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.
