Haggai 2:6-9 Bigger then You.
God will give one more reason for His people to be encouraged in their rebuilding efforts. He’s going to essentially tell them, “This temple that you’re building, though it seems like nothing to you, I have plans for this thing that will make Solomon’s temple seem insignificant compared to what I’m about to make happen.” So God is going to put before them His ultimate purposes for what their work is going to accomplish as the reason for hope. So God is telling them, “There is something coming with this temple that you can’t see. You’re building into something right now that you’re going to have to take by faith, not sight. And you’re going to have to trust Me when I say it’s going to be worth it and that this work you’re pouring into is not in vain.” This temple has significance because this is going to be the temple that is going to be standing in Jesus’ day.” This temple that Zerubbabel is building is going to last for 500 years before King Herod comes along, and he’s going to trick it out. He is going to lace it with gold, expand it and it’s going to be an incredibly beautiful sight physically as a temple. But eventually, this is going to be the temple that a little boy named Jesus is going to be sitting in when His parents are coming to look for Him. This is going to be the temple that Jesus is going to drive the money changers out of. That’s this very temple. This is going to be the temple where Jesus is going to be put on trial before His sentence of death and ensuing resurrection. That’s this temple. What Haggai is doing here is talking about the temple that would continue longer after the physical building was destroyed. Jesus said, “You can tear down this temple, and in three days I’ll build it back again.” Was Jesus talking about the physical temple? No, He was talking about Himself. “I’m the real temple. The glory of God doesn’t rest inside an ark. I am the glory of God. I’m the manifestation of God. So though you tear it down, I’m going to resurrect in three days.” there will be another temple that is rebuilt by the Lord Himself. And on that day, though the heavens and earth will shake and the nations will shake and everything around it will fall apart, that temple will remain, and the treasures of all the earth will come there to worship the One and true living God. So what God says through Haggai to His people is, “You are building into something that you can’t see. It looks like a shack to you. It doesn’t look like the good old days of Solomon’s, but you have no idea what’s coming down the road and the majesty of the Savior who will one day be the very temple of God for you all. So there is hope that’s in this. So know that this little thing you’re pouring into isn’t little. It’s big. And you don’t need to trust in your own physical circumstances. You need to trust in the promises of God who is doing a work among you that you just can’t see.” One thing is inevitable, discouragement will happen. We are not exempt from discouragement. I don’t care how good things are right now, how wonderful you feel in your relationship with the Lord, the days come when discouragement happens, when you just don’t feel like what we’re pouring into is worth it. When those days come, how will we deal with discouragement? Will we look to the promises of God in those days? Will we hold tightly to them and take our eyes off our physical circumstances and look to Him to keep us going? Or will we simply give in and allow that temptation to build up within us, take that discouragement where it doesn’t need to go . . . . I think when those discouragements come, we need to turn our hopes upward, and we need to recognize that our God is alive. He has not saved us so that we would live a life building into our own kingdom, and He has not saved us so that we allow discouragement to just put us in neutral for the rest of our lives. He has saved us for the hope of the glory that is His. And He is calling us forward now as His people to move forward in obedience, trusting in Him and the promises that He will fulfill. (Shea Sumlin)
The people couldn’t see how this house they were building was going to bring glory to God (2:3). There are three things that God says he will do that would give assurances for the people who were discouraged and struggling to see how God would use their efforts for his glory. He will shake the nations. He will fill his house with glory. He will give peace.
The Control of God over the Nations 6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations,
Nature and nations are under God’s control. He is sovereign over all that he has made. Not one person of thing escapes his oversight or control. At any time God can shake them to accomplish his glory and fulfill his redemptive purpose. There are three aspects to consider: Past- God has shaken the nations in the past – primary in the deliverance from Egypt. The Lord had indeed shaken heaven and earth, sea and dry land, and the Egyptian nation to effect the deliverance of His peoples from their bondage. The humbling of the proud Egyptians by the ten plagues (Ex 7-12, 12:33) the destruction of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea (Ex 14:21-31) (Ps 68:7). (Laetsch). The pillar of fire by night, the cloud by day, the manna in the morning, the quail at night, the water from the rock, and the thunderous “shaking” of Mt Sinai were all God’s “shaking” to accomplish his purpose for his people. Present- God’s overthrow of Babylon and the establishment of the Persians as the world power preceding the deliverance of Israel from exile is described as God’s shaking from heaven (Is 13:1-22, Jer 50:46). (Laetsch). God’s provisions through the Persians for their safe arrival to Jerusalem and the necessary supplies to rebuild the temple, were also God’s shaking (Ezra 1:1-2:1). Prophetic –Here God will “do it again” “Yet once more” he will come and shake the nations to accomplish his purposes. There are three things that this “shaking” can refer to: The 400 year period between the close of the Old Testament and beginning of the New Testament where the promised land changes hands four times: The Greeks overthrew the Persians, the Hebrews gained power from the Greeks and the Romans defeated the Hebrews. In each of these occupations God established specific elements to prepare for the coming of Jesus. The Persians allowed the people to return to rebuild the temple and reestablish worship. The Greeks contributed the Greek language Old Testament “Septuagint”, made Greek the common language of the whole world and allowed the New Testament to be written in Kione Greek. The Hebrews brought in the Scribes and the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin and Jewish money. The Romans brought in safe travel on good roads, peace within the region, Roman citizenship and crucifixion. Second, the future “shacking” by God’s judgement at the end of the age. He will gather all the nations and “shake” them in judgement (Matt 23:31-32, Rev 16:18-20). Everything that is not firmly established in the kingdom of Christ will be plucked up and blown away (Heb 12:26-27) (Boice). Finally, He will “shake” the beliefs and false gods of the nations by their response to the proclamation of the gospel so that someone from every tribe, tongue and nation will respond to the gospel (Rev 5:9, 7:9).
All this shaking of the nations served God’s purpose. They prepared the way for the coming for Messiah’s kingdom (Gal 4:4). God is in control of all things, even in your life, to accomplish his purpose in You (Ps 57:2, 138:8, Phil 1:6).
The Contribution to God by the Nations 7so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, 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. This encouragement announces what the Lord intends to do on behalf of the rebuilding of the temple: He will harness his sovereign sway over nature and the nations in order to provide the wealth that would be necessary to fill his house with glory (Verhoef). God will do whatever is needed so his people can do what he has commanded them to do. Before Solomon built the first temple, his father David gathered massive amounts of gold and silver and other precious materials that would be used in its construction. By comparison, the people working with Zerubbabel had very little. It’s understandable that they were concerned that their building would not be precious enough for a God who dwells in unimaginable glory. In answer to their concern, the Lord graciously reminded them in v 8 that all the silver and all the gold in the entire universe already belongs to him. If he had wanted a temple decorated with precious metals, he would have made it so. But this is not what he wanted. He wanted the faith and obedience of his people. (Cole). Later God did provide by the hand of the Romans through King Herod “silver and gold” to refurbish and expand the temple into a magnificent structure during the time of Jesus. God has everything at his disposal to accomplish his plan for us. (1 Chron 29:10-13, Job 42:2, Ps 24:1, 89:11, Matt 26:53).
The Choice of God for the Nations 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. there is a day coming, when the Messiah will come to His temple, and Messiah will inhabit the earth, and the glory that is talked about in verse 9, that great Shekinah glory, will fill God's temple, and God's world - and all the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God. What a day that will be! (David Legge). the prophet Haggai gave the people of his day the reassurance that they needed. They were concerned about the glory of God’s house, but the fact that the Messiah would come to their temple meant that it would have a glory beyond anything that Solomon ever imagined. Jesus Christ is the Shekinah glory, whose presence filled the earthly temple. He is the one who “tabernacled” among men in order to make his Father known (John 1:14–18). By his sacrifice, he put an end to all the ceremonies of the earthly temple, which was ineffectual at removing sin anyway, and brought blessing and salvation to all nations. Although Haggai’s contemporaries thought that their part in all of this was relatively small, he encouraged them to look at the bigger picture (Zech. 4:8–10). What they were doing was indispensable in God’s overall program of redemption! (Walker) While Herod replaced this temple with more glorious buildings, this verse refers to the coming of Jesus into that temple. His presence made it even more glorious than Solomon’s Temple . Haggai, said that the glory of the second temple should be greater than the first. It certainly was not so as in respect of gold, or silver, or size, or excellency of architecture; and yet it truly was so, for the glory of the presence of Christ was greater than all the glory of the old temple's wealth; and the glory of having the gospel preached in it, the glory of having the gospel miracles wrought in its porches by the apostles and by the Master (Spurgeon). Just like God “chose” Jesus to make the temple greater, he has chosen you for a specific task or tasks for his kingdom which he will reveal along the way (John 15:16, Acts 9:15, Ex 3:10).
The Contentment from God within the nations
And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.'" True peace would be found in the Messiah. Earlier Isaiah had predicted that the Messiah would be called the Prince of Peace. He also said that there would be no end to the increase of his government and peace (Isa. 9:6–7). When Jesus was born, the angels sang, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14). By giving us peace with God, he also secured our peace with one another. Thus, Paul wrote, For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;… and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh (cf. Eph. 2:14–22, esp. vv. 14 and 17). This gospel is a gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15), and Christ’s ministers proclaim peace and the good news of salvation (Isa. 52:7; Rom. 10:15). (Walker) Jesus preached peace to both Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2:17). We have peace with God and with one another when we trust in His shed blood (Rom. 5:1). But true and lasting peace for this world and for Jerusalem will only come when Jesus returns. (Cole)
Was the temple worth it? Yes. Were the labors of the people in vain because they did not result in an edifice equal in glory to Solomon’s? No. There was a value to their labors that was far beyond anything that they could have anticipated.
Augustine’s mother Monica prayed for her wayward son every day, Augustine himself once wrote that she wept more for his spiritual death than most mothers would for the physical death of a child. It seem like such a small service to pray for one person —her own son, in fact — and yet that one person was predestined by God to be one of the most influential Christian thinkers in the history of the world. Both Martin Luther and John Calvin attributed their basic theology to him.
William Tyndale’s last words as the flame of martyrdom consumed his flesh were a prayer to God: “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes!” Shortly afterward, a translation of the Bible based heavily on Tyndale’s was presented to King Henry VIII, who had persecuted him for his Protestant faith. Tyndale’s name did not appear in it. The king not only approved of this Bible, which he believed would emancipate England from the pope’s tyranny, but authorized the sale and reading of it throughout his kingdom. Tyndale’s prayer was not the kind of thing that would make a headline in the news, but it had a greater impact on the Church of England than the lifetime work of a dozen other men. Your faithful obedience to Christ now is like the efforts of those rebuilding the temple. You may not see the effect now, but even though you can’t see what God is doing or going to do, he is doing something in and through you NOW. (Phil 2:13, Eph 2:10).
Comments