Friday, Aug. 24

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Friday

“This is what the LORD Almighty says:  ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.  I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty. 

‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty.  ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty.  ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”   - Haggai 2:6-9

There are many prophecies in Scripture that contain promises from God, this is a particularly  wonderful promise from God to His people.  In this passage, God is giving these remnant Jews (and us today) something we all desperately need, an eternal perspective.  God is reminding us that He sees more than we see.  We are finite creatures with limited understanding, and He is the infinite and eternal God who knows and sees all.

Not too long ago I was asked to perform an outdoor wedding ceremony at the Morton Arboretum.  As I was leaving the Arboretum after the rehearsal, I passed by a large maze garden.  On the outside of the garden wall was a 15 ft. raised observation platform.  There was a man standing on that platform calling down to his young son somewhere inside of the maze.  I could not see the little boy, but I could hear him, and I could hear the emotion in his voice.  It was obvious that he was lost and his father was trying to guide him out of the maze and back to himself.  The father could see exactly where the boy needed to go in order to find his way out, but all the little boy could see were large green hedges everywhere.  The young boy needed to trust his father’s voice and obey what his father told him to do.  He needed to trust that his father saw more than he did.  

This story is a powerful image of what we need from God!  We must trust that He sees far more than we do.  It is easy for us to feel lost in the maze of life, it is easy for us to lose our way or make a wrong turn. We must listen to what God tells us and obey the commands He gives us, if we want to end up in the right place.  

The people in Haggai’s day had drifted off course, they had forgotten why they came back to Jerusalem in the first place, and they had stopped doing what God wanted them to do.  They had experienced opposition, setbacks and discouragement and had finally settled into a life that was clearly not what God wanted for them.  So God sent His messenger Haggai to speak His words to the people.  Haggai not only calls them to action, but he reminds them of who God is.  He reminds them of the promises of their great God.  He reminds them of how God has been faithful in the past, and he tells them of God’s promise to be faithful in the future.

Commentators differ on when the shaking of heaven and earth and the nations would take place and what it means.  Some say that it referred to God’s stirring up Darius to supply help and materials for this rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 6:6-15).  Others say that it refers to God’s bringing future judgment on the Persians, Greeks, and Romans.  While these may have been an initial fulfillment, like many biblical prophecies, there are multiple fulfillments.  In this case, it refers ultimately to the Second Coming of Christ, when God will shake the heavens and the earth and conquer all the rebellious nations (Rev. 16:18- 20).

God also says that He will “fill this house with glory” and that “the glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house” (2:7, 9).  Again there is some debate.  How could Zerubbabel’s temple be greater in glory than Solomon’s?  While king Herod replaced this temple with more glorious buildings (the temple in Jesus’ time), this verse probably refers to the coming of Jesus into that temple.  His presence made it even more glorious than Solomon’s Temple. When Christ returns, His presence as King of Kings and Lord of Lords will surpass the veiled glory of His first coming.  In the new heavens and earth, there will be no temple, “for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev. 21:22).

When we see how God has worked down through the ages in accordance with what He told His people in advance, it encourages us to remain faithful in our obedience to Him, knowing that the remaining unfulfilled prophecies will surely yet be fulfilled. The many prophecies in Scripture are not given for us to speculate about the future, but to help us be faithful in the present!

Jeff Frazier