Study in Haggai IV

C Paul Willis

Introduction:

The Prophet Haggai had four major revelations. The first three applied to his day but the last skips over history as do the prophecies of many and relates to Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Haggai 2:20 - 23 (NKJV) ²⁰And again the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, ²¹“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying: ‘I will shake heaven and earth. ²² I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow the chariots And those who ride in them; The horses and their riders shall come down, Every one by the sword of his brother. ²³‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the Lord, ‘and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

1. Zerubbabel?

Who is Zerubbabel?

A. Legal ancestor of Jesus Christ

Matthew 1:12 - 16 (NKJV) ¹²And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. ¹³Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. ¹⁴Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. ¹⁵Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. ¹⁶And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

B. Ancestor of King David

Matthew 1:5 - 6 (NKJV) ⁵Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, ⁶and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her ^who had been the wife of Uriah.

C. So Joseph the husband of Mary had a legal right to kingdom ship! And, Jesus, his adopted son, has a legal right to be King of Kings! Kings are always Kings by right of birth.

II. “In that day”

Isaiah 2:12 - 19 (NKJV) ¹² For the day of the Lord of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up— And it shall be brought low— ¹³ Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, And upon all the oaks of Bashan; ¹⁴ Upon all the high mountains, And upon all the hills that are lifted up; ¹⁵ Upon every high tower, And upon every fortified wall; ¹⁶ Upon all the ships of Tarshish, And upon all the beautiful sloops. ¹⁷ The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; The Lord alone will be exalted in that day, ¹⁸ But the idols He shall utterly abolish. ¹⁹ They shall go into the holes of the rocks, And into the caves of the earth, From the terror of the Lord And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily.

Isaiah 13:6 - 13 (NKJV) ⁶ Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. ⁷ Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man’s heart will melt, ⁸ And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames. ⁹ Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. ¹⁰ For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. ¹¹ “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. ¹² I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. ¹³ Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.

Jeremiah 46:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, A day of vengeance, That He may avenge Himself on His adversaries. The sword shall devour; It shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood; For the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice In the north country by the River Euphrates.

Ezekiel 30:3 - 6 (NKJV) ³ For the day is near, Even the day of the Lord is near; It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles. ⁴ The sword shall come upon Egypt, And great anguish shall be in Ethiopia, When the slain fall in Egypt, And they take away her wealth, And her foundations are broken down. ⁵“Ethiopia, ^Libya, ^Lydia, all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword.” ⁶‘Thus says the Lord: “Those who uphold Egypt shall fall, And the pride of her power shall come down. From Migdol to Syene Those within her shall fall by the sword,” Says the Lord GOD.

Joel 1:15 - 20 (NKJV) ¹⁵ Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty. ¹⁶ Is not the food cut off before our eyes, Joy and gladness from the house of our God? ¹⁷ The seed shrivels under the clods, Storehouses are in shambles; Barns are broken down, For the grain has withered. ¹⁸ How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, Because they have no pasture; Even the flocks of sheep ^suffer punishment. ¹⁹ O Lord, to You I cry out; For fire has devoured the open pastures, And a flame has burned all the trees of the field. ²⁰ The beasts of the field also cry out to You, For the water brooks are dried up, And fire has devoured the open pastures.

Joel 2:1 - 11 (NKJV) ¹ Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand: ² A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations. ³ A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them. ⁴ Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they run. ⁵ With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array. ⁶ Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces ^are drained of color. ⁷ They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; Every one marches in formation, And they do not break ranks. ⁸ They do not push one another; Every one marches in his own ^column. Though they lunge between the weapons, They are not ^cut down. ⁹ They run to and fro in the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief. ¹⁰ The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness. ¹¹ The Lord gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?

Joel 3:14 - 17 (NKJV) ¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. ¹⁵ The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars will diminish their brightness. ¹⁶ The Lord also will roar from Zion, And utter His voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and earth will shake; But the Lord will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel. ¹⁷ “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, And no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”

Amos 5:18 - 20 (NKJV) ¹⁸ Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light. ¹⁹ It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him! ²⁰ Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

Obadiah 1:15 - 17 (NKJV) ¹⁵ “For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head. ¹⁶ For as you drank on My holy mountain, So shall all the nations drink continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though they had never been. ¹⁷ “But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

Zephaniah 1:14 - 17 (NKJV) ¹⁴ The great day of the Lord is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out. ¹⁵ That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, ¹⁶ A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers. ¹⁷ “I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the Lord; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse.”

Zechariah 14:1 - 7 (NKJV) ¹ Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. ² For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. ³ Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. ⁴ And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. ⁵ Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with ^You. ⁶ It shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish. ⁷ It shall be one day Which is known to the Lord— Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light.

Acts 2:17 - 21 (NKJV) ¹⁷ ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. ¹⁸ And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. ¹⁹ I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. ²⁰ The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. ²¹ And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’^

1 Corinthians 5:1 - 5 (NKJV) ¹It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even ^named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! ²And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. ³For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. ⁴In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord ^Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:1 - 10 (NKJV) ¹But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. ²For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. ³For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. ⁴But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. ⁵You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. ⁶Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. ⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. ⁸But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. ⁹For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

2 Peter 3:10 - 14 (NKJV) ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be ^burned up. ¹¹Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ¹²looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? ¹³Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. ¹⁴Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;

That Day – is it figurative or literal? You decide!

3. ”I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms;”

The Throne!

Ephesians 2:1 - 3 (NKJV) ¹And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ²in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

Matthew 4:8 - 9 (NKJV) ⁸Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

ILL; Sin rules behind every throne in the world – even Washington! But God is going to pick up that serpent and shake him loose!

3. The Signet Ring of God

²³‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the Lord, ‘and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

Zerubbabel’s grandfather had been a signet but God cut the finger off!

Jeremiah 22:24 - 27 (NKJV) ²⁴“As I live,” says the Lord, “though ^Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; ²⁵and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear—the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans. ²⁶So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die. ²⁷But to the land to which they desire to return, there they shall not return.

Now God returns the ring and the authority. Christ the greater Son will be Jehovah’s signet whereby He shall impress and imprint upon all nations His own majesty, His own will, His perfect ideal, and His very own image!