. This does not mean before the building was first begun, but before they began to build on the foundation already laid.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:16<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Since those days were.<\/strong> The word “days” is supplied. Revised Version, “through all that time,” viz. the fourteen years spoken of in Hag 2:15<\/span>. Septuagint, , “what ye were;” the Vulgate omits the words. When one came to an heap of twenty measures.<\/strong> The word “measures” is not in the Hebrew: it is supplied by the LXX<\/strong>; <\/em>(equivalent to scabs), and by Jerome, modiorum. <\/em>But the particular measure is of no importance; it is the proportion only on which stress is laid. The prophet particuiarizes the general statements of Hag 1:6<\/span>, Hag 1:9<\/span>. The “heap” is the collection of sheaves (Rth 3:7<\/span>). This when threshed yielded only half that they had expected. There were <\/strong>(in fact) but ten; , “and there were ten measures of barley.” The press fat<\/strong>; the wine fat, <\/em>the vat into which flowed the juice forced from the grapes when trodden out by the feet in the press. A full account of this will be found in the ‘Dict. of the Bible,’ arts. “Wine press” and “Wine.” Fifty vessels out of the press. <\/strong>The Hebrew is “fifty purah<\/em>.” The word purah<\/em> is used in Isa 63:3<\/span> to signify the press itself, hence the Authorized Version so translates it here, inserting “out of,” and supplying “vessels,” as “measures” above; but it probably here denotes a liquid measure in which the wine was drown. LXX<\/strong>; (equivalent to Hebrew baths<\/em>). <\/em>Jerome, lagenas; <\/em>and in his commentary, amphoras. <\/em>They came and examined the grapes and expected fifty purahs, <\/em>“press measures,” but they did not get even half that they had hoped. There were but twenty.<\/strong> Knabenbauer suggests that the meaning may belooking at the crop of grapes, they expected to draw out, i.e.<\/em> empty (chasaph<\/em>), <\/em>the press fifty times, but were egregiously deceived.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:17<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I smote you with blasting and with mildew.<\/strong> It was God who inflicted these calamities upon them judicially, according to the threats in Deu 28:22<\/span> (comp. Amo 4:9<\/span>, and note there). These two pests affected the corn; the vines were smitten with hail <\/strong>(Psa 78:47<\/span>). In all the labours<\/strong> (work) of your hands.<\/strong> All that you had cultivated with toil, corn, vines, fruit of every sort. Yet ye turned not to me.<\/strong> The clause is elliptical, “yet not ye to me.” The LXX<\/strong>. and Syriac translate as the Authorized Version, supplying the verb from the parallel passage in Amo 4:9<\/span>. The Vulgate (not according to precedent), Non fuit in vobis qui revertetur ad me<\/em>. In spite of these visitations there was not one among them who shook off his idle inaction and worked for the Lord.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:18<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Hag 2:19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

2. On their obedience the blessings of nature shall again be theirs.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hag 2:18<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Consider now from this day and upward <\/strong>(see note on Hag 2:15<\/span>.) For “upward” <\/em>Jerome has here in futurum, <\/em>though he translated the same word supra <\/em>in Hag 2:15<\/span>. Such a rendering is allowable, and affords a good sense, the prophet directing the people’s attention to the happy prospect in the future announced in Hag 2:19<\/span>. But it seems, best to keep to the same interpretation in two passages so closely allied. The prophet bids the people consider the period from the present, the four and twentieth day of the ninth month<\/strong>, when this prophecy was uttered (Hag 2:10<\/span>), to the other limit explanatory of the term “upward” or “backward.” Even from the day that the foundation, <\/strong>etc.; rather, since the day that, <\/em>etc. This is obviously the same period as that named in Hag 2:15<\/span>, after the foundation was completed, but before “stone was laid upon stone” of the superstructure (comp. Zec 8:9<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Is the seed yet in the barn?<\/strong> Is there any of your poor crop still left in your granaries? Is it not already expended? “The seed” is here the produce of the seed, the grain (1Sa 8:15<\/span>; Job 39:12<\/span>). The corn crop is mentioned first, then the fruit harvest. The Vulgate has, Numquid jam semen in germine est? <\/em>Has the seed begun to grow? Is there any sign of abundance? Yet the harvest shall be prolific. But there is no doubt that megurah <\/em>means “barn,” not “sprout.” LXX<\/strong>; , “If it shall be known upon the threshing floor.” Jerome must have read for , as he renders, “Si ultra cognoscetur super terram area.” He expounds it thus: So abundant shall be the produce that the threshing floor shall not recognize its own corn. or that the threshers shall be forced to join floor to floor to make room for all the grain, “et arearnm separatio nesciatur in terra<\/em>” Yea, as yet; ; et adhuc <\/em>(Vulgate); as Jdg 3:26<\/span>; Job 1:18<\/span>. Others translate, “as regards.” Though there was no sign of leaf or fruit on the trees, nothing by which one could judge of the future produce, yet the prophet predicts an abundant crop, dating from the people’s obedience (Le Job 26:3<\/span>, etc.; Deu 28:2<\/span>, etc.). From this day will I bless you. “This day” is the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (Job 1:10<\/span>). From now the improvement in the season should begin and make itself evident. “Bless” is a term often used for sending fruitful seasons (Deu 28:8<\/span>; Mal 3:10<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:20-23<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part V. THE<\/strong> FOURTH<\/strong> ADDRESS<\/strong>: PROMISE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> RESTORATION<\/strong> AND<\/strong> ESTABLISHMENT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> HOUSE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DAVID<\/strong>, WHEN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> STORM<\/strong> BURSTS<\/strong> ON<\/strong> THE<\/strong> KINGDOMS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> WORLD<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:20<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Temporal blessings had been promised to the people generally; now spiritual blessings are announced to Zerubbabel as the head of the nation and the representative of the house of David. And again; <\/strong>and a second time; <\/em> . This revelation took place on the same day as the preceding one.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:21<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Zerubbabel<\/strong> (see note on Hag 1:1<\/span>). I will shake the heavens and the earth.<\/strong> He repeats the prediction of Hag 2:6<\/span> in this chapter (where see note). This is the general statement, expanded and explained in the next verse.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:22<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms. <\/strong>No events in Zerubbabel’s time satisfied this prediction, which waits for its fulfilment in the Messianic age (Luk 1:52<\/span>). “The throne” is used distributively for “every throne of kingdoms;” Septuagint, “thrones of kings.” Of the heathen; <\/strong>of the nations. <\/em>Chariots<\/strong>, etc. Emblems of the military power by which the nations had risen to eminence (Psa 20:7<\/span>; Zec 10:5<\/span>). Shall come down.<\/strong> Be brought to the ground, perish (Isa 34:7<\/span>). By the sword of his brother.<\/strong> The heathen powers shall annihilate one another (Eze 38:21<\/span>; Zec 14:13<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:23<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In that day.<\/strong> When the heathen nations of the earth are overthrown, Israel shall be safe, and be the more exalted by the Divine favour and protection. Will I take. <\/strong>The verb simply serves to introduce the following act as one of importance, and does not signify, “take under my protection” (comp. <\/span>Deu 4:20<\/span>; 2Ki 14:21<\/span>; Keil). My servant.<\/strong> An honourable title used especially of David (1Ki 11:13<\/span>, etc.; Jer 33:21<\/span>, etc.), and his future successors (Eze 34:23<\/span>, etc.; Eze 37:24<\/span>). Make thee as a signet.<\/strong> I will make thee most precious in my sight (comp. Son 8:6<\/span>). Among Orientals the signet ring was an article of great importance and value (see Rev 5:1<\/span>; Rev 9:4<\/span>; and ‘Dict. of the Bible,’ art. “Seal”). The allusion is particularly appropriate here, because Zerubbabel is set at the head of the nation in the place of his grandfather (?) Jeconiah, whose rejection from the monarchy had been couched in these terms: “As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim King of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence” (Jer 22:24<\/span>). The Son of Sirach, in his praise of great men, refers to this premise,” How shall we magnify Zorobabel? even he was as a signet on the right hand” (Ecclus. 49:11). The signet, too, is the sign of authority (Gen 41:42<\/span>; Est 3:10<\/span>); so Zerubbabel has authority delegated to him from God, the type of him who said, “All things are delivered unto me of my Father” (Mat 11:27<\/span>). “The true Zerubbabel, i.e.<\/em> Christ, the Son and Antitype of Zerubbabel, is the signet in the hand of the Father, both passively and actively, whereby God impresses his own majesty, thought, and words, and his own image, on men, angels, and all creatures” (Corn. a Lapide ap. <\/em>Pusey). I have chosen thee. <\/strong>This is not a personal assurance only to Zerubbabel, for neither he nor his natural seed reigned in Jerusalem, or rose to any special eminence in the kingdoms of this world. The fulfilment must be looked for in his spiritual progeny and in Christ. Promises are often made in Scripture to individuals which are accomplished only in their descendants; witness those made to Abraham and the other patriarchs, the prophecies of Jacob to his sons, and many others of a similar nature in the Old Testament, Those large promises made to David in old time, that his seed should endure forever, that hie throne should be as the sun before God (Psa 89:36<\/span>, Psa 89:37<\/span>; 2Sa 7:16<\/span>), were now passed on to Zerubbabel and to his line, because of him was to spring Messiah, in whom alone these wide predictions find their fulfilment, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luk 1:32<\/span>, Luk 1:33<\/span>).<\/p>\n

HOMILETICS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hag 2:3-5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Past and present.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I. <\/strong>A SUGGESTION<\/strong>Of the continuity of human history<\/em>. Haggai’s question assumes that the structure then erecting was not a new edifice (which it really was), but the old building set up again, though in faded splendour, which also it was, inasmuch as it was based on the foundations of the earlier pile. “This house in its former glory” meant that the prophet looked on the two houses as one, and the two eras represented by these houses, not as two distinct and separate periods, but as one continuous period. As it were the national life, for seventy years interrupted by the exile, again flowed on, restoring the temple, reinstituting the religion of Jehovah, and pervading the whole fabric of society. The present was not so much a fresh commencement as a prolongation of the past. And this is true of human history and life in general. No age or individual is entirely disconnected from and independent of the ages and individuals that have gone before. A perfectly new beginning in human history or in individual life has never yet taken place. Even in the Incarnation, the second Adam was connected with the first through his human nature. The civilization of the nineteenth century is built upon the foundations laid by preceding centuries. The maturity of manhood in wisdom or virtue is developed from the gains in knowledge and goodness made in youth.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> AN<\/strong> ILLUSTRATION<\/strong>Of the tendency to glorify the past at the expense of the present. <\/em>“Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do you see it now? asks the prophet; is it not in your eyes as nothing?” In certain respects this depreciation of the post-exilic temple, in comparison with the Solomonic, was justifiablethe material splendour of the second building was vastly inferior to that of the first; but in other respects the glory of the latter house would ultimately far eclipse that of the former (verse 9)it would be the centre and scene, the instrument and support of a purer worship than had been maintained in the former, and would be honoured by the visit of a greater potentate than Solomon himself, even by the Messenger of the covenant and the Lord of the temple, after whom were going out the desires, not of Israel alone, but of all nations (verse 7). And upon the foundation of the old structure of cedar wood and gold, and to glorify the old which seventy years before had perished in the going down of their nation before the might of Babylon, so does it seem to be a tendency in human nature to exalt the past and to depress the present, to extol the men and institutions, the characteristics and occurrences of other days at the expense of the present, even when there is as little ground for doing so as there was for the depreciatory remarks of the builders. It is not difficult to account for either this laudation of the past or this disparagement of the present. On the one hand, lapse of years allows the memory of past discomforts, irritations, deficiencies, imperfections, blemishes, to fade away, while present evils obtrude themselves upon the notice and press upon the hearts of the passing generation; on the other hand, the present is too near for its peculiar excellences to be rightly gauged, while the glories of the past, like distant mountains, shine out with augmented splendour. Yet the verdict which prefers the past to the present is incorrect (Ecc 7:10<\/span>). Unless the world is a hopelessly bad world, which it is not (Rom 8:20<\/span>), and the grace of God that bringeth salvation is effete, which is not the mind of Scripture (Tit 2:11<\/span>); unless the predictions of the Word of God are to be falsified (Isa 11:9<\/span>; Hab 2:14<\/span>; Rev 11:15<\/span>), which cannot be (Isa 4:1-6 :11<\/span>; Mat 24:35<\/span>), and the aspirations of good men’s hearts are to be disappointed, which would be clean contrary to what God has led them to expect (Psa 145:19<\/span>);there can be little doubt that the world is and must be surely but slowly becoming better.<\/p>\n

“For I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs;
And the thoughts of men are widened by the process of the suns.”<\/p>\n

(Tennyson.)<\/p>\n

To the widening of the thoughts add the purifying of the hearts and the elevation of the lives of men.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> AN<\/strong> EXHORTATION<\/strong>to earnest diligence in discharge of present duty. <\/em>“Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord,” etc. The duty of the builders was to prosecute the work in which they were engaged, the erection of the temple, even though the temple should be inferior to its predecessor, and the circumstances for its erection less favourable than had been those for the construction of the formerperhaps all the more their duly on that account. So were the present age inferior to the ages which had gone before, the same duty would be incumbent on all ranks and classesthe duty, viz. of working with earnest diligence at one’s daily calling, “the trivial round, the common task,” if assigned by God, and more especially at the upbuilding of God’s spiritual temple in the individual soul and in the world at large. Without this the present age cannot grow better than the past, and is certain to grow worse.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> A CONSOLATION<\/strong>in the guaranteed fellowship of God. <\/em>Jehovah would be with themalways, of course, conditionally if they continued with him (2Ch 15:2<\/span>).<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Not merely externally, <\/em>as through his immanent presence he is with all, but internally, <\/em>by his Spirit abiding amongst them as a community, and in their hearts as individuals, as he still does in the midst of his Church and in the souls of believers, when these remain true to him, no matter how degenerate the age may be in which their lot is cast.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. Not now for the first time, but as he had ever been <\/em>since the day when they came forth from Egypt; without which, indeed, they had never become a nation having access to Jehovah through their priests and sacrifices, and receiving from him revelations and spiritual quickenings through the medium of their prophets (Heb 1:1<\/span>); and without which they could not now be prospered in their undertaking. God’s Spirit is the secret source and ultimate cause of all good in either Church or nation.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Not of constraint, but willingly, <\/em>according to his own covenant engagement, which are never imposed on him by any of his creatures, but always freely proposed and executed by himselfwhence they are rightly styled covenants of grace. It is the existence of such a covenant that guarantees the indestructibility and perpetuity of the Christian Church.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. Not as an unseen presence only, but as an actively cooperating power, <\/em>imparting to them strength for their work as well as boldness in it (see homily on Hag 1:13<\/span>, Hag 1:14<\/span>), both of which would be theirs in proportion u they realized the cheering truth that they were fellow labourers with God. In like manner also, and for similar ends and purposes, is Christ, by his Spirit, present with his Church (Mat 28:20<\/span>; Joh 14:6<\/span>).<\/p>\n

LESSONS.
1<\/strong>. The inheritance of the past a cause of thankfulness. <\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The imperfections of the present a stimulus to duty. <\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. The glorious times of the future a reason for cheerfulness and hope.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:6<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Hag 2:7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The shaking of the heavens and the earth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I. <\/strong>HISTORICAL<\/strong> ILLUSTRATIONS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. At Sinai, <\/em>when Jehovah manifested himself to Israel (Exo 19:16-19<\/span>; Psa 68:7<\/span>, Psa 68:8<\/span>). Preparatory and prophetical.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. At the birth of Christ, <\/em>when Jehovah appeared on earth in the Person of his Son (Joe 2:30<\/span>, Joe 2:31<\/span> : Luk 2:8-14<\/span>; Act 2:19<\/span>, Act 2:20<\/span>). Furthering and fulfilling.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. At the end of time, <\/em>when Jehovah will a third time appear, in the Person of the glorified Christ, to save his people and judge his foes (Isa 24:19<\/span>, Isa 24:20<\/span>; 2Pe 3:10<\/span>). Culminating and completing.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> SCRIPTURAL<\/strong> INTERPRETATIONS<\/strong>. According to the writer to the Hebrews, “This word, Once more, signifieth the removing of the things that are shaken, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain” (Heb 12:27<\/span>). In other words, the object of each successive Divine interposition has been and will be the abrogation of institutions that have served their day, the correction of errors that have hindered the truth, the alteration of circumstances and conditions that are no longer suited to the new era about to be introduced.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. At Sinai were shaken and removed<\/em><\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> the polytheism which Israel had in large measure brought with her from Egypt;<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> the individualism which had hitherto prevented Israel from forming herself into a nation; and<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> the serfdom which had rendered the realization of Israel’s calling impossible;<\/p>\n

while the things that could not be shaken and remained <\/em>were<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> the unity of God, or the monotheistic element which still survived in Israel’s religion;<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> the covenant relationship in which Jehovah stood towards Israel; and<\/p>\n

(3) <\/strong>the capacity for religion which no amount of oppression had been able utterly to destroy.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. At the birth of Christ were shaken and removed<\/em><\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> the Mosaic institute which had then served its day, and was even ready to vanish away (Heb 8:13<\/span>);<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> the partition wall between Jew and Gentile (Eph 2:14<\/span>), which had repelled each from, rather than attracted each to, the other; and<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> the externalism and literalism in worship, which had converted it into mere mechanism;<\/p>\n

while the unshakable things that remained were<\/em><\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> the covenant of grace which underlay the Mosaic institute, and shone the brighter when that was removed which for centuries had been superimposed upon it;<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> the brotherhood of man, which was henceforth to be placed in the forefront of the gospel message (Act 17:26<\/span>; Rom 2:11<\/span>; Rom 3:29<\/span>; Col 3:11<\/span>; Gal 3:26<\/span>); and<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> the spirituality of religion, which was no more to be confined to either places or seasons, persons or forms, but to find its seat in the heart and its priest in the renewed soul (Jon 4:1-11 :21-24).<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. At the end of time will be shaken and removed<\/em><\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> the present state and condition of things (1Co 7:31<\/span>; 1Co 15:50-57<\/span>; 2Pe 3:10<\/span>, 2Pe 3:12<\/span>; 1Jn 2:17<\/span>);<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> the presence and power of sin (Rev 22:3<\/span>); and<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> the mediatorial sovereignty of Christ (1Co 15:23<\/span>);<\/p>\n

while as things that cannot be shaken, shall remain<\/em><\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (2Pe 3:13<\/span>);<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> the redeemed family of believers (1Jn 2:17<\/span>); and<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> the eternal supremacy of God, who shall then be all in all (1Co 15:23<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Learn:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. That nations and individuals mostly advance by means of struggle and commotion.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. That peace and quietness may often mean stagnation and death rather than progress and life.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. That truth and right will eventually prevail over falsehood and wrong.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The desire of all nations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> ALL<\/strong> NATIONS<\/strong> HAVE<\/strong> DESIRED<\/strong> A VISIBLE<\/strong> DIVINITY<\/strong>; AND<\/strong> SUCH<\/strong> A MANIFESTED<\/strong> OR<\/strong> REVEALED<\/strong> DIVINITY<\/strong> HAS<\/strong> BEEN<\/strong> GIVEN<\/strong> TO<\/strong> MANKIND<\/strong> IN<\/strong> CHRIST<\/strong>. That all nations from the beginning downward have believed in the existence of a Supreme Being has been sufficiently demonstrated by the universality in man of the instinct of worship. Nor have all nations merely wished possess a god, but the Deity they have longed for has been, not a god remaining always little more than a conception of the mind, an infinitely exalted being with whom they could not enter into fellowship, but a God whom they could look upon, or at least think of, as not far from any one of them, a God who could not only come near to them, but to whom they in turn could come near. The lowest forms of religion that have existed on the earth, the religions of men in most degraded conditions, have made this perfectly apparent no less than the elaborate rites of the cultivated and civilized nations of antiquity. What the savage means by putting a spirit into the various forms of nature by which he is surrounded, or by making an idol of wood or stone, and setting it up before him as an object of adoration; what the untutored child of nature thereby means, viz. to express his belief in a power above himself and above nature, and his desire to bring that invisible power or divinity forth into visibility or nearness; that the old religions of Chaldea, Egypt, and Phoenicia did when they deified the hosts of heaven and the forces of nature, or looked upon these as instruments and embodiments of supernatural powers. In their case it was one more effort of the human mind to fetch God out of the far distance and make him a distinct object of contemplation and worship. Then the later religions that prevailed in Persia, India, Greece, and Rome, with their “incarnations,” or beliefs in gods who assumed the likeness of men, evinced the same longing of the human heart for a God at hand rather than afar off, a God visible rather than a god who remained always unseen, a God who\/night be approached in thought, at least, if not in space, rather than a god who so transcended his worshippers as to be practically inaccessible. And this longing Christianitywhether it be true or no may meantime be left undeterminedmeets, as no other religion has done or is likely to do, by placing before man as an object of religious contemplation and worship One who claimed to be the Image of the invisible God, saying, “I and my Father are One,” and “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> ALL<\/strong> NATIONS<\/strong> HAVE<\/strong> DESIRED<\/strong> AN<\/strong> ATONEMENT<\/strong> FOR<\/strong> SIN<\/strong>; AND<\/strong> SUCH<\/strong> ATONEMENT<\/strong> HAS<\/strong> BEEN<\/strong> PROVIDED<\/strong> AS<\/strong> NOWHERE<\/strong> ELSE<\/strong> BY<\/strong> CHRIST<\/strong> AND<\/strong> CHRISTIANITY<\/strong>. It is not meant that everywhere and always men have possessed the same clear, definite, exalted, and correct ideas on the subject of sin, sacrifice, propitiation, atonement, as are presented in the Hebrew or the Christian Scriptures. The most affirmed is that while everywhere men have possessed a deep instinctive longing after God, along with this they have always been more or less conscious of unworthiness and unfitness to enter into fellowship with him, have had a secret conviction that the Deity whom they wished to serve was displeased with them, and that they could not enjoy his favour without the intervention of some atonement or propitiation. Hence, wherever man has been found to have a god, there also he has owned an altar. The practice begun at the gate of Eden, of worshipping the Deity by means of sacrifices, and carried forward in the altar building of Abraham and the patriarchs, and finally developed in the Mosaic ritual of priest and victim, has been discovered, on investigation, not to have been confined to these, but to have been followed, with more or less closeness of adherence to the primitive pattern, by every nation under heaven that has shaped for itself a religion. In religions of the most rudimentary type, as well as in those of the highest culture, a place has been reserved for the practice of sacrificing and for the notion of expiation. “The sense of impurity and of the need of expiation,” writes Pressense, “are manifested in the most barbarous modes of worship. We admit that the atonement to which they have recourse is often as cruel as the wrath of the deity whom the worshippers seek to appease. There is a phase in which sacrifice is nothing more than food offered to the gods. But a higher idea soon manifests itself. Remorse comes in, the consciousness of guilt prompts the sacrifice, and the priest who at first was regarded in the light of an enchanter becomes a mediator between man and the deity”. In addition it might easily be shown that the same ideas of sin, penitence, forgiveness, propitiation, sacrifice, atonement, were present in the religions of ancient Chaldea and of Egypt. And the inference from all is that, irrespective of age or country, and however overlaid with superstition, the deep conviction of the human heart is that man has sinned against God and requires the assistance of a Mediator who shall in some way make peace with the offended Deity, and secure for the offender forgiveness of his transgressions. Well, here again Christianity steps in to supply this demand of the human heart, to answer this pathetic wail for a Deliverer, for One who can make peace and bring forgivenesssteps in as no other religion known to man does, by exhibiting Jesus Christ as Son of God and Son of man (Joh 1:49<\/span>, Joh 1:51<\/span>), and therefore as possessed of authority to act as Daysman or Mediator between God and man, laying his hand upon both (Job 10:1-22 :33; 1Ti 2:5<\/span>), by discovering him as standing in the room of sinful man (Rom 5:6<\/span>), and as making peace by the shedding of his blood (Eph 2:14<\/span>), by presenting him to view as One whose blood is able both to wipe away the guilt of sin and to break its enslaving power. And this, again, is a high certificate in favour of Christianity as the only true religion. For what is a religion worth if it cannot or dare not meet the demands of the human heart and conscience?<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> ALL<\/strong> NATIONS<\/strong> HAVE<\/strong> DESIRED<\/strong> A DIVINE<\/strong> REVELATION<\/strong>, OR<\/strong> AN<\/strong> AUTHENTIC<\/strong> COMMUNICATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> WILL<\/strong>; AND<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> CHRISTIANITY<\/strong> MEETS<\/strong> IN<\/strong> A WAY<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> NO<\/strong> OTHER<\/strong> RELIGION<\/strong> HAS<\/strong> DONE<\/strong> OR<\/strong> CAN<\/strong> DO<\/strong>. Not only have men in every age and country believed that God is, and that by means of sacrifices it might be possible to appease his anger and secure his favour; they have also supposed it within their reach to receive trustworthy information from God as to his will and their duty. In the rudest forms of religion, the media through which such Divine communications have been conjectured to come have been signs in the sky above or on the earth beneath. In unusual phenomena of nature, in unaccustomed sights and sounds, in dreams and visions, men have been wont to see indications of a higher will than their own made known to them for the guidance of their earthly lives. As religion has advanced in intelligence and refinement, special persons have come to be regarded as oracles through whom responses from the heavenly world might be obtained, and messages from the unseen received. Priests and priestesses, seers and sages, have been viewed as standing in immediate connection with the Deity, and as serving to transmit to men the utterances he might wish to make known. Then, too, in many of the world’s religions, as in those of Egypt and Persia, India and Arabia, that is to say, in the most developed religions of which we have any knowledge, but especially in Parseeism, Brahminism, Mohammedanism, there have been sacred books in which the revelations vouchsafed to mankind through the founders of these religions have been preserved. Now, in all this, irrespective of the truth or falsehood of these religions, a signal testimony arises to the strength and depth of the desire on the part of man to possess some authorized expounder of the Divine will in the shape of man, or book, or perhaps both; and there is no need to say that God has never gratified this desire outside of the Hebrew or the Christian Church; but of this one may be certain, that the longing for a Heaven-sent teacher was not confined to the Hebrews, with their Moses who spake with God face to face as a man talketh with his friend, but existed as well among the Greeks, Plato, in one of his dialogues, putting into the mouth of one of his disputants the ever-memorable words, “It is therefore necessary to wait until one teach us how to behave towards the gods and men,” and into that of another, “And when shall that time arrive? and who shall that teacher be? for most glad would I be to see such a man.” Just such a man was felt to be one of the world’s greatest wants before Christ came; and when he came just such a man appeared. The verdict pronounced by the officers on Jesus, “Never man spake like this Man,” has never been reversed; nor is there the least likelihood that it ever will.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> ALL<\/strong> NATIONS<\/strong> HAVE<\/strong> DESIRED<\/strong> AN<\/strong> ASSURANCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> IMMORTALITY<\/strong>; AND<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> ASSURANCE<\/strong> HAS<\/strong> BEEN<\/strong> GIVEN<\/strong> BY<\/strong> CHRIST<\/strong> IN<\/strong> A WAY<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> HAS<\/strong> BEEN<\/strong> DONE<\/strong> BY<\/strong> NO<\/strong> OTHER<\/strong>. Whether apart from Divine revelation the reality of a future life beyond the grave can or could be demonstrated, may be doubtful; but this much is undoubted, that in all ages men have believed in the existence of such a life, and have expressed that belief in their religions. The lowest races by their worship of ancestors, the Egyptians by their elaborate ritual of the Book of the Dead, and the ancient Chaldeans by their mythological narrative of the descent of Ishtar into Hades, each in turn showed that they clung to the idea of the persistence of the human soul after death. But, indeed, the notion that death ends all, though the assertion of some philosophers, and though supposed to be the teaching of science, has never at any period been the faith of the generality of mankind, and has never won the assent of the human heart in its inmost and truest convictions. Nor must it be overlooked that this universal belief in a future state is a clear testimony to the heart’s longing for a continued existence beyond the grave, and to the heart’s wish for some authentic tidings about that unknown land; and nothing surely can be less in need of demonstration, than that Jesus Christ answers man’s inquiries about the future life with a clearness and fulness of information in comparison with which the teaching of all other religions, the Hebrew Scriptures not excepted, is as darkness,<\/p>\n

LESSONS.
1<\/strong>. The pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, and of the Christian religion. <\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. Gratitude for God’s unspeakable Gift. <\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. The duty of seeking in Christ satisfaction for the soul’s true desires.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:8<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The silver and the gold: a sermon on money.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I. <\/strong>A FORGOTTEN<\/strong> TRUTH<\/strong> RESTATED<\/strong>. That God is the sole Proprietor of money: “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts” (cf. Joe 3:5<\/span>). The proof lies in three things; that the silver and the gold are:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Of God<\/em>‘s making. <\/em>They belong to him as part of that earth and its fulness which he hath created (Psa 24:1<\/span>; Psa 50:12<\/span>), as David acknowledged in his prayer, “All that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine;” and again, “Of thine own have we given thee” (1Ch 29:12<\/span>, 1Ch 29:14<\/span>).<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. Of God<\/em>‘s giving. <\/em>God claimed that he had multiplied Judah’s silver and gold (Hos 2:6<\/span>); and David owned that “all things,” including “riches and honour,” were of him (1Ch 29:12<\/span>). The same sentiment is involved in the words of the Baptist (Joh 3:27<\/span>), in those of Paul (1Ti 6:17<\/span>), and in those of James (Jas 1:17<\/span>).<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Of God<\/em>‘s keeping. <\/em>As no man can obtain wealth from other than God, so with no help but his can man retain the wealth he has got. “Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman watcheth in vain” (Psa 127:1<\/span>). Nor can any one keep it longer than God chooses. At any moment can he recall what he has given.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> AN<\/strong> IMPORTANT<\/strong> INFERENCE<\/strong> DEDUCED<\/strong>. That no man is the owner of his money, but merely its selected steward, its casual recipient and temporary holder. What Benhadad of Syria said to Ahab of Israel, “Thy silver and thy gold is mine” (1Ki 20:3<\/span>), expresses God’s thought concerning millionaires and paupers alike; while the answer of Ahab, “My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have,” exactly utters the response which every one possessed of silver and gold, whether much or little, should give to the Divine declaration. Few things are more difficult for men to realize than that that is not their own for which they have laboured, sometimes like galley slaves, and not unfrequently sinned The habitual attitude of men towards their silver and their gold is that of the rich farmer in the Gospels, “my fruits,” “my barns,” “my goods” (Luk 12:17<\/span>, Luk 12:18<\/span>). A recognition of man’s stewardship in respect of silver and gold would secure three things of immense consequence, both for the religious life of the individual, and for the moral welfare of the world.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. A just estimate of money. <\/em>As one of God’s gifts, it would be highly valued, but as only a gift it would never be regarded as a permanent endowment, or preferred above the Giver.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. A proper use of money. <\/em>As a trust it would be carefully kept, wisely used (Mat 25:16<\/span>), faithfully administered (1Co 4:2<\/span>), and correctly accounted for (Luk 16:2<\/span>). It would not be prodigally squandered (Luk 15:13<\/span>), or in miser fashion hoarded (Mat 25:25<\/span>), or selfishly expended (Hos 10:1<\/span>), but skilfully, lovingly, and unweariedly employed for the Master’s glory.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. A right feeling with regard to money. <\/em>Neither inordinate desire after it (1Ti 6:10<\/span>), nor over esteem of one’s self on account of it (Hos 12:8<\/span>), would arise in one’s besom; but feelings of contentment with what one has received (Php 4:11<\/span>; 1Ti 6:6<\/span>), and of gratitude that one has received any (Gen 32:10<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The latter glory of this house; or, the glory that excelleth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I. <\/strong>THE<\/strong> HOUSE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. The temple of Zerubbabel, <\/em>then building, which, however, was regarded as a continuation of and as one with the temple of Solomon (cf. Hag 2:3<\/span>).<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The Christian Church, <\/em>which on a similar principle of interpretation was viewed as an outcome and development of the Hebrew temple (cf. Joh 2:20<\/span>, Joh 2:21<\/span>).<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> GLORY<\/strong>. Called by Haggai “the latter glory” of this house, in contradistinction to the earlier or former glory which belonged to it before the Captivity, this can only signify the glory which, in Messianic times, should pertain to the temple when it should have reached its ideal form in the Christian Church, whose “glory,” in comparison with that of the Solomonic structure, should be a glory that excelleth.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. The glory of spiritual magnificence, <\/em>as opposed to that of merely material splendour. Tin. temple of Solomon was, alter all, but an “earthly hour” of polished stone, carved cedar, and burnished gold; but the temple of Jesus Christ is a spiritual house, constructed of lively stones, or believing souls (1Pe 2:5<\/span>), “an holy temple” erected out of quickened and renewed hearts “for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph 2:21<\/span>).<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The glory of an indwelling Divinity, <\/em>in contrast with that of a merely symbolic residence therein. The ark with its mercy seat overshadowed by the cherubim, between whose outstretched wings shone the visible glory or the Shechinahthis ark which occupied the holy of holies in the Solomonic temple, was not Jehovah, but only the material token of his presence. Though in the Christian Church there is, as in Zerubbabel’s temple there was, no ark, yet the Divine presence fills it. Not only does Paul describe it as a temple which God inhabits (see above), but he represents it as the body of the glorified Christ, the fulness of him that filleth all in all (Eph 1:23<\/span>), and even speaks of individual believers as temples of the Holy Ghost (1Co 6:9<\/span>) and of the living God (2Co 6:16<\/span>); while Christ expressly promises to his Church a perpetual indwelling in their midst, not collectively alone, but individually as well (Mat 18:20<\/span>; Mat 28:20<\/span>; Joh 14:17<\/span>, Joh 14:23<\/span>; Joh 15:4<\/span>; Joh 16:7<\/span>, Joh 16:22<\/span>).<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. The glory of diffusing spiritual and eternal peace, <\/em>as distinguished from a peace which should be merely temporal and temporary. The Solomonic temple was indeed built by one whose name was Peace, whose reign was undisturbed by foreign or domestic wars, and whose spirit was neither military nor aggressive; but it is doubtful if the whole period during which the Solomonic temple stood could with truthfulness be characterized as one of peace (see the books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles). Nor could it be asserted that the era of the temple of Zerubbabel was throughout peaceful. “Temporal peace they had now, nor was there any prospect of its being disturbed; (but) in later times they had it not. The temple itself was profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes …. Again by Pompey, by Crassus, by the Parthians, before it was destroyed by Titus and the Romans” (Pusey). But the temple of Jesus Christ was the building of One who was by pre-eminence the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6<\/span>), who came to teach men the way of peace (Luk 1:79<\/span>), who bequeathed to his disciples as his parting legacy his own peace (Joh 14:27<\/span>), who died to make peace between God and man through his cross (Eph 2:14<\/span>), and who has since come to men in and through his gospel, preaching peace (Act 10:36<\/span>), and by his Spirit shedding peace abroad in the hearts of them who believe (Rom 5:1<\/span>; Rom 8:6<\/span>; Rom 14:17<\/span>; Gal 5:22<\/span>; Php 4:7<\/span>; Col 3:15<\/span>).<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LESSON<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. The certainty of God<\/em>‘s Word. <\/em>What Haggai predicted has at length been fulfilled. So will all God’s promises reach realization.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The superiority of the gospel dispensation. <\/em>A dispensation not of letter and form, but of spirit and life; not of condemnation and death, but of justification and glory; not of temporal duration, but of eternal continuance.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. The perfectibility of the race. <\/em>Human history has hitherto progressed according to the law”first that which is natural, and afterwards that which is spiritual;” there is no reason to believe it will do otherwise in the future.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:10-19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The parable of the holy and the unclean.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I. <\/strong>THE<\/strong> LETTER<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PARABLE<\/strong>. Directed by Jehovah, Haggai proposes two questions to the priests.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Concerning the law of communicated sanctity. <\/em>Supposing the case of a man carrying in the skirt of his garment holy flesh, i.e. <\/em>flesh of animals slain in sacrifice, and with his skirt touching bread, pottage, wine, oil, or any meat, the prophet desires to be informed whether the holiness which according to the Law (Le 6:27<\/span>) was imparted to the skirt extended further so as to reach also anything with which the skirt might come in contact. To this the priests properly answer, “No.”<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. Concerning the law of legal defilement. <\/em>Stating a contrary case, that of a person defiled by having himself touched a dead body (Le 21:11<\/span>; Num 19:16<\/span>), Haggai asks whether contact with such a person would render any of the above articles unclean, and is promptly answered that according to the Law it would (Num 19:22<\/span>).<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> INTERPRETATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PARABLE<\/strong>. “So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord.”<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Any sanctity possessed by the nation could not pass beyond themselves. <\/em>The sanctity which they possessed arose from the fact of their having an altar in Jerusalem, which had been built immediately on their return from Babylon, and of their maintaining in connection therewith the festal and sacrificial worship appointed by the Law of Moses (Ezr 3:1-6<\/span>). Yet this could not transmit itself to the soil so as to render it holy and cause it to become fruitful in corn and wine and oil, notwithstanding their disobedience in neglecting the building of the temple. On the other hand:<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. Whatever defilement was on the nation would affect all that belonged to the nation. <\/em>But the nation, through its disobedience in neglecting to build the temple, was defiled, since according to Jehovah “to obey is bettor than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1Sa 15:22<\/span>). Hence their uncleanness rendered all about and around them unclean. In particular, it put the land beneath a curse which made its harvests scanty.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> APPLICATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PARABLE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. To the days before the building of the temple was resumed.<\/em><\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> In character those were days of scanty harvests and bad trade (Hag 1:6<\/span>), of fruitless labours and disappointed expectations. Whereas the farmer might have anticipated from a heap of sheaves twenty measures of wheat, on threshing it out he found only ten; and the vine dresser who hoped to draw off fifty vessels of wine from the pressing trough, had to content himself with twenty (verse 16).<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> The reason of all this was, though it never seemed to strike the people, that Jehovah had, in punishment for their disobedience, smitten the land with blasting and mildew and hail (verse 17).<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. To<\/em> the days since the temple foundation was laid. <\/em>Not at the first (Ezr 3:10<\/span>), but then, under Haggai, in the four and twentieth day of the ninth month of the second year of Darius (Ezr 5:2<\/span>; Zec 8:9<\/span>). As yet there was, comparatively speaking, no seed in the barn, and only a small supply of vines, figs, pomegranates, and olives, since the preceding harvest had been bad, so that no evidence as yet appeared that, as regards their condition, any change for the better had begun, nevertheless they were confidently to anticipate that from that day forward Jehovah would bless them.<\/p>\n

Learn:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. The limitations of personal religion. <\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The greater contagion that belongs to sin. <\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. The blindness of the human heart to Divine judgments. <\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. The certainty that piety will be rewarded. <\/p>\n

5<\/strong>. The ability of God to do beyond what reason warrants or sense expects.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:23<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I. <\/strong>THE<\/strong> SUBJECT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> A SPECIAL<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong>. CALLING<\/strong>. This alluded to in the words, “I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts.” By this was meant, not merely that his birth in Babylon, preservation and growth to manhood, high esteem and favour among his countrymen and with Cyrus, as well as obvious natural abilities, had all come about in accordance with that general providence by which God appoints to all men the times of their coming into life and of their going out at death (Ecc 3:1<\/span>, Ecc 3:2<\/span>), the bounds of their habitation (Act 17:26<\/span>), and the particular circumstances of their lot (Psa 16:6<\/span>); but, in addition to this, that God bad specially selected, endowed, and trained him for the office into which he had been thrust, that of leading the people forth from Babylon, and for the work he had now to do, that of laying the foundations, not of a second temple merely, but of a second empire. What Haggai wished to impress upon Zerubbabel was that the position be occupied at the head of the new community was one that had come to him, not by accident, but, as in the earlier cases of Abraham (Isa 41:2<\/span>), Moses (Exo 3:10<\/span>), and Cyrus (Isa 44:28<\/span>), by Divine appointment. One can imagine the inspiration a thought like that must have imparted to Zerubbabel, the stimulus it must have given to every good impulse of his heart, the elevation and dignity it must have lent to even the least significant action he performed. Similar inspiration, stimulus, and dignity might be enjoyed by all, were all to realize that “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord” (Psa 37:23<\/span>), and that for each man’s life there is a plan existing in the mind of God, into which each will be surely guided, if only he will meekly put himself into the hand of God (Psa 25:9<\/span>).<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> POSSESSOR<\/strong> OF<\/strong> A LOFTY<\/strong> FAITH<\/strong>. This distinction may be claimed for Zerubbabel, though not assigned a place in the magnificent picture gallery of Heb 11:1-40<\/span>.; because it is difficult to see how Zerubbabel, being the man he was, a descendant of the royal line of David, and located where he was in the prosperous city of Babylon, and situated as he was in the manifest enjoyment of the Persian monarch’s favour, would have acted as he did, had he not been possessed of faith. In comparison with those who remained behind in Babylon, but a handful set forth to seek the land of their fathers; and it is little probable that Zerubbabel would have cast in his lot with the pilgrims, had he not been persuaded that the movement was of God, that the journey upon which they were about to enter had been marked out for them by Heaven, and that the insignificant and feeble company itself was a true representative of Jehovah’s Church upon the earth. That spirit, it may be added, which was preheat in Zerubbabel, the spirit of faith, which can recognize the superiority of things spiritual and religious to things earthly and secular, that is not ashamed to espouse the cause of truth and righteousness on earth, however humble and obscure, because it is the truth of God, and that is always ready, when the voice of God cries within the soul, “Who will go for us?” to respond, “Here am I, Lord; send me!” lies at the basis of all true greatness in the soul.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> AN<\/strong> EXAMPLE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> INDOMITABLE<\/strong> COURAGE<\/strong>. Few things rarer, even among Christians, than a fortitude that can brave all difficulties and defy all oppositions, especially in matters of religion. Yet is nothing more indispensable. Thousands of brilliant schemes, private as well as public, in Church as in state, have come to nothing for want of manly resolution to go on with them and carry them through. Had Zerubbabel been a craven, he never would have done so outwardly foolish a thing as join himself with a handful of pilgrims who proposed to quit their comfortable homes long and perilous journey to a and prosperous estates in Babylon, and undertake a promised land on the other side of the Syrian desert. Nor, had he been a weakling, would he have succeeded in carrying these pilgrims in safety to their destination. Traced out on a modern map, it seems not a far journey between Babylon and Jerusalem. Most likely Zerubbabel took the road that Abraham bad travelled by when he departed from Ur of the Chaldees, moved northwards to Haran, rounded the head of the Syrian desert, and came down upon Palestine by Damascus. Yet to Abraham, with his comparatively small company, the feat must have been immensely easier than it could have been to Zerubbabel, with fifty thousand heads of families and nearly a quarter of a million souls in all to take charge of. But with the help of God and his own stout heart he did it. It was a feat only second to that of Moses, who brought their fathers out of Egypt, led them through the scorching and fiery wilderness, and set them down at the gate of Canaan. Nor again, unless Zerubbabel had been a hero who was not easily discouraged, could he have brought the temple to completion, working, as he did, with a company of builders who became alarmed at every menace uttered against them by the people of the land, and who threw down their tools on encountering the smallest resistance. So difficult was the task to keep them at their work, and so formidable were the obstacles he had to encounter, that Zechariah, a younger prophet than Haggai, likened the work he had to do to the levelling of a great mountain, encouraging him at the same time with the assurance that it would be levelled, “Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.” And become a plain it did. Reinforced by a fresh company of builders who came up from Babylon under the leadership of Ezra, Zerubbabel and his band pushed on the work till it was finished, and the temple received its topstone with shoutings of “Grace, grace unto it” (Ezr 7:6-8<\/span>; Zec 4:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> AN<\/strong> ILLUSTRATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> CONSPICUOUS<\/strong> PROMOTION<\/strong>. A great honour was conferred on Zerubbabel when chosen by Jehovah to be his servant, and as such appointed the leader of his people. A greater when assured that God would graciously assist him until the task assigned to him had been successfully carried through. The greatest when, in reward for his faithful service, it was promised that he and his would be sharers in the future Messianic glory reserved for Israel; for this is what the clause means, “I will make thee as a signet ring, O Zerubbabel, my servant.” It lends a remarkable interest to this verse of Haggai to be told that in recent excavations upon Temple Hill, a ring has been discovered with the name of Haggai inscribed upon it. In the eyes of Orientals the finger ring, or signet, was regarded as a valuable possession, to lose which was esteemed a dire calamity. To speak of one as a signet ring was to assure him of tender regard and watchful preservation. Reversing the threat pronounced against Jeconiah, the last King of Judah, and the grandfather of Zerubbabel (Jer 22:24<\/span>), Jehovah promises that Zerubbabel shall be as a signet ring upon his own finger, i.e.<\/em> shall be indissolubly associated with himself and regarded with sincere affection; and this promise may be said to have been fulfilled, so far as Zerubbabel was concerned, in that he was henceforth inseparably linked with the history of God’s people, and in fact constituted an ancestor of Messiah, who afterwards sprang from his line. But as the day when the promised distinction should be Conferred on Zerubbabel was expressly specified as the day when the process begun by Jehovah of shaking the heavens and the earth should have been brought to a completion, at which time Zerubbabel should have been long dead, it becomes obvious that the promise must be understood as having reached its highest fulfi1ment in Zerubbabel’s distinguished descendant, who should then be made Jehovah’s signet ring, in reward for a greater work of emancipation and temple building than had been performed by Zerubbabel. And in this reward all share who, whether before his coming or since, have been fellow workers with him by serving the will of God in their day and generation.<\/p>\n

LESSONS.
1<\/strong>. The value of great men to their own age and to the world at large. <\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The certainty of a Divine fore-ordination m ordinary life. <\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. The impossibility of faithful work on earth losing its reward.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY T. WHITELAW<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hag 2:1-9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Returning despondency and renewed stimulus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In these verses we have the third of the earnest addresses delivered by the devoted seer to these temple fbuilders. In the first (Hag 1:3-11<\/span>) he reproved them for their neglect and stimulated them to the performance of their duty. In the second (Hag 1:13<\/span>), in few words, a single pregnant sentence, indeed, he assured them of God’s presence with them now that they had repented of their negligence and were prepared to consecrate themselves to the important enterprise. In this third address (Hag 2:1-9<\/span>) he expatiated upon the glory of the second temple. The people had again, become discouraged and depressed, despondent and downcast, and he sought to impel them to fresh endeavour by indicating the brightness and blessedness of the coming times. Consider<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CAUSES<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THEIR<\/strong> DESPONDENCY<\/strong>. This despondency very soon<\/em> again took possession of them. They had been less than a month engaged in earnest endeavour to carry on the great work when they gave way once more. It was “on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month” that, stirred up by the word of God through the prophet, they devoted themselves afresh to the service of rearing the sanctuary for the Lord, and now on the twenty-first day of the seventh month their hands tired and their hearts grew faint. Why?<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. The failure of their harvests. <\/em>This was brought conspicuously before them by the fact that “the Feast of Tabernacles” was now going on. This festival stood out amongst the Jews as “the feast,” and is described by Jewish writers as “the holiest and greatest feast” of the nation. It served a double purpose, for whilst it commemorated the goodness of God as manifested to the fathers during their desert wanderings, it also commemorated his goodness in the harvest just gathered in, and was therefore not only called “the Feast of Tabernacles,” but likewise “the Feast of Ingathering.” In prosperous times, during its celebration, the holy city wore quite a holiday aspect. It became converted into a vast camp for all the people, and, with a view to make more vivid to them the tent life of their ancestors in the wilderness, they dwelt for the time being in booths, which they constructed of boughs of olive and palm, pine and myrtle; all the courses of the priests were employed in the religious exercises, bullocks were offered in sacrifice, the Law was read, the trumpets were sounded daily, and each who took part in the commemoration bore in the left hand a branch of citron, and in the right a palm branch entwined with willows and myrtle. When we remember how that on this occasion, in celebrating this feast, they would have, of necessity, to dispense with many of the usual accompaniments, and also that the blight had been upon their crops, and hence the ingathering had been only scanty (Hag 1:6<\/span>), we need not be surprised at the depression from which they were suffering.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. There was, however, another cause of their despondency, viz. the unfavourable contrast presented as they compared the structure they were rearing with the first temple. <\/em>(Hag 2:3<\/span>.) There were old men among these returned exiles who had seen the temple of Solomon, and who, when the foundations of this second temple were laid, conscious that the new structure would be very inferior in character to the former building, gave way to demonstrations of grief (Ezr 3:11-13<\/span>). And it would seem that, as the work of reconstruction proceeded, these hoary-headed men continued to revert to the glories of the past, and instituted so many unfavourable comparisons between that age and the times as they were now, <\/em>that the builders grew weary and faint hearted in their work.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CONSIDERATION<\/strong> URGED<\/strong> BY<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PROPHET<\/strong> SO<\/strong> AS<\/strong> TO<\/strong> STRENGTHEN<\/strong> THEIR<\/strong> HEARTS<\/strong> AND<\/strong> TO<\/strong> ENCOURAGE<\/strong> THEM<\/strong> TO<\/strong> RENEWED<\/strong> CONSECRATION<\/strong>. Haggai was aged, yet, unlike his contemporaries, instead of dwelling despondingly upon the past, he looked on hopefully to the future. With prophetic insight he saw the golden age as lying, not in the days of yore, but in the coming time. His thoughts were centred upon Divine blessings to be bestowed richly and bountifully upon the true and faithful, and he sought to animate the drooping faith and hope of the workers by directing their minds to these. He reminded them of:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. The abiding presence with them of the Lord of hosts, in fulfilment of the covenant made with their fathers (verse 5).<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The national upheavings which should take place, and which should be overruled to their good (verses 6, 7).<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. The halo of glory which should eventually rest upon the shrine they were rearing (verses 7, 9).<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. The Divine proprietorship of all material resources (verse 8).<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>. The deep and durable tranquillity which should be experienced as the result of the development of the Divine purposes (verse 9). The sense of despondency is experienced still by those engaged in holy service, and the way to get roused out of this is by anticipating the brighter days that are in store, when rectitude shall mark every character, and truth be on every tongue; when holy virtue shall adorn every life; when the heavenly fruits of “love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance,” shall everywhere abound, and the Lord of hosts shall have a home and dwelling place in every heart.S.D.H.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:6-9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The prophet’s Messianic prophecy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In studying the Old Testament, it is deeply interesting to trace therein the gradual development of the Messianic hope. Three distinct stages are observable.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. From the promise made at the Fall (Gen 3:15<\/span>) until the death of Moses. The indefinite promise respecting “the Seed of the woman” was made more definite in the promise to Abraham (Gen 12:3<\/span>), and was revealed still more explicitly in “the Prophet” who was declared by Moses as at length to arise, and who should be Law giver, Ruler, and Deliverer (Deu 18:15<\/span>).<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. During the reigns of David and Solomon, the idea of the Kingship of the Messiah was developed, and this Divine royalty was the theme of the Messianic psalms.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. From Isaiah to Malachi we have a yet further unfolding, the Incarnation and Passion of the world’s Redeemer Being declared (see Lidden’s Bampton Lectures on ‘Our Lord’s Divinity,’ lect. 2.). The mission of Haggai had special reference to encouraging the temple builders in their arduous toil; but the verses now before us (verses 6-9) connect him with this development of the Messianic anticipation, since only in the light of the Christian age can the full significance of his teaching as contained hero be realized.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> CONSIDER<\/strong> WHAT<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> PROPHECY<\/strong> PROBABLY<\/strong> SUGGESTED<\/strong> TO<\/strong> THE<\/strong> JEWS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> SEER<\/strong>‘S OWN<\/strong> TIME<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Freedom from the yoke of servitude. These returned exiles were under the power of the Persian monarch; and they would understand their seer (verses 6, 7) to mean that political agitations would soon occur among the nations, and which their God would overrule to the effecting of their enfranchisement.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The temple they were rearing to become enriched with material wealth. “And the desire of all nations shall come,” etc. (verses 7, 8). “Chemdah<\/em> signifies desire, then the object of desire, that in which a man finds pleasure and joy, valuables. Chemdath haggoyim <\/em>is therefore the valuable possessions of the heathen, or, according to verse 8, their gold and silver or their treasures and riches. The thought is the following: That shaking will be followed by this result, or produce this effect, that all the valuable possessions of the heathen will come to fill the temple with glory”.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. A time of settled peace and prosperity (verse 9). This restricted apprehension of the meaning underlying the prophet’s words would cheer the hearts of the builders and impel them to renewed endeavour.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> CONSIDER<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PARTIAL<\/strong> FULFILMENT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> PROPHECY<\/strong> DURING<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LATER<\/strong> JEWISH<\/strong> AGE<\/strong>. We know that the national convulsions hinted at in the prophecy did arisethat Persia was subdued by Greece; that Greece was shaken into fragments at the death of Alexander; and that the Eastern world became the prey of Rome; and we know also that whilst these conflicts were going on the Jews prospered, and material wealth flowed into their temple, the heathen, with the decay of their systems, coming and consecrating their possessions to the Lord of hosts. Nor were tokens wanting of the partial fulfilment of the prophecy in its spiritual significance. “Rites and ceremonies retired more into the background; and prayer began to assume its true place in public worship. The religious knowledge of the people was kept up through the regular public reading and distribution of the Scriptures, which were early collected into their present canonical form. Synagogues were established, the people having learnt at Babylon that God’s presence might be enjoyed in their assemblies in any place or circumstances. Thus there was kept alive throughout the nation a higher and purer type of religion than it had known in the days when the first temple with its outward splendour and gorgeous ritual excited the admiration of the people, but too seldom led their thoughts to the contemplation of the truths it expressed and prefigured”.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> CONSIDER<\/strong> THE<\/strong> COMPLETE<\/strong> FULFILMENT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PROPHECY<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CHRISTIAN<\/strong> DISPENSATION<\/strong>. The prophecy is Messianic. Underneath its letter there lies a deep spiritual meaning. The prophet saw, afar off, the day of Christ, and testified beforehand of the latter-day glory of the Lord and his Christ. We see its full accomplishment:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. In the shaking of the nations by the power of the Divine Spirit.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The consecration by the good of all their gifts and endowments to the service of the Lord.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. The realized spiritual presence of God in Christ with his Church, and which constitutes her true glory.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. The inward rest and tranquillity all his people shall experience as his bestowment.S.D.H.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:4<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Hag 2:5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The real presence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In contrasting the house the builders were now raising for God with the first temple, many a reference was doubtless made by the “ancient men” to “the ark of the covenant” and “the Shechinah,” which had been the visible symbols of the Divine presence. What, after all, they would urge, could this new structure be without these precious tokens of the Lord, as being with them in all his majesty and might? Haggai therefore most appropriately laid great emphasis upon the glorious fact that they had with them the spiritual presence of the Lord Most High, who would remain with them, and would faithfully fulfil to them every covenant engagement made with their sires (verses 4, 5).<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> GLORIOUS<\/strong> FACT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> REAL<\/strong> PRESENCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LORD<\/strong> WITH<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> CHURCH<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. This truth is constantly declared in the oracles of God.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. It was brought home to the Israelites in the olden times by means of symbolical representations.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. It was impressed upon these returned captives by the raising up of faithful men to declare the Divine wilt, and to stimulate them to renewed devotion.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. It is made manifest to us in the Incarnation of God in Christ. Not only will God in very deed dwell with man upon the earth, but he has even taken man’s nature into union with his own. He has come to us, affecting us not only with the glory of his majesty, but revealing to his very heart, and unveiling to us the intensity of his infinite love.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> INFLUENCE<\/strong> WHICH<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CONSCIOUSNESS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> GREAT<\/strong> TRUTH<\/strong> SHOULD<\/strong> EXERT<\/strong> UPON<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> SERVANTS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. It should be to them in times of depression the source of strong consolation. “Be strong” (verse 4); i.e.<\/em>” Be comforted.”<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. It should take from them all craven fear, inspiring them with holy courage: “Fear ye not” (verse 5).<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. It should impel them to renewed consecrated endeavour: “and work” (verse 4).S.D.H.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

God’s temple filled with glory.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“And I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.”<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> VIEW<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> PROMISE<\/strong> AS<\/strong> FULFILLED<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> ADVENT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> CHRIST<\/strong> TO<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> PARTICULAR<\/strong> SANCTUARY<\/strong> FOR<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Thither the Child Jesus was taken in his infancy by Joseph and Mary, that they might present him before the Lord. So far as material splendour was concerned, no trace of it was to be seen in this introduction of the Child Jesus to that house. The rich were required to bring a lamb as an offering when they came to present their children thus, but Joseph and Mary were too poor to bring so costly an offering, and hence they brought the humbler gift the Law required. But whilst earthly glory was lacking on this occasion, a higher glory was expressed. See those distinguished servants of God! And as you behold old age gazing with holy joy upon that helpless Babe, regarding him as the Deliverer of Israel, as in imagination you witness the one, Simeon, taking that infant form into his arms, exclaiming “Lord, now lettest,” etc. (Luk 2:29<\/span>), and as you behold the other, Anna, “giving thanks to God, and speaking of the Redeemer to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luk 2:38<\/span>), do you not see the promise realized, “I will fill,” etc. (Hag 2:7<\/span>)?<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. When he attained the age of twelve years, we find him again in that temple, sitting as a learner, hearing those who gave instruction there, and asking them questions. We can form no idea as to the nature of the questions he proposed to the masters in Israel; but when we think of those teachers as being confounded by the questions and answers of that Galilaean Youth, when we remember how that all who heard him were astonished at his understanding, and when we reflect upon the Divine light and knowledge which was then communicated, we see how that on the day when the sorrowing parents were searching diligently for their lost Son, God was fulfilling the promise made ages before to his people, “I will fill,” etc. (Hag 2:7<\/span>; Luk 2:42-51<\/span>).<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Whenever he entered that temple it became filled with the glory of the Lord. This was so, no matter whether he approached it for the purpose of performing some of his mighty works, or to give utterance to his wondrous words, or to drive from the shrine those who were desecrating it and causing it to become a den of thieves. Never did he enter it without imparting to it a glory such as was unknown to the temple of Solomon. That temple in all its glory could not hear comparison with this second, when this latter house was favoured with the visits and the holy influence of the Christ of God; and it was not until they who ought to have rejoiced in the light he imparted and in the halo his presence shed had rejected and crucified him that the glory departed from this temple as from the former one, and that irreparable ruin was brought upon the house which had been repeatedly filled with the glory of the Lord.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> VIEW<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> PROMISE<\/strong> AS<\/strong> HAVING<\/strong> ITS<\/strong> APPLICATION<\/strong> TO<\/strong> EVERY<\/strong> SANCTUARY<\/strong> IN<\/strong> WHICH<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> IS<\/strong> WORSHIPPED<\/strong> IN<\/strong> SPIRIT<\/strong> AND<\/strong> IN<\/strong> TRUTH<\/strong>. Every such structure is as much God’s temple as the Jewish temple ever was. The Christian worshipper may adopt, in reference to the sanctuary to which it is his happiness to repair, such utterances as Psa 84:1<\/span>; Psa 65:1<\/span>, Psa 65:2<\/span>; Psa 122:1<\/span>, Psa 122:2<\/span>; and he can apply to these modern sanctuaries the grand old promise of his God, “And I will fill,” etc. (Psa 122:7<\/span>). There is but one essential in order that any sanctuary may be filled with glory, even the presence of Christ, <\/em>not the visible, but the spiritual, presence of the Divine Redeemer. Let this be wanting, and it is immaterial how magnificent may be the structure reared or how imposing the outward form. Vestments may be worn, the whole assembly may assume a reverential aspect, the music may be of the most attractive character, the pulpit may be occupied by one who may charm and captivate by his eloquence; yet if the presence of Christ is not realized, the house will not be lighted up with the true glory; whereas much of this may be wanting, but if Christ’s presence is realized, glory shall fill the place. What a contrast there was between this temple and the upper chamber in which the chosen disciples were assembled, waiting for the fulfilment of the promise of their risen Lord! And yet, on the second sabbath after the Ascension, a glory filled that upper chamber such as was unknown to the Jewish temple, simply because he who had been driven from the temple, and who, during his appearances there, had been invariably rejected by its worshippers, was a welcome Guest in that upper room. His presence was fully realized there, and hence the place was filled with the Divine glory, and was rendered “the very gate of heaven.” The spiritual presence of the Divine Redeemer thus constitutes the true consecration of any building reared for Christian worship and teaching; this is what is needed in order that any sanctuary in our own day may be filled with God’s own glory. Then, clothed with true sincerity of spirit, partaking of his love, his purity, his spirituality, his consecration, walking as he walked, honestly, uprightly, consistently, and so fulfilling the conditions upon which his manifestation depends, may we feel him near, as in the sanctuary, dear to us by hallowed associations, we engage in acts of worship; near us the Imparter of a Divine life, the Inspirer of all our songs, our prayers, our words, our toils; the Bestower of large blessings upon us and upon all who come within the range of our influence. “Now therefore arise, O Lord God,” etc. (2Ch 6:41<\/span>).S.D.H.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:8<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The consecration of wealth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.”<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> RIGHT<\/strong> TO<\/strong> EVERYTHING<\/strong> WE<\/strong> POSSESS<\/strong>. God is our Sovereign, and as such he exercises dominion over us, and disposes of us as it seemeth him good. This sovereignty is exercised by him in strict accordance with the principles of wisdom, rectitude, and goodness. This Divine right has reference, not only to ourselves, but extends also to all that we possess. “All things come of him;” we are but stewards of his bounty. The recognition of this fact contributes to a man’s real welfare. If a man views his possessions as being his own, he is in danger of that love of money which is the root of all evil. Hence it is with a view to man’s spiritual preservation, as well as with a due regard to the benefit of the race and the progress of his cause, that God insists upon his right, saying, “The silver is mine,” etc. (Hag 2:8<\/span>).<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> IMPORTANCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> RECOGNITION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> RIGHT<\/strong> ON<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PART<\/strong> OF<\/strong> MAN<\/strong>, AND<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CONSECRATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> SUBSTANCE<\/strong> TO<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SERVICE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Neglect of this involves loss. <\/em>The young ruler an example (Mat 19:16-22<\/span>). “He went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” He kept his wealth, but at a terrible sacrifice, for he forfeited intercourse with Christ, the joys of the Christly life, and the unfading treasures with which the Saviour was prepared to enrich him.<\/p>\n

“For mark the change! Thus saith the Lord,<\/p>\n

‘Come, part with earth for heaven today.’<\/p>\n

The youth, astonished at the word,<\/p>\n

In silent sadness went his way.”<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Regard to this ensures gain. <\/em>Cornelius an example (Act 10:1<\/span>, Act 10:2<\/span>). He viewed property as a trust. He rendered unto God his due. His prayers and his alms “came up for a memorial before God.” And the result was that God blessed him, granting unto him the ministry of angels, guiding him into truth by his servant, imparting to him the consciousness of his love, and filling him with the graces of his Spirit. Let us readily render unto God his just claim in reference to the possessions of earth<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> when help is required in order to the maintenance of his worship;<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> when the cry of distress, occasioned not by improvidence, but by unavoidable adverse influences, rises into our ears;<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> when fresh openings for doing the work of God both at home and abroad are found, and call for increased liberality that they may be embraced, let God’s voice be heard in these, intimating that he has need of those resources which have come to us as his gifts, and let us cheerfully give to him of his own. For who has such right to what we possess of this world’s goods as he whose free gifts these are, and who in the bestowment of them has blessed the work of our hands?S.D.H.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The peace of god.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“And in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.” Various theories have been propounded concerning how temporal peace and prosperity may be secured to a people. One wilt tell you that everything turns upon which political party happens to be in power; a second will cry, “Free <\/em>Trade;” a third will respond, “Protection;” a fourth will dilate upon “the reform of the land laws;” a fifth will enlarge upon the importance of the maintenance of our military prestige, affirming that peace is best guaranteed by being prepared for war; but we may rest assured that the foundations of national peace and prosperity lie deeper far, and are laid in rectitude and righteousness. True peace, and, as a consequence, lasting prosperity, come to a people only in a secondary sense through their rulers and legislators, and men of mark in the various departments: they come primarily through the people themselves. In proportion as they become God-fearing and Christ-like, submissive to the Divine authority and guided by the principles of God’s Word, will he bless them and make them prosperous and happy. But there is a higher form of peace than that which is denominated temporal, and to that more exalted blessing the Divine promise contained in this text referred. Temporal peace was now being enjoyed by the returned from exile. They dwelt in quietude, although the subjects of a foreign power. But the Lord of hosts promised them spiritual peace, and assured them that, in association with the sanctuary they were raising to his honour, they should experience inward tranquillity and rest. “In this place will I give peace,” etc. (Hag 2:9<\/span>).<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> FULFILS<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> GRACIOUS<\/strong> PROMISE<\/strong> TO<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> SERVANTS<\/strong> AS<\/strong> THEY<\/strong> GATHER<\/strong> AT<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> SANCTUARY<\/strong> BURDENED<\/strong> WITH<\/strong> A SENSE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> SIN<\/strong>, In our daily life we are continually contracting fresh sins. We stray from God’s ways, undesignedly we err from his precepts, and as the result are rendered restless and disquieted. And coming thus to his house, as we bow, in worship, and as we listen to the story of redeeming love, we become humbled in spirit and filled with penitence, and we find peace in Christ. He who controlled the winds and the waves controls also the passions and tumults of the wilder human spirit as he says in gracious tones, “Come unto me, and I will give yon rest.”<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> FULFILS<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> GRACIOUS<\/strong> PROMISE<\/strong> TO<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> SERVANTS<\/strong> AS<\/strong> THEY<\/strong> GATHER<\/strong> AT<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> SANCTUARY<\/strong> OPPRESSED<\/strong> WITH<\/strong> A SENSE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> SORROW<\/strong>. In every congregation assembled for worship there are to be found sorrowing hearts. “Every heart knoweth its own bitterness,” and we little know how many and varied are the trials being experienced by those who form our fellow worshippers; and as such in their deep need, and oppressed with griefs they could not disclose to others, turn to him who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, they feel themselves divinely soothed and succoured, and realize the fullilment of the ancient promise, “And in this place,” etc. (Hag 2:9<\/span>).<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> FULFILS<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> GRACIOUS<\/strong> PROMISE<\/strong> TO<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> SERVANTS<\/strong> AS<\/strong> THEY<\/strong> GATHER<\/strong> AT<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> SANCTUARY<\/strong> HARASSED<\/strong> THROUGH<\/strong> A SENSE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> MISGIVING<\/strong> AND<\/strong> MISTRUST<\/strong>. Doubts arise within the mind, problems are presented concerning God’s truth and his providence that baffle and perplex, and as it was with Asaph in the olden time, so has it been with many sincethey have found light cast upon the hidden way as they have come to the sanctuary of God (Psa 73:16<\/span>, Psa 73:17<\/span>). And so at all times and under all our experiences he can breathe over us the peace that calms the troubled soul and makes the weary heart at rest.S.D.H.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:10-19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The past and the future.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two months had now elapsed since, stimulated by the prophet’s glowing words, the temple builders had resumed their labours (comp. Hag 2:1<\/span> with Hag 2:10<\/span>). These months were of great importance with reference to agricultural interests, being the usual season for sowing the seed and planting the vines. That at such a time they should manifest so much zest in the work of rebuilding the temple proved how thoroughly in earnest they were; sad this earnestness is the more evident as we remember that the previous harvests having failed, the people must at this time have been in very straitened circumstances. It is not surprising if, whilst engaged in these combined operations, renewed depression took possession of their hearts, and if in sadness they asked themselves what they would do if the next harvest should likewise fail. The address of Haggai recorded in these verses (10-19) was designed either to anticipate or to meet such gloomy apprehensions; and we have only to hear this design in mind, and the meaning of his words, otherwise somewhat ambiguous, becomes very clear.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CAUSE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> VAST<\/strong> ADVERSITY<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. He traced this to their own moral defection. The method he adopted was peculiarit was by means of parables that he sought to make vivid to them their last sinfulness, and which had caused their sorrow.<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> The first parable and its application. He referred them to the priests, bidding them ask whether, if a man carries holy flesh in the lappet of his garment (i.e. <\/em>flesh of animals slain as sacrifices), and he happened to touch any food with the lappet, the food thus touched would become consecrated. The priests, in accordance with the ceremonial Law (Le 6:27<\/span>), answered, “No” (verses 11, 12), contending that the lappet of the dress was made holy, but that it was not said in the Law that it could communicate this holiness. So, the prophet implied (verse 14), was it with his nation. God had chosen their land to set his Name there. His worship had been established in their midst, they had been constituted a favoured people, and their land had been consecrated through this association with the Lord. This, however, did not affect that which had been planted in the soil; the earth was not bound to yield an abundant increase by virtue of these sacred associations. It was only by their being faithful to their high calling, diligently cultivating the soil, and looking up to Heaven for the blessing, that temporal prosperity could be enjoyed, and the lack of this spirit had been the cause of all their sorrow.<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> The second parable and its application. The appeal was again made to the priests, to know whether, if one who had been defiled by contact with a dead body happened to touch anything, the thing thus touched would be unclean. The priests unhesitatingly replied that it would, the declarations of the ceremonial Law upon this point being very explicit (Num 19:1-22<\/span>.). So the prophet affirmed that his people, neglecting the claims of Jehovah, had rendered themselves morally unclean, and the blight had consequently rested upon the works of their hands (verse 14). Their adversity was traceable to their sad defection from holy duty and devotedness to the Lord their God.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. He intimated that because of this defection God had visited them in judgment. He had in chastisement smitten them with blasting and mildew and hail, rendering their labour so abortive that their sheaves had yielded but a scanty return (verses 15-17).<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. He recorded the fact that, despite these judgments, they had persisted in their neglect of duty. “Yet ye turned not unto me, saith the Lord” (verse 17). The prophet’s strong faithful speech indicates that there had been amongst these returned captives much of indifference, coldness, and deadness in reference to the work of God, and it was only right that they should be reminded of this, and that by the painful memory of past failure they should be stimulated to more thorough and entire consecration in the future, and to which we may be sure the devoted seer gladly turned. The past is irrevocable and irretrievable. No tears, no regrets, can win it back to us.<\/p>\n

“Thou unrelenting Past!<\/p>\n

Strong are the barriers of thy dark domain;
All things, yea, even man’s life on earth,
Slide to thy dim dominions and are bound.”<\/p>\n

The future, however, is available, and hence, leaving the past, with all our shortcomings in relation to it, and rejoicing in God’s mercy and in the strength he is so ready to impart, let us “go and sin no more.”<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> ASSURANCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> FUTURE<\/strong> PROSPERITY<\/strong>. (Verse 19.) Their action had now completely changed. They fully recognized God’s claims; instead of seeking their own personal and selfish ends, they now consecrated themselves heart and soul to the work of God, striving in every way to advance his glory. The temple rose, and “they finished it according to the commandment,” etc. (Ezr 6:14<\/span>). And their attitude towards God and his work being thus changed, his attitude towards them became likewise changed. They must still for a while experience the effects of their past neglect in that time must elapse before rich fruitfulness should appear where formerly there had been dearth and barrenness, but they might rest assured of the returning favour of the Lord; yea, from that moment this joy should be theirs. “From this day will I bless you” (verse 19). So is it in our life, that whilst the cherubim with the flaming sword sternly guard the door of the past, so that there is no possibility of our return (Gen 3:24<\/span>), there is also the angel of the Lord opening up the path before us through the wilderness, and prepared to guide us, if we will, to the brighter Eden that lies beyond (Exo 23:21<\/span>, Exo 23:22<\/span>).S.D.H.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:20-23<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The final message.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We gather from this last recorded message of this prophet, and addressed to Zerubbabel<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> IMPOSSIBILITY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> JUDGING<\/strong> RESPECTING<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FUTURE<\/strong> FROM<\/strong> PRESENT<\/strong> APPEARANCES<\/strong>. The seer referred to coming commotions and upheavings in national life (Hag 2:21<\/span>, Hag 2:22<\/span>); but at the time he gave utterance to these intimations all was peace and tranquillity. Rawlinson refers to the Persian empire as spreading over two millions of square miles, or more than half of modern Europe, and this vast power was at this time unassailed. In the opening vision of Zechariah, having reference to this time, the representation made was, “Behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest” (Zec 1:11<\/span>). We cannot forecast the future; we know not what a day may bring forth.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> RECOGNITION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> OVERTHROW<\/strong> OF<\/strong> NATIONS<\/strong>. Repeatedly in verses 21, 22, the Most High refers to his own action in the convulsions and revolutions to take place. “I will shake,” etc. Whilst civil broils and contentions and military conflicts contribute to the effecting of such desolation, these are but agents unconsciously fulfilling the Divine behests. “The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth;” “He changeth the times and the seasons:he removeth kings and setteth up kings” (Dan 2:21<\/span>); “This is the finger of God.”<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SECURITY<\/strong> AMIDST<\/strong> ALL<\/strong> THESE<\/strong> CHANGES<\/strong> OF<\/strong> SUCH<\/strong> AS<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> TRULY<\/strong> CONSECRATED<\/strong> TO<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SERVICE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LORD<\/strong>. (Verse 23.) The signet ring was a precious token. It was worn by the Eastern prince on one of the fingers of his right hand, and was prized by him above all things. The symbol, as used here, suggests that Zerubbabel the prince, who had so faithfully fuifilled his trust, should be loved and cared for by God; that the Lord would cherish him even as the signet ring was cherished by its owner. Zerubbabel is regarded by some as a symbolical character, as typical of Christ, the Prince of Peace, who was to come; and such regard this assurance addressed to him as having its application to the Messiah, and as setting forth the Divine Father’s delight in him. The emblem may be still further extended in its application. All true and loyal hearts are cared for by him as his chosen ones, and he will preserve them unto his everlasting kingdom.S.D.H.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hag 2:1-5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

God’s message to his people by Haggai.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying, 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,” etc. Here is the second Divine message addressed by Haggai to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the residue of the people. Observe:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. The Divine message often comes from one man to many. It now came by Haggai.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. All temples <\/em>but the temple of nature are to be built by man himself. God could have studded the world with temples; but he has honoured human nature by leaving it to men to do.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Any postponement <\/em>of duty is opposed to the will of God. All duty requires the utmost promptitude. The Jews were now dallying with duty. The subject of these verses isGod requires human labour purely for religious objects<\/em>. We have to labour for many thingsfor material subsistence, for intellectual culture and scientific information, but in all <\/em>for a religion. True labour in every form should be religious. Whatsoever we do in word or deed, we should do all to the glory of God. Three thoughts are here suggested in relation to this subject<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> LABOUR<\/strong> SHOULD<\/strong> BE<\/strong> STIMULATED<\/strong> BY<\/strong> THE<\/strong> VIEW<\/strong> OF<\/strong> RELIGIOUS<\/strong> DECADENCE<\/strong>. The temple, once the glory of the country, was now in ruins, etc. “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now?” Into what a low state has genuine religion sunk in our country! It is cold, formal, worldly, conventional.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> LABOUR<\/strong> SHOULD<\/strong> BE<\/strong> PERFORMED<\/strong> BY<\/strong> THE<\/strong> MOST<\/strong> VIGOROUS<\/strong> EXERTION<\/strong>. “Be strong, O Zerubbabel,… be strong, O Joshua be strong, all ye people of the land.” All the powers of our nature should be concentrated in this work, the work of resuscitation. Why?<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Because it is right, <\/em>and therefore you may throw your conscience into it.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. Because it is worthy <\/em>of all your faculties. Call out and honour all the faculties of your nature.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Because it is urgent. <\/em>The highest interests of your countrymen and your race depend upon it.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> LABOUR<\/strong> SHOULD<\/strong> ENLIST<\/strong> THE<\/strong> COOPERATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> ALL<\/strong>. All are called upon here to work. The men in office, and the people. All should unite in this work. It concerns allyoung and old, rich and poor. The energies of all should be enlisted in this grand work of religious revival.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> LABOUR<\/strong> HAS<\/strong> A GUARANTEE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> ASSISTANCE<\/strong>. “For I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts,” etc. Those who are engaged in this work are labourers together with God. He is with them, inspiring, directing, encouraging, energizing. Christ says to his disciples, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world<\/em>.”D.T.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:6-9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The moral progress of the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“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,” etc. Humanity is undoubtedly progressing in certain directionsin secular information, in scientific discoveries, in useful and ornamental arts, in the extension of commerce, in the principles of legislation. But whether it is progressing in moral excellence is undoubtedly questionable, and yet there is no real progress without this. The real progress of man is the progress of moral goodness. Three thoughts are suggested by the passage in relation to this moral progress.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> IT<\/strong> REQUIRES<\/strong> GREAT<\/strong> SOCIAL<\/strong> REVOLUTIONS<\/strong> AMONGST<\/strong> MANKIND<\/strong>. “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.” Perhaps the primary reference here is to the charges which were to be effected in the Jewish system and commonwealth, preparatory to the Christian dispensation. Judaism was, as we know, shaken to its centre by the appearance of Christ. Revolutions in society seem to me essential to the moral progress of the race. There must be revolutions in theories and practices is relation to governments, markets, temples, Churches. How much them is to be shaken in the heaven and earth of Christendom before the cause of true moral progress can advance! May we not hope that all the revolutions that are constantly occurring in governments and nations are only the removal of obstructions in the moral march of humanity? In the clash of arms, in the fall of kingdoms, one ought to hear the words, “Prepare ye the way,” etc.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> IT<\/strong> INVOLVES<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SATISFACTION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> MORAL<\/strong> CRAVINGS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> MANKIND<\/strong>. “The desire of all nations shall come.” Whether this refers to Christ or not has been questioned. Still, philosophy and history show that he meets all the moral longing of humanity. The moral craving of humanity is satisfied in Christ, and in Christ only.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Man<\/em>‘s deep desire is reconciliation to his Creator.<\/em><\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. Man<\/em>‘s deep desire is to have inner harmony of soul. <\/em>Christ effects this.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. To have brotherly unity with the race. <\/em>Moral socialism is what all nations crave for. Christ gives this. He breaks down the middle wall of partition. He unites all men together by uniting all men to God.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> IT<\/strong> ENSURES<\/strong> THE<\/strong> HIGHEST<\/strong> MANIFESTATIONS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> TO<\/strong> MANKIND<\/strong>. “I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord.”<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. God will be recognized as the universal Proprietor. <\/em>“Silver is mine, and gold is mine,” etc. In the good time coming, men will feel that all is God’s, not theirs. They will act as trustees, not as proprietors. God will be all in all.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. God will<\/em> be recognized as the universal Peace giver<\/em>. “I will give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.”D.T.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:10-14<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Human duty.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“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, Thus said the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the Law,” etc. “On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the same year, that is to say, exactly three months after the congregation had resumed the building of the temple (Hag 1:15<\/span>), and about two months after the second prophecy (Hag 2:1<\/span>), a new word of the Lord was uttered through Haggai to the people. [This is the prophet’s third address, extending over verses 10-19.] It was now time, since the despondency which had laid hold of the people a few weeks after the recommencement of the building had been dispelled by the consolatory promises in verses 6-9, and the work was vigorously pursued, to confirm the people in the fidelity which they had manifested, by bestowing upon them the blessing which had been withdrawn. To this end Haggai received the commission to make it perfectly clear to the people that the curse, which had rested upon them since the building of the temple had been neglected, had been nothing but a punishment for their indolence in not pushing forward the work of the Lord; and and that from that time forth the Lord would bestow his blessing upon them again” (Delitzsch). The passage suggests two facts.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> THE<\/strong> QUESTION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> HUMAN<\/strong> DUTY<\/strong> 1S TO<\/strong> BE<\/strong> DECIDED<\/strong> BY<\/strong> AN<\/strong> APPEAL<\/strong> TO<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> AUTHORITY<\/strong>. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the Law.” The question, of course, implies two things.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. That there is a Divine written law for the regulation of human conduct. <\/em>Though the Law here refers to ceremonial institutes which were contained in the Levitical code, there is also a divinely written law of a far higher significancethat moral law which rises out of man’s relations, and is binding upon man as man, here and everywhere, now and forever.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. That there are divinely appointed interpreters of this law. <\/em>“Ask now the priests.” Under the old economy there were men appointed and qualified by God to expound the Law to the people; and in every age there are men endowed with that high moral genius which gives them an insight into the eternal principles of moral obligation. They descry those principles, not only in the words of God, but in his works; they have that ethical and spiritual “unction from the Holy One,” by which they know all things pertaining to duty. Thus, then, the question of duty is to be decided. It cannot be decided by the customs of the age, the enactments of governments, or the decrees of Churches. “To the Law and to the testimony.” The will of God is the standard of moral obligation.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DISCHARGE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DUTY<\/strong> REQUIRES<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SPIRIT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> OBEDIENCE<\/strong>. It was the duty of the Jews now to rebuild the temple; but that duty they discharged not by merely bringing the stones and timbers together and placing them in architectural order. It required further the spirit of consecration. The prophet sought to impress this upon the mind of his fellow countrymen engaged in this work by propounding two questions referring to points in the ceremonial law. The first had reference to the communication of the holiness of holy objects to other objects brought into contact with them. <\/em>“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?” In other words, whether, if a person carry holy flesh in a lappet of his garment, and touched any food with the lappet, it should become holy in consequence? The priests said, “No;” and rightly. Mere ceremonial holiness cannot impart virtue to our actions in daily life; cannot render our efforts in the service of God acceptable to him. Ritualism without righteousness is morally worthless. The second question was this: “If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.” “The sum,” says an old writer, “of these two rules is that pollution is more easily communicated than sanctification; that is, there are many ways of vice, but only one of virtue, and a difficult one. Bonum oritur ex integris; malum ex quolibet defectu, <\/em>‘Good implies perfection; evil commences with the slightest defect.’ Let not men think that living among good people will recommend them to God, if they are not good themselves; but let them lear that touching the unclean thing will defile them, and therefore let them keep at a distance from it.”<\/p>\n

CONCLUSION<\/strong>. Mark:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. The transcendent importance of the spirit of obedience. <\/em>What are ceremonial observances, and what are all intellectual or bodily efforts, in connection with religion, apart from the spirit of obedience? Nothing, and worse. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice;” “What have I to do with the multitude of thine oblations,” etc.?<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. That man can more easily communicate evil to another than good. <\/em>As a legally unclean person could impart his uncleanness to anything, and a legally holy person could not impart his sanctity to anything, so it is suggested that evil is more easily communicated by man to man than good. This is a sad truth, and proved by universal observation and experience. Briars will grow without cultivation, but not roses. A man can give his fever to another easier than he can give his health.D.T.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:15-19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Man’s temporalities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“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,” etc. The subject of these verses is man<\/em>‘s temporalities; <\/em>or, in other words, his earthly circumstances, his secular condition. And the passage suggests three ideas in relation to this subject.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> MAN<\/strong>‘S TEMPORALITIES<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> AT<\/strong> THE<\/strong> ABSOLUTE<\/strong> DISPOSAL<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>. Here the Almighty is represented as at one time, namely, the period daring their neglect of rebuilding the temple, withholding from the Jewish people temporal prosperity. But after they had commenced the work in earnest, the stream of prosperity would begin to flow. Here are the words: “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 press fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.” “It was I that gave you only ten instead of twenty measures, only twenty instead of fifty vessels in the vat. It was I that smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail.” So it ever is. Man’s temporal circumstances are at the disposal of God. Out of the earth cometh all man’s temporal good; but he can make the earth barren or fruitful as he pleases. He can bind it with frosts, inundate it with floods, or scorch it with heat. Man, cease to pride thyself in thy temporal prosperity!<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> SOMETIMES<\/strong> REGULATES<\/strong> THE<\/strong> TEMPORALITIES<\/strong> OF<\/strong> MAN<\/strong> ACCORDING<\/strong> TO<\/strong> MAN<\/strong>‘S MORAL<\/strong> CHARACTER<\/strong>. The Almighty here tells the Jewish people that in consequence of their neglect of his command to rebuild the temple, temporal distress would befall them. He ‘smote them with “blasting” and with “mildew” and with “hail in all the “labours of their hands” But as soon as they commenced in earnest he said, “From this day will I bless you? The fact that God sometimes and not always regulates man’s temporalities according to his moral obedience or disobedience suggests:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. That the cultivation of a high moral character is important to man eves as a citizen of this earth. <\/em>“Godliness is profitable to all things.”<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. That even this occasional expression of God<\/em>‘s regard for moral conduct is sufficient to justify <\/em>the belief in the doctrine of a future and universal retribution. Antecedently, we should infer that, under the government of an all-wise, all-powerful, and all-just God, man’s secular circumstances would be according to his moral worth. It would have been so, had man not fallen, no doubt. It is sometimes so now, as in the case before us. It will be universally so one daythe great day that awaits humanity.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> THESE<\/strong> FACTS<\/strong> OUR<\/strong> MIGHTY<\/strong> MAKER<\/strong> REQUIRES<\/strong> US<\/strong> PROFOUNDLY<\/strong> TO<\/strong> STUDY<\/strong>. “Now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward.” This call to consider the facts is thrice repeated. Consider why the adversity came upon you in the first case, and why the blessing is promised in the second case. It was, in one ease, because you neglected your moral duty, and in the second because you began to discharge it. Why should these facts be studied?<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. That we may have a practical consciousness that God is in the world. In all the elements of nature, in all the seasons of the year, in all the varying temperatures and moods of nature, we see God in all things. “The place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. That we may have a practical consciousness that God recognizes moral distinctions in human society. God and evil are not alike to him. The good he sees, he approves; the evil he beholds, he loathes.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. That we may have a practical consciousness that retribution is at work in the Divine government.<\/em>D.T.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:20-23<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Terrible revolutions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“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,” etc. This is the fourth address. These verses remind us<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> THE<\/strong> REVOLUTIONS<\/strong> AMONGST<\/strong> MANKIND<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> SOMETIMES<\/strong> VERY<\/strong> TERRIBLE<\/strong>. Here we read of the “shaking of the heavens and the earth,” the “crash of thrones,” the “destruction of kingdoms,” the “overthrow of chariots,” etc. What the particular <\/em>revolutions referred to here are cannot be determined. Alas! we know well enough that such terrible catastrophes have been too common in every age and land. During the last forty years what tremendous revolutions have occurred in Europe and in America! The political heavens and earth have been shaken to their very centre, and even now the political world throughout Christendom is heaving with earthquakes and thundering with volcanoes. Such revolutions imply the existence and prevalence of two antagonistic moral principles in the worldgood <\/em>and evil. <\/em>These are the Titanic chieftains in all the battles, the elemental forces in all the convulsions of the world. It is truth against error, right against wrong, liberty against thraldom, virtue against vice.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> HAS<\/strong> TO<\/strong> DO<\/strong> EVEN<\/strong> WITH<\/strong> THE<\/strong> MOST<\/strong> TERRIBLE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THESE<\/strong> REVOLUTIONS<\/strong>. “I will shake the heavens,… I will overthrow the throne,” etc. “I will destroy the strength,” etc. Inasmuch:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. As God is eternally against the false and the wrong and the tyrannic, he may be said to be the Author of these revolutions.<\/em><\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. As he can prevent them, he may be said to be the Author of these revolutions. <\/em>He does not originate them, but he permits them. He could annihilate all wicked doers by a volition; he allows them to fight themselves often to death in battling against the right and the true. Hence God permits and controls all human revolutions. This should inspire us with confidence in the most terrible scenes. “The Lord sitteth upon the flood.” He sits in serene majesty, controlling all the fury of the battling forces. He “holds the winds in his fist.”<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> THE<\/strong> GOOD<\/strong> MAN<\/strong> IS<\/strong> SAFE<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> MOST<\/strong> TREMENDOUS<\/strong> REVOLUTIONS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> TIME<\/strong>. “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” (verse 23). What is here said of Zerubbabel suggests three thoughts.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. That good men sustain the highest office. <\/em>Zerubbabel was not only a servant, but a “chosen servant,” He was selected for the work of rebuilding the temple. The highest honour for moral intelligence is to be the appointed servant of Jehovah.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. That good men will receive the highest distinction. <\/em>“I will make thee as a signet,” A signet indicates:<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> Worth. It was a ring with a seal on it, worn on the finger, as an ornament of great value. Good men are elsewhere represented as God’s jewels.<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> Authority. The signet of an Eastern monarch was a sign of delegated authority. A good man is invested with the highest authoritythe authority to fight against wrong and to promote right, at all times and in every place<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. That good men will always be safely kept. <\/em>Jehovah says this to Zeubbabel Amidst all evil, “God is my Refuge and Strength, a very present Help in troubleD.T.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

THIRD ADDRESS<\/p>\n

The Glory of the Second Temple<\/em><\/p>\n

Hag 2:1-9<\/span><\/p>\n

1In the seventh (month), and the twenty-first (day) of the month there was a 2word of Jehovah by the hand of Haggai the Prophet, saying: Speak, now, to Zerubbabel, son of Shaltiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Jozadak, the 3high priest, and to the rest of the people, saying: Who among you is left1<\/span> that has seen this house in its former glory? And what are seeing it (to be) now? Is not such2<\/span> (a one) as it like nothing in your eyes? 4But come! be strong, Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah; and be strong Joshua, son of Jozadak, high priest; and be strong, all the people of the land, saith Jehovah; for I am with you, saith Jehovah of Hosts, 5With the word3<\/span> which I covenanted with you when you were coming out of Egypt; and my Spirit is abiding in your midst; fear not. 6For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, Once more4<\/span>it is a little whileand I will be shaking the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land. 7And I will shake5<\/span> all the Gentiles; and the treasures of all the Gentiles shall come; and I shall fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of Hosts. 8The silver is mine and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of Hosts. 9The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith Jehovah of Hosts; and in this house I will give peace, saith Jehovah of Hosts.<\/p>\n

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

The rebukes and warnings and encouragements of the Prophet having thus exerted their due influence, it might seem as if no further message were needed. But a new danger soon threatened to retard the progress of the work, a manifestation of despondency on the part of some of the people. It was natural that those of them who had beheld the first Temple in its magnificent beauty, would feel somewhat dispirited at the sight of the new structure, so inferior in outward attractions, and awakening so many suggestions of national decline and calamity, and that their feelings of dejection would soon spread through a large part of the community. These symptoms, on their very first appearance, called forth the third address of the Prophet, which, however it may be interpreted in detail, must be admitted to be a noble product of the genuine prophetic spirit, and of the highest significance in that period of their history on which the people were now entering. We may consider it in three aspects according to its three leading ideas: (1) as adapted to encourage the people in their present dejection; (2) as suggesting those characteristics, religious and moral, of the new era, which would prove it superior to any former period of Israels history; (3) as predicting the glory of the universal Church of God, represented by the second Temple. How these ideas are contained in the address will appear in the course of the exposition.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:1-2<\/span>. Comparing the date with the time in which the work began (Hag 1:15<\/span>), it will be seen that more than three weeks had elapsed, during which the enthusiasm of the less ardent of the builders would have begun to flag. To this change of feeling, a circumstance would contribute which was noticed by Cocceius, that the 21st day of the seventh month was the seventh and last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, on which occasion, as it was the close of the ingathering, thanks were to be rendered for bountiful harvests. A certain degree of despondency would be excited by the recollection that the harvest of the present year had been so scanty (Hag 2:9-11<\/span>). Hence there was all the more urgent occasion for some word of comfort and cheer. We must remember that such a state of feeling would be quite unlike that posture maintained by the people, which had evoked the first discourse. Then their selfish indifference had to be met by reproach and warning; now their fainting courage must be sustained and their feeble faith revived by encouragement and promise.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:3<\/span>. Who is he that is left among you?Is it not such<\/strong> (a Temple) as this like nothing in your eyes?<\/strong> We have no evidence that the feeling of disappointment among the people was openly expressed, or that it was sufficient to prompt them to suspend their labors. All the greater and more considerate is seen to be Jehovahs returning favor. He would have them not merely steadfast, but also cheerful and hopeful in their work. He first addresses those who must have suffered most keenly in reflecting upon the outward appearance of the present structurethose who had beheld the splendor of its predecessor. It was not quite seventy years since the destruction of the First Temple, and there must have been some of those still remaining, whose weeping voices had thrown such a gloom upon the ceremony of laying the foundation of the present House (Ezr 3:12-13<\/span>), with whom the Kingdom of Israel was not a matter of tradition but of personal experience. If they could be comforted, much more likely was it that the younger and more susceptible portion would be encouraged and cheered. It is noteworthy that the contrast between the two temples is made by Jehovah as strong as possible. He seems to admit that their dejection was natural, and by sharing their feelings, so to speak, He gives a most winning and reassuring evidence of his condescension and sympathy. On the construction and proper rendering of the last clause, see Grammatical Note.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:4-5<\/span>. But come! be strong Zerubbabelfear not<\/strong>. The depressing tendency of the present circumstances was admitted; but this was no reason why the people should repine. In the first place, they might plead with perfect confidence the gracious promise which they had a little before so joyfully received (Hag 1:13<\/span>). And if God was indeed with them, not only would the possession of his favor and the enjoyment of his presence compensate for all past distresses, and be all-sufficient for the new and untried future, but his help, his working with them, would establish the work of their hands, and in his strength they would be strong. He declares to them besides, that, as the Covenant is still in force, they are as much the object of his care as when that Covenant was first ratified, and that in the power of his Spirit resident with and among them, they would continually enjoy his presence and support.<\/p>\n

Such is the general sense of Hag 2:4-5<\/span>, and it is not materially affected whatever be the true construction of the latter verse, concerning which there has been much difference of opinion. The chief difficulty lies in the ambiguity of . The solutions that have been proposed under the supposition that is the sign of the definite object will first come under review. Some, notably Ewald and Hengstenberg, suppose that the governing word (probably : remember), is understood at the beginning of the verse. (Remember) the word which I covenanted with you, when you came forth from Egypt and my spirit dwelt in the midst of you: fear not. Besides the obvious objection, that this construction does not readily suggest itself, it may be remarked that a reference to Exo 20:20<\/span>, which Hengstenberg regards as establishing his view, seems out of place, not only from the improbability in general of an allusion to a comparatively unimportant expression uttered so many ages before, but also from the utter want of analogy between the present circumstances of the people and the situation supposed to be compared with them here. Moreover (it is not too much to say), on that special occasion the Spirit of God was not resting upon the people, as their conduct immediately thereafter abundantly proves (Exo 32:7-8<\/span>). Finally, there would seem to be not merely a certain incongruity between such a reference and the whole drift of the discourse, but the allusion would absolutely weaken the latter in its well-sustained and lofty flight. Equally unsatisfactory upon exegetical, though preferable on grammatical grounds, is the opinion (of Aben Ezra, D. Kimchi, colampadius, Rosenmller) that is the object of , either repeated from ver 5 or with the last clause of that verse parenthetical: perform the word (covenant) which I concluded with you. then will my spirit abide with you. As Hitzig remarks, they were not to fulfill the commands of the Law, but to build the Temple. Others again (Ruckert, Hitzig, Koehler, Keil, Henderson, and Pressel) take as the sign of the definite nominative of the subject. It is not to be denied that in spite of the elaborate attempt made by Maurer in his Commentary<\/em> to throw doubt upon the existence of this construction, there are a few cases which seem to prove its occasional though rare occurrence. The methods, however, that have been suggested by its ablest supporters to account for it here, virtually make it the sign of the definite objectanother form of the view last mentioned. It is supposed either that is attracted into the case of , a usage unknown to the Hebrew language, a single example of which is wrongly claimed in Zec 8:17<\/span> (see Ewald, 277 d<\/em>), or that the Prophet had intended to write instead of after making all that precedes the object of that verb: (I have established the word. and my Spirit among you). Why he should have abandoned his original intention we are not told. If he had done so, he would probably have erased the as any other writer would do under like circumstances. More precarious still is the notion of De Wette, who regards as = ipse<\/em>, according to the meaning which Gesenius has attributed to that word as the primary one. He renders: this word, etc., referring to the last clause of Hag 2:4<\/span> : I am with you. Maurer has been more successful in combating this theory with regard to , since he has shown clearly that it need never be taken as a distinctive or demonstrative pronoun. Luther, Calvin, Eichhorn, Maurer, Newcome, Noyes, Moore, and Fausset regard as the accusative of the norm or standard. So our E. V.: according to the word, etc. It may be admitted that the accusative is sometimes used absolutely in Hebrew to express such a notion; but if it had been so employed here, it is hardly conceivable that the , which would have been certain to be misunderstood, and moreover, superfluous, would have been inserted. No example can be found of its occurrence in such a construction. We are therefore compelled to assume that is here a preposition: with, as Cocceius, Marckius, J. D. Michaelis, and Stier have also done. The first member of Hag 2:5<\/span> would thus be an adjunct of the last clause of Hag 2:4<\/span>, and the second member parallel to it. Hag 2:4-5<\/span> might then be thus paraphrased: Be strong, my people, for henceforth I am with you. I come into your midst with the Covenant which I made with you, when first you became my people. I renew it with you now that you have returned to Me; I will support and aid you as I have ever done towards my faithful people; My spirit is resting upon you; behold in this my faithfulness proved and my promise of help fulfilled. The only objection of any weight that can be brought against this view is that the repetition of with in a clause which is not appositive would create a certain degree of awkwardness in the sentence. This must be admitted; and yet it is probable that the matter has been regarded too much according to the standard of our Occidental analytical and flexible languages, and that the locution would be less offensive to the taste of an ancient Hebrew. Koehler makes the objection, which is repeated by Keil, that if the of Hag 2:5<\/span> had been a preposition, we should have had in Hag 2:4<\/span>, for the sake of euphony, instead of . But in such cases as this it is merely the close recurrence of similar sounds that offends; the fact that the words are identical in meaning is quite without influence. It is therefore a sufficient answer to these objections to say that the obnoxious sound is<\/em> repeated here, where, according to the construction held by these critics, the word , representing it, is at best superfluous. In accordance with what has been said, the word which I covenanted with you<\/strong>, etc., must be understood as the promise of Gods continuing presence and favor, suspended upon the obedience of the people, which expressed his obligations with respect to the Covenant made at Sinai, whose validity was to be perpetual. That the words my Spirit<\/strong> refer to the sustaining and comforting influence of the Holy Spirit upon the people, and not to the gift of such special qualifications for the present work as were imparted to Bezaleel and his assistants, Exo 31:1<\/span> (Osiander, Koehler), or to that of the spirit of prophecy (Targum, J. D). Michaelis, Newcome, Henderson), is plain if we consider, (1) that the exhortations are addressed to the whole people, and (2) that only through an immediate and widely spread influence could their incipient despondency be removed and exchanged for cheerful courage. Such inspiration received and operating, just as it might be sought and prized, would soon cause them to forget their fallen fortunes, in their efforts to speed the coming of the promised triumph.<\/p>\n

They might expect even more than this. Not only would the loss of Israels ancient glory be more than made up to the little colony by the abiding presence and help of their Covenant God: the very structure on which they were then engaged, though unadorned by the gilded magnificence of the former Temple, would yet, in its purer and more spiritual worship, possess a glory all its own, to which its predecessor had never attained, and would thus prefigure that everlasting Temple, whose transcendent and ever-increasing glory would be displayed in the pilgrimage thither of worshippers from every nation, laden with their choicest offerings, and still more in the unrestrained and continuing presence of the indwelling Spirit. The verses which contain these promises are so closely connected that we must expound them as a whole.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:6-9<\/span><\/strong>. For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts. I will give peace, saith Jehovah of Hosts<\/strong>. The phrase In Hag 2:6<\/span> has always been the occasion of much dispute. Taking a survey of the different views, we find that the rendering: it is yet a little (while), of the Targum ( ) and the Vulgate (ad huc unum modicum est<\/em>) has been adopted by Luther, Calvin, Grotius, and by later expositors, as Ruckert, Maurer, Hengstenberg, Ewald, Umbreit, and Moore, being regarded by most of them as = the indefinite article, but by Hengstenberg as strictly a numeral adjective. Reference is made, in support of this view, to Exo 17:4<\/span>; Psa 37:10<\/span>; Hos 1:4<\/span>, and other passages, in all of which cases, however, is either unaccompanied by an attributive or followed by an entirely different construction. Insuperable grammatical difficulties attend this view, whichever of its abovementioned, modifications be adopted, as may be seen from the grammatical note on this verse; and the laws of the language must be suffered to decide against it. This consideration has led the majority of modern expositors to regard the sentence as made up of two members: and . But among these again there is a disagreement as to the true force of . The greater number (including most of the later Anglo-American expositors, after the E. V., Cocceius, Marckius, Koehler, Keil, and Pressel), follow the LXX. ( ), who, however, left untranslated. They understand , which is often feminine, with , and make the expression = once, as in Eze 30:10<\/span>; 2Ki 6:10<\/span>; Job 40:5<\/span>; Jos 5:2<\/span>. They accordingly translate the sentence: once moreit is a little while, etc. Hitzig, Hofmann ( Weissagung und Erfllung<\/em>, 1:330), Delitzsch (Comm. zum Briefe an die Hebrer<\/em>, Heb 12:26<\/span>), understand instead of , and render: one period morea brief one is it, etc. The Prophet is then supposed to have declared (1) that the period between the present and the predicted great change of the world, will be but one period, i. e.<\/em>, one uniform epoch, and (2) that this epoch will be a brief one (Delitzsch). But it cannot be shown without overworking the passage that this idea possesses any pertinency to the Prophets design; it seems strange in the connection. Its advocates also ignore the distinction between prophecy and history. It must therefore be decided that is the word to be supplied, which is distinguished from as occasion<\/em> is from period<\/em>, and that the proper rendering is: Once moreit is a little (while)and, etc. The use of to mark the consequent clause of the sentence after a statement of time is in accordance with Hebrew usage; see Green, 287, 3. in the parenthetical clause is the copula (Green, 258, 2) and not the predicate, as Koehler asserts. It is conformed in gender to , which it represents. It is natural to assume that preserves here its usual sense: yet, again, more. Koehler, however, takes it to mean: henceforth, in the future, and the whole sentence as announcing that from this time forward the world would be shaken once, and only once. This he does not rest upon linguistic grounds, referring, as he does, to 2Sa 19:36<\/span>; 2Ch 17:6<\/span>, only to show that the meaning proposed is admissible. Now, without maintaining the untenable position (as we think it) of Keil, that always retains its primary sense of repetition or return, it is yet undeniable that it invariably preserves such a force when connected with a temporal term or phrase, such as has been shown to be in our passage. Koehler bases his opinion upon the notion that repetition cannot be implied here, because no such commotions of nature as are here predicted had ever occurred before this time, not even during the delivery of the Law at Sinai, which is usually supposed to be alluded to in the passage. In disproving this statement there is no necessity of referring to the sense of as understood by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 12:26-27<\/span>) or even to the inference which he draws from the words once more of our Prophet; for there we have simply the authority of the LXX., which is quoted and applied after the custom of the New Testament writers. We may, however, cite the opinion of that inspired Writer, that it was the shaking of Sinai that the Prophet had in mindan opinion evidently held without the least reference to the interpretation of , one, in fact, assumed by him as unquestioned. This any one will perceive on even the most superficial examination of the passage Heb 12:18-29<\/span>. Koehler asserts that the shaking of Sinai cannot be alluded to here, because the commotions here foretold were to affect all nature, while the descriptions of the giving of the Law do not refer to any disturbance beyond the Sinaitic region. But such passages as Jdg 5:4-5<\/span>; Psa 68:8-9<\/span>; Hab 3:6<\/span>, represent all nature as having been then moved at the coming of God. If it should be urged that such poetical conceptions are largely figurative, it may be replied that the convulsions here alluded to are themselves largely figurative, as will be presently shown. The force of the Prophets allusion to the phenomena at Sinai we conceive to be this: He is now holding out to the faith of his desponding people the prospect of a new era, which was to be prefigured by their present Temple. The former dispensation, out of which they were soon to pass, and of which the former Temple was the symbol and crown, had been announced and prepared by the shaking of Sinai and the other wonders wrought in the realm of nature during the disciplinary experience of their fathers previous to their entrance into the Promised Land. This second, final dispensation was also to be ushered in by shakings and convulsions. These, in accordance with the more spiritual character of the new era, were to occur not so much in the physical as in the moral sphere, the former class, however, not to be excluded. In accordance with the wider enjoyment of the new economy, its portents, so far as they were to occur in the external world, would affect all nature, so far as they were to affect human thought and action, were to affect all nations. It remains to be seen how this universal shaking is effected. That the words: I will be shaking the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land<\/strong>, have chiefly a figurative application, becomes clear from a comparison with such passages as Psa 60:2<\/span>; Psa 18:7-15<\/span>; Isa 13:13<\/span>; Isa 64:1-3<\/span>, where Gods judgments are represented under images drawn from the phenomena of nature; also from others such as Isa 65:17<\/span> (comp Isa 66:22<\/span>, and with this the words once more in our verse), in which, as the context shows, the blessed results upon humanity are compared to a new heaven and a new earth. We do not even need to go beyond our own book for illustration. In Hag 2:21<\/span> we have expressions similar to those here employed, which must have largely a figurative significance, since the overthrow of the surrounding nations was all that the convulsions there predicted were to accomplish, as our exegesis of the passage will show. The various departments of nature are particularized so as to present a vivid picture of the universal commotions and of the consequent transformation of the world. The prediction has its literal fulfillment also, in so far as remarkable natural phenomena have a portentous significance, in the divine dealings with man,a truth recognized both by the Scriptures and by profane writers. We must remember, however, that the representation is here of a very general nature. With these conclusions in view it will appear that Hag 2:6-7<\/span> describe the working of God with its resulting marvelous change in the aspect of the world in general, and more especially in its influence upon mankind nationally and individually,6<\/span> preparing them for the universal reception of the blessings of the promised epoch. The allusion must therefore be to all movements in the history of humanity, either before or since the coming of Christ, which have disposed men to own Christ as their Lord and Saviour. And of these it is most natural to consider as more immediately intended, those various political convulsions which changed the aspect of the civilized world and adjusted the nations for the ready reception and rapid spread of the Gospelthe conquests of Alexander, and the wars of his successors, with their tendency to combine and equalize the nations involved, and to weaken the spirit of national exclusiveness, to promote mutual intercourse through the medium of a common language, in which at first the Old Testament and at last the New were given to the world; followed by the gradual but irresistible progress of Roman supremacy uniting the East and the West, and resulting, on the one hand, in the decline of paganism or national religion, and on the other, in the prevalence of a long and universal peace, so favorable to the spread of the religion of mankind.Such was the immediate fulfillment of the prediction. But we are not warranted in stopping here. In accordance with the true interpretation of the second clause of Hag 2:7<\/span> (to be given presently), we must regard the convulsions as coextensive with their influence. All nations were to contribute to the glory of the Church of Christ, and whatever exercise of the divine power in the external world or in the spiritual sphere, should dispose man to the service of Jehovah, must be included in that moving of the world which should lead to its transformation. Hence we need not restrict the fulfillment of the prediction to the political changes which prepared the way for the reception of Christianity, as has usually been done, but may behold it also in those subsequent events in the worlds history, political, social, or moral, which have subserved (and never more conspicuously than in our own day) the growth and glory of the Church of Christ. We may even admit the partial correctness of Calvins explanation, that the shaking denotes that marvelous supernatural and violent impulse by which God compels his people to betake themselves to the fold of Christ. The view of Hengstenberg and Keil, at all events, is beside the mark, who suppose that the shaking of the nations is intended to set forth the punitive judgments of God upon the heathen, as leading them to submit themselves to his rule. As a matter of fact, it was not, to any great extent, the judgments of God that led the heathen to accept the Gospel. When, therefore, Hengstenberg attempts to apply his theory to the preparation for Christs coming, he naturally fails. Appeal is made to Hag 2:21-23<\/span>, where a shaking of heaven and earth is predicted in connection with the overthrow of surrounding nations. But the passages are not parallel. Hag 2:21-23<\/span> are not in the strict sense Messianic; our passage is. The subject there is the opposition between the heathen and Gods people; and no hint is given of the conversion of the former. The subject here is the honor to be put upon the Church of Christ (represented by the Second Temple) by its reception of worshippers from all nations. The notion of the punishment of the heathen is remote from the idea of the promise and irrelevant to the discourse as a whole.<\/p>\n

The consequence of this divine influence upon mankind is next given: . But what is meant by ? The rendering of the E. V.: The desire of all nations, according to which the Messiah is referred to as the object that should satisfy the universal longings of men, has always been a favorite interpretation. The translation of the Vulgate was: et venit desideratus cunctis gentibus<\/em>, and this was followed by the Reformers (except Calvin), by the older orthodox Commentators generally, and among English Expositors, last by Fausset. So confidently has their opinion been held, that Ribera suspected the later Jews of having corrupted the passage by changing a singular verb into the plural (), with the design of throwing difficulties in the way of the true interpretation. It has been accepted so widely by the Christian Church through the influence of the various Versions that it is still everywhere daily heard in their hymns and prayers. It is natural, moreover, that many should have been unwilling to give up a prediction which seemed to embody such a great and inspiring truth. But such an interpretation cannot stand the test of correct criticism. In the first place, we must have regard to the aim of the discourse, the encouragement of the people in building the Temple, by assuring them that its glory would yet be great. This object would not have been subserved by foretelling the coming of a Person for whom all the Gentiles were longing. Such a promise would give no special comfort to the Jews. The only reason why the nations1 were referred to must have been that they themselves would contribute to the future glory. Secondly, it is impossible to see what connection the silver and the gold of Hag 2:8<\/span> can have with the coming of the Messiah, though that verse is evidently introduced as confirmatory of this. But, finally, the view in question is untenable grammatically. is plural, while its subject is singular. That subject, therefore, cannot be a person. It is impossible to evade the force of this argument; and when we discover that such expedients have been adopted as to assume that Christs two Natures are referred to, the hopelessness of the attempt becomes evident. It has indeed been urged that when a plural noun depends upon and follows a singular, the verb may in Hebrew agree with the plural. This is true in certain cases, namely, when the predicate may naturally be referred to the governed word as containing the controlling idea of the sentence (comp. Green, 277). This is of course not the case here. It is not the nations themselves who are represented as coming, but their . More admissible grammatically is the modification proposed by Cocceius, who translates: I will shake all nations, that they may come to the desire of all nations. But the first argument adduced against the preceding view is decisive also against this. It only remains that we take as a collective,which its originally abstract sense renders natural, and as the plural verb demands.7<\/span> The true sense of here may be readily deduced from the usage of its primitive : to desire, to take delight in. The derivation means, first, the emotion of pleasure, and next, an object of desire or delight (1Sa 9:20<\/span>; Dan 11:37<\/span>). We have now only to decide whether it relates to persons or to things. The former sense with the explanation: what is valuable or worthy among the heathen i. e.<\/em>, the best of the Gentileshas been adopted by Theodore of Mopsuestia, Cappellus, Rckert, Hitzig, Umbreit, and Frst (in his Wrterbuch<\/em>). But here, also, all connection with Hag 2:8<\/span> fails us. The only meaning which satisfies all the conditions of the passage is: the desirable things of the nations; not: the things desired by the nations realized in the blessings of the Messiahs reign, as Henderson holds,an explanation which like those previously noticed should be discarded because of its want of connection with the context, and its irrelevancy to the discourse as a whole. We accordingly translate: the desirable or precious things, the treasures of the nations, as most of the later Commentators have done. So the LXX. appear to have understood it ( not , not persons but things). Their explanation was adopted in the Itala and Vulgate, and by Kimchi, and was completely established by Calvin, the most judicious and penetrating of Commentators. Since the Reformation it has been held, among others by Drusius and Vitringa, by Rosenmller, Maurer, Hengstenberg, Hofmann, Koehler, Keil, Ewald,8<\/span> and among English Expositors, by Adam Clarke, Newcome, Noyes, Moore, and Cowles. Hengstenberg, indeed, followed by Moore, assumes untenably that properly means beauty, but both writers adopt the usual explanation in their exposition. From whatever stand-point we regard this interpretation, its correctness becomes apparent. Grammatically it is unassailable. If we revert to the occasion of the discourse, we find that it contains the very ground of encouragement which the desponding people required. They had no need to be disheartened because of the present condition of the Temple. The outward adornments which had rendered the former structure so attractive were indeed absent, but these would be more than surpassed in splendor by the precious gifts which all nations should yet bring, to make glorious Jehovahs dwelling-place. If we regard the immediate context, the interpretation becomes self-evident. The display of the precious metals in the first Temple was mournfully remembered by the people in their poverty. But the silver and gold of the whole earth were Gods, much more glorious would be that Temple which should be adorned by the treasures of all nations which He should dispose to his worship and service.<\/p>\n

We have next to inquire into the fulfillment<\/em> of this remarkable prediction. And the question first suggests itself: is the promise to be fulfilled in a literal or in a figurative sense, or in both? The answer will throw additional light also upon the concluding words of Hag 2:7<\/span> : I will fill this house with glory<\/strong>.9<\/span> Let us now see to what extent the Gentiles did bring of their treasures to the second Temple. The command of Darius Hystaspes, given soon after, that abundant supplies should be allowed the Jews to forward their labors, cannot properly come into consideration here, because it was not a consequence of any such shaking of the nations as that just predicted. The same remark applies to the presents of Artaxerxes Longimanus and his councillors through Ezra. We must look beyond the mighty political convulsions of the age of Alexander and his successors, in which, as we have seen, the shaking of the nations first actually began. And here, as Calvin has shown, and Hengstenberg more fully, the renewal of the second Temple by Herod must be excluded from consideration. Herod was a foreigner, it is true, but his labors were not prompted by reverence for Jehovah, but by worldly policy.10<\/span> But the case was different with the offerings of those proselytes who, in the decline of polytheism sought to satisfy their religious aspirations by paying their homage to the one true God in his Temple. These gifts, however, were little more than a pledge of the higher, more glorious fulfillment. Otherwise the prophecy would have remained unfulfilled. The Temple (in its true idea and divine purpose) must be merged into the Church of Christ, the offerings of whose worshippers must have that predominantly spiritual character which should mark the Messianic times. (1.) Because the prediction is given as a revelation from God. Its fulfillment is certain.11<\/span> A literal fulfillment has been shown to be untenable; we have therefore to seek a spiritual one. (2.) This promise is but one of a large class of similar predictions in the Old Testament whose spiritual realization is assured by the New. Comp. Isa 60:5<\/span>; Isa 60:9-11<\/span>; Mic 7:13<\/span>; Zec 14:14<\/span>, with Rev 21:24-26<\/span>. The harmony and connection of our passage with these is convincing. (3.) After the restoration the outward splendor of the Temple was never a matter of Divine cognizance. The rebukes of the prophets directed against the people were not due to any failure on their part to enhance its external glory. Indeed we have good reason to think that they were encouraged to make this of little account. It is at least certain that the spirit cherished by the Jews, which ultimately led to their rejection, and to the destruction of the Temple, was the sentiment that found expression in the reverence for the gold of the Temple, which called forth so scathing a denunciation from the lips of Jesus, and that, in his refusal to admire the grandeur of that structure, He was moved by something more than the mere prevision of its coming ruin, that He recognized in that terrible calamity the divinely just result of the loss of spiritual worship which universally prevailed. And if the failure to discern that the Temple was only the embodiment and symbol of spiritual truths marked the decline and fall of Judaism, it was necessary that the Church of God, the true Temple beneath the gold, and outward adornings, should without losing its identity, divest itself of external form, to invite and receive spiritual worshippers from all nations. Upon these grounds we claim the fitness and necessity of a spiritual fulfillment of this prediction. What the treasures are which all nations were to bring to the Church of God is not far to seek. All material offerings presented since the establishment of Christs kingdom, for the purpose of advancing its extension or inward growth, are of course included. But the offerings of the heartthe prayers and praises of the multitudes that throng more and more about the gates of Zion, as the nations are shaken more and more by forces of the Spirits moving, and their self-renouncing devotion of soul and life to her service,mainly constitute the perpetual and progressive fulfillment of the prediction. And in the presence of God among his adoring people we have the idea embodied in the ancient Temple realized, and the crowning promises of this prophecy fulfilled: I will fill this House with glory. In this place I will give peace<\/strong>. It is the presence of Jehovah that sheds glory upon the Church, his Temple and dwelling-place, that imparts inward peace and joy, and outward peace and prosperity [] to its members in ever-increasing measure; but that Presence is vouchsafed to meet and reward the submission and service of his people, gathered from every nation under heaven.<\/p>\n

There is another important point in connection with this subject which needs to be discussed. The fact that all these promises are applied directly to this house, and that, as the subject of such glorious predictions the second Temple is sharply contrasted with the first, proves that there must have been something connected with the former, as compared with the latter, constituting it a more fit representative of the Church of Christ. This feature of the discourse is worthy of a much fuller treatment than is here practicable. We only remark at present that the cardinal distinction must have consisted in the more spiritual character which life, and faith, and worship assumed in the best times of Judaism after the Restoration, the Temple being of course understood to represent then, as of old, the theocratic community of which it was the centre. Rites and ceremonies retired more into the background; and prayer began to assume its true place in public worship. The religious knowledge of the people was kept up through the regular public reading and distribution of the Scriptures, which were early collected into their present canonical form. Synagogues were established, the people having learnt at Babylon that Gods presence might be enjoyed in their assemblies in any place or circumstances. Thus there was kept alive throughout the nation a higher and purer type of religion than it had known in the days when the first Temple with its outward splendor and gorgeous ritual excited the admiration of the people, but too seldom led their thoughts to the contemplation of the truths it expressed and prefigured. These we regard as some of the characteristics of the second Temple, which on the one hand exalted it above its predecessor, and on the other assimilated it to the Church of Christ, of which it thus became the fit representative in the Divine promises. This was the true glory of the Second Temple.<\/p>\n

The question finally suggests itself: If this exposition be correct, why were these promises veiled in such a material form? The same difficulty must be equally felt in the consideration of the similar passages in the Prophets already cited. It is not a sufficient answer to say that such is the uniform drapery in which prophetic promise is clothed. The answer which exhibits the inner fitness and necessity of the mode of communication, is that such a form was the only one suited to the conditions under which the promise was given. Its recipients would have been dissatisfied with the full and clear revelation as not meeting their immediate needs, and moreover could neither have grasped its meaning nor appreciated its worth. They were not as yet prepared to receive the doctrine of an invisible Temple and a universal Church, as the nations themselves were not prepared for the coming and reign of their common Redeemer. Hence it was best that the glories of his kingdom should be described in words suited to their apprehensions and requirements. He also, when He came, in his predictions as well as in his other instructions, taught as his hearers were able to bear them. And even we are under the same tutelage with respect to the mysteries of the New Jerusalem; for we read that it has its Temple too (Rev 7:15<\/span>), and yet we are told that it has no Temple (Rev 21:22<\/span>); and the announcement of the final and complete fulfillment of our prophecy (Rev 21:24-26<\/span>) is little more than a repetition of the prophecy itself in a material form identically the same.<\/p>\n

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The only hope of the Church of God lies in his favor. If at any time it is weak and languishing, its sad condition is directly due to the withdrawal of Gods presence. But his attitude towards his people is not the result of caprice or of change of purpose. He is bound to them by a Covenant (Hag 2:5<\/span>) to which He ever remains faithful. It is their unfaithfulness that banishes Him from among them, and a return to obedience that restores his favor and help. The latter result is as assured as the former (comp. Hag 2:4-5<\/span>, with Hag 1:12-13<\/span>). These truths furnish an antidote to despondency, and a ground of confidence as well as a motive to renewed consecration.<\/p>\n

2. The World is the tributary, and the minister of the Church. All revolutions, political, social, or moral, that affect the nations, are harbingers and preparations of that spiritual and inward but no less powerful influence which is to impel them within the boundaries of the kingdom of Christ. And the treasures of the nations, all that is desirable and valuable in the achievements of human labor, all the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of the ages, and all that is pure and lofty in human motives and purposes, are the offerings which the world has brought, or is yet to bring to the Churchthe glory and honor of the Gentiles presented in the courts of Zion (Rev 21:26<\/span>).<\/p>\n

3. The development and progress of the Church of God are not marked by an increase of external splendor. Its true glory does not consist in the magnificence of its houses of worship, or in the pomp and impressiveness of its ceremonies and rituals. The First Temple was distinguished by these outward attractions; but the Second Temple in which they were so inferior, is by the Prophet contrasted with the former, and chosen as the fit representative, nay even as the partial realization of the promised Church of Christ. Christians know, as the pious worshippers in the second Temple were taught, that the glory of the Church is derived from the purity of her worship, the devotion of her ever-increasing members, and the abiding presence of God through his Spirit. Even the Shekinah was wanting in the second Temple; but the faithful worshippers there, like those who now in every nation worship God in spirit and in truth, could rejoice that they did not need among them his visible glory, while his presence was felt in their hearts.<\/p>\n

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hag 2:3<\/span> (comp. with Hag 2:9<\/span>). Long life is a blessing and happiness to a servant of God, if at its close he is permitted to behold the revival of Gods kingdom and increasing signs of its coming glory.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:4-5<\/span>. Gods people should dwell much upon their past history. They will thus find that whatever checks and distresses they have experienced were due to their own unfaithfulness, and that God never failed to fulfill his part in the Covenant, whether He chastened or blessed. In the adversities of the present they may be assured that their true hope lies in the presence and power of the Spirit, who dwells with them according as they fulfill their part in the Covenant.<\/p>\n

Calvin: God is present with his own in various ways; but He especially shows that He is present when, by his Spirit, He confirms weak minds.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:6-7<\/span>. In the midst of the changes, political, social, and moral, that affect the nations, by what methods may Gods people best seek to attract them with their priceless treasures within the Church of Christ?<\/p>\n

Henry: The shaking of the nations is often in order to the settling of the Church and the establishing of the things that cannot be shaken.<\/p>\n

Moore: The kingdoms of the world are but the scaffolding for Gods spiritual Temple, to be thrown down when their purpose is accomplished.The uncertainty and transitoriness of all that is earthly should lead men to seek repose in the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.The glory of the New Testament dispensation is the conversion of the heathen.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:8<\/span>. Since the earth and its fullness are the Lords, his people need never fear either that they will be left destitute, or that the riches of the Gentiles will not be converted to the use of his Church.<\/p>\n

Henry: Every penny bears Gods superscription as well as Csars.<\/p>\n

Moore: The comparative poverty of the Church is not because God cannot bestow riches upon her, but because there are better blessings than wealth that are often incompatible with its possession.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:9<\/span>. Calvin: Though they should gather the treasures of a thousand worlds into one mass, such a glory would still be perishable.<\/p>\n

Moore: The New Testament in all its outward lowliness has a glory in its possession of a completed salvation, far above all the outward magnificence of the Mosaic dispensation.The kingdom of Christ makes peace between God and man, and in its ultimate results will make peace between man and man, and destroy all that produces discord and confusion, war and bloodshed on the earth.<\/p>\n

Pressel: Every house of God is a place where God gives peace, and every place of peace is also a house of God.<\/p>\n

On the whole discourse: The glory of Gods kingdom: (1.) Its conditionsthe faithfulness of his people to all their covenant obligations and duties, their obedience, their faith, and their courage, securing his favor and help. (2.) Its naturethe constant reception of increasing multitudes of Gentile with their treasures of devotion and service; and the abiding presence of Gods Spirit diffusing peace and joy.<\/p>\n

Footnotes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/span>Hag 2:3<\/span>.. The article is employed here (=who is the<\/em> one that is left) because the predicate is made definite by the description which follows (that has beheld this House, etc.); comp. Jer 49:36<\/span>, and see Green 245, 2, Ewald, 277 a<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/span>Hag 2:3<\/span>. (=qualem<\/em>) agrees with as the attributive of the object, Ewald, 325 a, ad finem<\/em>. This use of (as suggesting the character of the object) seems to justify the explanation of after the analogy of Joe 2:2<\/span> : Is not such (a one) as it as nothing in your eyes? See Ewald, 105 b<\/em>, 1. So Rckert, Maurer Hitzig, Moore. To this Koehler, and after him Keil, object that then it would not be the Temple, but something like it that is compared to nothing, which would be very tame. But every one knows that in expressions of this kind such refers to the subject of discourse with an allusion at the same time to its character. Here (= a temple like this) would naturally refer back to (= what sort of Temple?). Hence we prefer this view to the one more commonly entertained, and upheld by these critics, that we have here an inversion of the usual order of the particles of comparison: Is not as nothing so it?=Is it not as nothing; comp. Gen 18:25<\/span>; Gen 44:18<\/span> (as Pharaoh so thou). The rendering adopted by Rosenmuller, Eichhorn, et al<\/em>., as well as by E. V. and most English expositors, is indefensible.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/span>Hag 2:5<\/span>.. See the exegesis, which involves in this passage so much, grammatical discussion that We remit the latter to that section.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/span>Hag 2:6<\/span>.The reasons decisive against the opinion that is joined as a numeral adjective to are (1) that the latter is never feminine, and (2) that in such a construction the numeral always follows the substantive. See the exegesis, where other grammatical difficulties connected with the passage are discussed.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/span>Hag 2:7<\/span>.The perfects in this verse have the force of the future perfect and not of the prophetic perfect: I shall have shaken, etc. So in Hag 2:22<\/span>.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/span>Nations are named here in accordance with the guarded and partial representation of the salvation of the Gentiles peculiar to the old Testament. But individuals are not therefore excluded; they are rather plainly and specially regarded; for the constraining force is ultimately not outward compulsion, but the influence of the Spirit upon the heart, as the discourse itself implies.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/span>Even in Psa 119:103<\/span> the subject is collective; in Jer 11:14<\/span> it is distributive.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/span>Ewald, who formerly (in his Comm.) maintained that the choice (persons) of the Gentiles were meant (see above), now seems to agree with this opinion. In his Sprachlehre<\/em> ( 317 b), he explains the word by Kostbarkeiten<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/span>Compare for the idea of glory imparted by material treasures, Nah 2:10<\/span> (9).<\/p>\n

[10]<\/span>It has been said that Herod really erected a third Temple instead of repairing the second. But this mode of expression show a want of perception of the divine and prophetic idea of the institution. Herods Temple must still be regarded as the second, even through it be conceded that he erected a new structure. A new Temple must introduce a new era.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/span>Some of the Jewish Commentators would not readily agree with this. Philippson (Israelitische Bibel<\/em> ii. 1489), after showing that Herods Temple, was with all its splendor still inferior to Solomons and after admitting that Hag 2:7<\/span>, which he renders correctly, has not been literally fulfilled, remarks as follows: The Prophets give promises for the future, not in order to predict, but in order to ameliorate the present and to incite to holy actions. Israelites have themselves made the fulfillment of these prophecies impossible by refusing to rise to those higher conditions in which alone, according to the declarations of the Prophets themselves, the promises would be fulfilled. Comp. p. 922. This is the logical result of the Jewish theory; for though some of their Commentators (e. g<\/em>., Isaaki, Abarbanel) interpret the passage as predicting a future Temple, comparing Ezekiel 43<\/span>. etc., yet as this view is in plain contradiotion of the Prophets announcement of speedy fulfillment, others are, in consistency, driven to renounce the idea of any true fulfillment whatever.<\/p>\n

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CONTENTS<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This is a most blessed Chapter, full of Gospel, and full of Christ. The Prophet speaking by the Spirit of the Lord, encourageth the people to the work of the Temple. There are gracious promises in the close of the prophecy to Zerubbabel.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

“In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying, (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, “<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Prophet hath been particular in marking down the dates of the word of the Lord coming to him; which may serve to teach God’s people in all ages of the Church, the profitableness of their making memorandums of all their Bethel visits also. Zerubbabel and Joshua were both types of the Lord Jesus, and therefore are signally honored in those commissions of the Prophet.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Christ, the Desire of Nations<\/p>\n

Hag 2:6-7<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

The time when our Lord was to come is here predicted.<\/p>\n

I. This prophecy was uttered about five hundred years before the coming of our Saviour. How, then, can it be said to be a little while?<\/p>\n

a. It was a little while when compared with the time the people of God had already been kept waiting for the Messiah. <\/p>\n

b. It was short in the Almighty’s own sight. It is not man’s word, for things are measured in it by a standard which man never uses. <\/p>\n

II. What is this mighty shaking? This language has been interpreted as pointing out those political convulsions and changes which agitated the world between the uttering of this prophecy and the time of our Lord’s birth, one great empire giving way to another, and that in its turn yielding to a third. There may be a further reference in it to those moral and spiritual effects which have ever attended and followed the Gospel in its progress through the world.<\/p>\n

III. Our Lord Jesus Christ is described as ‘The Desire of all Nations’. This name is justly applied to Him.<\/p>\n

a. It may signify that He is desirable for all nations all need a Saviour. <\/p>\n

b. All would desire Him if they knew the excellence, love, and mighty power which He possesses of blessing and saving. <\/p>\n

c. This title may imply that some of all nations have desired Him. <\/p>\n

IV. How was this promise fulfilled? At God’s own appointed time, an Infant comes to that Temple, brought there from a stable and a manger. As a youth He listens and replies there to the learned teaching of scribes and doctors. As a man He often frequents the Holy Place. But here, in this second Temple, was that God Himself manifest in our mortal flesh, and we may perceive wherein consists the chief glory of any assemblage or congregation of worshippers.<\/p>\n

E. J. Brewster, The Shield of Faith,<\/em> p. 163.<\/p>\n

References. II. 7. A. K. H. Boyd, From a Quiet Place,<\/em> p. 131. F. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life,<\/em> vol. i. p. 1. G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons,<\/em> p. 403. II. 9. Bishop Wilberforce, Sermons,<\/em> p. 195. Archbishop Thomson, Lincoln’s Inn Sermons,<\/em> p. 390. J. Bannerman, Sermons,<\/em> p. 260.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The Glorious Future<\/p>\n

Hag 2<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

“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?” (<\/em> Hag 2:3 ).<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

The glorious past is never disdained. There ought not to be any past, in the sense of exhaustion or annihilation. The past should be the most vivid and graphic influence in the present. Because we have seen greatness we shall see glory, should be the tone of every man who undertakes to teach the mysteries of the divine kingdom, and lead the enterprises of the elect and consecrated Church. The house indeed had gone down, in that sense it was nothing in comparison with the house in its first glory. There is a past that humbles the present, that makes the present insignificant and worthless; but the Lord never regards that past as the end of his own opportunity; it is rather the occasion of the beginning of new revelations of his omnipotence. The Lord never stops his kingdom in its darkest hour and says, This is all. The Lord never interrupts a prayer at the point of confession; he listens until the prayer glows with thankfulness, until it becomes violent in sacred ambition, until it would seize the treasures of the kingdom and appropriate them all with a grateful heart; then he says, This is the prayer you meant to pray, and to this prayer I return a grand Amen. It is thus God leads us and educates us. He takes us at our best points, not at our worst. What he sees in us, not what we see in ourselves, is the explanation alike of his discipline and his inspiration. The Lord promised that the house should assume a glory to which the first glory was as nothing. Here is a principle in the divine economy; it is a principle of development, of progress, of gradual and assured consummation. That is a revelation of the providence of God. Men are to become stronger and stronger, the Church is to become purer and purer, the path of the just is to be as a shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day. What a rebuke is this to our unfaith! We say, What will the world do when certain men are taken away from it? Surely then the world would die if the world were self-created; but, if it were divinely governed, what will God do when he removes the immediate life? Will he say, I can do no more, it does not lie within the range of Almightness to find another man, thinker, statesman, captain, leader, that can take the place of the one who is about to be removed? Then it would be God who failed, and failure is a term that must never be associated with the name of God.<\/p>\n

What will the Church do when this beautiful house is broken up, and the winds howl through the aisles of the sanctuary? That would be an appropriate question if the sanctuary were a building made by hands; if man conceived, erected, and assured security to the temple, then the days of the temple would be but few, and its end would be a certain catastrophe: but the temple is God’s, the Church belongs to heaven. Earth itself is part of the Mother city, colonised afar, and separated from some of its holiest influences by acts of self-apostasy and sin hardly to be conceived or forgiven: yet still the earth is not an islet unrelated to the heavens, it has connections with the mainland, and God will see that the very least of his provinces is cared for. It is not Christianity that speaks of the future with despair; the future is always spoken of by Christian apostles as being more glorious than anything we have yet seen. No man can imagine the light. We say, looking upon a landscape on a cold grey morning, We can imagine what this will be when the sun shines. It is a mistake. No man can imagine the sun. It belongs to light to be an eternal surprise, a daily wonder, a monotony infinitely varied: thus a contradiction in terms, but a fact well known to consciousness and observation. The flowers are surprised by the light as if they had never seen it; they look so gay, they look almost thankful; they seem to say in their beauty, Many a morning have we seen, but never one like this: yesterday was beautiful, but not so beautiful, not so tenderly beautiful as the morning that is now embracing us with its generous welcome. So it is in the development of truth and in the progress of the Church; all the great preaching is yet to come, all the great enterprises are yet to be originated, all the great realisations of God are yet to be experienced. The Son of man in the time of his humiliation saw heaven open, and that is what Christianity is always seeing; wherever there is a closed heaven there is a closed eye. Heaven is always open, and the Son of man is always on the throne, and the angels are always coming and going. Lord, open our eyes that we may see the marvellous economy!<\/p>\n

Is there to be no response on the human side? Are men simply in a negative condition? Is our attitude one of supine-ness? The Lord gives the answer in the fourth verse: “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel… be strong, O Joshua… be strong, all ye people of the land.” There is a strength of weakness. The apostle said, “When I am weak then am I strong.” Some prayers do more by their feebleness than other prayers can do by their strength or their sacred audacity. We cannot tell what some hymn-singing costs; it is a struggle between the heart and the tongue; the heart is trying to strengthen itself, but the tongue feels that it is called to the task of expressing a strength which is not really felt. Sometimes our psalm-singing is a bitter self-conscious irony; we do not want to sing, we would rather run away into solitude, and cry our hearts out in rivers of tears; yet there comes down upon the soul the appealing voice, “Be strong… be strong… be strong”: now is the opportunity, if you fail now you will never rise again; and when the soul in response to that appeal only flutters, that fluttering is accepted as the flight of strength, as the sacrifice of the accepted amidst the very glory of God. Into these mysteries no soul can enter that has not been long in the school of bitter yet not hopeless experience.<\/p>\n

Why have we to be so strong? Is not this mocking what little strength we have? Is not this omnipotence crushing our feebleness? The answer is in the last clause of the fourth verse: “For I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts.” That is an answer full of encouragement; that is a rock upon which the Church is built. Any strength that is dissociated from that assurance is not strength at all. It is mere spasmodic weakness; it is an effort that kills itself in the very making of it. We cannot disconnect ourselves from the fountain of eternal strength and long remain mighty men. We do not always account for the momentum which has not yet expended itself, and whilst that momentum continues we are apt to delude ourselves with the impression that because we are in motion the motion is self-originated and self-sustained. You have seen the wheels moving rapidly along the line, and there has been no engine connected with the carriage, but that carriage was connected with the engine, it received its impetus from the engine which is now detached; but that impetus is a dying force, and presently the chariot will stand still. It is even so with men; we have been brought up in religious families, we have received Christian training, we have been surrounded by Christian influences, and although we may have given up certain Christian persuasions and convictions, we are still able to move, and we boast of that movement as if to say, Behold what we can do without the Cross which we have abandoned. The momentum was received from the Cross; without the Cross the momentum will die. They are on the line of destruction who have severed themselves from the fountains of eternity. What is our assurance that the latter house will eclipse the glory of the former? Is it in our eloquence, our learning, our industry, our munificence? Then indeed our boasting shall come to emptiness, and our protestations shall prove to be falsehoods. What is the secret of our hope? What is the light of the glory which throws its radiance upon our countenances as we gaze upon time unborn? The answer is in this same declaration, “For I am with you.” When missions fail, God fails; when Christianity says, I can go no further, this darkness is too great for me to penetrate, the Cross fails, Calvary proves itself to be a fatal mistake.<\/p>\n

“According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not” (<\/em> Hag 2:5 ).<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Then no new covenant was written; it was the old promise. We have no revelations dissociated from the past that have come to us on this very moment Every promise that speaks to us this day has travelled all the way from eternity to deliver its sweet gospel. The astronomer tells us that the light which we saw but yesterday has been thousands of years on the way; the beam was shot from the planet five thousand years ago, and only arrived this morning. This is spiritual astronomy. In the Old Testament there are words lying which shot their glorious gospels thousands of years ago, and they did but strike some opening brain this very day, and from that brain they will glance off upon the whole area of the Church, and the Church will say, Behold a new revelation of God! There is no such novelty; the novelty is only apparent, it is only in accident or in transient form: truth can never be older and never be younger; truth and God are of the same age. The mischief is that we are looking for a new writing, a new covenant, a new bond. We have more than a covenant; we have a Spirit, and the covenant without the Spirit would be a dead-letter. Because men have tried to read the Bible without the Spirit, therefore the Bible has been to them a book that has bewildered and confused the intellect that has vainly endeavoured to comprehend its meaning. We do not trust ourselves to the Spirit, the living Holy Ghost; therefore we have lock and bolt under which we keep our orthodoxy; we lock up our deeds in a strong-room, and go to read them to see what it really is we believe as if a man could keep his faith under lock and key! It has been said by some that guideposts on the mountains are of greatest use to the traveller who never crossed these heights before; so they are. But what is of more use? The living guide, he who walks step for step with the mountaineer and never looks at your painted sign-posts; he has associated with a living soul, a man who knows every inch of the road. Yet there are some persons who cannot keep their misbelieving eyes off the mere whitewashed pole that is called a guidepost Why will we not believe that the old posts are of no use any more, because the God of the mountains is with us, the Holy Ghost that fashioned the hills has undertaken to conduct us over all the acclivities, and bring us safe to the vale of summer, the city of peace? Every lock that is in the house is a condemnation of society. Why this door-locking and window-fastening? What is going to happen during the darkness of the night? You believe that your privacy may be invaded and your property may be stolen? Then you suspect the very society in which you live, and you are justified in your suspicion. But the Church should be fearless, the Church should not live upon its pennyworth of foolscap; the Church should be identified with the ministry of the Holy Ghost, and if men arise who talk a strange tongue, and who utter themselves in sentences that are at first either obscure or vexatious, we may be sure that in proportion as they have sought the aid of the Holy Ghost, and are willing to submit themselves absolutely to his inspiration, all this momentary eccentricity shall be ruled into the softness and the fluency of a perfect astronomic motion. You cannot keep men right by theological constabulary; the Church is not to be protected by men in uniform; the Church purchased with the blood of the Son of God is promised to be pure, mighty, and glorious, and the God of the promise must consummate his own covenant and declaration. Have we the Holy Ghost? Do we seek him daily? Do we live upon him?<\/p>\n

Now we come again to the divine action; Zerubbabel is to be “strong;” Joshua is to be “strong”; all the people of the land are to be “strong”: now the Lord says: <\/p>\n

“I will shake” (<\/em> Hag 2:6 ); “I will shake” (<\/em> Hag 2:7 ): “I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations.”<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Here we interrupt the divine action, and say in a pitiful tone of unfaith, See on what troublous times we have fallen; God hath forsaken his people, and the inheritance is given over to the devastations of the wild boar! What foolish talk, what blank atheism! “I,” saith the Lord of hosts, “will shake”; the shaking is as clearly a divine action as the birth of peace or the in-bringing of the quiet glory of noontide. Do we suppose that men can shake the heavens and the earth? All they can do is to shake themselves in trying to shake a tree. We behold the tumults of the earth, wars and rumours of wars, and ascribe the great commotion to some action of statecraft. Nothing of the kind; no man can shake a nation; only God can handle the great quantities. We can shake a leaf; we can make a feather feel our tremendous violence, but only God can shake all nations, the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and all nations. See God in the controversies of the world; see a divine thought, like a holy sword, rending and smiting and slaying with tremendous and pitiless vengeance.<\/p>\n

What is the meaning of it all? “And the desire of all nations shall come” ( Hag 2:7 ). It would be profitable to collate the Scriptures in which the expression “all nations” occurs: “All nations shall serve him.” “All nations shall call him blessed.” “Go, teach all nations” one of the last words of the withdrawing Christ as he lifted up his hands of power and gave the Church his final blessing. There are those who love to find secondary meanings, and fasten attention upon those meanings as if they were all. Thus we refer the seventy-second Psalm to Solomon, and we refer other Psalms or prophecies to David, or to some mighty king and leader of men; and here “the desire of all nations” may be some figure in history: but we cannot fill to their utmost capacity these profound passages until we put Christ into them. Often the interpretation comes after the vision; we do not know what the prophecy means at the time, but two centuries after, two thousand centuries after, the real meaning comes; then we remember the word of the prophet, how he said, “The desire of all nations shall come.” The desire on our part is sometimes unconscious; we do not know what we are seeking for. There are some unbelievers who do not want to be unbelievers, but who are really struggling after a real, true, saving faith. Sometimes the desire is unexpressed; yet it touches the whole agony of life, and throws a colour upon the whole experience of progress. We say, What is it that troubles us? And the answer is, We cannot tell. Why are you not content with time and space and immediate action? We cannot tell. Why not find in the summer all the heaven you want? We do not find all the heaven we want even in the fullest summer; we accept the summer itself as a letter in the literature we are reading, as a tone in the music we can almost overhear. What is this longing of the soul, what is the meaning of this palpitating force that will not rest, but always says, More, more! Why this ineffable discontent? It is because we are made in the image and likeness of God, and until we find God, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, the God of providence, the God of salvation, and the God of inspiration and edification, we cannot rest. The light is a mockery to us because we want that other light that pales the sun and constitutes the very glory of heaven.<\/p>\n

What will be the end of all this shaking, convulsion, revolution, and the like? The end is indicated in clear words: “I will fill this house with glory” ( Hag 2:7 ); “In this place will I give peace” ( Hag 2:9 ). God always gives with both hands: “I will give glory”; see him making the sun that is to put out all other suns: “I will give peace”; see him creating the tranquillity beside which all other calmness is foam and tumult. He may give these gifts concurrently, or he may give them separately; but we are to be assured of the fulfilment of the promise by these gifts only. If we are sitting in the night time, then we have not entered into the mystery of this prophecy; we are in fear, tumult, and continual agitation; then we have not realized the presence of God. There are those who can never be quieted or at all contented unless they be helping God to keep his truth right. So long as they can be busily engaged wearing themselves out in doing nothing, they suppose that God is safe, and the door of eternity is locked top and bottom, and well guarded by blacksmith’s bolts. What poor aid is ours! We say unless we live and write and teach and preach, things will all go wrong. Oh, ye apprentices to the Deity, ye who try to do work for which you seek the admiration of heaven, know ye that God is the builder of his own city, the keeper of his own house, and that not one stone can be touched by fire or by storm, because it is the Lord’s building, and he will bring on the topstone with shouting of “Grace, grace unto it!” and he will fill the whole house with glory, as with the very morning of heaven. Whatever we do let us do it quietly, lovingly, simply; and let us know that we do it by permission, and not by any right arising out of our own capacity or brilliance of gift. It is not in man to buttress the sanctuary of God; it is not in man to do any mischief to the sanctuary that shall be of a permanent kind. “The Lord of hosts”; “The Lord of Hosts”; “THE LORD OF HOSTS”: by this name doth the King ride forth in this chapter. It is a name of significance; it means not only strength and majesty, it means resource. God’s bank has in it gold and silver; God’s arm has in it omnipotence. “Oh, rest in the Lord, wait patiently for him, and he shall give thee thine heart’s desire.” Not because of our fighting and controversy and anger and tumult, but because of the divine oath, will the whole earth be filled with the glory of God.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

XXVI<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE POSTEXILIAN PROPHETS AND AN INTERPRETATION OF HAGGAI<\/p>\n

Haggai<\/p>\n

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We now take up the prophets of the last period of Israel’s history as found in the Old Testament, the period after the return from exile, the restoration, and of the many books on this period, we name the “Bible Atlas,” by J. H. Huribut, the “Pulpit Commentary,” and The Minor Prophets <\/em><\/strong> by Pusey.<\/p>\n

There were three prophets after the Restoration: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The last pre-exilian prophet was Habakkuk, about ninety years before the postexilian prophets come on the scene, but in the meantime there were three exilian prophets, viz: Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.<\/p>\n

To understand these prophets we must first of all look at the historical situation, as follows: The kingdom of Israel was now under Persian rule. That rule lasted from about 538-332 B.C. It began when Cyrus captured the city of Babylon and thus became master of all western Asia. It ended when Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont, defeated the Persian king, and thus put an end to the great Persian Empire, and spread Greek civilization throughout all western Asia. During that period of a little over two hundred years, the Israelites were in subjection to the kingdom of Persia and were a vassal state. Doubtless all that time they paid an annual tribute to their overlord. They never enjoyed national freedom until the time of the Maccabees. It was 537 or 536 B.C. when Cyrus, after his great conquest north and west of Babylonia, marched upon that city which had been for half a century the center of the world. All nations had bowed to Babylonia during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and for a short period following the succession of his son, Merodach, Cyrus, one of the greatest and most remarkable conquerors of all history, advanced upon the city, and according to his own inscription on a cylinder which has been discovered, the city opened its gates and surrendered itself to him while King Nabonidus fled. We have also an inscription which has been recorded by Nabonidus himself, telling us the same story: that Cyrus captured Babylonia without striking a blow. They opened the gates to him.<\/p>\n

In about 536 B.C. Cyrus issued his decree that the Israelites who were in Babylonia might return to their native land and rebuild their Temple. He may have been moved or actuated by humane motives, for he was one of the most humane of all monarchs of Oriental and ancient history. He thus allowed any of those Israelites who longed to return to have their desires fulfilled. Whatever motive actuated him, he gave the decree which is recorded in Ezr 1<\/span> .<\/p>\n

The decree permitted all the Jews who wished to return, compelling none whatever to go contrary to their wishes, granting them the privilege of taking all of their property with them, asking that gifts might be given by their friends, and Cyrus sent back all the vessels of the Temple, which Nebuchadnezzar carried away. The decree granted them the privilege of returning to rebuild their Temple. This was their chief purpose.<\/p>\n

That return occurred somewhere about 536 B.C. Their Journey lasted several months. It was a large company, fifty thousand or more, with a great deal of wealth, and doubtless Was in many respects a very joyous return. This is the fulfilment of the great prophesies of Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.<\/p>\n

We can imagine something of the joy and gladness of the nation. But when they arrived home, they found that all those glowing prophecies were yet to be fulfilled, regarding the land, the city, and the Temple, for Jerusalem was a heap of ruins; the city was as it was when Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers destroyed and burned it. The land was largely depopulated and almost barren and their sacred Temple with all its magnificence, which had stood for about four centuries, was left with scarcely one stone upon another. They were to begin anew the civilization of the land, to begin at the very bottom, the very foundation of a new national life and existence. But they had one great advantage, they had all the traditions and laws and prophecies of the past. They had a marvelous inspiration in those prophetic writings.<\/p>\n

Their first aim was to build an altar on the site of the old altar built by Solomon, and there offer up their sacrifices and observe the Feast of Tabernacles. They began to lay the foundation of the Temple very soon afterward, and we saw something of the strange scene that occurred as they laid that foundation, how the old men wept aloud and the young men shouted for joy, the voice of shouting and the voice of weeping were heard afar off.<\/p>\n

But trouble very soon arises. The Samaritans from the north, the mixed race of people that had been deported by Sargon and Shalmaneser, wanted to become Jews to help in building the Temple, wanted to mix with this colony and be one with them. They met with a curt refusal; a refusal, justified by Jeremiah and Ezekiel; it would have meant the ruin and the collapse of the national life if they allowed this strange blood and this strangely mixed religion to be mingled with their own. Their very existence depended upon their separateness. As the result of their refusal, they incurred the lasting enmity of the Samaritan peoples. We call them Samaritans, but strictly speaking they were not really Samaritans at this time, because they had not received that name with all its implications. That enmity lasted all through the period of reconstruction, and it is not dead yet. It will not die until the last Samaritan is dead.<\/p>\n

They succeeded in stopping the work of rebuilding the walls of the Temple, and from what Haggai says, it seems that they succeeded in stopping that building by preventing them from bringing up the timbers from Joppa. Cyrus’ decree permitted them to get the timbers necessary to the rebuilding of the Temple from the mountains of Lebanon, and they had to be brought by raft to Joppa and thence to Jerusalem, and it seems quite probable that the Samaritans succeeded in stopping them from bringing up that timber and hence they could not go on with the building of the Temple.<\/p>\n

Sixteen years passed, and nothing more was done toward the rebuilding of that sacred structure, but during that time they were not idle; being defeated in their purpose of building the Temple they set to work to organize the community. They probably restored a great many of the houses in Jerusalem, and many of the houses and villages in Judah; they erected houses of their own, they laid the foundations for a new community. Some of them were not only building themselves houses, but ceiling them with beautiful cedar with carvings. They were beginning to gather some luxuries around them, and they seemed to be largely satisfied with the altar upon which they could sacrifice, and with their progress in reshaping and establishing the new community, and they settled down apparently to take it easy. The difficulties had evidently frightened them out of all thought of going on with the work; they were occupied with their own affairs, rather than with the affairs of the Temple.<\/p>\n

In about 529 B.C. Cyrus, being killed in battle, was succeed-ed by his son, Cambyses, who invaded Western Asia as far as Egypt and doubtless Israel felt some effect of that invasion. Cambyses committed suicide and was succeeded by a usurper who in turn was killed by the nobles who conspired against him, the chief of whom was Darius, who succeeded this usurper on the throne of the Persian Empire about 521 B.C. He was a man of noble character, though not as humane and successful as Cyrus the Great, yet he was one of the greatest men of his age. As soon as Be came to the throne, the world which then constituted the Persian Empire, was convulsed with revolts and insurrections and rebellions, in attempts to throw off the yoke of Persia. Darius was engaged for four years in quelling these revolts, and finally succeeded in subjugating them and reducing his empire to order. It was during that time, when Darius was busy quelling these revolts which threatened to dissolve and destroy the Persian Empire, that this prophecy was spoken.<\/p>\n

We take up these prophets in order. Haggai was the first. The name is derived from the Hebrew word which means “a feast,” or belonging to a feast. It is a peculiar name, occurring nowhere else. It is altogether likely that he was an exile who returned with the company. Whether he was an old man or not we cannot say. Some say that he was one of those who had been deported, had lived fifty years in exile in Babylon and returned with the first company. The problem before Haggai was to arouse the people to build the Temple. They need a temple as the center of their national and religious life. Because of the difficulties that had come through the Samaritans, and because of the intrigues against them at the royal court of Persia, the people had ceased to work at the building. They reached the conclusion that the time had not yet come, saying, “We can get along without it. We have lived during the exile without it, and fifteen years after we reached our land we did without it, and we can manage to get along. As long as these difficulties are in the way we will not trouble ourselves about building the temple.” At this juncture two prophets appear on the horizon, Haggai, who comes first, then Zechariah. About the year 520 B.C. Haggai preaches his first sermon. It is a plain, simple, direct address to the hearts of his hearers.<\/p>\n

A fine outline of Haggai is the following:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

HAGGAI THE DUTY OF COURAGE <\/strong> I. First Address, Hag 1:1-15<\/span> , year of Darius, Haggai 2-6-1.<\/p>\n

II. Second Address, Hag 2:1-9<\/span> , year of Darius, Haggai 2-7-21.<\/p>\n

III. Third Address, Hag 2:10-19<\/span> , year of Darius, Haggai 2-9-24.<\/p>\n

IV. Fourth Address Haggai 2-20-23 year of Darius. Haggai 2-9-24.<\/p>\n

His first prophecy was a call to build the Temple, Hag 1<\/span> . The first verses give us the exact date: In the second year of Darius the king, 520 B.C., in the sixth month, corresponding to our September, the first day of the month, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest. He speaks to the leaders. There is no mention of his preaching to the people, yet no doubt there were many exiles present, but he is speaking specifically to the leaders. Notice, it is the first day of the month when they were celebrating the Feast of the New Moon, which feast was observed at the beginning of each month in the year. There was, probably, an assembly in Jerusalem, and on that occasion Haggai received his first message and appeared before them.<\/p>\n

His first remarks are a reply to the people’s excuse. The second verse tells us: “Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house shall be built.” The margin puts it better, “The time is not come for Jehovah’s house to be built.” In answer to that excuse the word of Jehovah comes to Haggai the prophet and he put the question: “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? Now, therefore, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways.” Then he portrays their condition and gives the cause of it: They had sown much and brought in little; had eaten but they had not enough; they drank, but were not filled; they were clothed, but were not warm; they earned wages, but put it into a bag with holes. Why all this dissatisfaction? Why were things not going right? They were attending to their own houses and their own affairs, and not Jehovah’s. Instead of these things creating this excuse for them, they gave the very reason why they should exert themselves for God’s cause. “Thus saith Jehovah, Consider your ways.”<\/p>\n

Then he gives a call to the people to build the Temple (Hag 1:7-11<\/span> ). Haggai here tells them exactly what they ought to do: “Go up to the mountain [hill-country] and bring wood, and build the house.” What hill country does he refer to? Some think he refers simply to the hill country of Judah, but it evidently means the hill country of Lebanon, where the great timbers were secured that were used to build Solomon’s Temple, and where they went to secure the timber to build the Temple. They have all the stone necessary; there were plenty of stones round about Jerusalem to build the Temple. “I will take pleasure in it, saith Jehovah.” He took pleasure in the house of Solomon, came and filled it with his presence when Solomon dedicated it, and promises now if they will build the house, he will take pleasure in it, and he will be glorified just as he was glorified when Solomon’s Temple was built.<\/p>\n

He continues his admonition in Hag 1:9<\/span> : “Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little [referring to the crops and products of their vineyards]; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it.” The margin says, “I did blow it away.” In some way it was wasted and they did not derive the benefit. Why this drought? “Because of my house that lieth waste, while ye run every man unto his own house. . . . For your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholdeth fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the grain, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon the men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.” That was the cause of the drought. People now explain it by various natural causes; the weather bureau and the weather prophets have a theory. But Haggai says, “It is because of your neglect of God’s house; ye have been attending to your own affairs.” I would rather trust the insight of God’s prophet than the weather prophet.<\/p>\n

The effect of this appeal was good. They hearkened to Haggai the prophet, both Zerubbabel and Joshua and all the remnant of the people with them, and they obeyed the voice of Jehovah their God and all the words of Haggai the prophet, and the people did fear before Jehovah. Haggai calls himself the Lord’s messenger and when he came unto the people he brought this great encouraging word (Hag 1:13<\/span> ): “I am with you, saith Jehovah.” As one great man has said, “The best of all is, God is with us.” And this is the gracious promise of Haggai to the people. As a result Jehovah stirred up the spirit of the leaders and the remnant of the people, and they came, and did work on the house of Jehovah, and they began to work exactly twenty-three days after Haggai preached to them his first sermon. The date of this sermon is “the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.”<\/p>\n

We have the second prophecy of Haggai in 2:1-9, the subject of which is “The Glory of the New Temple.” The exact date of this is given also, the twenty-first day of the seventh month. This was preached to the leaders and the people, and to meet an occasion which frequently comes in connection with building a new house, especially when the old one has been a magnificent structure, and when the people are not able to build one fully as large and magnificent. The people had begun to lay the foundation, and this afforded opportunity for comparisons to be made. There were some people there who remembered the old Temple, and they thought about the good old times and the good old building that they had before, and they began to make comparisons, and any man who has helped to erect a church knows the danger of discussion when a church building goes up.<\/p>\n

Haggai directs himself to the occasion: “Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes as nothing?” Here is the criticism. But the prophet says, “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith Jehovah, and work; for I am with you, saith Jehovah of hosts.” Now the prophet gives a great promise. He said that the time would come when this Temple would be glorified beyond that of Solomon’s Temple for, “Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land: and I will shake all nations; and the desirable things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts.” The explanation is found in Hag 2:8<\/span> : “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace.” A great promise, a great inspiration! No wonder that Zerubbabel and Joshua went to work with, greater zeal, largely as a result of Haggai’s prophesying.<\/p>\n

The third prophecy of Haggai is in Hag 2:10-19<\/span> , the burden of which is the cause of their calamities and the promise of blessing. This occurred in the ninth month, just two months after the previous one and on the fourth and twentieth day of the month. Haggai comes forward with a new and fresh argument to incite them to activity. He raises a question here and it is a question as to the relative infectiousness of evil or of good: “Ask now the priests concerning the law saying, 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 food, shall it become holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.” The question is based on the ceremonial law and customs. It is like this: A holy garment touching a piece of furniture will not make that holy, but an unclean garment touching anything will make it unclean. In other words, evil is more infectious than good.<\/p>\n

Now what does Haggai mean? Is he simply playing with words? No, he is illustrating a great principle here. People are affected by evil much more readily than by good. This principle Haggai applies to these people. They had been in touch with things unclean; had been without their Temple; had been in the condition of pollution without their sacrifices. It is summed up in Hag 2:14<\/span> : “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.” In other words, their acceptance before God did not depend upon their place in the Holy Land, but upon their actual state of holiness before him. Then he goes on to discuss his dealings with them and the result upon their economic and religious life which had been very unsatisfactory. They had been under a curse, but they are on the threshold of a great blessing (Hag 2:15-19<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

The fourth prophecy is found in Hag 2:20-23<\/span> , the burden of which is the restoration and the establishment of the throne of David through Zerubbabel. This is the same day on which the third one was given. This is addressed directly to Zerubbabel, the governor, the descendant of the line of David, the true, lawful heir to the throne. It is a gracious promise bringing before Zerubbabel something of the glories predicted by Jeremiah and Ezekiel, when they spoke about the prince of the house of David that should sit upon the throne forever. He encourages Zerubbabel and says, “I will shake the heavens and the earth: and I will overthrow the throne of the 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.”<\/p>\n

The background of this prophecy is those insurrections which convulsed all the world at the succession of Darius, and which it took him four years to quell. Hag 2:23<\/span> says, “In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith Jehovah, and I will make thee as a signet,” which means that he will be God’s lawful representative, and God will delegate to him rulership, kingship and authority. The signet ring represented several things, viz: an irrevocable testimony, a delegate power, as God delegated his power to Zerubbabel. God delegated royal and divine authority to Zerubbabel, the legal heir of the throne of Israel. There was here a great promise of peace.<\/p>\n

The fulfilment of this prophecy of Haggai did not take place fully in his day. The Persian Empire was re-established and the Jews, for over four hundred years, remained a little, obscure nation; a great conflict took place between Persia and Greece, when the battle of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and others were fought. But Haggai’s prophecy revived the old hope of the messianic age in Israel, and started Judaism with that hope burning strong in their breasts. These prophecies were fulfilled at the coming of the Messiah, and the establishment of his reign.<\/p>\n

There are two distinctive messianic prophecies in this book, viz: (1) The greater glory to the temple, Hag 2:6-9<\/span> ; (2) David’s throne through Zerubbabel, as a representative of David, Hag 2:21-23<\/span> . There is also one quotation from the book in the New Testament, viz: Heb 12:26<\/span> is a quotation of Hag 2:6<\/span> , and is there applied to the final shaking of all material things. Star-ting with Sinai, we have a perspective of prophecy, the shaking of Sinai forecasting God’s shaking in Zerubbabel’s day, the shaking in Zerubbabel’s day forecasting Christ’s day and that in turn forecasting the shaking at Christ’s second advent.<\/p>\n

There are three great lessons of the book: (1) The influence of God’s preachers in forward kingdom movements, as great things in God’s kingdom have always been accomplished by the instrumentality of great leaders; (2) The importance of God’s work is paramount to everything else, which is illustrated in the saying of our Lord, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things (food, clothes, houses, etc.) shall be added unto you.” (3) the necessity of a vision. They saw through the prophet’s pictures, the future glory of Israel and were stimulated to activity commensurate with the task in hand.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

QUESTIONS<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Who were the postexile prophets?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

2. Who was the last pre-exile prophet, how long after he prophesied before these prophets came on the scene, and what prophets came in during the exilian period?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

3. What was the historical situation in the time of these postexile prophets?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

4. Who was Haggai, what was his problems and what, in general, the date of his prophecies?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

5. What was the general character of his prophecies?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

6. Give an outline of Haggai showing the addresses and the date of each.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

7. To whom was his first address directed primarily?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

8. What excuse had the people offered for their failure, what was the meaning of it, and what was this prophet’s reply?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

9. What condition does he describe to them and what reason does he assign for such condition?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

10. What call does he then give to the people and what incentive does he hold out to them to go forward?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

11. What was the response to this appeal and what the result?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

12. What was the subject of his second address and to whom was it addressed?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

13. What contrast does the prophet here make, what the occasion for it, what promise did he then give respecting the Temple and what the fulfilment of it?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

14. What was the burden of the third address, what analogy does he draw from the Law and what was his great lesson for the people?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

15. What punishment cited and what blessing now promised?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

16. What was the burden of the fourth address, what was the glorious promise here and what was its fulfilment?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

17. What two distinctively messianic prophecies in this book?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

18. What quotations from this book in the New Testament and what is its application there?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

19. What are the great lessons of this book?<\/p>\n

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Hag 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,<\/p>\n

Ver. 1. In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month<\/strong> ] This is the preface to the fourth sermon, as some reckon it; noting the exact time when it was delivered. See Trapp on “<\/em> Hag 1:1 “<\/em> See Trapp on “<\/em> Hag 1:15 “<\/em> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Came the word of the Lord<\/strong> ] This he often inculcateth, to set forth the truth of his calling, and validity of his commission. See Trapp on “<\/em> Hag 1:5 “<\/em> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

By the prophet Haggai<\/strong> ] Heb. by the hand of the prophet. See Trapp on “<\/em> Hag 1:1 “<\/em> <\/p>\n

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Haggai<\/p>\n

BRAVE ENCOURAGEMENTS<\/p>\n

Hag 2:1 – Hag 2:9 <\/strong> .<\/p>\n

The second year of Darius, in which Haggai prophesied, was 520 B.C. Political intrigues had stopped the rebuilding of the Temple, and the enthusiasm of the first return had died away in the face of prolonged difficulties. The two brave leaders, Zerubbabel and Joshua, still survived, and kept alive their own zeal; but the mass of the people were more concerned about their comforts than about the restoration of the house of Jehovah. They had built for themselves ‘ceiled houses,’ and were engrossed with their farms.<\/p>\n

The Book of Ezra dwells on the external hindrances to the rebuilding. Haggai goes straight at the selfishness and worldliness of the people as the great hindrance. We know nothing about him beyond the fact that he was a prophet working in conjunction with Zechariah. He has been thought to have been one of the original company who came back with Zerubbabel, and it has been suggested, though without any certainty, that he may have been one of the old men who remembered the former house. But these conjectures are profitless, and all that we know is that God sent him to rouse the slackened earnestness of the people, and that his words exercised a powerful influence in setting forward the work of rebuilding. This passage is the second of his four short prophecies. We may call it a vision of the glory of the future house of Jehovah.<\/p>\n

The prophecy begins with fully admitting the depressing facts which were chilling the popular enthusiasm. Compared with the former Temple, this which they had begun to build could not but be ‘as nothing.’ So the murmurers said, and Haggai allows that they are quite right. Note the turn of his words: ‘Who is left . . . that saw this house in its former glory?’ There had been many eighteen years ago; but the old eyes that had filled with tears then had been mostly closed by death in the interval, and now but few survived. Perhaps if the eyes had not been so dim with age, the rising house would not have looked so contemptible. The pessimism of the aged is not always clear-sighted, nor their comparisons of what was, and what is beginning to be, just. But it is always wise to be frank in admitting the full strength of the opinions that we oppose; and encouragements to work will never tell if they blink difficulties or seek to deny plain facts. Haggai was wise when he began with echoing the old men’s disparagements, and in full view of them, pealed out his brave incitements to the work.<\/p>\n

The repetition of the one exhortation, ‘Be strong, be strong, be strong,’ is very impressive. The very monotony has power. In the face of the difficulties which beset every good work the cardinal virtue is strength. ‘To be weak is to be miserable,’ and is the parent of failures. One hears in the exhortation an echo of that to Joshua, to whom and to his people the command ‘Be strong and of good courage’ was given with like repetition Jos 1:1 – Jos 1:18.<\/p>\n

But there is nothing more futile than telling feeble men to be strong, and trembling ones to be very courageous. Unless the exhorter can give some means of strength and some reason for courage, his word is idle wind. So Haggai bases his exhortation upon its sufficient ground, ‘For I am with you, saith Jehovah of hosts.’ Strength is a duty, but only if we have a source of strength available. The one basis of it is the presence of God. His name reveals the immensity of His power, who commands all the armies of heaven, angels, or stars, and to whom the forces of the universe are as the ordered ranks of His disciplined army; and who is, moreover, the Captain of earthly hosts, ever giving victory to those who are His ‘willing soldiers in the day of His power.’ It is not vain to bid a man be strong, if you can assure him that God is with him. Unless you can, you may save your breath.<\/p>\n

Here is the temper for all Christian workers. Let them realise the duty of strength; let them have recourse to the Fountain of strength; let them mark the purpose of strength, which is ‘work,’ as Haggai puts it so emphatically. We have nothing to do with the magnitude of what we may be able to build. It may be very poor beside the great houses that greater ages or men have been able to rear. But whether it be a temple brave with gold and cedar, or a log, it is our business to put all our strength into the task, and to draw that strength from the assurance that God is with us.<\/p>\n

The difficulties connected with the translation of Hag 2:5 need not concern us here. For my purpose, the general sense resulting from any translation is clear enough. The covenant made of old, when Israel came from an earlier captivity, is fresh as ever, and God’s Spirit is with the people; therefore they need not fear. ‘Fear ye not’ is another of the well-meant exhortations which often produce the opposite effect from the intended one. One can fancy some of the people saying, ‘It is all very well to talk about not being afraid; but look at our feebleness, our defencelessness, our enemies; we cannot but fear, if we open our eyes.’ Quite true; and there is only one antidote to fear, and that is the assurance that God’s covenant binds Him to take care of me. Unless one believes that, he must be strangely blind to the facts of life if he has not a cold dread coiled round his heart and ever ready to sting.<\/p>\n

The Prophet rises into grand predictions of the glory of the poor house which the weak hands were raising. Hag 2:6 set things invisible over against the visible. In general terms the Prophet announces a speedy convulsion, partly symbolical and partly real, in which ‘all nations’ shall be revolutionised, and as a consequence, shall become Jehovah’s worshippers, bringing their treasures to the Temple, and so filling the house with glory. This shall be because Jehovah is the true Possessor of all their wealth. But the scope of Hag 2:9 seems to transcend these promises, and to point to an undescribed ‘glory,’ still greater than that of the universal flocking of the nations with their gifts, and to reach a climax in the wide promise of peace given in the Temple, and thence, as is implied, flowing out ‘like a river’ through a tranquillised world.<\/p>\n

‘Yet once, it is a little while.’ How long did the little while last? There were, possibly, some feeble incipient fulfilments of the prophecy in the immediate future; for, after the exile, there were convulsions in the political world which resulted in security to the Jews, and the religion of Israel began to draw some scattered proselytes. But the prophecy is not completely fulfilled even now, and it covers the entire development of the ‘kingdom that cannot be moved’ until the end of time. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews thus understands the prophecy Heb 12:26 – Heb 12:27, and there are echoes of it in Rev 21:1 – Rev 21:27 , which describes the final form of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. So the chronology of prophecy is not altogether that of history; and while the events stand clear, their perspective is foreshortened. All the ages are but ‘a little while’ in the calendar of heaven. In regard to the whole of the prophetic utterances, we have often to say with the disciples, ‘What is this that he saith, a little while?’ Eighteen centuries have rolled away since the seer heard, ‘Behold, I come quickly,’ and the vision still tarries.<\/p>\n

The old interpretation of ‘the desire of all nations’ as meaning Jesus Christ gave a literal fulfilment of the prophecy by His presence in the Temple; but that meaning of the phrase is untenable, both because the verb is in the plural, which would be impossible if a person were meant, and because the only interpretation which gives relevancy to Hag 2:8 is that the expression means the silver and gold, there declared to be Jehovah’s. That venerable explanation, then, cannot stand. There were offerings from heathen kings, such as those from Darius recorded in Ezr 6:6 – Ezr 6:10 , and the gifts of Artaxerxes Ezr 7:15, which may be regarded as incipient accomplishments; but such facts as these cannot exhaust the prophecy.<\/p>\n

It must be admitted that nothing happened during the history of that Temple to answer to the full meaning of this prophecy. But was it therefore a delusion that God spoke by Haggai? We must distinguish between form and substance. The Temple was the centre point of the kingdom of God on earth, the place of meeting between God and men, the place of sacrifice. The fulfilment of the prophecy is not to be found in any house made with hands, but in the true Temple which Jesus Christ has builded. He in His own humanity was all that the Temple shadowed and foretold. It is in Him, and in the spiritual Temple which He has reared, that Haggai’s vision will find its full realisation, which is yet future. The powers that issue from Him shattered the Roman empire, have ever since been casting earth’s kingdoms into new moulds, and have still destructive work to do. The ‘once more’ began when Jesus came, but the final ‘shaking’ lies in front still. Every smaller revolution in thought or sweeping away of institutions is a prelude to that great ‘shaking’ when everything will go except the kingdom that cannot be moved. Its result shall be that the treasures of the nations shall be poured at His feet who is ‘worthy to receive riches,’ even as other prophecies have foretold that ‘men shall bring unto Thee the wealth of the nations’ Isa 60:11 ; Rev 21:24 , Rev 21:26.<\/p>\n

In that true Temple the glory of the Shechinah, which was wanting in the second, for ever abides, ‘the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father’; and in it dwells for ever the dove of peace, ready to glide into every heart that enters to worship at the shrine. Jesus Christ is not the ‘desire of all nations’ which shall come to the Temple, but is the Temple to which the wealth of all nations shall be brought, in whom the true glory of a manifested God abides, and from whom the peace of God which passeth all understanding, and is His own peace too, shall enter reconciled souls, and calm turbulent passions, and reconcile contending peoples, and diffuse its calm through all the nations of the saved who there ‘walk in the light of the Lord.’<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Hag 2:1-9<\/p>\n

1On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet saying, 2Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people saying, 3’Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison? 4But now take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the LORD of hosts. 5’As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’ 6For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. 7I 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 hosts. 8’The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the LORD of hosts. 9’The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the LORD of hosts.’<\/p>\n

Hag 2:1 On the twenty-first of the seventh month This was on the seventh day of the eight-day Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Lev 23:39-42, when Haggai spoke to the people concerning the blessings of God).<\/p>\n

by Haggai The Hebrew text has by the hand of Haggai (BDB 388 CONSTRUCT BDB 291). This can be seen in two ways:<\/p>\n

1. a common idiomatic usage of through someone (i.e., Hag 1:1; Hag 1:3)<\/p>\n

2. a written, as well as spoken, message<\/p>\n

In light of the wide semantic usage of hand, #1 seems best.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:2 Speak now This is a Qal IMPERATIVE. See note at Hag 1:1.<\/p>\n

Zerubbabel See note at Hag 1:1.<\/p>\n

Joshua See note at Hag 1:1.<\/p>\n

remnant See note at Hag 1:14.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:3 Notice Hag 2:3 has three rhetorical questions (so common in post-exilic prophets).<\/p>\n

‘Who is left among you who saw this Temple in its former glory’ Many have assumed that Haggai saw the Temple before its destruction (i.e., 586 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar’s army). If so, he was a very elderly man at this time (i.e., exile lasted 70 years, cf. Jer 25:11-12; Jer 29:10. This is one of the more literal usages of the number 70, 586 B.C.-516 B.C.). However, this may simply refer to the elders of the community who had seen the former Temple and were growing more discouraged (cf. Ezr 3:12).<\/p>\n

The former glory may refer to Eze 10:19-20, where there is an explanation of the glory of YHWH leaving the Temple and moving east with the exiles. If so, the old men were discouraged because the Shekinah glory had not returned to rest on the new structure (cf. 1Ki 8:10-12).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:4 take courage. . .take courage. . .take courage. . .work This series of four Qal IMPERATIVES tries to deal with the discouragement which was developing among the post-exilic community in rebuilding the smaller Temple. God answered this attitude problem by reaffirming His presence with them (cf. the end of Hag 2:4).<\/p>\n

All parts of the post-exilic community are addressed (BDB 304, KB 302).<\/p>\n

1. Zerubbabel (the civil leadership)<\/p>\n

2. Joshua (the priestly leadership)<\/p>\n

3. the remnant\/the people of the land (this term has different connotations in different periods of Israel’s history. Here it refers to all returnees).<\/p>\n

All are called on to work (BDB 738, KB 889). This was a national temple! These same words were said to Solomon by David as he began the work of YHWH’s temple (cf. 1Ch 28:20).<\/p>\n

I am with you See note at Hag 1:13. This was YHWH’s word to Moses, to Joshua, and to His people!<\/p>\n

the LORD of hosts See note at Hag 1:2. This phrase occurs five times, but the wording is not exactly the same. The one found here is a concluding phrase, like Hag 2:8-9.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:5 As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt This sentence is not found in the Septuagint, but is seems to reflect the Sinaitic covenant (cf. Exodus 19-20). This was prophesied in Gen 15:12-21.<\/p>\n

The term made equals cut (BDB 503, KB 500, Qal PERFECT), which often refers to cutting a covenant (i.e., Gen 15:10; Gen 15:17). These people desperately needed to know that God had renewed His covenant with them.<\/p>\n

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT <\/p>\n

My Spirit is abiding in your midst During the Exodus period God’s Spirit is spoken of quite often (cf. Num 11:17; Num 11:25; Num 11:29; Isa 63:11; Isa 63:14). See note at Hag 1:9 (I blow it away) and Hag 1:14 (spirit of). Here Spirit is theologically parallel to YHWH Himself (i.e., Zec 7:12). See Special Topic: Personhood of the Spirit and Special Topic: The Trinity .<\/p>\n

do not fear The term fear (BDB 431, KB 432, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense) is used often in Scripture to encourage<\/p>\n

1. Abraham, Gen 15:1<\/p>\n

2. Hagar, Gen 21:17<\/p>\n

3. Isaac, Gen 26:24<\/p>\n

4. Jacob, Gen 46:3<\/p>\n

5. Joshua, Jos 8:1; Jos 10:8; Jos 11:6<\/p>\n

6. Gideon, Jdg 6:23<\/p>\n

7. often through the Prophets to Israel (i.e., Zec 8:13).<\/p>\n

Often fear can result in faith (cf. Exo 14:13; Exo 14:31). This phrase is a recurrent message from YHWH to Israel through Moses in Deuteronomy. An awesome respect for God opens many spiritual doors! See Special Topic: Fear in the OT .<\/p>\n

Hag 2:6<\/p>\n

NASBOnce more in a little while<\/p>\n

NKJVOnce more (it is a little while)<\/p>\n

NRSVOnce again, in a little while<\/p>\n

TEVBefore long<\/p>\n

NJBA little while now<\/p>\n

This is the only passage in Haggai which is quoted in the NT (cf. Heb 12:26). The first question one would naturally ask is when was the first time God shook the heavens and earth?<\/p>\n

1. creation (Genesis 1-2)<\/p>\n

2. fall (Genesis 3)<\/p>\n

3. exodus (Exodus 19-20)<\/p>\n

4. a special visitation of YHWH<\/p>\n

Number 3 is the best guess!<\/p>\n

The second question is what does a little while mean? This is used several times in the OT to denote the soon-coming judgment of YHWH (cf. Psa 37:10; Jer 51:33; Hos 1:4) or the cessation of His judgment (cf. Isa 10:25; Isa 29:17). In Prophetic and Apocalyptic literature, immediacy is always an aspect of the message. In Prophetic literature the future is determined by the present (repent or be judged). In Apocalyptic literature God’s breaking into history is always just ahead, very soon. This expectancy is carried over into the NT theme of the Second Coming of Christ (cf. Rev 1:13; Rev 22:6). This kind of literature sees history as redemptive peaks or events that are seen in close proximity. Three books have really helped me in this area:<\/p>\n

1. How To Read the Bible For All Its Worth by Fee and Stuart<\/p>\n

2. Plowshares and Pruning Hooks by Sandy<\/p>\n

3. Cracking Old Testament Codes by Sandy and Giese<\/p>\n

Western people see literalism as a mark of biblical conservatism. The intent of the original author is the key to conservatism! The genre they chose to communicate their message is a literary contract with the reader on how to understand it (i.e. God’s message).<\/p>\n

The VERB shake (BDB 950, KB 1271) is used as a PARTICIPLE in Hag 2:6 and the Hiphil PERFECT in Hag 2:7. It has several possible connotations:<\/p>\n

1. shaking in fear, cf. Hag 2:5; Eze 12:18<\/p>\n

2. shaking in an earthquake<\/p>\n

a. apocalyptic metaphor of YHWH’s approach, cf. Jdg 5:4; 2Sa 22:8; Psa 68:8; Isa 13:13; Isa 29:6<\/p>\n

b. metaphor of trembling at YHWH’s approach, Eze 38:20<\/p>\n

3. shaking as a metaphor of military invasion, cf. Hag 2:21-22; Isa 14:16 (chariots, Jer 47:3)<\/p>\n

4. sound of YHWH’s portable throne chariot, cf. Eze 3:12-13<\/p>\n

In this context (Hag 2:1-9), #2 fits best. By supernatural means YHWH will cause the nations to rebuild His temple. Chapter 2 has a Messianic theme (i.e., Hag 2:23). The end-time activity involves the nations, both in salvation (cf. Joel) and in judgment (cf. Hag 2:22).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:7 And I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all the nations Many rabbis (i.e., Akiba), the Vulgate, and the King James Version all translate this as a specific Messianic passage (i.e., NKJV, they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, cf. Mal 3:1; see Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 341-342). The context seems to demand that the nations (cf. Isa 60:5; Isa 60:11; Isa 61:6) will bring material wealth to the Temple to help rebuild it (i.e., the Persian kings Cyrus and Darius, and in later time, Herod the Idumean). This follows the interpretation of the Septuagint, Rabbi Kimchi, and Calvin (se Questions and Answers by F. F. Bruce, p. 37). The nations bring wealth is a metaphor of tribute being brought to a universal king (cf. Num 14:21; Psa 72:19; Isa 6:3; Isa 9:6-7; Mic 5:4-5 a).<\/p>\n

I will fill this house with glory The VERB (BDB 569, KB 583, Piel PERFECT) reflects YHWH’s promise. The question is, what does ‘glory’ stand for? Assuming the NT is YHWH’s fulfillment of OT themes in Christ, then Luk 2:32 defines it as<\/p>\n

1. the Messiah<\/p>\n

2. His universal reign (including Gentiles)<\/p>\n

Hag 2:8 The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine YHWH asserts His ownership and control over all material resources (i.e., as Creator); therefore, the builders of the second Temple are not to be discouraged. YHWH will provide all that is needed from outside resources (i.e., for the tabernacle, Exo 12:35-36; for Solomon’s Temple, 1Ch 29:14; 1Ch 29:16; and now for the Second temple, Ezr 6:5).<\/p>\n

Hag 2:9 the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former This must be interpreted in light of two contexts:<\/p>\n

1. return from exile and later to Herod’s temple<\/p>\n

2. eschatological, to YHWH’s presence (cf. Zec 2:5) in the person of His chosen One (cf. Hag 2:23, i.e., a king of the tribe of Judah [Gen 49:10] and family of Jesse [2 Samuel 7]).<\/p>\n

Many commentators relate this to a temple which will the Antichrist will enter and take his seat (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2); however, no Jewish temple ever had a seat (except the throne of Zeus put there by Antiochus IV during the interbiblical period, i.e., the abomination of desolation). See Special Topic: Why are OT Covenant Promises so Different from NT Covenant Promises? <\/p>\n

and in this place I shall give peace This seems to have an eschatological element (cf. Hag 2:20-23). Many see the word peace (BDB 1022), which equals the word shalom, as a reference to the Messiah (cf. Isa 9:6); this is certainly possible because of Hag 2:20-23. See Special Topic: Peace (shalom) .<\/p>\n

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

In the seventh month. See note on p. 1276. <\/p>\n

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4. <\/p>\n

by. See note on Hag 1:1. <\/p>\n

Haggai. See note on Hag 1:1. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Chapter 2<\/p>\n

Now in the seventh month, in the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Haggai, saying, Speak now to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, to Joshua, and to the residue of the people, saying, Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how does it look to you now? is it not in your eyes in comparison as of nothing ( Hag 2:1-3 )?<\/p>\n

The temple of Solomon, of course, was an extremely glorious building. It was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s troops.<\/p>\n

Now in the book of Ezra we’re told that as they began to lay the foundation for the new temple at this time, the young people, those who had been born in Babylonian captivity, those who had never seen the glory of Jerusalem during the days prior to the captivity, those that had never seen the glorious temple that Solomon had built. Those young people were all rejoicing. They were dancing. They were happy. “We’re laying the foundations of the Lord’s temple!” But the older people who remembered the glory of Solomon’s temple, when they saw how paltry was this new thing that they’re building, they said, “stood there and wept.”<\/p>\n

So upon this occasion of the older people who could still remember the glorious Solomon’s temple, on the occasion of their weeping, the word of the Lord came through Haggai, “And who of you is left among those that saw this house in her first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it just really as nothing compared to the first?”<\/p>\n

Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, and be strong, ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts ( Hag 2:4 ):<\/p>\n

So for those who were prone to be discouraged because it seemed to be nothing in comparison with the past, the Lord encourages them to be strong to continue, and again the promise, “For I am with you.”<\/p>\n

And according to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remains among you: fear ye not. 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; 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 ( Hag 2:5-7 ).<\/p>\n

Now this, no doubt, is going out now in prophecy to the Great Tribulation period when God is gonna shake the world once again. Actually, in the book of Hebrews, twelfth chapter, we read, “For the Lord said, ‘And once again I am going to shake the world like it has never been shaken before. So that everything that can be shaken will be brought down, and only that which cannot be shaken shall remain.'” Tell you what; I don’t want to be in downtown L.A. when that takes place. Once again God said, “I’m gonna shake the world until everything that can be shaken will be destroyed.”<\/p>\n

What folly it is for us to put all of our energies and efforts and all into the material things, because they can all be shaken.<\/p>\n

How we need to be putting our time, our energies, our efforts into spiritual things, for they can’t be shaken. When everything else is shaken and destroyed, that will still last. You have only one life; it will soon be passed. And only what you do for Jesus Christ is going to last. Everything else that you’ve built for yourself, your whole estate or whatever, is wood, hay and stubble; it’s all gonna burn. Only what you have laid up in spiritual store is gonna be lasting. That ought to speak to every one of us tonight, to again consider. God is saying, “Consider, consider, consider your priorities.” What is first in your life? What is taking the prime place in your mind and in your life?<\/p>\n

After the shaking of the world, after the destruction of this present material world as it is, then the Desire of nations will come. The glorious coming again of Jesus Christ, and then the glory of God once again filling the temple.<\/p>\n

The temple, of course, is described in the book of Ezekiel.<\/p>\n

The silver is mine, the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. 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 ( Hag 2:8-9 ).<\/p>\n

So this marvelous prophecy of Haggai when the Lord returns, the Desire of nations and the glory of God fills the temple. It is in that place that the Lord will give peace.<\/p>\n

Now in the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, [so now we are two months after the first prophecy] in the second year of Darius, [same second year of Darius] came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one is bearing holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt he does touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No ( Hag 2:10-12 ).<\/p>\n

Now, there were all kinds of laws that God gave in Leviticus concerning holy and unholy things. So there were many ways by which you could defile yourself. Then anything you touched would become defiled. If you would touch a dead body, then you would be considered unholy. And, if you touched anything else, then that would also be considered unholy. So he’s asking, “The priest is bearing this holy flesh, and with his skirt he touches something that is common, is the holy flesh then still considered holy?” The answer then is no.<\/p>\n

It is interesting how that the priest and the scribes and Pharisees in the days of Jesus, when they would go down the street, would wrap their coats tightly around them. Because they didn’t want their coats flaring out and touching some unclean person. So they were very careful not to let their robes flare around. They might accidentally hit one of you unclean persons and they would be defiled. This is that kind of holiness that Jesus, of course, spoke so much against, this hypocritical kind of a thing. “I’m holier than thou. Don’t touch me because I’m too holy to be touched, or be in touch with people.” They, of course, found fault with Jesus because He ate with the common people. He ate with the sinners and the publicans. He would partake of the same soup with them, or the same bread. They found fault with Him for that.<\/p>\n

Now the second question:<\/p>\n

If one that is unclean by a dead body, [that is, if he has touched a dead body, and is thus ceremonially unclean] and if he touches any of these things, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, Yes, it would be unclean, if he would touch anything being in an unclean state. Then answered Haggai, 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 ( Hag 2:13-14 ).<\/p>\n

So this law of that which is unclean by touching unclean things, there was this mixture. Trying to mix the spiritual with the material, and the Lord said, “Hey, it’s all unclean.”<\/p>\n

And now I pray you, consider [and again, the calling for the consideration] from this day onward, from before the stone was laid upon the stone in the temple of the LORD: Since those days were, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, and there were but ten: one came to the pressvat to draw fifty vessels out of the press, but there were only twenty ( Hag 2:15-16 ).<\/p>\n

In other words, “From these days that you had your shortages, these days when there wasn’t enough to go around, the days before you started this building again of the temple. Now mark this, and consider this.”<\/p>\n

When I smote you with the blasting and the mildew and the hail of all of the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to me, saith the LORD. But consider now from this day onward, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider now this. Is the seed yet in the barn? yes, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day [the Lord said] I will bless you ( Hag 2:17-19 ).<\/p>\n

So He’s saying now, “Look, you’ve been going through some rough times financially. You haven’t had enough to go around. You’ve been going through hard times, but it’s because your priorities were wrong. You were putting your needs and yourself first. Put Me first, and I’ll take care of your needs.”<\/p>\n

Now as they began to build the temple again, and began to give themselves in the labor in the temple, the prophet came and said, “Now look, mark this day. Things are gonna change. From here on out you’re going to have plenty. Now you’ve got your priorities straight. Now you’ve put God in the place where He should be, first in your life. Having put God first, God will now take care of you, and God will now provide for you.”<\/p>\n

Such is a universal truth and a universal law that knows no time, that knows no dispensation. Put God first in your life, and God will take care of the rest of the things of your life. Put the things of your life first, and you’re always gonna be running short. You’ll never have enough. It is a fallacy of spiritual logic to say, “We will start tithing when we have enough money to do so.” It’s like the fellow says, “I’m gonna get married just as soon as I have enough money to do so.” He’s still a bachelor; he’ll never have enough. You’ve got to step out in faith.<\/p>\n

Now once again the word of the Lord came to Haggai, the fifth time, the final time.<\/p>\n

In the twenty fourth day of the month the same day ( Hag 2:20 ),<\/p>\n

So in two months all of Haggai’s prophecies. I find that very fascinating. I’ve been at it for years and years and years.<\/p>\n

Speak to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the eaRuth ( Hag 2:21 );<\/p>\n

This, again, is a reference to the Great Tribulation period.<\/p>\n

I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, I will destroy the strength of 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. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, I will take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and I will make thee as a sign: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts ( Hag 2:22-23 ).<\/p>\n

Now in the book of Revelation, chapter 11, John speaks of the two witnesses that God is going to send. One of the two witnesses we know to be Elijah from the last word of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi, where the Lord said, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” So Elijah preceding the Lord; one of the two witnesses.<\/p>\n

There has been an awful lot of speculation as to the identity of the second witness. Some have said Enoch. Because he did not die but was translated into heaven, and Elijah did not die, so these two men come to meet their appointment with death. Others say Moses, because Moses represented the law, and Elijah represented the prophets. Those spokesmen for God to the people, or to the Jewish nation, always the law and the prophets speak to the Jews.<\/p>\n

I’ve never shared with anybody my beliefs on this. I’ve always given the options that have been spoken of by the various Bible teachers. But I personally feel that Zerubbabel will be the other witness. Because the Lord here declares that when He comes to overthrow the throne and the kingdoms, to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen, that, “I will take thee, O Zerubbabel, My servant, and I will make thee as a sign. For I have chosen thee saith the Lord of hosts.”<\/p>\n

Now, not to just dump that on you without anything else. In chapter 4 of the book of Zechariah ( Zec 4:1-14 ), which we will be getting next week. Let me give you just a little insight into next week’s.<\/p>\n

And the angel that talked with me came again, and he waked me as a man that is awakened out of his sleep. And he said unto me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I’ve looked, and behold, there’s a candlestick of all gold, with a bowl up on the top of it, and seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes are leading to the seven lamps which are on the top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side.” So I answered, and I spake to the angel that talked with me saying, “What are these my lord?” And the angel that talked with me answered, and said unto me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” Then he answered and said unto me, “This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit saith the Lord of hosts.'” Who are thou, O great mountain before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain, and shall bring forth a headstone thereof with shoutings crying, “Grace, grace unto it” ( Zec 4:1-7 ).<\/p>\n

So here is Zerubbabel, the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel signified in these two olive trees with the pipes that lead into the candlesticks.<\/p>\n

Now in the book of Revelation, chapter 11, where we read of these two witnesses, beginning with verse Hag 2:3 ( Rev 11:3 ), “And I will give power unto My two witnesses and they shall prophesy 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.” We are told that the candlestick was actually the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, “Not by might, nor by power,” and so here that prophecy, or that of Zerubbabel is referred to in Revelation in context with the two witnesses. Something to think about. Doesn’t really make any difference, but it’s interesting with all of the speculation. Throw that into the hopper too.<\/p>\n

Shall we pray.<\/p>\n

Father, how our hearts yearn for the return of Jesus Christ. How the world so desperately needs the touch of His love, the experiencing of His grace, and His saving power. Lord, we see the earth being shaken now, the kingdoms being shaken. We see the turmoil, the distress, the perplexities. O Lord, how we need for Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done here on this earth. Lord, man in exercising his own will, following his own passions and greed has almost destroyed this beautiful planet that You have created. We’ve raped its resources. We’ve polluted its atmosphere and waters. O God, how we plundered and ravaged Thy beautiful world. Oh God, how desperately we need Your help. How desperately the world needs Your help tonight. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, establish Your kingdom. Bring peace and righteousness, lest man destroy himself. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.<\/p>\n

Shall we stand.<\/p>\n

May the Lord bless and keep you through the week. May He increase your understanding of His love and of His purpose for your life. May He help you as you consider your own priorities.<\/p>\n

They talk about the triangle with a broad base, and that every time you cut off from the bottom of the base you are decreasing the size of the triangle, to where if you continue to cut off, ultimately you’ll be left with just the apex. Now, if all of the things were cut off, the extraneous under your life, until there was only the apex left, what would be the apex of your life? What is the top priority? What is that which you hold most dear? If it is anything other than Jesus Christ, you’re not a Christian. He should be the last to go. He should be top, the apex of your whole existence, the Lord of your life. “Consider,” the Lord says, “now consider this, now consider this.” And go ahead and consider your own life this week, how much time you’re giving to television, and how much time you’re giving to your fellowship with Him. How much time you’re giving to your hobbies; how much time you’re giving to Him. Consider yourself, your life. Maybe there’s a reason behind some of the problems you’re experiencing, because your priorities are wrong. You get your priorities right, and I guarantee, mark this date the fourth month and the eighteenth day. Things will change if you get your priorities right. God bless you as you examine your own heart and your life, and examine your priorities, and as you seek to make things right with God. “<\/p>\n

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Hag 2:1. In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month.<\/p>\n

Not very long after.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:2-3. 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, 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?<\/p>\n

It appears that the spirit of idleness had broken out again. As the walls began to rise the older men wept at the recollection of what an inferior structure it would be, compared with the former building of Solomon, and the idolaters, ready enough to get an excuse, are ready enough to cease work. Therefore, Gods prophet is at it again. If the fire begins to die out, the bellows must be used again. The zeal of the Christian is very like the zeal of these men of Jerusalem very apt to flag; and the zeal of Gods messenger must come to stir them up again.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:5-6. According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while,<\/p>\n

Though as some read it, it is but a little structure, but our reading is, perhaps, better it is but a little while.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:6-9. And I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. 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.<\/p>\n

Clearly encouraging them to proceed with their work.<\/p>\n

This exposition consisted of readings from Hag 1:1 to Hag 2:9; Heb 7:15-28.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Hag 2:1-9<\/p>\n

THE SECOND MESSAGE . . . Hag 2:1-9<\/p>\n

THE WORD OF JEHOVAH . . . Hag 2:1-2<\/p>\n

Claiming again the inspiration of God for his message, Haggai, a month after rebuilding was resumed, addressed himself again to the civil and spiritual leaders and the people.<\/p>\n

Zerr: This chapter begins (Hag 2:1-2) about a month later than the close of the preceding one. In that time the work on the temple has gone forward to the point of getting the foundation laid. That made it possible to see something of the appearance of the completed building when that time came. The Lord then gave the prophet instructions (see Hag 2:2) to call the attention of the builders and the people to the work as it then appeared.<\/p>\n

Coffman: “In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying.”Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the High Priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, (Hag 2:1-2) <\/p>\n

The last three of Haggai’s four messages are found in this second chapter (Hag 2:1-9; Hag 2:10-19; and Hag 2:20-23). The Second of these messages is contained in Hag 2:1-9. In the first and the last of these, one finds two prophecies of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.The significance of this dating lies in the fact of its having been a little less than a month since the work on rebuilding the Temple had commenced. “This seventh month was Teshri, the equivalent of our October\/November.”[1]<\/p>\n

THE FORMER GLORY . . . Hag 2:3<\/p>\n

There were a few who had returned from captivity who longed for the good old days. The modest dimensions and decor of the second temple could not compare with the splendor of the first. (1Ki 6:22; 1Ki 6:28; 1Ki 6:30; 1Ki 6:32; 1Ki 7:48-50)<\/p>\n

How do you see it? asks the prophet. The temple they were building was nothing compared to their memory of the one erected by Solomon.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, several things were absent from the second temple by which it could not compare to the first:<\/p>\n

(1) The Ark of the Covenant was gone. Its fate still remains a mystery. The idea that it was taken directly into heaven has been held by some on the strength of Rev 11:19. The apocalyptic nature of Revelation, however, makes a literal interpretation very unreliable.<\/p>\n

(2) The Shekinah glory . . . the pillar of cloud and of fire was absent . . . proof that the full glory of God was not yet come.<\/p>\n

(3) Following Malachi, the Spirit of prophecy was apparently silent and the inspired prophet was replaced by the professional scribe.<\/p>\n

(4) The sacred fire, kindled by God upon the altar was extinguished, and God no longer smote the priests for replacing it with strange fire. (cf. Lev 10:1 -ff)<\/p>\n

(5) The Urim and Thummim were also gone. (cp. Exo 28:30) The literal meanings of these words are lights and perfections, respectively. The exact nature of them is problematical. They may have been some divine manifestation or they may have been an appendage on the breastplate of the priests. (cp. Deu 33:8 and 1Sa 28:6) It has been suggested that the Urim and Thummim were jewels set in the breast plate of the high priest. (cp. Exo 28:29, Exo 39:8 and Lev 8:8)<\/p>\n

No doubt much else was lacking. The first temple had been erected by a wise ruler of a wealthy nation in collaboration with building experts. The second was built by a vassal state, with no king and no real wealth. This actual inferiority was exaggerated in the memory of those in whose minds sixty-six years had no doubt added even to the real glory of Solomons temple. The key to Haggais message to those who were depressed and disappointed in the inferiority of their handiwork, is the question how do ye see it? They were overly concerned with material embellishments.<\/p>\n

Zerr: There were people living who had seen the temple that was destroyed by the Babylonians (Hag 2:3). They were asked to make lhe comparison, and it was suggested that they would conclude the present building to be inferior to the first one. This event of comparison is given more detailed notice in Ezr 3:12.<\/p>\n

Coffman: Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes as nothing?” (Hag 2:3)<\/p>\n

“Who is left among you that saw this house … ?” There would hardly have been any point in a question framed just like this, if indeed there were none who could remember the former temple of Solomon. As Barnes said, “This implies that there were those among them who had seen the first house in its glory, yet but few.”[2] The speculation that Haggai himself might have been among them is valid enough, but unprovable, as noted in our introduction.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the glory of that first Temple, it must indeed have been a magnificent splendor.<\/p>\n

“Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he drew chains of gold across the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished: also the whole altar that belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold (1Ki 6:21-22).”<\/p>\n

Some have estimated the cost of Solomon’s Temple somewhere between three and five billion dollars!<\/p>\n

“This house …” Haggai did not view the efforts of his generation as the construction of a new Temple, but as the rebuilding of the old one. As Hailey noted, “The Lord never had but one house in Jerusalem.” In an accommodative sense, that was “the Lord’s house,” whether the one built by Solomon, rebuilt by Zerubbabel, or renovated by Herod the Great. It should always be borne in mind, however, that the only genuine Temple the Lord ever had is the Church of Jesus Christ our Lord.<\/p>\n

“Is it not in your eyes as nothing …?” The inferiority of the new edifice did not derive so much from the lateral dimensions of it, because Cyrus had ordered that the new Temple should even exceed the old one in size. “If the injunction of Cyrus had been heeded, the dimensions of the new temple would have exceeded those of the old”,[3] but there was no way, really that Haggai and Zerubbabel, with the limited resources available, could have strictly adhered to any such guidelines. Even so, “the proportions were not greatly inferior to those of the first temple.”[4] The chief physical shortcoming, it appears, would have been in the height of the building. Whereas Solomon’s temple stood 120 cubits in height, that of Zerubbabel was only 60 cubits, according to Josephus.[5] However, it was not merely the lesser height and volume of the new edifice that attested its inferiority, but the lack of all the extravagant adornment which had distinguished the first. “Six hundred talents of gold ($10,000,000.00) were used in overlaying the Holy of Holies alone.”[6] Such monies were not available to Zerubbabel.<\/p>\n

I AM WITH YOU . . . Hag 2:4-5<\/p>\n

The important thing in regard to the rebuilding of the temple, as God saw it, was that His people were back in their land, and He was with them. And His presence is according to the everlasting covenant. Here is the heart of the prophetic message. This is the reason the remnant had been returned. This is the reason the temple must be rebuilt. His promise to bless all the nations of the earth in the seed of Abraham was the reason they became a nation in the beginning. (cf. Exo 2:24, Exo 19:5-6) It is equally the reason for the restoration of their national identity. In their national pride and religious exclusiveness, they were about to forget again the reason for their existence. It was vital that, upon this restoration as in their beginnings as a people (Gen 1:1-3) and as a nation (Exo 19:5-6), that the people be once more made aware of their covenant purpose. Here is the real purpose of the preaching of Haggai, for in the reconstruction of the temple was the symbolic re-affirmation of the covenant.<\/p>\n

Zerr: Hag 2:4 begins with the word yet which indicates that God did not profess to regard the present building as actually as good as the other. However, He encourages them to be of good cheer and promises them to be with them in the world. According to Hag 2:5, the same God who brought Israel out of Egypt and sustained them with His spirit, is the one who has led them through the trials just now going on and will continue to lead them it they will obey.<\/p>\n

Coffman: “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah; and be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozodak, the High Priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith Jehovah, and work: for I am with you, saith Jehovah of hosts.”(Hag 2:4)<\/p>\n

The only “glory” that mattered, and the only glory that had any permanent value was that of God Himself. When God was with his people, they were indeed glorified, and all of the alleged inferiority of the new temple would be nullified and compensated for by the presence of the Lord himself who was moving toward the accomplishment of his eternal purpose through the instrumentality of the “once chosen” people in bringing forth the Messiah into the world.<\/p>\n

God’s love and tenderness for his people was unbounded. The necessity of punishing them and removing them from the land which they had forfeited by disobedience was an occasion for heartbreak, even on the part of God Himself. Therefore, when the remnant was restored to the land of Canaan, and after they had been working only about a month, the Lord provided the strong assurances of this promise that he was “with” them.<\/p>\n

Any strict execution of the justice of God would apparently have required all of the Jewish Canaanites to be destroyed in the same manner as the original Canaanites. Surely, Jewry deserved no better treatment than that which God had meted out to Sodom and Gomorrah, for the prophet Ezekiel flatly declared (Ezekiel 16) that both the northern and the southern Israel were “worse” than Sodom and Gomorrah. However, there were strong impediments to such an execution. The continuity of the prophecies of the Messiah, reaching all the way back to Gen 3:15 demanded the continuity of Israel. God had promised the Messiah “through” them. His prophets had foretold the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. Any execution of the deserved penalty upon the old Israel would have checkmated God’s purpose in the far more important matter of delivering the Messiah to mankind. Any true understanding of God’s unwavering and continued mercies to Israel must take such things into account. Also, such mercies to the old Israel were typical of similar mercies to Christ’s church, the New Israel of God.<\/p>\n

Also, God’s being with the old Israel must be considered as a type and symbol of his being with his church throughout the ages. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).<\/p>\n

“According to the word which I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, and my Spirit abode among you: fear ye not.” (Hag 2:5)<\/p>\n

The ancient covenant that God made with Abraham, promising to bless “all the people of the earth” through his “seed” (singular, which is Christ), will yet be honored by the Father. True, there had been a gross misunderstanding on secular Israel’s part about what God’s blessing meant, most of them interpreting it to mean that God would help them subdue all earthly enemies and incorporate the defeated nations into Israel’s “godless state” or “kingdom,” which was a concept foreign to God altogether. That kind of a kingdom was their idea, not God’s; and, as a consequence, they arrogantly forsook their true religion, rebelled against God, forsook his holy law, and became as reprobate as the heathen; whereupon God destroyed their beloved worldly kingdoms which the people had come to idolize. Their prophets warned them, but to no avail. Amos declared:<\/p>\n

“Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; save that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith Jehovah (Amo 9:8). Of course, that is exactly what happened!”<\/p>\n

In this verse is the promise that God meant all he ever said. He will yet bless the true Israel (the spiritual seed of Abraham), making them a blessing to all the earth. The fulfillment of that promise would yet come, but not in the way fleshly Israel imagined. The very next verse would point to the true method of its accomplishment.<\/p>\n

THE LATTER GLORY OF THIS HOUSE<\/p>\n

SHALL BE GREATER THAN THE FORMER <\/p>\n

Hag 2:6-9<\/p>\n

Through the restored remnant the Christ would come. Never again would Baal be worshipped among His people. They would forget the covenant purpose as a nation. Their religion would become a hollow form, but with it all, the faithful few would remain true and the Messiah would come in fulfillment of the covenant promise. (cp. Mat 1:1, Luk 1:33; Luk 1:55; Luk 1:72-73) <\/p>\n

Thus saith the Lord in Hag 2:6 is dependent upon the covenant mentioned in verse five. The phrase in a little while has been rendered variously, it is as yet a little while, and one period more-a brief one it is. The Septuagint has yet once. The sense is that of repetition.<\/p>\n

Zerr: Following a practice we have before seen with the prophets, the Lord has Haggai to leap from a fortunate event in the history of fleshly Israel to one at spiritual Israel or the church. Hag 2:6 and the following three verses (Hag 2:7-9) deal with that subject and the imagery is drawn from the literal shaking of Mt. Sinal when the Mosaic system was given to the peopIe of Israel. After that shaking had subsided it left remaining the organIzed institution that was to serve the people through that dispensation. Now the Lord predicts that one more earth shaking event vill occur that will affect the heavens and the earth.<\/p>\n

Coffman: “For thus saith Jehovah 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; (Hag 2:6)<\/p>\n

“I will shake the heavens … earth … sea … and dry land …” We hold these words to be unequivocally a reference to the final Judgment that shall close the age of probation for the human race. Some have interpreted the passage to mean that God would topple powers, governments, institutions, and social systems; but that is what he promised to do in Hag 2:7 (the very next verse), where he declared, “And I will shake all nations!” Two very different events are in view. The first is the final advent of Christ in the final judgment. The second, “the shaking of all nations” is the kind of upheaval among governments and societies that some suppose is meant by the first series of expressions. This is a most important distinction. It should be observed that in the first event prophesied here, “the heavens” also are to be shaken. One wonders what “earthly powers” could be meant by that! This is mentioned first and is the principal feature of the whole passage, as indicated by the quotation and emphasis upon it by the inspired writer of Hebrews who wrote:<\/p>\n

“Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but the heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain (Heb 12:26-27).”<\/p>\n

Thus, the inspired New Testament confirms our understanding of this passage in Haggai as a reference to eternal judgment and the cosmic disturbances that shall mark the onset of that event. F. F. Bruce also received this interpretation of it:<\/p>\n

“When, in accordance with the divine promise, this cosmic convulsion takes place, when (in Dryden’s words)<\/p>\n

The last and dreadful hour<\/p>\n

This crumbling pageant shall devour – the whole material universe will be shaken to pieces, and the only things to survive will be those that are unshakable.”[7]<\/p>\n

“Yet once more …” raises the question of what was the first occasion of God’s shaking the earth and the heavens, etc.? Keil construed this as a reference to Sinai and the earthquake that marked the giving of the Law to Moses. “It is a reference to the shaking of the world at the descent of Jehovah upon Sinai to establish the giving of the covenant to Israel.”[8] This is quite obviously the same construction that the author of Hebrews placed upon the passage. Note also the deduction in Hebrews to the effect that the second “shaking” is to be infinitely more violent than the first, even to the extent of removing the material things that are shaken. Keil also agreed fully with this:<\/p>\n

“The approaching shaking of the world will be much more violent; it will affect the heaven and the earth in all their parts, the sea and the solid ground, and also the nations. The visible creation of the whole world will be altered.”[9]<\/p>\n

“In a little while …” These words are a problem for some. Does not this indicate that all of Haggai’s prophecy is to take place at some near date in the future from the time he wrote? No indeed. The reference is to the manner of God’s looking upon “time.” An identical expression was used in Rev 6:11 to indicate the total period of human probation. The prophecy of Revelation further reveals that from the moment of Satan’s being cast out of heaven and down to earth until the consummation of all things is but a “short time” (Rev 12:12). Thus, Haggai’s “little while” is the same as John’s “little time,” and “short time.” In the cosmic view, it will indeed be but a short time until God concludes the affairs of men.<\/p>\n

Before leaving Hag 2:6, it is appropriate to notice that when God speaks of the redemption of men, it is always done in prospect of Final Judgment and God’s execution of his wrath upon rebellious humanity. Why is that? God’s salvation always means salvation from that final wrath, the survival of the redeemed through the event of that terminal catastrophe, and their endowment with eternal life and glory; hence the dramatic reference to the Judgment here.<\/p>\n

Just as the power of the Lord had shaken Sinai (Heb 12:26) as God manifest His moral power to Israel, so again He will demonstrate His power in the shaking of the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and . . . all nations, and the precious things of all nations. (Hag 2:7) The Hebrew writer sees the fulfillment of this in the coming of the new covenant. (Heb 12:18-29) The coming of the church, the new temple (Heb 8:1 -ff) and ultimate fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant (Gal 3:29) shook and put an end to the nations of the pre-Christian world.<\/p>\n

Zerr: Desire of all nations (Hag 2:7) was to he fulfilled when the Gentile as well as the Jew would be offered the same benefits. This house refers to the house of the Lord composed ot Christians (Heb 3:6).<\/p>\n

Coffman: “and I will shake all nations; and the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts.” (Hag 2:7)<\/p>\n

“And I will shake all nations …” This beginning of Hag 2:7 is not necessarily to be understood as a part of the prophecy of the Last Day, although, of course, the nations of men will indeed be “shaken up” by the events of that terminal Assize, when “all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over Him … and cry for the rocks and the mountains to hide them.” As is characteristic of practically all of the prophecies of the Final Judgment, this one also mingles revelations with it that would appear to have their primary fulfillment in the kingdom of Christ, which is the Church. The latter part of Hag 2:7 is apparently just such a revelation.<\/p>\n

“The precious things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory …” To limit this to the Final Judgment would apply the words to the Holy City coming down out of heaven into which the kings of the earth shall bring their treasure (Rev 21:21). Regardless of that ultimate fulfillment, there were many lesser and more immediate fulfillments of this part of the promise. Not only did the kings of the earth aid the Jews in the building of their Second Temple, but in the days of Herod the Great, that monarch did indeed spend the vast resources of his whole kingdom in the most costly and extravagant decorations of it. And then, looking beyond that, in the days of the spread of Christianity all over the world, the kingly riches that were lavished upon worship of Christ in his holy church truly stagger the imagination. But the glory of God’s Temple (the Church) in this current dispensation does not consist of material wealth or elaborate meeting houses and costly decorations, the presence of Christ himself in the midst of his people … THERE is the true glory of God’s temple. This, of course, is the royal badge of the Church’s glory: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of you” (Mat 18:20). Therefore, we apply Hag 2:7 to God’s true temple, the Church of Jesus Christ. The fact of Haggai’s apparent mingling of the two events is no problem at all. The final Judgment itself is part of this dispensation just like the Church, both of them standing in the prophecies of events of the “last days.” The fusion of the gospel age and the Judgment is common in Biblical prophecy.<\/p>\n

“The shaking of the nations …” Before leaving Hag 2:7, it must be pointed out that the “shaking of nations” is going on continually. There has hardly been a generation of men upon the earth that did not witness the rise and fall of human kingdoms; and according to Christ this is a situation that will not change (Mat 24:6-9). The Red Horse of the Apocalypse did not make a foray into the earth and then go back to heaven! He still rides upon our unhappy planet. The seventh head of the great Scarlet Beast shall be succeeded by a period of the “ten horns,” the multitude of kingdoms that shall eventually hate all religion.<\/p>\n

The shaking began during the silent years between the Testaments. The Persian Empire crumbled before Alexander. Alexanders kingdom, divided after his youthful death, in turn gave way to Rome, and the west began its current domination of the east which heretofore had set the culture of the world. The desire of all nations (KJV) in verse seven is unmistakably Messianic. There could hardly be a more vivid expression of the covenant promise, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Even the rabbis saw in it the coming of the Messiah. The true riches of God, the silver and gold of verse eight will make the glory of the house of God outshine the glory of Solomons temple. And so the prophet comforts the people in such a way as to turn their minds from their ambitions of national grandeur to the glorious hope of covenant fulfillment.<\/p>\n

Zerr: These material substances (i.e. “silver” and “gold,” – Hag 2:8) used to make the literal temple all belonged to God. Likewise, the materials composing the spiritual temple all belong to him according to 1Co 6:19-20.<\/p>\n

Coffman: “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts.” (Hag 2:8) This is apparently mentioned to indicate that:<\/p>\n

“All nations with their wealth come (into Christ’s kingdom) and the Gentiles shall bring their treasures, their powers, whatever they most prize, to the service of God … All that, is here called metaphorically, coming with treasures to the Temple.”[10]<\/p>\n

This passage is “unmistakably Messianic. There could hardly be a more vivid picture of the covenant promise.”[11] What is clearly prophesied here is that the “true riches of God (typified here as the silver and the gold) will make the house of God (the church) outshine the glory of Solomon’s temple.”[12]<\/p>\n

The statement in Hag 2:9, the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, is deserving of special attention. The argument of the book of Hebrews for the superiority of the new covenant over the old is a glorious re-statement of this truth. It is patently obvious that Haggai cannot be saying that when the second temple is complete it will be more splendid than the first. This simply could not be true in the nations post-exilic circumstances. Historically it was not true, even with Herods embellishments during the Roman era. Haggai is looking to something far more meaningful than stone and mortar.<\/p>\n

Zerr: Glory of the latter house greater than the former (Hag 2:9). This was predicted of the church which is the greatest organization that God ever placed on the earth. We need not be uncertain about the above application of this noted prophecy, for Paul makes that use of it in Heb 12:26-28.<\/p>\n

Coffman: “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith Jehovah of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts.” (Hag 2:9)<\/p>\n

We have already seen that the true meaning of all that Haggai said was that the glory of Christianity should far outshine the glory of Judaism. The new Temple, the Church, would far surpass the temples of Jerusalem. Now, with reference to whether or not Haggai fully understood all the Lord said through him, we may freely concede that he most probably did not, but as we have repeatedly observed, the subjective imaginations and guesses by scholars trying to figure out what they suppose Haggai thought he was saying are absolutely irrelevant. We hold that the words were not Haggai’s at all, but God’s; and as Peter indicated (1Pe 1:10-12), students in the present dispensation have a far better opportunity to understand what God wrote through that prophet than he did.<\/p>\n

Therefore, although Haggai probably understood God’s words which came through him as predictions of what would be fulfilled with regard to the physical temple they were rebuilding, discerning students of the holy Scriptures cannot fail to understand that much more was included in the heavenly meaning of this magnificent Messianic passage (Hag 2:6-9). As Wiseman noted, “There was a first fulfillment soon after Haggai wrote, but not completely until Christ’s reign.”[13]<\/p>\n

Before leaving this wonderful Messianic prophecy, we must call attention to the rendition of the KJV in Hag 2:7, which reads:<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

In every way, this translation is far more suitable than subsequent renditions. The translators of most of the versions and translations since the KJV have made “desire” plural, reading it “the desires” “the precious things,” “the desirable things,” etc.; and, while we must accept the grammatical logic of this, it could very well be that the translators have been too much influenced by the Septuagint (LXX) in this place. Charles L. Feinberg discussed this verse as follows:<\/p>\n

“It is well to remember, however, that from the earliest days the majority of Christian interpreters followed the Jewish tradition in referring the passage to the coming of Israel’s Messiah. It seems clear that the longing all nations have in common must be their yearning for the Deliverer, whether or not they realize the nature of their desire or the identity of its true fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

“Moreover, in Hebrew an abstract noun is often used instead of the concrete; thus a reference to the Messiah is not automatically ruled out on the basis of language considerations. The use of a plural verb here does not militate against the Messianic interpretation, for there are instances in which the verb agrees with the second of two nouns.”[14]<\/p>\n

This writer does not claim any competence to decide such a question of Hebrew grammar; but, upon the unequivocal analysis of such a scholar as Feinberg (Dean, and Professor of Semitics, Talbot Theological Seminary, La Mirada, California), which, as far as we are able to determine is not contradicted by any authority whatever, we must in conscience receive the rendition which, to us, is clearly demanded by the entire context.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:7 plainly connects the filling of God’s house with glory to the prior fact of the “Desire of all nations” having been brought into it; and “the desirable things” of all nations such as their wealth, their gold and silver, could not in any sense be viewed as “the glory” of God’s house. The very next verse reminds us that God already owns all the gold and silver; and far from being an explanation of the nature of the promised glory, verse 8 is an explanation of what the glory is not!<\/p>\n

Despite our preference for the KJV in this verse, the commentary above is written upon our version (ASV) and interpreted accordingly.<\/p>\n

Gill properly discerned the true “glory” of the Lord’s house. It is that “peace” mentioned at the conclusion of Hag 2:9.<\/p>\n

“The peace which prevails in the true and more glorious temple of God is not “as the world gives” (Joh 14:27). It comes only from complete surrender to and complete trust in Him Who is the meaning of the old temple and the High Priest of the new.”[15]<\/p>\n

“In this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts …” In no sense may this be applied to the rebuilt temple; only in Christ is there “peace that passeth understanding.” As for Zerubbabel’s building,<\/p>\n

“That which made it both sanctuary and temple was missing. Yahweh’s glory did not fill it. Yahweh was not present there in creating and redeeming power.”[16]<\/p>\n

“Peace …” The RSV and other versions have rendered this word “prosperity” for no compelling reason; and again we are compelled to find fault with this type of tampering with the Word of God. The Hebrew word here is “Shalom.”[17] And, while it is true enough that it “has a comprehensive meaning, signifying total mental, spiritual, and physical well-being,”[18] “peace” is the primary meaning of the word; and it is thus used at the present time by Jews all over the world. To make this read “prosperity” is ridiculous, for the present-day meaning of “prosperity” leaves out of sight all the higher significance of the passage.<\/p>\n

“In this place …” As Keil accurately pointed out, “This place is not the temple, but the city of Jerusalem,”[19] from which place the word of the Lord went forth from Mount Zion. Again, it is the glory of the New Covenant in Christ Jesus that provides the complete fulfillment of the passage. “Peace” for mankind never yet came out of a Jewish temple.<\/p>\n

Lump Solomons temple, Zerubbabels temple, and Herods temple all together and their glory cannot surpass that of the real temple, the church. That the Jews identified the material temple with their ambitions for national glory was a grave error for them. Ultimately, it brought about their rejection of Jesus. But it did not alter the spiritual facts. (cp. Dan 2:36-45; Dan 4:19-27, Ezekiel 40-48, Zec 2:3-13; Zec 6:9-15; Zec 8:13; Zec 8:18-23; Zec 9:9-10; Zec 14:16-21, Psa 145:6; Psa 145:9-13; Psa 145:21)<\/p>\n

The true tabernacle, or temple is superior to the old because it is based on a superior revelation by a superior Revelator (Hebrews, chapters 1-3) and because it is ministered by a superior priesthood. (Heb 4:14 to Heb 10:18) It is more glorious than the former because it is related to God by a better covenant and accomplishes better services. The scene, conditions and results of its ministry are ideal whereas those of the old temple were symbolic, shadowy types of the real temple. The former temple was passing away, the latter temple is eternal. The sacrifices offered in the former were dead animals. Those in the new are living men. (Rom 12:1-2)<\/p>\n

The promise of peace is also related to the new temple rather than the old. The peace which God gives to those who are the new temple (Hag 2:9), the spiritual house (1Pe 2:5), is beyond the comprehension of those who think of material glory. (Php 4:7) The world seeks peace in terms of silent guns and rusted swords. The world seeks peace in terms of easy going tolerance in all human relationships. The world seeks peace through positive thinking, tranquilizers and electro-therapy. But the peace which prevails in the true and more glorious temple of God is not as the world gives. (Joh 14:27) Such peace comes only from complete surrender to and complete trust in Him Who is the meaning of the old temple and the High Priest of the new.<\/p>\n

It is related to the reality of the Holy Spirit, not as a doctrine but as a present Person. (Joh 14:26-27) Haggai knew about this. In Hag 2:5, he says My Spirit abideth among you, fear not.<\/p>\n

Questions<\/p>\n

Exposition of Haggai<\/p>\n

1. Write an outline of Haggai.<\/p>\n

2. Haggais first message is concerned with?<\/p>\n

3. What were the results of the first message?<\/p>\n

4. Discuss the ancestry of Zerubbabel in light of Hag 1:1, 1Ch 3:17-19, and Luk 3:27,<\/p>\n

5. The message Haggai was _____________ message.<\/p>\n

6. Haggais first message attacks _____________.<\/p>\n

7. How does the message apply to us who would build the church?<\/p>\n

8. How does Haggai account for the drought and austere conditions which had beset the people?<\/p>\n

9. Discuss Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel.<\/p>\n

10. What is the gist of Haggais second message? To whom is it addressed?<\/p>\n

11. What was missing from the second temple?<\/p>\n

12. What is meant by the latter glory of the house?<\/p>\n

13. Discuss Hag 2:7 in light of Heb 8:1 -ff and Gal 3:29.<\/p>\n

14. What is meant by desire of all nations?<\/p>\n

15. What is the gist of Haggais third message?<\/p>\n

16. What false motives might have been involved in rebuilding the temple?<\/p>\n

17. What malady confronting Haggai was also addressed by Jesus?<\/p>\n

18. Show evidence that Haggai considered his message to be Gods rather than his own.<\/p>\n

19. Discuss the shaking of the heavens and earth (Hag 2:21 cp. Hag 2:6)<\/p>\n

20. Why could not this shaking have referred to the chaotic conditions of Darius early reign?<\/p>\n

21. Where in the Bible do we find the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy?<\/p>\n

22. Discuss Zerubbabel as a type of Christ. Show parallels between them.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

About seven weeks later Haggai delivered his second message. This was addressed to Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the priest, and all the people. A comparison of Ezr 3:13 with this message will show how certain of the old men who remembered the former house lamented the comparative inferiority of this. This memory tended to dishearten the people, and the prophet appealed to them to be strong and to work, promising in His name Jehovah’s immediate presence and help.<\/p>\n

On the basis of this promise Haggai then rose to the height of a more gracious one. The central phrase of this larger promise is difficult of interpretation, ‘The desire [singular] . . . shall come [plural].” Perhaps the simplest explanation is in the use made of the connected words in the letter to the Hebrews (12:25-29). It is evident that in this promise there is a revelation of an order of divine procedure which is manifested in the method of both the First and Second Advents of the Messiah. That order may thus be briefly summarized, “I will shake,” “the desire shall come,” “peace.”<\/p>\n

About two months later Haggai delivered his third message. In this the people are addressed through a colloquy with the priests. The content of this prophecy shows that after three months of hard building there were still no signs of material rewards, and the people were again disheartened in consequence thereof. As a result of his questioning of the priests and their answers, Haggai taught the people that because of their past sin their present obedience could not immediately result in material prosperity. Yet the final word of this third message is a promise of blessing, “From this day will I bless you.”<\/p>\n

The last message of Haggai was delivered on the same day as the third, and was an enforcement and explanation of the final promise, “I will bless you.” It consists, first, of a repetition of the declaration of Jehovah’s determination to shake, carried out in greater detail, in order to reveal that He would destroy all false authority and power; and, finally, of the promise of the establishment of true authority.<\/p>\n

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

the True Glory of Gods House <\/p>\n

Hag 1:12-15; Hag 2:1-9<\/p>\n

One earnest man can arouse an entire community. Let a fire glow in our hearts, and it will spread. Assured of Gods presence and favor, within three weeks the whole land was awake. Note the cooperation of Gods Spirit with the message of His servant, the Lord stirred up. Let us ever seek and rely on His cooperation! We are witnesses, so also is the Holy Spirit! Three prophecies occupy the following chapter. In the first, Hag 1:1-9, the Jews are encouraged to persevere. Although there was no comparison between the glory of Solomons Temple and the splendor of this, they must not be discouraged. Though they might deplore the absence of the sacred fire of the Shekinah, of the Ark with its cherubim, of the Urim and Thummim, and of the spirit of prophecy, yet the Messiahs presence, which would be associated with the second Temple would more than compensate for their deficiency, since He was the antitype of them all. If we lack many of the advantages and attractions in which others excel, let us be more than satisfied to possess Christ. And be it always remembered that Christian worship seeks to realize the presence of Him who said: I am in the midst. Without that a cathedral is an empty void; with that, a barn will be heaven. For Hag 1:6-7 see Heb 12:26-28. This little while in Gods arithmetic lasted for 517 years.<\/p>\n

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Chapter 2<\/p>\n

Be Strong<\/p>\n

The work of building the long-neglected house of the Lord had been going on less than a month when the word of Jehovah came a second time through the prophet Haggai. On this occasion it was a message, not of rebuke, but of cheer and encouragement to both rulers and people alike (vers. 1,2). It is thus that God delights to comfort and sustain the hearts of those who, however poor and feeble, yet seek to honor Him.<\/p>\n

Three questions are asked: 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? (ver. 3). We know from Ezr 3:12 that there were among the restored remnant ancient men who had seen the first house, and who wept bitterly when they contrasted its former glory with the smallness of the present house among the ruins, and that the gladness of the younger ones (who had just been delivered from Babylon, and whose whole past lives had been in the midst of idolatry and oppression) was almost drowned in the noise of the weeping.<\/p>\n

Now God assures them that the future has brighter things in store than the past had ever known; and He makes this hope the ground of a word of encouragement. Yet now be strong, is His message, for I am with you My Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not (vers. 4, 5).<\/p>\n

Ruin and desolation may have come in; division and scattering may have taken place; but those who are gathered back around Jehovahs centre have the joy of knowing, on the authority of His own Word, that He is in the midst, and His Spirit remaineth among them. Well may they be strong and fear not.<\/p>\n

In like manner is the assurance given to Philadelphia, in the last solemn book of the Bible. The saints may have only a little strength; but His Word and His Name abide, and He, the holy and the true, is in their midst. Division and strife cannot alter this; nor can any particular company of believers claim it to the exclusion of others, as though they alone composed the remnant. For where two or three are gathered together in (or unto) My Name, there am I in the midst of them. By this may every little company of saints be comforted, who morally occupy the ground of the remnant in Haggais day.<\/p>\n

Not only had they the Lords presence, in Spirit, among them, but His coming in person was to be their hope, that thus their hearts might be lifted above their lowly circumstances as they waited for the coming glory. In a little while the heavens and earth, the sea and the dry land, together with all the nations, would be shaken by the power of Jehovah, and then the Desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts (vers. 6, 7). The long-desired One is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. He came once in grace only to be rejected. He is coming again to bring in the glory long foreseen by the prophets of old. To that house (albeit refurbished and enlarged by the Idumean Herod) He came, only to be unrecognized and cast out. To that house, rebuilt in the last days, He will come again to take the kingdom and reign in righteousness.<\/p>\n

The remnant might be too poor to embellish the rebuilt temple, but His are the silver and the gold. Nothing shall hinder the manifestation of the glory when the set time has come. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts (vers. 8, 9). The rendering of the A. V.-the glory of this latter house – is misleading, and has been generally taken by commentators to mean that the rebuilt temple, being hallowed by the personal presence of the Son of God was thus far greater than that of Solomon, despite the grandeur of the one and the paucity of the other. Some have supposed that the architectural beauty of the temple after Herods embellishments even surpassed that of the house, exceeding magnifical, built by the wise king. But this was by no means the case.<\/p>\n

To the first interpretation there could be no real objection. It is beautiful and true in itself, but does not seem to be what is really meant to be conveyed here. The latter glory of this house refers undoubtedly to the millennial splendor of the temple depicted prophetically in Ezekiel 40 to 48. Men may speak of temples or houses of God, He speaks but of the temple, or the house. Whether the building erected by Solomon, Zerubbabel, or Herod, be contemplated; or whether that to be rebuilt by unbelieving Judah in the coming tribulation, or the millennial temple succeeding-all are denominated the house and the temple of God. It is one in His eyes. In that temple of old every whit of it uttered His glory. To that temple He came in grace only to be rejected. In that temple the Man of Sin shall yet sit. Cleansed, that temple shall be the centre of earths worship and thanksgiving for the Millennium. At present, in this interval of the dispensation of the mystery, God owns no material building as His abode. Believers in the aggregate, through the whole church period, are growing into a holy temple in the Lord. All saints on earth at a given time form the house of God, composed of living stones, who have come to the Living Stone.<\/p>\n

Prophecy is not occupied with this spiritual building. It has to do with the earth, and earthly-things.<\/p>\n

In verses 10 to 14 another line of truth is brought in. The transition from what we have been considering seems most abrupt, but doubtless the state of the people demanded it. In reply to a question by Haggai, the priests aver that if one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch articles of common food, the latter are not sanctified thereby and rendered holy. On the other hand, they bear testimony to the solemn fact that one who is unclean by the dead defiles everything he touches, making it unclean likewise. Such was the condition of the people. They were all defiled, and all they did was unclean before God. But this only gave occasion for grace to act; and so, despite their uncleanness, the Lord had taken them up in blessing. But He would have them remember that all has come from His own heart, apart from their deserts. Though defiled, yet when they turned to God and bowed in subjection to Him, He could manifest Himself strong on their behalf.<\/p>\n

So in verses 15 to 19 He contrasts their condition when apathetic in regard to His house, and now, that they are working in accordance with His word. Before, poverty, blasting and mildew were their portion. Now, He has, from the day the foundation of the Lords temple was laid, given increase and plenty, even as He had declared long before that they that honor Me, I will honor; and they that despise Me, shall be lightly esteemed.<\/p>\n

We may be sure none will ever be the loser who puts the claims of God first. From this day will I bless you is a promise for all who judge what is evil and seek to walk in the truth.<\/p>\n

The chapter concludes with another message given the same day. It is addressed alone to Zerubbabel, the uncrowned son of David, who had been appointed governor of Judah. To him the Lord announces the shaking of the heavens and the earth, and the final overthrow of all the kingdoms of the Gentiles, but assures him that he shall abide as a signet before Him, for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts.<\/p>\n

From Zerubbabels loins shall spring the prince, who would seem to be the earthly representative of great Davids greater Son (who likewise came in direct descent from this lowly-minded scion of king David), in the day when all nations acclaim the splendors of the latter glory of this house.<\/p>\n

29 See Notes on the Book of Esther (clo.,75c; pa.,30c).<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Hag 2:7<\/p>\n

I. Jesus was the Desire of all nations-(1) as the Kinsman of the whole human family; (2) because He only could bestow those precious blessings which the world needed; (3) because all nations shall one day be made happy in Him.<\/p>\n

II. He appeared-(1) at the very period marked out for His birth; (2) in the very manner which had been foretold; (3) for the performance of the very work which had been before marked out for Him.<\/p>\n

III. The prophet Haggai mentions certain remarkable events which should distinguish the Messiah’s coming-(1) all nations were to be shaken; (2) the Jewish Temple should be filled with His glory.<\/p>\n

J. N. Norton, Old Paths, p. 11.<\/p>\n

I. Once Christ was the Desire of all nations, even though when He came unto His own His own received Him not, and was in very truth despised and rejected of men. Nevertheless, of this there can be no doubt, that the world, by woful experience, had learned its need, had found out its want of a Saviour. His first coming was looked to with desire. Let us ask our consciences whether we look to His second coming with anything but dismay and dread. It took four thousand years to make men feel their want of a Saviour; it has taken but half that time to make one moiety of those who, nevertheless, call themselves by His name, to live in practical unbelief; and the other moiety to regard His second coming with terror, and not with joy.<\/p>\n

II. What made Him the Desire of all nations? It was this, they wanted some hope, some refuge beyond this miserable world. Their present was dark; their future was darker still. The pleasures of sin for a season-that made up their life. And death was unredeemed with one single ray of brightness. Remorse they might know; despair might haunt them: but of the peace and consolations of a faithful follower of Jesus they had never tasted. No wonder that a Saviour from themselves, and from sin and death, was the “Desire of all nations.”<\/p>\n

III. Ours is the last twilight of the world. Ages ago we were warned that we were in the last times, and so we are brought to the thought of that second coming of Him who, at His first coming, was the Desire of all nations. To that we must look; for the signs of that coming we must watch. Are we preparing for it? Are we trying at least to desire our Lord’s return? It is only in the way of watchfulness and prayer that this desire can be attained.<\/p>\n

E. W. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. i., p. 1.<\/p>\n

I. There is a Desire of all nations; something all human beings are vaguely longing for which would put them right. Many of them do not know it, but it is Jesus Christ. Every human being that ever lived, who felt that this world would not do, and that he must have more to satisfy and give rest, was blindly desiring Christ, was stretching vague hands through the darkness after Him. In old phrase which use has emptied of all real meaning to many of us, He is the satisfying portion of the soul.<\/p>\n

II. It is a great thing, if a sorrowful too, about the human heart, that it cannot be satisfied. It marks our Divine original, that we never can for long enjoy the real satisfiedness of ruminating cattle, that have got all they want. What all men seek-unawares seek-is Christ. The happy days that do not come, the quiet content that surely will be reached at last-all are in Him, and in the life and the home to which He would lead us if we would but go.<\/p>\n

A. K. H. B., From a Quiet Place, p. 131.<\/p>\n

References: Hag 2:7.-E. Dukes, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 248; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 357, vol. iv., p. 312; G. Huntington, Sermons for the Holy Seasons of the Church, p. 1; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 408. Hag 2:8, Hag 2:9.-J. C. Hare, Sermons in Herstmonceux Church, vol. ii., p. 101. Hag 2:11-14.-Ibid., p. 123. Hag 2:13, Hag 2:14.-Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes to Malachi, p. 362. Hag 2:17.-Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 218. Hag 2:19.-A. Scott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 268. Hag 2:20-23.-J. C. Hare, Sermons in Herstmonceux Church, vol. ii., p. 143.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:9<\/p>\n

I. These words refer to the first and the second temple at Jerusalem. The first temple was burnt by the Chaldees, and the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, and the people carried captive to Babylon, and it was more than fifty years after that the foundation of the second house was laid. It was an occasion to stir up mixed feelings among the people. The glory of their nation had passed away. They came back as exiles, by the permission of a foreign power, to the land that their fathers had conquered. Hope and recollection struggled against each other, when they dwelt by turns on the state from which they had been cast down, and on their hopes of restoration. Jehovah would not manifest Himself in the same degree as He had before to a people who were suffering the punishment of their backslidings; and the house they had built Him was but a poor copy of the temple that had perished. Yet Haggai promised that this second temple in its poverty should be more glorious than the first, because the desire of all nations, even Christ Himself, should come to it, and the Lord of hosts should fill it with glory.<\/p>\n

II. This teaches us that it is not the house, but the presence that sanctifies the house, that constitutes its glory. It rests with us to hinder or help the work of God according as we seek God here in earnest, or let our hearts go after covetousness.<\/p>\n

Archbishop Thomson, Lincoln’s Inn Sermons, p. 390.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Sermon Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CHAPTER 2:1-9 <\/p>\n

The Third Address<\/p>\n

Over a month later, after a good deal of work had been done, the prophet delivered his third message. He is commanded to speak to the same company, headed by Zerubbabel and Joshua; but here the remnant of the people, the exiles who had returned, is also included. If we consult Ezr 3:12 we find that many old men, who had seen the temple of Solomon, burst out in weeping when the small foundation was laid for the new temple. A similar feeling possessed the people when they resumed the temple work after Haggais first message. In comparison with the former temple, so grand and glorious, the new temple was a feeble and insignificant affair. The prophet begins his message by asking, Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory, and how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes as nothing? No doubt there was additional weeping when the prophet asked these questions.<\/p>\n

Haggai then becomes the prophet of comfort and of hope. Yet now be strong is in literal translation, And now be comforted, O Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah; be comforted all the people of the land, saith Jehovah; for I am with you saith the LORD of Hosts. They were discouraged on account of the smallness of their cause. It is then when the Lord delights to comfort and to cheer his trusting people. He was with His people, though now no longer a mighty host as of old, but only a small remnant; yet He had not forgotten the Word which He covenanted with them, when He brought them out of Egypt with an outstretched arm. My Spirit abideth among you; fear ye not. And that should be enough. His Spirit was dwelling with them to execute His work, and be their strength. The gift of the Spirit in New Testament times is something greater than this. After the finished work of our Lord and His glorification, the third Person of the Godhead came in person to indwell every member of the Body of Christ.<\/p>\n

Hab 1:6-9 contain the great prophecy concerning the future. It takes us beyond the time of Haggai, past this present age, and puts before our hearts the same great and glorious day when Christ comes again, when there shall be greater glory and peace. The question is, who is the desire of all nations? It merits a closer examination, for the critics have labored to explain away the Messianic meaning of this sentence and rob it of its true meaning. For instance, Canon Driver, in The New Century Bible makes the following comment: The desirable things of all nations shall come, i.e., their costly treasures will be brought to beautify the temple. The Hebrew is a peculiar phrase; the subject is a noun, feminine, singular; the predicate is a plural masculine. The word chemdath–desire, is the same as used in Dan 11:37, the desire of women. If literally translated it would read thus: And the desire of all nations, they shall come. The Septuagint therefore translates it, the choice things of all nations shall come; others have rendered it in the following ways: The things desired by all nations shall come, with the interpretation that it is the gospel; all the Gentiles shall come with their delightful things; the beauty of all the heathen; they shall come to the desire of all nations; with the desire of all nations; the choicest of all nations (that is the best of them) will come, etc. With all these suggested renderings of the difficult phrase there can be no question that it points to Christ, and must be interpreted as a great Messianic prophecy. The most ancient comments are on this line altogether. Christ is the object of the desire of all nations. This does not necessarily mean that He is subjectively the desire of the nations, but He is objectively, for through Him alone the nations can be blest and receive the righteousness and peace which they need.<\/p>\n

First, the announcement is made, I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. Have these convulsions been? While there have been shakings of kingdoms in the political sense, and the earth has often been shaken physically and otherwise, this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit bears witness to it in the New Testament, for we read in Heb 12:26-28, Whose voice then (at Sinai in a physical manifestation) shook the earth; but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only but also heaven. And the word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved (the coming kingdom and not the church) let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. This settles the question as to the futurity of this prophecy. Critics have objected to this interpretation on account of the statement that this universal shaking is to be in a little while. They apply it therefore to the nearer political events of that period. But the future in prophecy is often fore-shortened, and besides this, the little while is not mans little while, but Gods; with Him a thousand years is as a day. Furthermore, in the political events of the times which followed the restoration of the Jews from Babylon not all nations were involved. The prophecy before us declares, I will shake all nations; this, too, is future. The Messiah, spoken of next as the desire of all nations, came the first time, but His coming did not bring the blessing and glory to nations as predicted here, nor did the promised peace come. He made peace in His sacrificial death; the foundation for peace on earth was then laid, as well as for the great future blessing of all the nations. But the Jews delivered Him into the hands of the Gentiles, and the Gentiles treated Him as did the Jews. In anticipation of His rejection He said, Think not that I am come to bring peace, but the sword. Then followed the present age, unknown with its mystery, the church, to the prophets. It will close with the shaking of all nations, when the King-Messiah will appear again and bring the promised blessing to all nations. The silver and gold, which belong to the Lord, will then be brought by the nations. Isa 60:5.<\/p>\n

It is important to read the ninth verse in the right way, as our Authorized Version is incorrect. It does not say in the Hebrew, The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former, but the Hebrew is, The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith the LORD of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts. The house of course is the temple. The visible glory dwelt once in the former house; the day is coming when there will be greater glory, the day of His glorious manifestation; then in connection with His coming and that coming restoration, He will give peace.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

seventh month <\/p>\n

i.e. October. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

the seventh: Hag 2:10, Hag 2:20, Hag 1:15 <\/p>\n

the prophet: Heb. the hand of the prophet, etc. Hag 1:1, 2Pe 1:21 <\/p>\n

Reciprocal: Ezr 3:13 – So that Zec 1:1 – the eighth Mal 1:1 – by<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

ABOUT FOUR WEEKS later there came another message from the Lord through the prophet Haggai, and this time it was a word of encouragement. It was specially addressed to the very old people, who might have some recollection of the magnificence of Solomon’s temple, and consequently realize how inferior was any temple that they could hope to raise. The encouragement ministered was twofold. It had first a present aspect and then a future one.<\/p>\n

But first let us note how this record bears upon ourselves today. There has been, in the history of the professing church some recovery of truth and some reversion to the simplicity of things, as ordered of God by His Spirit at the beginning, analogous to this return of a remnant to the place where God had placed His name, and had His house long before. The devoted saints of God, who had some part in this recovery, must surely have been conscious that anything of an outward nature into which they came, was far below the greatness of that which was established visibly on the Day of Pentecost, when three thousand were converted, and ‘continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers’ (Act 2:42). It would indeed be good if we today were fully conscious of the smallness and feebleness of all that is in our hands, if compared with the greatness of that which originally was instituted of God.<\/p>\n

And if we are duly impressed with this fact, and therefore liable to be somewhat depressed by the contrast we observe, we may be cheered as we discover how the word of encouragement ministered through Haggai, has a remarkable application to ourselves.<\/p>\n

The encouragement in its present aspect we find in verses Hag 2:4-5. Not only did God pledge His presence with them, but He added, ‘The word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, and My Spirit, remain among you: fear ye not’ (New Trans.). He cast them back upon the integrity of the word to direct their ways, which He gave at the beginning of His dealings with them, and the guidance and power of His Spirit, who was still among them. If we were asked what are the resources still available for saints today, we should have to answer that we still have the authentic word of God, dating, ‘from the beginning’, as the Apostle John so frequently reminds us in his epistles; and then that the Holy Spirit, who was shed forth on the Day of Pentecost, still indwells the saints, and therefore, if ungrieved, His power is still available for us. So we too need not fear, though opponents are many and difficulties persist.<\/p>\n

As to the future there was also a word of encouragement though a time of judgment was to come. The very earth on which man lives, together with the heavens that envelop it, are to be shaken, as well as all the nations that inhabit it. The instability of themselves, and of all that surrounded them, had to be feared by the Jews of that day. And we have to face it also for as we reach the end of Heb 12:1-29, we find these words of Haggai quoted as applying to the end of the age. His words, ‘Yet once’, are quoted as, ‘Yet once more’, and therefore as applying to such a final removing of every shakeable thing, that it never needs to be repeated.<\/p>\n

And when that great shaking takes place, ‘the desire of all nations’ will come and the house of God be filled with glory. Now Christ personally can hardly be spoken of as the ‘desire’ of all nations, since when He shall appear in glory, so that every eye sees Him, ‘all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him’ (Rev 1:7). But though this is so, the nations have ever desired such peace and fruitful. ness, such prosperity, and quietness and assurance for ever, as is predicted in Isa 32:15-18. These very desirable things will only come to pass and be enjoyed when the Lord Jesus comes again; and hence, we judge, this prophetic word does look on to the advent of Christ. When He comes, He will bring these blessings to men, and glory to the house of God.<\/p>\n

The better translation of verse Hag 2:9 appears to be, ‘The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former’. The house of God in Jerusalem is considered as one, though broken down and rebuilt on several occasions, and the glory of its final form will outshine even its first glory as built by Solomon, when visible glory filled the building; so much so that the priests could not enter. That final glory was seen in vision by Ezekiel, as he records at the beginning of Eze 43:1-27. We can thank God that the same thing will be true in regard to the church. Its latter end, when invested with the glory of Christ, will exceed all that marked it at the beginning.<\/p>\n

One further item of encouragement was presented through Haggai – ‘in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts’. Now we think it would be true to say that no city has had a more tempestuous history, and endured more sieges, than Jerusalem; indeed even today we hear Palestine spoken of as ‘the cockpit of the nations’; and so indeed it is going to be, as Zec 14:2 declares; yet the place of peace it will ultimately prove to be. <\/p>\n

Now let us carefully note that all this blessing, glory and peace, to be reached after the predicted mighty shaking, is not going to be reached as the result of human effort or the fruit of human faithfulness, for it is God declaring what He will bring to pass as the fruit of His sovereign mercy. The returned remnant had now responded to the word of rebuke and set their faces in the right direction, and what greater encouragement than for God to tell them, while still in felt weakness, what He proposed ultimately to bring to pass.<\/p>\n

It is even so with us today. We are in weakness – and happy are we if it is felt weakness – but if our hearts are set in the right direction, seeking the furtherance of God’s present work in grace, we may find great encouragement and joy as we consider the New Testament predictions as to the future glory of the church in association with Christ, reached according to God’s sovereign purpose. We look, as Jude tells us in his epistle, for ‘mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life’. We shall reach glory, not as the fruit of our merit, but of His mercy.<\/p>\n

A little more than two months passed and then the Lord saw that the people, now busy in His work, needed another message and this time a word of warning. It was addressed more particularly to the priests though it concerned the work of all the people. Two questions were raised with them concerning their work: one recorded in verse Hag 2:12, and the reverse question in verse 13. The priests had to admit that what is unclean and unholy is infectious and therefore defiling, what is holy and clean is not transmitted in the same way. Here is a matter of much importance from a spiritual standpoint.<\/p>\n

The principle is illustrated even in natural things. Everyone knows that if a rotten apple is placed in a box of good ones, the rottenness will soon spread; whereas no one imagines that rotten apples will be made good by placing a few sound ones among them. In the temple service this matter had to be observed, and like all these outward observances under the law, the point has an inward and spiritual instruction for us. Let us heed it, since we have the defiling ‘flesh’ within as well as the defiling ‘world’ without.<\/p>\n

The application that Haggai had to make of these questions was calculated to have a searching and sobering effect upon the people. Stirred up, as they had been, to put their hands to the work of building the house, there would have been a tendency towards self complacency as though all was as it should be. They were plainly told it was not so, but that what was imperfect and unclean marked their best work. A humbling lesson for them – and for us also. If some little reviving is granted to us today in the mercy of God, how easily the defilements of the flesh creep in: how quickly we may become like the early Christians in Galatia, who though beginning ‘in the Spirit’, proceeded as though they might be ‘made perfect by the flesh’ (Gal 3:3).<\/p>\n

But having warned them as to the imperfection that marked their work, the prophet proceeded to assure them that in spite of it the blessing of God rested upon them. In contrast to the times of scarcity and blasting and mildew, that they had experienced while they neglected the house of God and set themselves to embellish their own houses, they now saw the hand of God working in their favour, giving them plenty of earth’s good things. Thus it is today. There are elements of failure and uncleanness in all our service, but in spite of that, if the heart be right, we may expect spiritual blessing from God.<\/p>\n

The frequent occurrence of the word, ‘Consider’, in this short prophecy is worthy of note. Twice in the first section did the prophet have to say to the people, ‘Consider your ways’. And now in this later section the word occurs thrice – verses Hag 2:15; Hag 2:18 – and we find the prophet saying in effect, ‘Consider God’s ways’. He delights to own any measure of energy and faithfulness in His service, even though there is a measure of uncleanness and failure connected with it, and to respond to it in blessing. In our present feebleness, conscious of failure, proceeding both from the flesh within and the world without, we may take much comfort from this. <\/p>\n

The last section begins with verse 20. We have had, what we have ventured to call, the word of rebuke, followed by the word of encouragement, and then the word of warning. We now have what we may call the word of exaltation, addressed personally to Zerubbabel, who was a prince of David’s line, as stated in Mat 1:12. The last verse of the chapter doubtless had some application to the man himself. Kingdoms would be overthrown, as predicted in Dan 11:1-45, but he would be as a signet-ring, by which God would establish His decrees. How this worked out for Zerubbabel we know not, but we believe the Spirit of God had in view, not so much some temporary exaltation of this man, but the permanent exaltation of One whom he typified; even our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Viewing it thus, we seem to have here an Old Testament forecast of what is more definitely stated when we read of our Lord that, ‘All the promises of God in Him are Yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us’ (2Co 1:20). Only here of course the thought is greatly amplified. Christ is He who will not only set forth and establish, as under the stamp of a signet-ring, all God’s purposes, expressed in His promises, but also carry them to their fulness and completion so that at last the great ‘Amen’ can be said. The Apostle Paul added the words ‘by us’, because he was dealing there with what God had promised for the saints today, such as ourselves.<\/p>\n

So Haggai finishes with a prediction that points to the coming exaltation of the One whom we worship as our Saviour and our Lord. He does so in a typical and symbolic way, some centuries before His first advent in lowly humiliation. We wait for their fulfilment in a far more glorious way than Haggai can have known, when at His second advent He appears in great glory.<\/p>\n

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Hag 2:1. This chapter begins about a month later than the close of the preceding one. In that time the work on the temple has gone forward to the point of getting the foundation laid. That made it possible to see something of the appearance of the completed building when that time came.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Hag 2:1-3. In the seventh month, &c. For the further encouragement of the people to proceed in rebuilding the temple, Haggai was sent again to them, about a month after he had been sent the first time, to assure them from God, that the glory of this latter temple, how little appearance soever there might be of it now, should be greater than that of the former. This message, or prophecy, of Haggai, was communicated a little before Zechariah was sent to them for the like purpose. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? About sixty-six years had elapsed from the destruction of the former temple, (before Christ 587,) to the time when this prophecy was delivered; (see notes on Ezr 6:15, and Blairs tables;) nevertheless, it appears by this question of the prophet, that some of the Jews there present had seen the former temple when young, before they were carried to Babylon, and could remember what a magnificent building it was. Is it not in your eyes as nothing That is, in comparison of the former. The words are an elegant Hebraism. We learn from Ezr 3:12, (where see the note,) that when the foundation of the second temple was laid, in the second year of Cyrus, many of the ancient men, that had seen the first house, wept to see how much this second was likely to fall short of the glory of it. Undoubtedly the slender substance of the Jews at this time, and the haste they were in to rebuild the temple, that they might have a place for public worship, made them lay the foundation of it at first of much smaller dimensions than those of the former temple, and also to build it with less strength and magnificence.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Hag 2:3. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory?Is it not in your eyes as nothing? Josephus properly ascribes this to the poverty and weak state of the jews. The simile is a hyperbole, a figure common to all writers. Erasmus in Naufragium, describing a tempest at sea, asks his friend, Did you ever see the Alps? Being answered in the affirmative, he adds, Those mountains are mere molehills compared with the swells of the ocean.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:4-5. Be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, for I am with you, according to the word I covenanted with you, when ye came out of Egypt. The rich blessings of the covenant, when they had short harvests, and the promised presence of Jehovah, were the two strongest arguments the prophet could use. But in the next words, blessings follow beyond all estimation.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:6. Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. The apostle expounds these words of the removal of all idolatrous powers, to establish the kingdom of Christ, which cannot be shaken. Heb 12:27. This shaking of all nations was not effectuated by the feeble jews, Judea being then but a province of Persia, but by the Roman conquests. They conquered the world, and formed a great empire, from Persia in the east, to Britain in the north, Spain in the west, and Africa in the south. The character of their government was tolerant to all temples, and to all gods. Cicero calls them the most religious of all nations. In the Roman times, the holy scriptures were translated into Greek. Synagogues of the jews were established in all the great cities, and one fifth of the jewish nation were proselyted from the gentiles. Thus the vallies were exalted, and the mountains and hills brought low. Thus the way, in the fulness of time, as had been foretold, was prepared for the Messiah to appear in the flesh.<\/p>\n

Add to these, that the temple of Janus was shut, a temple of commemoration of the peace which reigned in the days of Noah, as stated on Isa 41:1. Of those times Vola says, <\/p>\n

O th green they played, In joyful mood, Nor knew at all The want of good. DR. HENDERSON.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:7. And the Desire of all nations shall come. kol ha-gojim ubau chemdoth. The text of Montanus reads thus. When the holy prophets speak of the Messiah, it is with brevity, deference, and modesty. Of this the enemies of Christ watch to take advantage. The carnal jews were so grossly ignorant of Christ as to think that he would be a secular king, exalting them, and making millions of others slaves. Chemdoth, though plural, is used both of persons and of desirable things. Of persons, as of Saul, when the prophet said, On whom is all the desire of Israel. Is it not on thee, and on thy fathers house? 1Sa 9:20. Also of king Jehoshaphat. 2Ch 21:2. Of Daniel, as a man greatly desired or beloved: Dan 9:23. In the text, the note of admiration by which it is introduced, sufficiently indicates that it regards the Hope and the Desire of Israel. Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come. This coincides with Mal 3:1. Jehovah, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple. He was the Desire of all the patriarchs, the Hope of Israel, and expectation of all the ends of the earth. Job in the land of Uz calls him his Redeemer; and Balaam foretold the Star that should rise out of Jacob.<\/p>\n

The opinion of the more enlightened rabbins coincides with these illustrations. The paraphrase of rabbi Aquila, as cited in Pooles Synopsis, is, I will give the Israelites but a small kingdom, after the destruction of the first, [temple] and after that, I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the Messiah shall come. To this we join the testimony of rabbi Jarchi, who says, that the jews understood this passage of the Messiah. The Chaldaic targum on Jer 31:6, as in Dr. Lightfoot, reads, The watchman upon mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God. This targum restricts the joy to those who desire the Consolation of Israel. And without a doubt St. Paul so understood it in those words, when speaking of Christ, The Hopethe blessed hopethe hope of the promise to the twelve tribes. 1Ti 1:1. Tit 2:13. Act 28:20. This Chemdoth, Desire, or Consolation, was Israels only hope, and so strong, that in sacred things they swore by it. See examples in Lightfoot, on Luk 2:25. This same Dr. Lightfoot, to whom foreign divines pay the greatest deference, repeatedly in his works calls the Messiah the Desire of all nations. We cannot part with Christ in this text for unitarian vessels of gold and silver.<\/p>\n

Why then does archbishop Newcome in an extended note, employ all his Hebrew acumen in researches for the small number of texts where the word chemdoth is applied to desirable things, as vases of gold and silver. Is not this an utter degradation of the prophets, as though they were ministers of mammon? Why are the bishops, Reynolds, Pearson, Taylor, Bull, and Horsley excluded from his illustrations? The learned Dr. Grabe of Holland has reprinted Bulls defence of the Nicene fathers, with short notes. I know of no book like that which can save the clergy from destruction. How mortifying it is to read the following sentence. He will shake or stir up all nations, that those nations may bring their desirable things; that the house shall be filled with Gods glory, and that the silver and the gold they bring by way of gifts are the Lords.<\/p>\n

But why play on the tense or the number of the verb bo, to come, that no manuscript supports the reading in the English text. Jerome, in the fifth century, when nothing but manuscripts existed, reads nearly as the English. Et veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus. And the desired One of all nations shall come. Jeromes reading is supported by the rabbins. All Hebrew grammarians admit the frequent interchange of the future and the present tense. A certain author himself admits it in a comment on Neh 4:5. Turn their reproach; their reproach shall be turned. Give them for a prey; they shall be given for a prey.Cover not their iniquity; their iniquity shall not be covered. The prophets when speaking of Christ mostly prefer the present tense, as in Psa 40:7. Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me. The old testament is full of Christ. See more on Jer 30:21; Jer 31:22.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:9. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former. These were words of comfort to the aged men, who had wept at its diminutive structure, when compared with that of Solomons, whose glory they had seen. They saw its exterior was deficient in magnitude and splendour, and its interior had lost the book of the law, the autograph of Moses, the golden urn of manna, the almond rod that budded, the fire that fell from heaven, and the shekinah of Jehovahs presence. Still farther to comfort them, the prophet adds, I will fill this house with my glory, as at the dedication of the first temple. Nay, more than eye hath seen, or ear heard. Jehovah whom you seek shall suddenly come to this temple, and fill it with the glory of the only-begotten of the Father; Messiah full of grace and truth. The great Architype shall there begin to build the living temple; shall adorn his saints with gifts and graces; shall send the law of the new covenant out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall publish peace to the heathen, and usher in the superior glory of the latter day. He shall change the ceremonial waters into delicious wine.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:12-13. If one bear holy flesh, being some joint of a sin-offering, in the skirt of his garment, and shall touch bread, &c.; shall all the food so touched be holy? The priests answered, no; for the blood of atonement was an oblation to the Lord. The altar sanctified the gift and the blood sanctified all it touched, as in Lev 6:27. Yet it did not authorize the person to communicate sanctity. The prophet then asked, if one unclean by touching the dead shall touch any food, shall it be unclean? The priests said, it shall be unclean. Haggai having thus procured a text from the priests, had gained a grand point; they could not now take exceptions to the severity of his addresses. He therefore pronounced the nation unclean by their habits of sin; he declared that all their worship, and all their lives, had one character of impurity, defiling all their heart, and all their soul.From these two questions we may gather one conclusion, that legal defilement was much more easy to communicate than legal purity.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:16. Since those days, that you robbed the altar, and starved the priests for want of bread, when you came to thresh your corn, expecting twenty measures, the usual produce of an acre, you found but ten. Heaven, in dealing with a degenerate people, observes the old law, lex talionis, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. From the beginning of the world men have been saved by faith. How can a man dwell with God, who cannot trust a God!<\/p>\n

REFLECTIONS.<\/p>\n

Haggai foretels that the glory of the second temple, which was built after the captivity, should be much greater than that of the first which Solomon had built, and which had been burnt by the Chaldeans. Here it must be observed that the temple of Solomon was much richer, and more magnificent than that built in the time of Haggai; but that nevertheless the glory of the second would be much greater because the Messiah was to enter into it. This prophecy, the truth and accomplishment of which can be shown no other way, plainly foretels that the Messiah should come whilst the second temple was standing; and as that temple no longer subsists, we must necessarily confess that the Messiah is come, and that this Messiah is Jesus Christ our Lord. This is one of the clearest and most express prophecies in all the old testament.<\/p>\n

It must farther be remarked, that according to the predictions of Haggai, the Persian and Grecian monarchies, which opposed the jews, were destroyed, as that of the Babylonians had been; that the jews were supported in their own land; that Zerubbabel and his descendants subsisted in a glorious state for a very long time; and that at length our Lord was born of his posterity. Thus have the predictions of the prophets always been fulfilled, and the promises of God never failed of being put into execution.<\/p>\n

We leave the company of Haggai full of regrets that we have not heard more of the gracious words that fell from his lips. His ministry was a word in season to the dormant jews; he was rich in argument, and forcible in words. He foresaw the Lord always before him, and being on his right hand, he was unmoved by the insolence of his unbelieving countrymen, such as the men who mocked the ministry of Malachi.<\/p>\n

He was strong in faith; the Desire of all nations shall come. God cannot lie; he that shall come will come. Messiah must have a temple; Israel must have a sanctuary; and the gentile sheep a fold. Therefore be strong, oh Zerubbabel, and all ye people of the land; the Lord is with you. Hope and glory are before you. Oh that our hearts were but quickened to more lively apprehensions of divine things, by sermons so brilliant.<\/p>\n

He reproves the people as lost in sin, and polluting all they touched, and all they did. And how can christians enter religious assemblies in their sins. How can they frequent theatres on the week nights, and attend the ordinances of the Lords house on the sabbath. How long shall this tradesman repeat his confessions on Sunday, and his drunkenness at the Mondays market.<\/p>\n

While the prophet addresses them in the terrific language of conscience, he bears in his hand the rod. He comes as the messenger of God with powers to shut and open heaven, to give and to deny the rain. On reformation of manners, on recommencing the work of the temple, he pledges his character on the promises of God, that from that very day the Lord would bless them with corn, and wine, and oil. Certainly we should regard short harvests as the restrictions of Jehovahs hand. In 1795, the severity of the winter injured the wheat; in 1799, the rains commenced in June, and continued for twelve weeks; in 1800, the crops were deficient, and wheat continued at eighteen shillings per bushel.<\/p>\n

Haggais address to his unbelieving countrymen, rousing them from their sloth and indolence, in having so long neglected the building of the Lords house, under pretense that the time was not fully come, is well adapted for our admonition; for there is still the same disposition to defer any important undertaking, on the plea of some present difficulty, or the hope of a more favourable opportunity. It is owing to this that so little is done or attempted to be done for God, that so few efforts are made for introducing the gospel into dark places within our reach, and that numbers of immortal souls are left to perish in ignorance and unbelief. The same plea furnishes others with an excuse for neglecting and putting off to some future time the great concerns of their own souls, thinking that when some intricate affairs are settled, or some favourite point gained, then they will turn their attention more seriously to the things which belong to their peace. Thus they presume to venture a little longer, and a little longer, till all is over with them, and a dying hour comes upon them unawares. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Hag 2:1-9. Haggais Sermon on October 21.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:1 f. is mainly editorial. The work begun on Sep. 24 had consisted mainly of preparation, the actual rebuilding is now begun. Hag 2:3 has reference to the simplicity of the design which was necessitated by the builders poverty. Ezr 3:12 f. is probably a picturesque inference from this passage. Ezr 1:6-11; Ezr 6:8 ff. are at variance with the natural meaning of Haggais words. Hag 2:5 a seems to be a mutilated and misplaced fragment. Read, for I am with you, and my spirit abideth among you. The heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land is an idiomatic way of saying the whole world, which to Haggai meant the vast Persian empire. The shaking refers to the revolts which broke out in various parts of the empire early in the reign of Darius, which Haggai expected to end in the downfall of Persia and the consequent freedom and enrichment of the Jews. Neither he nor Zechariah shows the slightest goodwill or gratitude towards Persia. The terms desirable things and glory denote national riches. After Hag 2:9 the LXX has a curious addition, probably not original, which, it is supposed, corresponds to a Heb. clause meaning and quietness of soul to restore all the foundation, to raise up the Temple. Its author seems rightly to have understood the address on Oct. 21 as having been delivered at the laying of the foundation stone. The date in Hag 2:18 is probably a mistaken repetition from Hag 2:10 and should be omitted.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

THE THIRD MESSAGE.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:1-9.<\/p>\n

The remnant has been stirred up to “work in the house of the LORD.” There is, however, in a day of ruin, the ever present danger of being discouraged in the LORD’S work, because of the smallness of apparent results, and the little outward display. To meet this danger, and to encourage the remnant to continue in the work of the house of the LORD, a third message is sent by the prophet. In this message the remnant are asked to look back to the glory of the house in the past (1-3); they are reminded of their resources in the present (4, 5); and they are encouraged to look on to the coming glory in the future (6-9).<\/p>\n

(Vv. 1-3). First, then, this remnant was faced with the ever present danger of being discouraged by their outward weakness, and thus of despising the day of small things. The prophet does not seek to minimize their weakness: on the contrary, he would have the remnant to face it by looking back and comparing the past glory of the house with their own work. Solomon, in his day, had built the house in circumstances of power and wealth, and unhampered by opposition; and some in their midst could recall the glory of that house. Now a remnant are called to build the house in circumstances of poverty and weakness, beset by opposition, and in the presence of reproach. The work of this feeble remnant may appear “as nothing” in comparison with the former glory of the house. None the less they were doing the LORD’S work according to the LORD’S mind in a day of ruin. This being so it is a work in which the LORD can take pleasure, and be glorified (Hag 1:8).<\/p>\n

So in this our day; to maintain the great principles of the house of God in a day of ruin, will make no display before the world, and in the eyes of many Christians will appear “as nothing.” Seeing that the flesh loves to be important, and seeks display, such circumstances of outward weakness become a great test for our faith. One has said, “How hard it is to receive that the work of God and His Christ is always in weakness! The rulers of the people saw in Peter and John unlearned and ignorant men. Paul’s weakness at Corinth was the trial of his friends, the taunt of his enemies, the boast of himself. The Lord’s strength is made perfect in weakness…. Everything must rest on God’s power, otherwise God’s work cannot be done according to His mind.”<\/p>\n

(Vv. 4, 5). Thus, in spite of all their outward weakness, the remnant are encouraged to be strong in the LORD’S work. To this end, they are further reminded of their present resources.<\/p>\n

First, they are reminded again of the LORD’S presence: “I am with you saith the LORD of hosts.” In a day of weakness they are encouraged to be strong; nevertheless, let them ever remember that the source of their strength is the presence of the LORD. So in our day, in the presence of opposition we are exhorted to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Eph 6:10).<\/p>\n

Secondly, “the word” of the LORD remained in all its force as much as in the days of old when they came out of Egypt. For ourselves, are we not specially reminded that, in a day of ruin, we have the inspired Scriptures for our guidance? so that however great the failure of the Christian profession “the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2Ti 3:16-17).<\/p>\n

Thirdly, for their encouragement, the LORD says, “My Spirit remaineth among you.” In the days of old there was a mighty display of the power of God, when “He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up; and He led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.” In their present circumstances there was nothing that answered to this miraculous display of power. They had indeed been delivered from Babylon, but no cloud by day, or pillar of fire by night, had marked their way; no rock was smitten to quench their thirst; no manna was given to meet their hunger. All outward tokens of power were gone, but, in the mercy of God, the Spirit remained with the same power, though now displayed, not in outward show, but, in spiritual power that enabled faith to rise above every adversary and care for the glory of the LORD.<\/p>\n

Nor is it otherwise in our day. Of the Spirit, the Lord can say, He will “abide with you for ever” (Joh 14:16). No longer is His power displayed in an outward way by miracles, and tongues, as in the day of Pentecost; but He is still present to guide us into all truth, to show us things to come, and take of the things of Christ and show them unto us. Thus, like the remnant of old, if we seek to maintain the principles of the house of God, we shall find we have the presence of the Lord with us, the word of God to guide us, and the Spirit of God to unfold that word and lead our hearts to Christ. Thus, whatever the difficulties of the day, we may take heart as we hear the Lord say to us, as to the remnant of old, “Fear ye not” (verse 5).<\/p>\n

(Vv. 6-9). Having recalled the glory of the house in the past, and reminded the remnant of their resources in the present, the word of the LORD by the prophet gives them further encouragement by directing their thoughts to the future coming of Christ, and the power and glory of His appearing. At the moment, the work in connection with the house of God looked “as nothing” compared with its past glory. But faith is encouraged to view their work in relation to the coming glory. Christ – the desire of all nations – is coming, and, in that day, all the great works of men, that today look so imposing, will be shaken. The setting up of Christ’s kingdom will be introduced by the judgment, and setting aside, of the kingdoms of men. Then the house of God will be filled with the glory of God, and the latter glory will be greater than the former.<\/p>\n

In the day of the remnant the world empires looked very imposing, and the work of the remnant in connection with the house of God appeared to be very insignificant; but whatever the outward appearance might be, as to fact, the remnant were engaged with a work which will last, and be displayed with all the glory of the Lord when the mightiest kingdoms of the earth have crumbled to dust and passed away. In that day of glory it will be seen that this feeble remnant, in the day of their greatest weakness, were in reality connected with the mighty purposes of God so soon to be displayed in glory.<\/p>\n

For our comfort, and encouragement, the Apostle Paul uses this prophecy to sustain God’s people in the path of faith, in this our day. He reminds us that the seen things, that are so imposing in the world today, are things that can be shaken, and therefore will be removed. But God’s people are connected with a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Therefore, he says, “Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Heb 12:25-29). If we are working, and serving God, in the line of His purpose, however feeble our work may appear to be, it will last when all the earth shall be moved away.<\/p>\n

To walk in the light of the truth of the house of God, and thus walk worthy of our calling, will make no great show before the world, and, in this day of ruin, may entail the contempt and reproach of many of God’s people who prefer the ease and display of man’s religious systems, but, in the day of the coming glory it will be seen that such were in the line of God’s purpose, and, though they had but little strength, yet, in the day of glory they will have an honoured place as pillars in the temple of God (Rev 3:12).<\/p>\n

THE FOURTH MESSAGE.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:10-19.<\/p>\n

The fourth message conveys a deeply important truth that we do well to lay to heart. It clearly shows that the root of all failure with the remnant of that day, as with the people of God in this day, can be traced to a low moral condition. In other words we are warned that outward activity in the service of the Lord will not prosper unless accompanied with a right moral condition.<\/p>\n

Further we learn that this moral condition can only be maintained by separation from that which we know to be contrary to the word. In that day the remnant could only rightly take up the work of the LORD as they kept apart from that which was unclean according to the law. Today, in the midst of the corruptions of Christendom the believer that calls upon the Name of the Lord is to withdraw from iniquity, and purge himself from every vessel to dishonour if he is to be “meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”<\/p>\n

(Vv. 11-13). The question that the LORD addresses to the priests brings into prominence two important truths that should govern the practice of those who desire to answer to His mind in a day of ruin. On the one hand, we learn that that which is holy cannot cleanse by association; on the other hand, that which is unclean can defile by association. It follows that the common notion that we can cleanse the world by association with it, or help the people of God by association with the corrupt systems in which they maybe found, is a fallacy, end worse, for to act thus, is not only no help to others, but we ourselves become defiled – for that which is unclean defiles by association.<\/p>\n

(Vv. 14-17). Alas! the remnant of Haggai had been acting on this false principle with the result that the work of their hands was, in the sight of the LORD, unclean. In consequence the LORD had dealt with them in governmental discipline and smitten them “with blasting and with mildew.”<\/p>\n

(Vv. 18, 19). Nevertheless, we are permitted to see, that, however great the failure of God’s people, if they repent and act in obedience to the word, they will be blessed. Thus, directly the remnant take up the work of the house, the LORD can say, “from this day I will bless you.”<\/p>\n

Has this solemn warning, and yet deep encouragement, no voice for the Lord’s people today? On the one hand are we not warned that any departure in practice from the light that God has given us as to the principles of His house will bring upon us the discipline of God; while, on the other hand, if in obedience to the word we act in the light of the truth we shall at once be blessed?<\/p>\n

THE FIFTH MESSAGE.<\/p>\n

Hag 2:20-23.<\/p>\n

(Vv. 20-22). The last message is addressed to Zerubbabel, and, therefore, while a word of the greatest encouragement to the remnant, it has specially in view the one that was instrumental in leading the people to obey the word of the LORD.<\/p>\n

The people of God in that day were surrounded by heathen powers to whom the government of the world had been committed. They ruthlessly used their power in that day, as in this, to crush all who thwarted their will. In the face of all this power of evil the remnant had only to obey the word of the LORD, and in simple faith occupy themselves with the work of the LORD. It was no part of their business to oppose the world, or overthrow its power, or seek to right its wrongs. They are instructed that the LORD, in His own time will deal with all the evil of the world. His word is, “I will shake the heavens and the earth;” “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.”<\/p>\n

In our day it is not for the people of God to attempt to put the world right. This is the Lord’s work, for He is coming “with ten thousand of His saints,” to execute judgment upon all that are ungodly. Our part is, in simple obedience to the word, to “earnestly contend for the faith,” “building” up ourselves in our most holy faith, “praying” in the Holy Ghost, keeping ourselves in the love of God, and “looking” for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Jud 1:14-15; Jud 1:20-21).<\/p>\n

(V. 23). Obeying the word of God, continuing the work of the LORD, and leaving the judgment of the world to be dealt with by the power of the LORD, Zerubbabel would not only find present blessing, but also inherit future reward. In the day of the coming glory he would have a place of signal honour as the chosen of the LORD.<\/p>\n

Nor is it otherwise in our day. To obey the word of the Lord, and do the work of the Lord, according to the mind of the Lord, in a day of weakness, and in the face of reproach and opposition, may appear “as nothing” to the great religious profession, but will carry its bright reward in the day of the coming glory. To the one that has but “a little strength” and yet keeps the Lord’s word, and does not deny His Name, the Lord can say, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name” (Rev 3:12).<\/p>\n

H. S.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

II. A PROMISE OF FUTURE GLORY FOR THE TEMPLE 2:1-9<\/span><\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The Lord revealed another message, an oracle of encouragement, to Haggai almost one month later, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month (Tishri, modern October 17) of the same year, 520 B.C. This was the last day of the feast of Tabernacles (Booths). Tishri was a month of celebrations for the Israelites. On the first of this month they celebrated the feast of Trumpets, and on the tenth, the day of Atonement. The feast of Tabernacles lasted seven days, and the following day was a day of rest (Lev 23:33-44).<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2. COURAGE, ZERUBBABEL! COURAGE, JEHOSHUA AND ALL THE PEOPLE!<\/p>\n

{Hag 2:1-9}<\/p>\n

The second occasion on which Haggai spoke to the people was another feast the same autumn, the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles, {Lev 23:34; Lev 23:36; Lev 23:40-42} the twenty-first of the seventh month. For nearly four weeks the work on the Temple had proceeded. Some progress must have been made, for comparisons became possible between the old Temple and the state of this one. Probably the outline and size of the building were visible. In any case it was enough to discourage the builders with their efforts and the means at their disposal. Haggais new word is a very simple one of encouragement. The peoples conscience had been stirred by his first; they need now some hope. Consequently he appeals to what he had ignored before, the political possibilities which the present state of the world afforded-always a source of prophetic promise. But again he makes his former call upon their own courage and resources. The Hebrew text contains a reference to the Exodus which would be appropriate to a discourse delivered during the Feast of Tabernacles, but it is not found in the Septuagint, and is so impossible to construe that it has been justly suspected as a gloss, inserted by some later hand, only because the passage had to do with the Feast of Tabernacles.<\/p>\n

“In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet, saying:-“<\/p>\n

“Speak now to Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, Satrap of Judah, and to Johoshua, son of Jehosadak, the high priest, and to the rest of the people, saying: Who among you is left that saw this House in its former glory, and how do ye see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? And now courage, O Zerubbabel-oracle of Jehovah and courage, Jehoshua, son of Jehosadak, O high priest; and courage, all people of the land!-oracle of Jehovah; and get to work, for I am with you-oracle of Jehovah of Hosts-and My Spirit is standing in your midst. Fear not!”<\/p>\n

“For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: It is but a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the costly things of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this House with glory, saith Jehovah of Hosts. Mine is the silver and Mine the gold-oracle of Jehovah of Hosts. Greater shall the latter glory of this House be than the former, saith Jehovah of Hosts, and in this place will I give peace-oracle of Jehovah of Hosts.”<\/p>\n

From the earliest times this passage, by the majority of the Christian Church, has been interpreted of the coming of Christ. The Vulgate renders Hag 2:7 b, “Et veniet Desideratus cunctis gentibus,” and so a large number of the Latin Fathers, who are followed by Luther, “Der Trost aller Heiden,” and by our own Authorized Version, “And the Desire of all nations shall come.” This was not contrary to Jewish tradition, for Rabbi Akiba had defined the clause of the Messiah, and Jerome received the interpretation from his Jewish instructors. In itself the noun, as pointed in the Massoretic text, means “longing” or “object of longing.” But the verb which goes with it is in the plural, and by a change of points the noun itself may be read as a plural. That this was the original reading is made extremely probable by the fact that it lay before the translators of the Septuagint, who render: “the picked,” or “chosen things of the nations.” So the old Italic version: “Et venient omnia electa gentium.” Moreover this meaning suits the context, as the other does not. The next verse mentions silver and gold. We may understand what he says, writes Calvin, “of Christ; we indeed know that Christ was the expectation of the whole world; but as it immediately follows, Mine is the silver and Mine is the gold, the more simple meaning is that-which I first stated: that the nations would come, bringing with them all their riches that they might offer themselves and all their possessions a sacrifice to God.”<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the seventh [month], in the one and twentieth [day] of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying, 1 5. The Circumstances out of which the Prophecy arose 1. In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month ] It has been pointed out that … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Haggai 2:1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}