HAGGAI 2:1-9
1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day
of the month [early OCT], 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, 3 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? 4 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: 5 According to 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 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; 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 of hosts. 8 The silver
is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of
hosts. 9 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.At the time of this writing, Israel is back in the land,
after 70 years in exile in Babylon because of GOD's Judgment on His people's
disobedience. Babylon is taken over by the Medo-Persian Empire and it's the King
Cyrus, that not only gives the Jews permission to return to their land, but
also gives them financial incentives to do so. Perhaps he did all this because
the high priest of Israel gave him the Isaiah scroll and pointed out some
verses from what we call chapter 44 and 45:
ISAIAH 44:28
28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
ISAIAH 45:1-5
Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. 5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. 5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
These words written by Isaiah were written about 180 years
before Cyrus came and conquered Babylon - that would be like someone from the
time of Abraham Lincoln foretelling your personal history and had it down in writing
to show you! Obviously, he was impressed enough that he determined to let
Israel go back to her native land.
They get to what’s left of Jerusalem, clear off the rubble and waste, and begin to rebuild the temple and that’s what we are seeing here in HAGGAI 2.
They get to what’s left of Jerusalem, clear off the rubble and waste, and begin to rebuild the temple and that’s what we are seeing here in HAGGAI 2.
HAGGAI 2:1-3
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, 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 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?
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, 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 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?
The Temple that Solomon built was extraordinary and rivaled
the King’s own palace in grandeur. There were in the days of the prophet Haggai
those who were old enough to remember it; and now they are looking at the
current construction of the Temple, and it compares with Solomon’s the way that
you would compare a mansion to a log cabin.
HAGGAI 2:4-5
4 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: 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
4 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: 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
The command from the LORD to the governor is “be strong”;
the command from the LORD to the high priest is “be strong” and the command
from the LORD to all the people of the land is “be strong”. This is not a
suggestion, this is not counsel, this is a command. Very much like what the
LORD said to Joshua regarding the taking of Canaan from the pagan inhabitants
in JOSHUA 1:9; very much like Paul’s writing to the Ephesian church in
taking on the satanic principalities and powers in EPH 6:10.
Here the governor, the high priest and all the people are
commanded to be strong in rebuilding the Temple of GOD, in the city of
Jerusalem, the city of the Great KING – Y’shua, Messiah of Israel. It’s been
said that “The heart of Jerusalem is the Temple, the heart of Israel is
Jerusalem, and the heart of the world is Israel”, because this nation is
promised by the Creator GOD of all things, to be the kingdom from which the
Messiah will rule over all nations. The objective then to rebuild this Temple
of GOD in the days of Haggai is one that Satan adamantly opposes with all of
his might, all of his wiles, all of his resources.
Yet GOD’s assurance with Israel is emphatic and He calls Israel to remember His great deliverance of the nation from what was then, the world empire: Egypt! He commands them also to “fear not”.
HAGGAI 2:6-7
6 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; 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 of hosts.
6 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; 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 of hosts.
This verse corresponds with HEBREWS 12:26-28
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this 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. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this 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. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
There are really only two foundations that one can build
one’s life on: either the foundation that is GOD and His truth with Jesus
Christ as the Cornerstone, or the foundation of self and the pride that
accompanies it, with Satan as one’s slave master. There is not a third
foundation – just these two! Anything that is not build on the eternal GOD and
His eternal truth is temporary and bound to failure. Thus, when the LORD takes
back this Earth that He had redeemed with His own blood, He will preface His
righteous assumption of this Earth with judgment – the shaking of this Earth,
but also the shaking of the heavens where “the prince of the power of the air”
presently rules this planet from (EPH 2:2; 2 COR 4:4).
We are just as much assured of receiving the Kingdom which cannot be moved as Israel was assured in Haggai’s day, of the covenant that GOD made with Israel upon leaving Egypt! This is an anchor of hope, peace, and joy for the saint; that no matter what may happen in this world, or this nation, or this state, or this church, or our personal lives – our ultimate destiny is that of a citizen of GOD’s eternal, immovable Kingdom!
This “desire of nations”, what does this refer to?
“Out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” the LAMB of GOD has redeemed souls, and so ‘the desire of nations’ I believe is none other than the LORD Jesus Christ. The glory of the Temple will know its greatest glory and exaltation when the Temple will no longer be represented by any building: today in the church, we are ourselves individually and collectively speaking, “the Temple of the Holy Spirit” 1 COR 6:19-20; EPH 2:20-22.
Yet there is coming a day yet future, when in the New Jerusalem (which will come down out of heaven when once GOD destroys the old heavens and old earth and creates a new heavens and earth), there will be no such temple made of stone:
REVELATION 21:22
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
The ultimate fulfillment of the greater glory of “this
latter house” will be realized then.
HAGGAI 2:8-9
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. 9 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.
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. 9 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.
This temple in the days of Haggai survived to the time of
the LORD Jesus’ first advent. Thanks to Herod the Great, this humble temple
took on a major upgrade that took 46 years to complete (JOHN 2:2). But
it was finally destroyed in 70 AD. Yet the truth that GOD’s Temple will see a
glorious return to this world, in the city of the Great King, Jerusalem, will
be realized when the Messiah returns and establishes what the prophet Ezekiel
went to great lengths to describe (EZEK 41).
For more on what Ezekiel has to say about the Millennial Temple, check out this TTUF article:
The MILLENNIUM: REIGN of the MESSIAH - Part TEN
The MILLENNIUM: REIGN of the MESSIAH - Part TEN
As GOD said to Israel then, He is saying to the church now, and even to SB Church – how do you see this church now? This humble building and these few numbers – is it not in your physical sight as nothing? Yet the LORD commands us, to be strong and work – for He is the granter of enabling grace whereby we “who know GOD shall be strong and do exploits” (DAN 11:32b). The LORD can save by many or by few (1 SAM 14:6)– and if you ask Gideon, it’s usually with few (JUDGES 7:7)!
We’ve been here now for six years – and as I said last year, I believe this sixth year will be crucial; that the harvest we will see in the seventh year will greatly depend on the spiritual seed-planting THIS YEAR! And I believe that this harvest will be the final harvest before the LORD takes His bride home to heaven!
This was a 15 minute presentation given at SHINE BRIGHT Church on 7/05/2020. There were two other 15 minute teachings by pastors Sonny and Albert. You can view all three teachings on Facebook at this link.
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