CHAPTER 2

(520 B.C.)

MESSAGE ON THE TEMPLES: CONCERNING SOLOMONS TEMPLE

¹In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the Word of the LORD by the Prophet Haggai, saying (as Haggais first Prophecy filled the entirety of Chapter 1, his second Prophecy spans Verses 1 through 9 of this Chapter. The 21st day of this particular month was the last and great day of the Feast of Tabernacles [Lev. 23:34]),

²Speak 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 (Haggai is instructed by the Lord, first of all, to direct his Message to the Civil and Spiritual Leaders, and then to the people. This, of course, is the order as it should be; but, if the Leaders will not comply, it is doubtful that many of the people will comply. Thankfully, Judah, at this particular time, had Godly Leaders),

³Who is left among you who saw this house in her first glory? and how do you see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? (The question as asked by the Lord, Who is left among you who saw this house in her first glory?, is addressed to some who had seen Solomons Temple. Some have even thought that Haggai may have been in that number.

Solomons Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. As it is now 520 B.C., sixty-six years had elapsed since the Temples destruction. Some of these old men who were present that day had undoubtedly, as young boys, seen the original Temple in all of its splendor and glory.

The second question, And how do you see it now?, is meant to express the thoughts of their hearts, which tended toward faithlessness because of what greeted their eyes. The Holy Spirit, in reading their minds, answers the question for them by saying, is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?

At all times, the Child of God must see with the eye of Faith rather than surrounding circumstances.)

⁴Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the High Priest; and be strong, all you people of the land, says the LORD, and work: for I am with you, says the LORD of Hosts (the strength mentioned here comes about only by and through Faith in the Lord and His Word. Faith having Christ and the Cross as its object can always be assured of the Presence of the Holy Spirit; hence the Promise, for I am with you, says the LORD of Hosts):

⁵According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you: fear you not. (According to the Word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, actually speaks of the Law of Moses [Ex. 19:5-6; 29:45-46; Deut. 7:6; Jer. 7:23]. So My Spirit remains among you, refers to the Holy Spirit speaking by the Prophets and blessing all who would follow the Lord, according to Gods Word.

When we do what the Lord desires that we do, we need have no fear.)

RENOVATION OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

⁶For thus says 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 (The first phrase could be translated, Once again within a little time. The Holy Spirit through the Prophet desires to show the people the far larger picture than their Temple they are presently building; consequently, He launches from that present time even into the coming glorious future, when He will fill this House with Glory, and thereby the entirety of the world.

The phrase, And I will shake the heavens, and the Earth, and the sea, and the dry land, has a double meaning:

1. The coming Great Tribulation outlined in the Book of Rev., Chpts. 6-19;

2. The future renovation of the heavens and Earth by fire, when certain things will be removed and others will remain [Rev. 21:1].

The idea is: the building of this Temple, as unimpressive as it may have seemed to be, was linked to all of these great things which are even yet to come to pass. This is meant to show us how important the Work of God is in every capacity, no matter how small it may seem to be at the present. We must always remember: it is linked to something far larger, meaning we must not fail in our task);

MESSIAHS SECOND ADVENT; THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE

⁷And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this House with Glory, says the LORD of Hosts. (And I will shake all nations, refers to the coming Great Tribulation and, more specifically, the Battle of Armageddon, which Christ will interrupt by His Second Coming. And the desire of all nations shall come, actually means the object of the desire, which does not refer to things, but instead to Christ Alone, Who can and will satisfy the desire of all nations. And I will fill this House with Glory, says the LORD of Hosts, speaks of the coming Kingdom Age.)

⁸The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of Hosts. (The reason for this Passage interspersed between Verses 7 and 9 is because the people were thinking of what this present Temple would be by comparison to Solomons Temple. Whereas the former had much silver and gold, Zerubbabels Temple would have little or none. They were grieved over this. However, the Lord through the Prophet tells them that the Glory of the Temple is not in silver or gold, but instead in His Spirit.

As well, the Lord informs the people that all the silver and gold are His; if He were so minded, He could fill the House with such ornamentation. So, the lack was by design. He wanted the peoples eyes to be not on the ostentatiousness of this building, but on the Spirit of God. In fact, silver and gold are never the end result of the great Plan of God, but instead that the Spirit of God may be with us and, in Truth, in us, and functioning mightily [Eph. 2:22].)

⁹The Glory of this latter House shall be greater than of the former, says the LORD of Hosts: and in this place will I give peace, says the LORD of Hosts. (The first phrase addresses itself to the future Millennial Temple, which will be built in Jerusalem, described by Ezekiel in Chapters 40 through 48 of his Book. Even though all the Temples are looked at basically as one, still, this latter House will be Greater than all, simply because of the Presence in that day of the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The phrase, And in this place will I give peace, proclaims the fact that in that coming day all war will cease. The name of the first builder of the Temple was Solomon, which means peaceful. This latter Temple will be glorified by the Presence of the Peace-Bringer [Gen. 49:10].)

REASONS WHY THEY WERE NOT BLESSED

¹⁰In 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 (this is Haggais third Prophecy, and occupies Verses 10 through 19. It was given about two months after the second Prophecy. As an aside, between the second and third Prophecies, Zechariahs first Prophecy was uttered [Zech. 1:2-6]. In the second year of Darius, once again is given by the Holy Spirit in order that all may know that the Gentiles now rule Gods chosen People because of the rejection of the Lord as her King by Judah),

¹¹Thus says the LORD of Hosts; Ask now the Priests concerning the Law, saying (Ask now the Priests concerning the Law, saying, is meant to direct the Priests, who were to carry out the ritual and Spiritual duties, back to the Bible),

¹²If 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. (Verses 12 through 14 proclaim the Truth that Sacrifices, however holy in themselves, cannot sanctify disobedience and self-will. That which is holy cannot sanctify what is profane; but that which is unclean defiles that which is holy. The presence of evil destroys Holiness, but the Presence of God excludes evil. And when He is acknowledged, the Power of His Presence banishes defilement and brings blessing. The legislation of Verse 12 and 13 is found in Lev. 6:27 and 10:10-11.

If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, speaks of the Sacrifice [meat] being borne by the Priests. As well, the Priests who carried this Sacrifice were, according to the Commandments of the Lord, to be holy.

In Truth, anything that touched the flesh of the Sacrifice was to be holy; therefore, unholy things, such as the wine, oil, etc., were not allowed to touch the Sacrifices. If such did happen, it would necessitate ceremonial cleansing before the Priestly work could be carried on again. Consequently, the answer, No, by the Priests to Haggais question was what it should have been.)

¹³Then said Haggai, If one who is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the Priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. (The entirety of this Text is found in Num. 6:6, 11. The implication is: death was caused by sin and came upon man as a result of the Fall; consequently, the touching of a dead body by anyone made one ceremonially unclean. To become clean again, one would have to go through the ceremony of the Law of the red heifer, as found in Num. 19:22. Therefore, in respect to the touching of a dead body, the Priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.)

¹⁴Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before Me, sa ys the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. (The indictment, as given by the Lord, is severe! If one is to notice, the Lord says this people instead of My People, because, by their acts, they had disowned God [1:2]. And so is every work of their hands, means that as they were unclean, likewise, so was their labor. Therefore, an unholy vessel cannot produce a holy result.

And that which they offer there is unclean, refers to their Sacrifices, which, in effect, were not accepted by the Lord. Part, if not most, of the problem was that they thought the Sacrifices within themselves were enough, and that the other duties carried on in the Temple [when there was a Temple] were of little consequence. Therefore, by their actions, they had determined, reckoning the Plan of God, what was necessary and what was not necessary, thereby making up their own salvation.

How many Preachers and people today are pronounced unclean by the Lord because they have neglected, ignored, or flatly disbelieved part of His Word?)

¹⁵And 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 (And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, demands a Spiritual inventory to be presently taken. From before a stone was laid upon a stone in the Temple of the LORD, goes back some 16 years to the time the foundation was laid. Through the Prophet, the Holy Spirit is going to show the people exactly where they are, where they have been, and the reason for their difficulties):

¹⁶Since 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. (Since those days were, concerns the entirety of the past 16 years. It was a long time to be out of the Will of God, for to be out of His Will is to be out of His Blessing. The idea of the Verse is: when they expected a certain amount from their harvests, they actually only received about half that much.)

¹⁷I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet you turned not to Me, says the LORD. (I smote you..., plainly spells out the Lords judicial Actions regarding His People. These judgments were sent upon them in order that they may hopefully turn to the Lord. However, the Scripture says, yet you turned not to Me, says the LORD.)

¹⁸Consider 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. (The idea of this Verse is that the Lord wanted them to consider now this day. He is speaking of the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, which is the very day and moment that this Prophecy was being given. The Lord is actually telling them that they are to consider these years of loss; then, beginning this very day, they are to watch Him as He blesses them as they obey Him, which they will now begin to see.)

¹⁹Is the seed yet in the barn? yes, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, have not brought forth: from this day will I bless you. (At this particular time, the early part of the season, there was no way they could yet tell exactly what the harvest would be. However, the Lord through the Prophet is saying that, irrespective as to how the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree presently look, He will see to it that the harvest will be abundant. He says, from this day will I bless you.

That day, as stated, was to be the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. In other words, because of their obedience, they could point back to this day as the beginning of Gods Blessings.

Incidentally, the word Blessing means to endue with power for success, prosperity, longevity, etc. In essence, one who is blessed is given a rich and abundant life.

Can this great Promise, from this day will I bless you, be pulled over to this present time? Without a doubt it can, if proper obedience is rendered to the Lord.)

THE LORDS PROMISE TO ZERUBBABEL: GOD WILL TRIUMPH; GENTILE NATIONS OVERTHROWN AT MESSIAHS SECOND ADVENT

²⁰And again the Word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying (even though this was the fourth Prophecy given by Haggai, still, it was given on the same day as the third Prophecy. It spans Verses 21 through 23),

²¹Speak to Zerubbabel, Governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the Earth (Verse 6 of this Chapter is here repeated. I will shake the heavens and the Earth, is letting this Godly dispossessed king [Zerubbabel] know that Israels captive state will not remain this way forever. There is coming a day when the Lord will change the order of events; this change will be so cataclysmic that it will literally shake the heavens and the Earth. He is speaking of the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of the Lord, which will bring Israel back to her rightful place);

²²And 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 who ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. (This awaits fulfillment in the coming Great Tribulation, and, more particularly, the Battle of Armageddon. This will be at the Second Advent of Christ, when He takes over the kingdoms of this world [Isa. 63:1-5; Ezek., Chpts. 38-39; Zech. 14:1-21; Lk. 1:32-33; Rev. 11:15; 19:11-21].)

²³In that day, says the LORD of Hosts, will I take you, O Zerubbabel, My Servant, the son of Shealtiel, says the LORD, and will make you as a signet: for I have chosen you, says the LORD of Hosts. (Even though addressed to Zerubbabel, because he was in the lineage of David, still, it actually concerns Him of Whom Zerubbabel was a type, the Messiah, Gods Chosen One.

And will make you as a signet, refers to the Signet Ring on the Hand that is to overthrow all thrones. The Prophecy teaches us that war and fratricidal slaughter will continue up to the Advent of the Great King of Israel.

For I have chosen you, says the LORD of Hosts, was not actually a personal assurance only to Zerubbabel, because, as stated, neither he nor his natural seed reigned in Jerusalem, at least as king, but instead must be looked at for fulfillment in Christ [Lk. 1:26, 32-33].)