Study in Haggai II
C. Paul Willis
Introduction:
In the last study we learned that the people (about 50,000) had returned and been given permission to rebuild the Temple but they had become discouraged and the foundations of the Temple remained empty. God told the ruler and priest through Haggai that the reason the people had not prospered is because they had neglected God. They began to respond to the message and God began to pour out blessings.
Haggai 2:1 - 9 (NKJV) 1In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying: 2“Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: 3‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? 4Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts. 5‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’ 6“For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. 8‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. 9‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
Words of Encouragement
God’s covenant still stands
Even though the times have been hard God is still in covenant: the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month would have been the feast of Tabernacles – what a time to remind them that God was still in covenant? Many of the people remembered the early temple and the day in which it was burned – interesting fact that Titus of Rome burned the temple in 70AD on the same day in the same month!
The Temple was modest in comparison to Solomon’s Temple
3‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing?
Don’t let what you see defeat you!
4Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts.
2 Corinthians 5:6 - 7 (NKJV) 6So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7For we walk by faith, not by sight.
D. “Be Strong”
Joshua 1:1 - 9 (NKJV) 1After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: 2“Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. 3Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. 5No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. 6Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Ephesians 6:10 - 20 (NKJV) 10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
(Key to prosperity and to endurance in the faith)
Move to Messianic Message
6“For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. 8‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. 9‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts
Hebrews 12:25 - 29 (NKJV) 25See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29For our God is a consuming fire.
I will “Sake the nations” He did - right after Haggai with the fall of the Medo/Persian Empire, the rise and fall of the Greek Empire and the rise of the Roman Empire. But Haggai is referring to the shaking that will occur just prior to the coming of Jesus Christ.
“They will come to the Lord”
The “Desire of All Nations” will come – the Second coming of Jesus
The Glory of “the latter temple” (The second temple received more glory with the coming of Jesus than when the Ark or the cloud of glory had come! The millennium temple prophesied by Ezekiel would physically be more glorious!
The wealth of the world and heaven belongs to God so He can use what ever He wants to use to build His temple and His Church!
A thousand years of peace will come
