21: Minor Prophets – Zephaniah 3:6-20 and Haggai 1-2

[Dunkle] Alright, welcome back to Minor Prophets class. Normally, I've tried to end a session at the end of a book and start a new one at the new start, but last time we were partway through chapter 3 of Zephaniah, and I want to pick up there.

So we're picking up with Zephaniah 3 around verse 6. I'll mention God in chapter 3, after describing sin all around and punishment, the surrounding nations, focused back in on Judah and Jerusalem, talking about some of the things they've been doing wrong, especially those four classes of people, the princes, judges, prophets, and priests.

And then he contrasts himself, saying God is righteous and He never fails. Mankind will fail, but God doesn't. And he goes on, starting in verses 6 and 7, to say Israel, Judah, had opportunity to look and see punishment on other nations. In verse 6 he says, "I have cut off nations, their fortresses are devastated; I have made their streets desolate, with none passing by; their cities are destroyed; there is no one, no inhabitant" (Zephaniah 3:6). Boy, that was hard to say.

"I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me, you will receive instruction’" (Zephaniah 3:7). It's like, look what I'm doing to them. Won't you get the point? Learn from this. "So that her dwelling would not be cut off, despite everything for which I punished her; but they rose early and corrupted all their deeds" (Zephaniah 3:7). So even though God punished the surrounding nations and Judah could have learned from it, even though God punished Judah and they should have learned from it, they corrupted their deeds.

And so, God is going to echo what he said in verse 1 with punishment on all nations. He begins verse 8 saying, "Therefore wait for Me…" (Zephaniah 3:8). Now, I think in modern vernacular, sometimes someone says, now watch this, sort of wait for it, I'm going to do something spectacular. "Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations to My assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation." To me, this screams battle of Armageddon, the nations gathered together so that God can punish them. "All My fierce anger; all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy."

So, this seems to be talking about that gathering for the end time battle. Think of Revelation chapter 19, and I think that's what this is describing. But God always looks beyond that to good things afterwards. So we see verse 9 as a millennial prophecy.

He says, "For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord" (Zephaniah 3:9). Pure language—we often interpret that to mean one language. And it might well be that. It'd be great to have one language in the whole world that would basically be reversing what happened at the Tower of Babel back in Genesis 11.

Remember, God says, no, look what they're doing, and now nothing will be withheld from them. So He confused the languages and scattered people around the planet. But it seems in the millennium there's no need for that scattering and confusion. So perhaps it'll be one language, although it doesn't say one, it says a pure language. What would that be? Well, I would think maybe expunging many of the pagan references and names that have crept into our language.

And we see it all around us and don't think about it. What are the days of the week? Monday, the moon's day, Tuesday. Try to remember which pagan god that's referring to. But there are many of these references in our language that perhaps God is going to remove them.

Now, I'm curious to see if God does give us a single language. Some people thought it's going to be pure Hebrew, you know, perfect Hebrew as in the ancient tongue. I'm skeptical of that because in studying the Old Testament, when you look to the original Hebrew, they've got a limited number of words and they have to use figurative language and have a word with multiple meanings. I'm hoping it'll be English because I already know English.

But maybe it'll be a language that doesn't even exist. And besides, if we're spirit-borne children of God, we don't have to worry about language. We can pick them up pretty quickly. The point is it's going to be ending the division and the strife, and that, I think, is the most important part of it. But we'll be using a pure language to call on God, as it says in verse 9.

"From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, the daughter of My dispersed ones, shall bring My offering" (Zephaniah 3:10). So it's talking about worshipping God. The rivers of Ethiopia probably, if it's in plural, probably means the branches of the Nile where it reaches the delta. Probably—we're not absolutely certain of that, but I don't have a better explanation.

In verse 12 he says, "I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord" (Zephaniah 3:12). That's a millennial scripture—meek and humble and trusting God, and no reason to be ashamed because they're doing what's right.

"The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth" (Zephaniah 3:13). And of course, deceitfulness and lying are also some of the things that God hates. If you get to the book near the end of Revelation, it talks about those who will be left out of the kingdom going into a lake of fire. I remember one scripture says, everyone who loves a lie. So lying and deceitfulness, as I said, high on God's list.

Just occurred to me, I shouldn't reference that without going there, making sure that I'm reading it correctly. So I'm going to do that. "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).

So coming back to Zephaniah 3 and verse 13, they're going to speak no lies nor deceitful tongue in their mouth. So they'll do what's right, none will make them afraid.

And so the word next is, "Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!" (Zephaniah 3:14). This is shouting for joy. "The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy" (Zephaniah 3:15). And I would say a lot of the rejoicing will be because the judgment is taken away. And we say judgment—we could say it's taken away the guilty verdict.

This, I think, is a good parallel to what we read in Colossians 2 and verse 14. And Colossians 2:14—well, again, let's turn there instead of just referencing it. I say that, but it's easier to say Colossians than it is to find it. There it is. Paul is talking about "having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Colossians 2:14).

Many Christian teachers believe this is saying God's law was nailed to the cross. But what this seems to be saying is that the guilty verdict, you know, the punishment that we earn is taken away because Christ paid the penalty. And that seems to be what we see in Zephaniah, where God has taken away judgment. We're guilty, but He's taken away that judgment and cast out your enemy. You know, Satan is our enemy. And Paul described the last enemy that will be destroyed is death. And we can look forward to that in God's Kingdom.

"The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall see disaster no more" (Zephaniah 3:15). When God is there, He's in your midst. Think of Revelation 21, verse 3, where it says, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people" (Revelation 21:3).

Through the Bible, since the Garden of Eden, there's been a separation between God and man. Adam and Eve chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, instead of the tree of life. And so there's been a separation. God gave a sacrificial system to show a way to approach Him. But the only real reconciliation would come is when the real penalty for death was paid by the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And then we can have reconciliation. God will be in our midst. I'm sermonizing a little more than I intended to, but it's good stuff to talk about.

And continuing back in chapter 3, verse 17, it says, "The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17). That's God talking about you and me, I hope. Each one of us, God is rejoicing over. He's very happy at the thought of us being in His family, in His Kingdom.

I always relate this to Isaiah 62 and verse 5, where it says, "As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 62:5). And that's a beautiful picture, because you know how happy a couple is on their wedding day? Boy, are they rejoicing in each other. And God is saying, that's how much I rejoice in you.

And that's what He's saying here in Zephaniah, the Lord rejoices with singing, with gladness.

"I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly… to whom its reproach is a burden" (Zephaniah 3:18). At that time, "I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, and gather those who were driven out" (Zephaniah 3:19). So God is going to undo the punishment, the scattering.

Those who sorrow over the appointed assembly seems to mean the righteous who are upset when they're not able to keep the Sabbath and the holy days. And we know when Judah went into exile, they couldn't come to the temple, and they were separated. God is going to undo that. Fortunately, as the spiritual temple of God, we are able to, you know, keep those days, and we don't have to sorrow over them.

When I bring it on to verse 20, God says, "At that time I will bring you back, even at the time I gather you; for I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I return your captives before your eyes" (Zephaniah 3:20). This is yet another reference to what we call the second Exodus.

Again, to borrow Darris McNeely's phrase, God has unfinished business with Israel. He lets Israel be taken captive, Judah taken captive and scattered, but there are numerous prophecies of them being brought back. And of course, this is their descendants brought back many years later. And if it's after the trumpet plagues, the final last plagues, it's what's left alive at that time, which will be a greatly reduced number. But still, God is bringing them back and putting them in their land.

It seems probably to be a model nation in the millennium to show the others what it's supposed to be like. You know, it could be Israel fulfilling the purpose that they never really did fulfill in ancient times. They were to be a kingdom of priests, a holy people, but they turned away from God and practiced idolatry. And they were punished and scattered, but that's never the end of the story. God keeps coming back to the fact that He'll return the captives. He'll bring them back. And we can see that as a lesson for God's view of us. Even if we fall into sin and get separated, He wants to bring us back. He wants to return us to His family and to a relationship with Him.

All right, that's the end of Zephaniah. I would say anticlimactic, but it's a good climax. It's a good thing to end on.

And I'll be honest, in a sense, that's going to end the larger section of the minor prophets. We've got three books to go, but what's significant about these last three books—and we're going to cover the five W's of Haggai in just a moment.

And to me, I'm already on that page. I'll note—well, I'll mention the when of Haggai is in 520 BC, and it'll say the second year of Darius's reign. Darius, that's a Persian leader.

So what we pick up with Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, we call them the post-exilic prophets. After Judah's exile of 70 years—and Jeremiah prophesied, you're going to be in captivity 70 years, then you'll be released—that happened. They would be released, and some of that story is covered in Ezra and Nehemiah, and Esther follows afterwards. Those are the periods after the exile, and we have prophecies at that time.

So I'll come back to that, but let's mention the who, because it's first in my notes, and I don't want to forget it.

Okay, the book of Haggai was written by a prophet named Haggai. Interestingly, to me at least, he's the only person in the whole Bible with that name. We don't see any other Haggai's around. It could be interpreted from the Hebrew to mean my feast or my festival. Some say it's better to say my festive one. It's calling Haggai a festive person.

We don't know what that means. It could be that he was born on a feast day, so his parents named him that. Some speculate that maybe he was named that in anticipation of the end of the exile when the Jews could go back and build a temple and keep the feasts again and sacrifice to God. Well, maybe. We can't ask his parents the why, so we'll just leave it at that.

We do know, because he's of the nation of Judah that was in exile, he was probably born in the captivity. He's probably born here in Babylonia, and he'll be among those that go back to Judah. So that means he's descended from either the tribe of Judah or Benjamin or possibly Levi. Those were the tribes that made up the nation of Judah.

Okay, so as I said, he's the first post-exilic prophet. He is mentioned in the book of Ezra in Ezra 5 verse 1 and also Ezra 6 verse 14.

And he's mentioned as working alongside the prophet who comes next in the minor prophets, Zechariah. So Haggai and Zechariah are a team. Even though their books don't mention each other, Ezra mentions them as being together.

So that comes to the when. As I said, we think 520 BC. Let me mention some of the historical background.

It was in 536 BC that a group of exiles left the area of Babylon and went back to Jerusalem. They're going to be led by a governor named Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel. I often get an extra bubble in there, but he's there with the priest, Jehoshaphat—no, not Jehoshaphat—let me get this straight—Joshua, also called Jeshua. And Haggai might have been in that group.

They travel back and begin to work on building a temple, and they stop. The book of Ezra describes the obstacles put in their way and how they start and stop and start and stop. And finally, they get underway, and they'll partly get going because Haggai and Zechariah will convey God's message to say, build the temple. Get this thing done. God says, I want it done that I may glory in it. So that's part of what's in this story.

So in 520 BC, Haggai and Zechariah encourage renewed work on the temple, which will be finished in about five years, about 515 BC. So I wanted to have that context of where the book of Haggai is.

The where is easy. It's in Jerusalem. That's where they're rebuilding the temple. But of the post-exilic prophets, I like to mention it's Jerusalem that's part of the Persian Empire. It's still the same location on the map, but Persia is ruling this whole area. So they're not an independent kingdom anymore. They're a province of the Persian Empire.

Okay, the why of the book? There's a clear immediate reason. Tell the leaders to get back to work building the temple. And the message tells them God will bless you for doing that. So that's the main reason, but we'll also see a couple of Messianic prophecies. And I believe there's a powerful lesson for us in God's Church today, looking at a parallel. And I'll point that out as we go.

But first, let's talk about what. Well, I've told you a lot of the what. He's a post-exilic prophet. Haggai consists of four separate messages from God. Now, some scholars say, no, it's five. Four or five, they're messages from God, no doubt. Most of them deal with telling the people they need to get to work on the temple. And God promises if you do, there will be blessings, there will be protection.

Another prophecy is, I believe, of a Messiah to come. This temple will be filled with glory. And we think that's referring to the Messiah. Jesus Christ would come to the temple that they're going to build. Now, Haggai's writing, those who study the Hebrew say, it includes a lot of Chaldean influence. Well, that makes sense if he was raised in the captivity. It's even possible that Hebrew is a second language to him. He might have grown up speaking Babylonian or Aramaic or whatever it was. So there is an effect in his language.

And speaking of the language, it's mostly prose. Unlike most of the others, this isn't all poetry. There are some elements of poetry in it. So he uses some parallelisms, even though he doesn't write it as poetry. And one thing I'll mention is he has God asking questions for emphasis and effect. So we see a particular style of writing.

I'll mention, well, I did mention, Haggai and Zachariah seem to work together as a team. That's what we learned from the book of Ezra. And interestingly, Haggai writes pretty much about what's going on then and there. Hey, guys, go build the temple. Get some wood. Get to work. Whereas Zachariah writes almost none of that. Zachariah is wild visions, things for the end time, stuff like that. Part of me says if you mix them together, you've got about an even balance that would come from most of the prophetic books of current day for the people then and end time. But I'll say more about what Zachariah has when we get to the book of Zachariah.

For now, unless there are questions, I'll dive into chapter one, verse one.

I say questions. Generally, I say let's not have questions because we're recording, but Adam had one. 

[Adam] Was Darius the same one in Daniel? 

[Dunkle] Was Darius the same one in Daniel? I think so. I will say there's debate among scholars because remember in Daniel we said the Darius mentioned was ruling this area. He wasn't the Persian emperor, but he would have control of this part of the kingdom. So I think it probably is that same Darius. But I could be corrected. You know, I've made an error or two once in time in my life, but I think we're safe on that one.

Okay, coming in chapter one, verse one, "In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month." So we reference them, and I'll mention that Darius, if it's the one in Daniel, could have been Syaxerys or Guburru, and Darius might be a title, a royal one. "The word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest" (Haggai 1:1).

But the word of the Lord came by Haggai to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, who's the governor of Judah. So Zerubbabel, also known in some places as Sheshbazzar. I like Zerubbabel better because it's fun to say Zerubbabel. But anyways, he was a grandson of a former king, Jehoiachin. So he's of the royal line, but he never serves as king. He's appointed governor, definitely not king, but he's descended from King David.

The message is also to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. He's called Jeshua in Ezra chapter 2, verse 2. Jehozadak was the high priest when Babylon conquered Judah. Now his son is going to get to go oversee the rebuilding of the temple. So one man, one priest sees the temple destroyed, his son will get to oversee rebuilding it 70 years later.

So this is the message from Haggai in verse 2. It says, "Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says," (Haggai 1:2).

This people—he's talking about the Jews—but it's interesting that he doesn't call them my people. Maybe that's because of their indifference. They're not really relating to God very much. I've read some people speculate that maybe it's because of what we might call the time of the Gentiles has come, where God is working, you know, with these kingdoms, first Babylon, then Persia, Greece, and Rome. I'm not as convinced of that, but—and maybe he just chose these words because of the Chaldean influence—but it's talking about the Jews there saying that "time has not come". The time that the Lord's house should be built.

Time has not come. It could just mean we don't have time to do it. We're busy. We've got to do other things first. Some speculate that they did some counting and they said it's only been 68 years since the destruction of the temple, so we need to wait two more years, thinking of the 70 years prophecy by Jeremiah. Well, if that's the case, I'd say they were wrong, because it was the captivity that was supposed to be 70 years. It doesn't necessarily say the time of having a temple destroyed is 70. At least that's my thought on the matter.

Either way, God is going to tell them you're wrong. It is time. Okay, they're saying the time hasn't come.

Verse 3, "Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying" (Haggai 1:3), "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?" (Haggai 1:4). Yeah, they had time to build nice houses for themselves, but they're neglecting the temple of God. Priorities are out of whack here. Let's get them back in whack. Nobody says that, but I do sometimes for humor's sake.

Verse 5, "Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Consider your ways!’" (Haggai 1:5). This is God's way of saying, let's think about what you're doing and what's happening. Consider your ways.

There's a parallel between this and Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18. And Isaiah 1:18, he says, "Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord (Isaiah 1:18). God is not against thinking and reasoning.

And He's going to, as He says consider your ways, say, "You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes" (Haggai 1:6).

What He's saying is your efforts have not prospered. You're putting in the work, but it's not bringing the results you want because your priorities are wrong.

So in verse 7, He says, "Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Consider your ways!’" (Haggai 1:7). Think about this. And then verse 8, He tells them what to do. "Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified" (Haggai 1:8). You know, get off your duffs and get to work. Now, God never says duffs that I know of, but they go get the material. Wood would be a primary building material. Stone would be included as well. Probably a lot of stone.

And why does He want the temple built? That I may take pleasure in it and be glorified.

Okay. God wants to be worshipped in this particular way. That reminds me of what He says in Deuteronomy 12:29. Whereas the Israelites are about to go in the Promised Land, He tells them, "Don't ask about the Canaanites and how they worship their gods. They do things I don't want. Don't worship me with their ways." God gave them a system of worship and He wanted to be worshiped that way. And at that time and place, that way centered on a temple. So He wants the temple built.

Now, He doesn't mention it here, but it's worth saying one of the reasons to have a temple built was to fulfill prophecies pertaining to the Messiah. You know, Jesus Christ would come and He was going to come to a temple. That wouldn't happen if they didn't build a temple.

Now, I'm aware that later Herod would rebuild. So some people talk about a first and second temple. Some talk about a first, second, and third. But I like to think of Herod as remodeling and expanding the temple, not building a whole new one. Some people disagree with me on that, so I'll leave it at that.

But God points out the cause and effect, saying a lot of what He said before. "You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the Lord of hosts. "Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house" (Haggai 1:9). "Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought" (Haggai 1:10–11). So God is saying there's clear cause and effect. You're not having good crops. You're going without because you're not doing what I want you to do.

And then something really cool happens. In verse 12, it says, "Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God… and the people feared the presence of the Lord" (Haggai 1:12). So they actually did what God said. How novel, how innovative. Hopefully it's not new to us. We should be doing what God says.

But they get busy and they start working on the temple again. And so in verse 13, God sends another message. "Haggai, the Lord's messenger spoke the Lord's message: I am with you, says the Lord" (Haggai 1:13). That's one of the briefest prophecies ever. But what a powerful one. You're doing what I want done. I got your back. I'm with you.

When I read that, it reminds me of Romans 8 and verse 31. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). You know, Paul hadn't written his words yet, but maybe these people in Judah should have thought, yeah, He's with us. We can't fail.

So we move on in verse 14. "So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel… and Joshua… and all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God" (Haggai 1:14). So they're getting the work done. Now, much of the work would have consisted of, you know, gathering materials and getting it in place. But we see here in verses 14 and 15 that in just over three weeks from God's message through Haggai, they're back at work. And the work had been untouched for years, but now they're getting busy and doing it, and that's powerful.

Verse 15 tells us that the 24th day of the sixth month. So they've gotten to it.

Now let's go into the second chapter, the seventh month on the 21st day. So it's almost a month later, "the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet" (Haggai 2:1). And we're going to see in chapter two, there's an implication of a spiritual fulfillment of the temple's purpose.

But it's worth noting, you know, seventh month, 21st day doesn't necessarily stand out to us, but it does to some. Okay, this is day seven of the Feast of Tabernacles. So it's not a sacred assembly, it's the seventh day, but it's wrapping up the Feast, and that's kind of important.

So in verse 2, we see, "Speak now to Zerubbabel… and to Joshua… and to the remnant of the people" (Haggai 2:2).

And here's an important lesson for us. "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?" (Haggai 2:3). He's talking about the temple that Solomon oversaw being built. And it was one of the wonders of the ancient world. Solomon's temple was gorgeous and amazing. And there are some men here old enough to have seen it and remember.

The history of what Haggai is talking about is in Ezra chapter three, beginning in verse eight. And it's worth us turning over there, Ezra three. Now Ezra is going back before Psalms and Job, but after Chronicles.

Ezra 3, verse 10: "When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets… and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord" (Ezra 3:10–11). But then verse 12, "many of the priests and Levites… old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid… yet many shouted aloud for joy" (Ezra 3:12).

They couldn't tell the difference. Now, if we just read Ezra, we might think they're weeping for joy. And some people shout and sing. Some people weep when they're happy. But if we combine this with what it says in Haggai, God says, do you see this temple? Isn't it as nothing compared to my first temple?

But He's going to say, yet be strong. Okay, yeah, why is it as nothing? It's not as big. It's not as opulent. They don't have the gold and silver by the ton that Solomon had.

God is going to tell them that's not what matters. I don't need the gold and silver. Matter of fact, if you look, drop down to verse 8 of Haggai 2, it says, "The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine," says the Lord of hosts (Haggai 2:8). I don't need that.

That's why He's saying, if this temple seems as nothing, He says in verse 4, "Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel… be strong, Joshua… and be strong, all you people… and work; for I am with you" (Haggai 2:4). He told them that before—I'm with you—and if the Lord is for you, who can be against you.

In verse 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!" (Haggai 2:5). My Spirit remains among you.

Reminds me, this could point out something that Jesus told the disciples on the last night before He's crucified. The Spirit hadn't yet been poured out, but He said, describing the Holy Spirit, what He called the paracletos, it's with you and it will be in you.

At this point, for most of these people, the Spirit was with them, probably not in them, but the Spirit remains.

In verse 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; and 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" (Haggai 2:6–7).

I want to back up, because when he says, "I will shake all nations" (Haggai 2:7), heaven and earth, that's going to be quoted in the New Testament. We can find it in Matthew 24:29. Also in Hebrews 12:26. Paul makes a reference—we think in Hebrews—when God says He'll shake heaven and earth, He's talking about the things that can be shaken will be shaken, and those that remain are things that can't be shaken, thinking of the spiritual.

And that reminds me of another point that I wanted to make about God's Spirit being with them.

The Jewish tradition lists a number of things that Solomon's temple had that this temple does not have. And I'm not going to elaborate that too much, because Mr. Preston will discuss it when he covers Ezra and Nehemiah later. But one of the most powerful things that seemed to be lacking here was the Shekinah glory. The Shekinah means God's literal presence.

When Solomon dedicated the temple, when it was built, you know, he prayed a prayer to God, he offered a sacrifice. God sent fire from heaven to burn up the sacrifice and ignite the wood, and His glory entered the temple. And it says the priest had to get out. You know, the glory was too great for them to be in its presence. Powerful stuff. But that didn't happen with this temple. The Shekinah glory didn't come in. God didn't send fire from heaven.

But God says, "My Spirit remains among you" (Haggai 2:5), and I'm going to shake the heavens and earth. And they’ll come the desire of all nations, and I will fill this temple with glory" (Haggai 2:7). I'm going to fill this temple with glory, but not the Shekinah. But that's where I referred to—we believe this is a Messianic prophecy, because Jesus Christ, in bodily form, came to this temple.

If you read the Gospel accounts, He's brought to it first when He's a baby, when they offer the sacrifice that's described in the Pentateuch. But then as an adult male, He comes. And remember, He makes a whip and drives out the money changers and those who sold doves and sheep. This is a greater glory.

But we also want to remember that we're described by both Peter and Paul as a spiritual temple. The church is the temple of God now, and we have God's Spirit in us. That's more powerful than some—well, God's power, not more powerful than that—but more meaningful to us than God sending His Shekinah into a physical building. He's dwelling in us, transforming us, making us into His children. That's a powerful thing.

Let's get back to the text here, because when He talks about "the desire of all nations" (Haggai 2:7), I'll fill this temple with glory. Desire of all nations is something that scholars and translators have trouble with, because they say it has something to do with the grammar, saying whether it's pointing back to shaking all nations or ahead, because it might be referring to verse 8, "The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine" (Haggai 2:8). Okay, is that what He's talking about?

If so, you know, you don't need the desire—all nations do desire silver and gold, right? Nations desire wealth, but He's saying, don't worry about that. It already belongs to Me. I'm going to do something better.

Verse 9, "The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former…" (Haggai 2:9). That seems to be referring to the coming of Messiah. God Himself will come in person to this temple, "and in this place I'll give peace." The word peace, shalom in Hebrew.

And Jesus is described as the Prince of Peace. That's prophesied in Isaiah 9 verse 6: "His name will be called… Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). Colossians 1 verse 20 says, "having made peace through the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:20). Romans 5 verse 1 says, "we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1). And I've got a few other scriptures—I’m not just going to keep listing scriptures—but hopefully we see the coming of Christ brings peace. And this is referring to that. In this place I'll give peace.

That's the end of that message.

Starting in verse 10, we have—I love to say it this way—a new prophetic utterance, a new message through Haggai. It's on the 24th day of the ninth month, second year of Darius. So this is about three months after work on the temple started, and about two months since the message we just finished.

And this time, we're going to turn away from talk about the temple. Seems work on the temple is going okay. God is going to have some questions asked to the priest. So apparently, maybe in public, Haggai—go ask him this—and he's going to make a point from it.

So, "Ask the priests concerning the law" (Haggai 2:11). "If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, does it become holy?" The priests say, well, no, you don't transfer the holiness. Well, Haggai says, "If one who's unclean because of a dead body touches these, will they be unclean? Yes, they're unclean."  (Haggai 2:12-13)

Before we get to the point he's going to make from this, we want to discuss, what in the world is he talking about? Holy meat? Okay, this is talking about meat from sacrifice. Carrying the fold of your garment—this makes sense to me because I used to work fast food and I had to wear an apron all day every day. And sometimes if I had to carry something, I'd pick up my apron and put something in it to carry it. That seems to be what it's saying. You got the holy meat, the priest carrying it in the fold of his garment. If that apron or whatever brushes against something, does it become holy because of the holy meat? No, it doesn't. It doesn't work that way.

But if somebody who's unclean because they touched a body touches one of those things, yes, it becomes unclean.

What's the point of that? Well, Haggai answered, "So is this people, and so is this nation before Me… and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean" (Haggai 2:14).

Okay, again, this people rather than my people. And what he's saying is corruption can be transferred. A little bit of corruption can spread, but holiness doesn't spread in the same way.

If one person in this room is righteous, it doesn't make us all righteous. But if one person is corrupt, that can spread. It doesn't have to.

Maybe a better analogy—one that I borrowed from one of the commentaries—they said, if a father is in good health, he can't pass that, he can't give it to his son. But if the son is sick, he could give the father his sickness—kind of like my wife gave me the cold that left my voice this way. So some things can pass, others don't.

And God is saying of this nation, what they're offering is unclean. There's some corruption that's been spreading. And he seems to be referring back to the condition described in chapter one.

He says, "And now, carefully consider from this day forward" (Haggai 2:15). So we're going to look forward, stop looking backward. But I'll briefly mention what happened backward.

Before stone was laid on stone in the temple, before you guys listened to Haggai and got to work on the temple, "since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten… when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths, there were but twenty" (Haggai 2:16).

"I struck you with blight and mildew and hail… yet you did not turn to Me" (Haggai 2:17). So it's where he talks about you had food, but not enough.

You had stuff to drink, but not enough. I was not blessing you is what God says.

But he says in verse eight—consider now from this day forward—we're done looking backward, looking forward. "Consider now from this day forward… from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid—consider it" (Haggai 2:18). Is there seed still in the barn? The fig tree, the vine tree haven't yielded their fruit? Not yet. "But from this day I will bless you" (Haggai 2:19).

Okay, you've had some corruption in the nation, and it's affected everyone. Okay, like someone who's unclean from a dead body touches stuff, it makes it unholy. Maybe there were a few people who were righteous, but it didn't spread. But God is saying it's changed. From this day forward, I will bless you. That's powerful. As you've turned the corner, you're doing what's good. That's what I wanted.

I should look at my notes, see what if I didn't want to mess things up, but I think we're right there.

We turn to verse 21—well actually verse 20, sorry. Again, "the word of the Lord came by Haggai a second time, on the twenty-fourth day of the month" (Haggai 2:20). This is where I said some scholars say there's four messages and some say five, because this is the same day. Is it part of the same message or is it a separate one? And the answer to that is, I don't know. We don't need to know, but there's a message.

"Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying: ‘I will shake heaven and earth’" (Haggai 2:21). Same as back in verse six. So I'm going to shake heaven and earth.

In the period of time when this prophecy is given, they might have interpreted that as meaning the Persian Empire is going to fall. And eventually it would. There'd be war and tumult among the nations. You know—well, especially I should have read the next verse—"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… everyone by the sword of his brother" (Haggai 2:22).

Okay, obviously there's an ancient time interpretation, but could also be one for the end time. Maybe a Messianic prophecy. And I say this because God would shake heaven and earth. We see that prophesied at the end. And when he says, overthrow the throne of kingdoms—that's singular. It doesn't say thrones of kingdoms.

We see now the world is under the sway of Satan, who's called the god of this earth, the prince of the power of the air. But when Christ comes, He's going to move Satan off of that position. He'll be put away and bound for a thousand years. Jesus Christ will sit on the throne of the nations as King of kings and Lord of lords.

So I'm saying we see a dual prophecy here. Yeah, the Persian empire will be overturned, but there's a more important one yet to come.

Okay, and then one last prophecy in verse 23 as part of this. "In that day… I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant… and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you" (Haggai 2:23).

There are two interpretations we could put on this. Okay, and one we're pretty sure isn't right, but it's one they might have considered at the time. I told you Zerubbabel was descended from a king called Jehoiachin. Jehoiachin—it's mentioned in Jeremiah chapter 22 and verse 24—"though Coniah… were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you "off" (Jeremiah 22:24).

And going through that section, God says even if you're the signet on My hand, I'd take it off and throw it from Me. And it's a prophecy that Jehoiachin would stop being king and wouldn't be king anymore.

Okay, this says Zerubbabel will be like a signet. Some people, it seems, saw this and said, aha, God is going to reverse the prophecy of Jehoiachin or of his descendants not being allowed to be king. Maybe Zerubbabel is going to be coronated as king of Judah—but he never was. You know, you can read the history. Zerubbabel never becomes king.

You know, the fulfillment of God keeping the descendants of David on the throne would be, and by another means, eventually in Jesus Christ.

So what does it mean? What's another possible interpretation? This one I like a lot because we can apply it to us.

You know, if a signet is something—it has this form, this design—and you press it on wax or clay to leave a mark. Let's say Zerubbabel is a signet of God. It presses on something else and leaves a mark. It could be an interpretation that saying God worked with Zerubbabel so much that when he interacted with other people, it left a mark. In this case, it would be a good mark. It's a signet of God leaving a mark that represents God on other people.

If that's what it means, that speaks very highly of Zerubbabel. And it makes me think, I'd like to be a signet. I would like to be one that would leave a mark on other people that's a favorable mark because it represents God's way.

And when I say I would like that, I hope all of us would like that. We'd like to be like a signet ring of God, where when we come in contact with people, it leaves an impression that's a positive and a good one. You know, it reminds me of in the book of Acts when the disciples are preaching—at one point it says, "they realized that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). I'd love it if people would look at us and say, they've been with Jesus. I can tell.

Whether or not that's what God intended when Haggai wrote this, there's a lesson for us. We know Zerubbabel would never be anointed king. We can look and see maybe he was a favorable impression, and we can be too.

I didn't know if I'd get to the end of Haggai today, but we did. So that's the first of the post-exilic prophets. Now Zechariah is 14 chapters long. We'll spend some time on Zechariah. We'll begin next time.