2:1 The Lord revealed another message to Haggai almost one month later, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month (Tishri, modern October 17) of the same year, 520 B.C. This was the last day of the feast of Tabernacles (Booths). Tishri was a month of feasts for the Israelites. On the first of this month they celebrated the feast of Trumpets, and on the tenth, the day of Atonement. The feast of Tabernacles lasted seven days, and the following day was a day of rest (Lev. 23:33-44).
2:2 The audience was the same as received the first message: Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the returnees, a remnant of the Israelites.
2:3 The Lord asked if the older members of the restoration community who had seen Solomon's temple, which perished 66 years earlier, did not think the present temple was nothing in comparison (cf. Zech. 4:10). The Lord's three questions forced the people to admit that the present temple was not as grand as the former one had been.20The dedication of Solomon's temple took place 440 years earlier at the feast of Tabernacles (1 Kings 8:2), so that was probably the reason the Lord gave it to Haggai on this day.
2:4 The Lord again encouraged Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the people to work, and He promised again to be with them (cf. 1:13). David had given the same charge and promise to Solomon regarding the first temple (1 Chron. 28:10, 20). Comparisons can be discouraging when doing the Lord's work, so people involved in it need to remind themselves that He is with them (cf. Matt. 28:20).
2:5 The Lord reiterated the promise He had made to the Israelites when they left Egypt in the Exodus. His Spirit would stay in their midst so they did not need to fear (cf. Exod. 19:4-6; 33:14). The returnees could identify with their forefathers who departed from Egypt because they had recently departed from another captivity in Babylon.
"There must have been those who were theologically naive and doubted that God could be with them if the temple and the ark in particular were not intact.
"Undoubtedly fear gripped many of the returnees--fear that God had written an eternal Ichabod' over Jerusalem, fear that no amount of praying or piety would induce him to bless them again, fear that the whole endeavor was in vain, fear that the political enemies would in fact win, fear that all was lost."21
2:6 The basis of their confidence and lack of fear was a promise from Almighty Yahweh. He would do again in the future what He had done at the Exodus and at Mt. Sinai (Exod. 19:16; Ps. 68:8; 77:16-18). Shaking the heavens and the earth describes an earthquake, which was an evidence of the Lord's supernatural intervention (cf. Isa. 2:12-21; 13:13; Ezek. 38:20; Amos 8:8). This will occur when Christ returns to the earth (Joel 3:16; Matt. 24:29-30).
The writer of Hebrews quoted this verse in Hebrews 12:26. He then added that we who are in Christ have an unshakable kingdom that will endure the coming cosmic earthquake (Heb. 12:28-29). Haggai's prophecy still awaits fulfillment.
2:7 At the same time, Almighty Yahweh would shake all the nations; His return will upset the political and governmental structures in the world (cf. Zech. 14:1-4). The nations would bring their wealth to the Israelites, like the Egyptians gave their treasures to the departing Hebrews at the Exodus (cf. Exod. 3:21-22; 11:2-3; 12:35-36).
Some English translations have "the desire of all nations will come."This "desire"could be an impersonal reference to the wealth that the nations desire (cf. Isa. 60:5; Zech. 14:14),22or it could be a personal reference. In this case it could be a messianic prophecy, which is why some translations capitalize "Desire."The Hebrew does not solve the problem, which is interpretive. Perhaps the Lord was deliberately ambiguous and had both things in mind.23
The Lord also promised to fill the temple with glory. The temple in view must be the millennial temple rather than the second (restoration) temple in view of the context. This glory could be the wealth that the nations will bring to it (cf. Isa. 60:7, 13). Or the glory in view may be the glory of God's own presence (cf. Exod. 40:34-35; 1 Kings 8:10-11; Ezek. 43:1-12). Simeon referred to the infant Jesus as "the glory of your people Israel"(Luke 2:32). However, Jesus' presence in Herod's temple only prefigured the glory that will be present in the millennial temple.
2:8 This verse seems to support the view that impersonal wealth is in view in verse 7. The Lord reminded the people that He controlled all the silver and gold in the world, so He could cause the nations to bring it to the temple in the future.24This reminder would have encouraged Haggai's contemporaries as they rebuilt the temple as well. God could bring more financial resources to them so they could glorify their presently modest temple.
2:9 Even though the present temple was less glorious than Solomon's temple, the Lord promised that the final glory of the temple would be greater than its former glory. The Lord also promised to bring peace to the site of the temple, Jerusalem. Neither of these things has happened yet, so the fulfillment must be future (millennial). Lasting peace will only come when Messiah returns to rule and reign (cf. Isa. 2:4; 9:6; Zech. 9:9-10). Jesus Christ's adornment of the second temple, as renovated by Herod the Great, with His presence hardly seems to fulfill the exalted promises in this prophecy.25
The Lord used the occasion of the feast of Tabernacles to encourage the builders of the temple in Haggai's day. This feast looked back to the Exodus, reminded the Israelites of their wilderness wanderings, and anticipated settlement in the Promised Land. This message also looked back to the Exodus, referred to the present temple construction, and anticipated the glory of the future temple.
2:10 Another prophecy came from the Lord on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of 520 B.C. (Kislev 24, December 18). During the two months between this prophecy and the former one (vv. 1-9), Zechariah began his ministry in Jerusalem (Zech. 1:1).
2:11 Almighty Yahweh instructed Haggai to request a ruling from the priests. The priests were the official interpreters of the Mosaic Law, and what follows deals with matters of ceremonial defilement.
2:12 The question was, if someone carries consecrated food in his garment and touches other food of any kind with the garment, will that food become holy? Holy meat was meat set apart for a particular sacrificial purpose (cf. Lev. 6:25; Num. 6:20). The answer was, no it would not become holy. The meat carried in the garment would make the garment holy, but the holiness would not be communicated beyond the garment to anything else (cf. Exod. 29:37; Lev. 6:27; Ezek. 44:19; Matt. 23:19). The people were apparently thinking that since they were working on the holy temple all that they contacted and did became holy.26
2:13 A second question was, if someone who has become unclean, for example by touching a corpse, touches food of any kind, will the food become unclean (cf. Lev. 22:4-6; Num. 19:11-16)? The answer was, yes it would become unclean.
2:14 Haggai then made an application of this principle to the people for the Lord. Their sacrifices were unacceptable to God because they were unclean. They should not think that contact with something holy, such as the temple they were working to complete, made them acceptable to God. They had previously been unclean, so their present sacrifices were unacceptable to God.
2:15-16 The people needed to give careful consideration to something again (cf. 1:5, 7). They needed to remember that before they began to obey the Lord by rebuilding the temple (1:12) they had been disobedient to the Mosaic Covenant (cf. 1:5-11). The Lord's punishment for their covenant unfaithfulness had been greatly reduced harvests. Their grains had decreased by 50 percent and their grapes by 60 percent.
2:17 The Lord had used hot winds, mildew, and hail to smite the people and what they had planted, but they still did not repent (cf. Amos 4:9).
2:18-19 The people were to notice something on the day this prophecy reached their ears, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. They were to notice that from the day they started to rebuild the temple, their hardships had continued (cf. 1:14-15). They still suffered shortages of staples such as seed, grapes, and olives, and luxuries such as figs and pomegranates. However, the Lord revealed that He would now bless them, beginning that very day, the twenty-fourth of the ninth month.
This oracle explained why agricultural blessing had not begun immediately after the people resumed reconstruction on the temple. Their present dedication and obedience did not wipe out their previous covenant unfaithfulness and its punishments. That punishment had to run its course, but now, as of the day of this prophecy, God would begin to bless the people with better harvests.
God will bless His people for their obedience, but sometimes He will not erase the punishment that previous sins have made necessary. Sin always brings death (Rom. 6:23). Sometimes that punishment must run its course before blessing can begin.
2:20 The Lord gave Haggai a second message on the same day as the previous message (v. 10), the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (Kislev 24, December 18).
2:21 Haggai was to tell Zerubbabel that Yahweh was going to shake the heavens and the earth. Again a divine judgment is in view (cf. v. 6).
2:22 The Lord announced that He was going to overthrow the rulers of the nations of the earth (cf. Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45). He would defeat their armies by turning them against each other (cf. Zech. 12:2-9; 14:1-5; Rev. 16:16-18; 19:11-21).
2:23 When He did that, the Lord promised to make Zerubbabel His servant. The title "my servant"is often messianic in the Old Testament (cf. 1 Sam. 3:18; 1 Kings 11:34; Isa. 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12; Ezek. 34:23-24; 37:24-25).27He would make him like a signet ring because He had chosen him for a special purpose. A signet ring was what kings used to designate royal authority and personal ownership (cf. 1 Kings 21:8; Dan. 6:17; Esth. 8:8). God had chosen Zerubbabel to designate royal authority and personal ownership, namely, the coming Messiah. God had revealed through Jeremiah that if Jehoiachin, Zerubbabel's grandfather, was His signet ring, He would take it off and give it to Nebuchadnezzar (cf. Jer. 22:24-25). Thus it is clear that this figure of a signet ring views Zerubbabel as the descendant of David and Jehoiachin through whom God would provide the victory promised in verses 21 and 22.28He will do that not through Zerubbabel personally but through one of his descendants, namely, Jesus Christ (cf. Matt. 1:21). Zerubbabel represents or typifies the Messiah here (cf. Joshua's similar role in Zech. 6:9-15).29The certainty of this promise is clear from the threefold repetition of "Yahweh,"twice as "Yahweh of hosts."
"By calling Zerubbabel His servant' and chosen' one God gave him the same status David had enjoyed (cf. 2 Sam. 3:18; 6:21; 7:5, 8, 26; 1 Kings 8:16). The comparison to a signet ring' indicates a position of authority and reverses the judgment pronounced on Zerubbabel's grandfather Jehoiachin (cf. Jer. 22:24-30).
"The words of Haggai 2:21-23, though spoken directly to Zerubbabel, were not fulfilled in his day. How is one to explain this apparent failure of Haggai's prophecy? Zerubbabel, a descendant of David and governor of Judah, was the official representative of the Davidic dynasty in the postexilic community at that time. As such the prophecy of the future exaltation of the Davidic throne was attached to his person. As with the Temple (cf. Hag. 2:6-9), Haggai related an eschatological reality to a tangible historical entity to assure his contemporaries that God had great plans for His people. Zerubbabel was, as it were, the visible guarantee of a glorious future for the house of David. In Haggai's day some may have actually entertained messianic hopes for Zerubbabel. However, in the progress of revelation and history Jesus Christ fulfills Haggai's prophecy."30
This final oracle promises a future overthrow of the Gentile nations that were, in Haggai's day, exercising sovereignty over Israel. A descendant of King Jehoiachin, and before him David, would be God's agent in that day. He would come from Zerubbabel's descendants and would be similar to Zerubbabel in that He would be the political ruler of God's people. Such a message would have encouraged and motivated the returned exiles to complete the temple since there was still a glorious future for their nation in God's plans.
"Haggai's sermons alternated between accusation and encouragement. (This is true of most of the prophets and in a sense should characterize all ministry.) The first sermon was basically negative. The second one aimed to encourage. [The third] . . . one is again essentially chiding and accusation. And . . . the last one is positive and uplifting."31
