Haggai · chapter 2 of 2
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Haggai 2 contains three messages dated in 520 BC. The first comforts those who see the new temple as poor: the Lord is with them and the glory of this house will be greater than the former. The second shows that uncleanness spreads more than holiness and promises blessing from the day they rebuild. The third announces that the Lord will shake heaven and earth and make Zerubbabel his signet ring.
Haggai 1 ended with the people setting to work. A month later, discouragement returns: the elders who saw Solomon's temple compare it and find the new temple small. Haggai 2 answers with three messages, dated with great precision: the twenty-first day of the seventh month and, twice, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the second year of Darius.
On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord comes through Haggai to Zerubbabel, Joshua and the remnant. He asks who is left among them who saw this house in its former glory and how they see it now, for it seems like nothing. He tells them to be strong, work and not fear: the Lord of hosts is with them, according to the covenant made when they came out of Egypt, and his Spirit remains among them. In a little while he will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea and the dry land and all the nations, and the treasures of all nations will come, and he will fill this house with glory. The silver and gold are his. The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, and in this place he will give peace.
On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month another message comes. Haggai asks the priests: if someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with it bread, stew, wine, oil or any food, does it become holy? They answer no. And if someone unclean from touching a dead body touches any of these things, does it become unclean? They answer yes. So it is with this people: what they do and offer is unclean. Since they stopped working on the temple they suffered blight and loss, but the Lord tells them that from the day the foundation was laid, he will bless them.
On that same day the Lord speaks to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah: he will shake heaven and earth, overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the strength of the nations; chariots and riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother. On that day he will take Zerubbabel, his servant, and make him like a signet ring, for he has chosen him.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord tells Zerubbabel, Joshua and the people to be strong and work because he is with them, according to the covenant of the exodus, and his Spirit remains in their midst. The work rests on God's presence, not on the appearance of the building.
The Lord promises to shake the nations and fill this house with glory. Some understand the treasures of all nations as their wealth; others, the Messiah they await. Either way, the house will be honored by God.
The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, and in this place the Lord will give peace. This promises more than a building: God will make himself present in a greater way, and Christians see in it an announcement of Christ.
The Lord takes Zerubbabel, his servant, and makes him like a signet ring, for he chose him. The signet ring represents authority and trust, and it renews the promise made to the house of David.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: It seemed like nothing compared with the former one. — Haggai 2:3
Answer: That he is with them and that his Spirit remains in their midst. — Haggai 2:4-5
Answer: To the Lord of hosts. — Haggai 2:8
Answer: The latter glory of this house. — Haggai 2:9
Answer: That what it touches does not become holy. — Haggai 2:12
Answer: His servant, whom he will make like a signet ring because he chose him. — Haggai 2:23
Haggai 2 encourages anyone who feels that what they do is small. The new temple looked like little, but God said he was with them. In a small group or class you can talk about ministries, churches and efforts that seem modest next to what once was or to what others do. The value of the work does not depend on its appearance but on God's presence.
The question to the priests also teaches that holiness is not caught by contact, but uncleanness is. A heart devoted to its own interests stains even what it offers. Yet the promise of verse 19 is gracious: from the day they obey, the Lord blesses.
Haggai 2 closes the book with hope: God shakes the nations, fills his house with glory and chooses Zerubbabel as a signet ring. Those messages of 520 BC were fulfilled in part when the temple was finished in 516 BC, and Christians see their fullness in Christ. Zechariah, a contemporary prophet, continues the encouragement with visions.
The Hebrew allows several readings. Some understand it as the wealth of the nations that will come to the temple, and others as an announcement of the awaited Messiah. That difference is one of interpretation; what the text clearly affirms is that God will fill this house with glory.
Hebrews 12:26-27 takes up the line about shaking heaven and earth to say that God will shake everything and only his kingdom, which cannot be shaken, remains. It is an application that widens the sense of Haggai's text.
A signet ring was used to sign with authority. Making him one means that God chooses and backs him as a representative, and that the promise to the house of David still stands after the exile.