Haggai 2

CHAPTER 2

The Promised Glory of the New House (2:1–9)

1–5 Here Haggai speaks to the leaders and the people together concerning a problem that had arisen. The foundation of the temple that had been laid sixteen years earlier was smaller than Solomon’s original temple,⁵ and the people felt that this new temple was nothing in comparison with the old one (verse 3). Though they had begun work (Haggai 1:14), they remained discouraged; perhaps they thought that God had canceled His COVENANT with them.

Then the Lord, through Haggai, tells the people to be strong and to work (verse 4). “For I am with you,” says the Lord a second time (see Haggai 1:13). The Lord will be the source of the people’s strength.

In verse 5, the Lord assures the people that His covenant with them has not been canceled and that His Holy Spirit will remain with them. Just as He was with their forefathers when they came out of EGYPT, so He will be with the people now as they settle in Judah and rebuild the temple. God will never withdraw His gifts or His call from the faithful remnant of His people (Romans 11:29).

6–7 God says: “I will once more shake the heavens and the earth” (verse 6). He “shook the earth” at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16–18), and He will shake it again when He comes to judge the nations at the end of the world.⁶ Then the desired of all nations⁷ will come, and at that time God will fill this house with glory (verse 7), just as He first filled the desert tabernacle and Solomon’s temple with His GLORY (see Exodus 40:34–35; 1 Kings 8:10–11). God’s glory is the presence of God Himself.

In verses 6–7, the Lord is looking ahead to the Messianic age and to the final JUDGMENT—the final “shaking”—of the nations. Since Haggai’s time, the nations of the world have repeatedly been “shaken”; one empire after another has risen and then fallen. But all this is but a foreshadowing of the final shaking that will take place when Jesus comes again (see Joel 1:15; 2:28–32 and comments).

8–9 The Lord is the owner of the temple and everything in it (verse 8). And He says that the glory of this new temple—this present house—will be greater than the glory of Solomon’s temple—the former house (verse 9).

What does the Lord mean here? Clearly the new temple the people were building would not be as glorious as Solomon’s temple. Even the improvements made by the pagan Herod would not be more glorious-and anyway, Herod’s temple would be destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.

When the Lord speaks here of the glory of this present house (verse 9), He surely is speaking of spiritual glory, the glory of His presence. And His presence in this “present house” will be manifested not by a cloud but by His Son (Hebrews 1:3). The physical temple, though important in its time, will give way to a spiritual temple, a spiritual “body,” made up of Jesus and His followers (see 1 Corinthians 12:12–13,27; Ephesians 2:19–22; 1 Peter 2:4–5). Thus it is the presence of Jesus that makes the glory of this “temple” greater (Matthew 12:6). And it is through Jesus that God will grant PEACE to His people (see John 14:27; Ephesians 2:14–18; Philippians 4:6–7).

Blessings for a Defiled People (2:10–19)

10–14 In these verses, the Lord directs Haggai to ask the priests among the people two questions. The first:Can HOLINESS be transmitted twice? That is, when consecrated (holy) meat⁸ consecrates a garment by direct contact (see Leviticus 6:27),can the garment then consecrate (make holy) something else? The answer: “No” (verse 12).

The second question: Can defilement be transmitted twice? That is, when a person is defiled by contact with a defiled object—a dead body, for example (verse 13)—does that person then defile something else he touches? The answer: “Yes” (see Numbers 19:11–12,22).

The meaning behind the Lord’s two questions is this:holiness is not easily transmitted; defilement is. It’s much easier to fall into sin than it is to “fall into” holiness. Therefore,we must be diligent to guard against all sin (see Matthew 5:29–30).

Then, in verse 14, Haggai applies this truth to the people. They had defiled themselves by putting their own interests before God’s interests; they had disobeyed Him by neglecting His house. Therefore, everything else they “touched”—everything they did, everything they offered—was also “defiled” in God’s sight. God wants obedience, not sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22); He wants us to put Him first, above all else (Matthew 10:37; Mark 12:30).

15–19 Here the Lord, speaking through Haggai, reminds the people about the difficult times they have had during the sixteen years they neglected God’s temple (see Haggai 1:9–11). When they came to a heap of grain, they found only half of what they expected (verse 16). The Lord had struck the land with blight, mildew and hail (verse 17)—all in an effort to get the people to turn back to Him (Deuteronomy 28:22; Amos 4:9). All their suffering was the result of their own self–centeredness, their own disobedience. So here, as the people are gathered to resume building the temple, God is warning them not to fail again.

Yet He ends with a promise: “From this day on I will bless you” (verse 19). Because the people had responded to Haggai’s message, they could be assured of God’s covenant blessings (see Leviticus 26:3–13). When we change our attitude toward God, He will change His attitude toward us (see Zechariah 1:3; James 4:8).

Zerubbabel the Lord’s Signet Ring (2:20–23)

20–23 These final words are addressed to Zerubbabel. The Lord again looks ahead to the end of the world (verses 21–22), when the heavens and the earth will be shaken and the nations shattered (see verses 6–7). on that day—the future day of the Lord—God promises Zerubbabel that He will make him like His signet ring (verse 23)—that is, He will grant to Zerubbabel the privilege of being a direct ancestor of the MESSIAH (Matthew 1:12–13). In ancient times, a “signet ring” was given to the ambassador of a king; it was a guarantee that the ambassador had the king’s authority. Thus Zerubbabel was given the authority not only to lead the Jews of his day, but also to guarantee the arrival of Jesus the Messiah.⁹

. . . for I have chosen you (verse 23). God chose Abraham; He chose Moses; He chose David; and now He chooses Zerubbabel. God chooses everyone. He has chosen you and me. We wear His signet ring.

Let Haggai speak to us. Is anyone discouraged? God says: “I am with you” (verse 4). Has anyone started out to do God’s work but then not finished it? God says: “Be strong . . . and work” (verse 4). Does anyone doubt God’s call? God says: “I have chosen you” (verse 23). And if God has chosen us, He will see us through to the end. . . . he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

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¹ Cyrus was the Persian king who conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. and allowed the Jewish exiles to return to their homeland the following year (Ezra 1:1–4). Cyrus died in 529 B.C. About seven years later Darius came to the throne and reigned from 522 to 486 B.C. He is known in history as Darius the Great. It was during his reign that the temple in Jerusalem was completed.

² The people’s purses had “holes” in them (verse 6). This is a way of saying that because of scarcity, prices had risen sharply; it was as if the people’s money was “leaking away.”

³ For further discussion of the significance of the Lord’s earthly dwelling place, see Exodus 25:1; 1 Kings 6:1 and comments.

⁴ For what it means to “fear the Lord,” see footnote to comment on Genesis 20:8–13; Deuteronomy 6:1–3; Proverbs 1:7 and comments.

⁵ Solomon’s original temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians sixty–six years earlier (2 Kings 25:8–9).

⁶ The author of Hebrews quotes verse 6 and relates it to the “shaking” that will take place at the end of the world (see Hebrews 12:26–27). Then he goes on to say that, although the created heaven and earth will be removed, those who have put their faith in Christ will receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28–29).

⁷ In verse 7, the expression the desired of all nations has two possible interpretations. First, it can mean “desired things” or “valuable articles”; this refers to the wealth of the nations—the silver and gold (verse 8)—that will be brought into the future temple (see Ezra 6:5; 7:15–17; Isaiah 60:5).

Second, the desired (singular in the Hebrew) can mean “the desired one.” Many scholars believe this refers to the Messiah; this is reasonable, since the entire passage deals with the Messianic age.

⁸ To be consecrated, or to be holy, means to be set apart for God. “Consecrated meat,” therefore, is meat from an animal that has been sacrificed to God. For further discussion, see Word List: Consecration.

⁹ Christians have also been given a signet ring: it is the Holy Spirit. The royal signet ring served as a stamp or seal; the seal was a guarantee that the king would do as he had promised. The Holy Spirit is our seal, guaranteeing that we will have an inheritance in heaven (see 2 Corinthians 1:21–22; Ephesians 1:13–14).