Haggai

Haggai 1
1In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, 
This Darius is not the Darius the Mede we read of in Daniel 6 and 9. The book of Haggai gives us additional insight into Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Zerubbabel is the “governor” or steward of Judah, not the king. Joshua (Jeshua which is rendered “Jesus” in the Latin) is the high priest and descendant of Aaron. For more on these people read Ezra and Nehehmiah.
2Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD's house should be built. 3Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 6Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. 7Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 8Go 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. 9Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. 10Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. 11And 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.
Essentially what has happened is that the Jews have returned from captivity and have rebuilt their own homes but not the Temple. Jehovah has therefore sent a drought against them to remind them to do so. Remember, the command from Cyrus was to rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25) and the Temple (Ezra 1:1-4). They had rebuilt the city and laid the foundation of the temple (Ezra 3), but had not built it further.
12Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD. 13Then spake Haggai the LORD's messenger in the LORD's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD. 14And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, 15In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
The people doe what Jehovah has asked them, led by Zerubbabel, Joshua, and Haggai.
Haggai 2
1In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying, 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, 3Who 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? 
Jehovah compares the Temple built by Solomon to the Temple being rebuilt, acknowledging that in physical wealth and beauty the second cannot compare.
4Yet 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: 5According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
Jehovah assures the people that in spite of the physical deficiency in the Temple, Jehovah is still with them according to the Mosaical Law, the Old Covenant.
6For 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; 7And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come:
Jehovah continues to assure the people to have no fear, to keep their faith in Jehovah. He promises that He will hold to the promise given to Abraham. In time to come, the desire of all nations, that is Christ, would come and Jehovah would fill the Temple with glory. He would also shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land in that time. Peter and Joel both refer to this (Acts 2, Joel 2). Haggai does not interpret these symbols here (he does later in the chapter), but given the time period he is writing in, the Jews must know by now what they mean in symbolic text. This is an important premise because the use of these same symbols in Jesus’ day should have the same effect. The Jews should have known what the symbols meant. In Acts 2, the 3000 who were immersed into Christ may well have known exactly what Peter and the others were talking about. The connection to the heavens and earth in apocalyptic language of the Old and New Testaments is utterly undeniable by any honest student of the Bible. Anyone else who says they are disconnected at this point is simply dishonest with their self or trying to sell books.
and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. 8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. 9The 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.
I believe this is a direct reference to the difference between the Old Testament physical Temple (which was never rebuilt to a condition greater than Solomon’s, even under Herod) and the New Testament spiritual Temple, which is the church. The silver and gold are allusions to the different abilities and contributions of Christians as seen in 1 Cor. 3:12 and 2 Tim. 2:20.
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, 11Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, 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. 13Then 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. 14Then 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. 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: 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. 17I 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. 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 LORD's temple was laid, consider it. 19Is 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. 
Jehovah explains through Haggai the unclean nature of the Jews and all that they do because the Temple had not been built. Now consider this on the spiritual level, that the NT Temple had not yet been built and there is no real capacity to forgive sins under the OT. The people of Haggai’s day are a type pointing to the antitype of NT Christianity where men are truly spiritually clean.
20And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, 21Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; 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 that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. 23In 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.
Here the shaking of the heavens and the earth are defined. It is the overthrow of rulers and nations. Zerubbabel then is told by Haggai that he is chosen as a signet, a sign, a type of things to come.
In Truth and Love,
Ernie
Category:Apocalyptic