The Report by Haggai

Haggai was a prophet at an awkward time in Israel’s history. There was no great man of faith like Abraham. No great leader like Moses or Joshua leading millions into the Promised Land. No great judge like Gideon or great kings like David or Solomon. This was a time after the 70 years of exile had ended and verse one tells us it was in the second year of the reign of King Darius the great of the Medo‑Persian empire (550‑486 BC). It was circa 500 BC.

Background of rebuilding

It may have been up to 18 years following the decree from King Cyrus of Persia in 2 Chron.36:23 (RSV) which was "the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem." Only a remnant of the southern kingdom of Judah had returned, although there may have been a few from the old northern kingdom too, to build the second temple.

Reflection on problems

The rebuilding work of the Temple had stalled, the people had become occupied with their own homes. (Hag.1:4) This was God’s first accusation against the residents of Jerusalem. Cyrus’ decree only mentioned the building of a new temple in Jerusalem. It was an instruction from God.

It made them reflect and consider their present situation. What was the initial goal and how much progress had they made? Who had given them that goal? Then we get a statement similar to many prior to the Babylonian exile regarding the state of agriculture in Israel from which they only had meagre amounts to eat and drink. (Hag.1:6) How many times pre‑exile had they been told that if they were obedient the crops in the field would be plentiful and the animals would thrive and reproduce? (Deut.28) He tells them plainly He had appointed a drought. (v.11) This lack of water had affected the people and livestock.

Work of the Spirit

Having caught their attention and made them really think, it says "Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple." (1:8 NKJV) Then God "stirred up" the spirit of the civil leader of the state, Zerubbabel, and the chief priest and notably the remnant who had returned to Judea. (1:14) Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin one of the last kings of Judah and more significantly of the line of David which was so important as it was that line that was ordained to rule. He was at that time civil governor of Judea appointed by the Medo Persian overlords. Joshua was the high priest. Some scholars think he may have been the high priest as early as 536 BC. He is still high priest in Zechariah 3:1, no doubt of the Aaronic line. The spirit is that same spirit in Hebrew that is first mentioned on the first creative day. (Gen.1:2) Such a vital and effective power.

Day of small things (Zech.4:9‑10)

There is a reminder of the old law covenant made in Sinai after they escaped slavery in Egypt. (Hag.2:4‑5) So God speaks once again to Haggai the prophet. There are two scenarios mentioned that the priests would know the answer to. Firstly if some meat that was used in an offering in the temple being carried in a garment brushes ordinary food, does the ordinary food become holy? Answer "no." The second scenario was if someone is ceremonially unclean because of touching a dead body–does the food they touch become unclean? Answer "yes." (Hag.2:10‑15) This showed they knew the rules and that they applied to them. However Israel were unholy, doing unholy things.

From then with the foundation laid, it was different. God would be blessing them. (Hag.2:18‑19) The governor, the high priest and the remnant did finish building the second Temple, Zerubbabel’s temple. This is the day of small things spoken of by Zechariah. (Zech.4:9‑10) (Not the day when King Solomon built the temple from the glorious materials requisitioned by King David. That temple the spirit of God entered like He did the tabernacle in the wilderness.) (1 Kings 8:9‑12; Exod.40:34‑35)

The temple Zerubbabel had built was not as glorious or splendid. Few, if any, would have been able to recall the first temple nevertheless none reckoned this would have been as gloriously splendid if one compared it to the former. Yet there is no condemnation to the builders. God just said "build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified." (1:8 NKJV) Although there is no scripture to show that the spirit of God entered the second Temple.

What an encouragement to ourselves? We read of marvellous times like the days of the early church, Peter, Paul, John, James, Apollos, Barnabas etc. Do we ever feel we are or have been rebuilding? They were told to "be strong…for I, (God) am with you." (Hag.2:4‑5)

Prophecy of a future Temple

How then do we approach Hag.2:9 that the glory of the latter house will be more glorious than the former when we have already been told it was not? Perhaps we have to examine the time or conditions. When would be a time that it would be more glorious? The nature of "the latter house" is that it is a spiritual temple. As Paul stated, "For we are the temple of the living God" (2 Cor.6:16 NIV) with "Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him all the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling‑place for God" (Eph.2:20‑22 NRSV) in so much as God dwells with us like He filled the most Holy with his glory.

What alternative is there to this latter house being more glorious? The prophet Ezekiel from chapter 40 onwards describes a temple that has never been built. That seems to be a wonderful picture. Could this be built in Jerusalem? There seem to be enough scriptures that it would not be a huge surprise. Can we imagine a time in the kingdom with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob not to mention Joshua, Joseph, and Daniel with more than the Wailing Wall in place?

Timing and world conditions at the setting up of the glorious Temple

Hag.2:6‑7 God says, "Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations." This is also quoted in Heb.12:26‑27. It describes the breakdown of the current world arrangement with its’ various governmental models, church or ecclesiastical systems leading to chaotic scenes and anarchy commonly described as "the day of the LORD" or "the day of God’s wrath" spoken by many prophets and in N.T. times by Peter. (2 Pet.3:10) It is a good process as it removes the present world with its problems and prepares the ground, the way for Christ’s kingdom on earth; where the "heavens" are the religious systems, "the earth" the civil governments, "the sea" like the masses of humanity and the "the dry land" possibly social structures.

What have we seen in British history? Since WW1 the Anglican Church has dramatically lost attendance. Other churches in Britain have seen the same fall in Sunday attendance. The church and state combination has seen the Church of England have less than 1 million attending the Sunday service although it has been reported that those who do are committed Christians. The Civil government has much more power. Before 1714 it was clear that Queen Anne like her sister before her, would die without a living heir. Their nearest relations being all catholic so protestant George I of Hannover acceded to the throne. The point being it was then unthinkable that a catholic could inherit the throne. It’s still technically the case, but one does not perceive it being so important.

Civil power has maintained its position now but there have been many major changes. It’s only 100 years since women got the vote. We have also tried various models mainly more like the capitalist model but some with forms of socialism sometimes right wing or left wing. Previous models were with the European Economic Community (EEC) and now we have gone back to being out of the EEC now called the European Union (EU). In the wider world countries have finished with their overlords and the British, French, and Spanish empires have gone.

It’s interesting to note the rapid change in Britain since Queen Victoria died in 1901 in terms of life expectancy, healthcare, travel, science, education and technology. Shaking seems the material word.

In British society, the number of children born outside marriage is now over 50% and over ¼ pregnancies end in abortion. The idea of you being blue collar workers or white collar workers is much less noticeable. Unions did much to improve the pay and working conditions of ordinary people. A job for life has gone. The class structure had been massively weakened.

How much have we seen so far this decade, COVID leading to a huge national debt and the invasion of Ukraine leading to a massive increase in energy bills; stress with the relationship with China over Hong Kong and now the Israel and Palestinian conflict. The shaking does not appear to be stopping.

The desire of all nations

The whole creation is groaning in pain waiting for the adoption of the body members of Christ—the Church (Rom.8:22‑23), not that they all know it. Hag.2:7 seems to point toward Jerusalem being the principal city on earth and the earthly seat of Christ’s kingdom. Newer translations like the ESV say "so that the treasures of all nations shall come in." The queen of Sheba, hearing of the fame and wisdom of Solomon that came from Yahweh, came to Jerusalem to speak with him and ask questions and bring gifts. (1 Kings 10:1‑2) Solomon is often recognised as a type of Jesus Christ. The Magi brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They came to bring honour to a king, a precious king, and they were guided by God.

"The mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains,…all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall…say, ‘Come, let us go up to the…house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." (Isa.2:2‑3 NRSV) Jerusalem will be the centre of education and instruction and worship.(Zech.14:16) Hopefully it will be a joy and not a duty. Individuals will come from far away to see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Matt 8:11) Why? To hear for themselves the accounts of faith and events recorded in the Bible. Do not many travel miles to listen to concerts and watch plays, to hear music they are very familiar with and visit ancient sites of historical interest? How convincing will these testimonies be!

Israel and Peace

The promises were mainly in line with the building of the Temple but there is the word "peace" mentioned in that place. (Hag.2:9) Peace has not come to Israel, since 1948 it is still governed by largely secular leaders in their own perceived strength and might fighting against their neighbours as in the 1967 and 1973 wars and ongoing conflict from Gaza. However, there was a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979 and more recently in 2020 there were the Abraham Accords normalising relations between Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with Israel. They acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty and established diplomatic relations. Jordan is co‑operating more with Israel with exchanging solar electricity for desalinated water. The peace that was fragile ended in October 2023 and Israeli men and women reservists are called up. As a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) they were spending over 5% on defence compared to 2% in the UK. Therefore, the peace spoken of by Haggai is still in the future.

With regards modern‑day agriculture, it still suffers from chronic water shortages although it produces almost 100% of its fruit and vegetables and exports fruit and vegetables, even though only 30% of the land is agricultural compared to 80% in Britain. Israel has planted millions of trees. Also their GDP per capita (population) is one of the largest in the region despite the lack of massive oil production.

For the World

It will bring further conflict. Firstly "the heavens." So much has changed here in Britain because most people are secular. Many left the churches in Britain during or after WW1 and again in WW2. The use of theory of evolution to replace creation of the Bible has further shaken religious life. Northern Ireland too has given religion a bad name—the apparent cause of the problem. The relative prosperity in post‑war society and rise in the import of science to solve world problems has taken the place of religion in the land.

The earth is being shaken in the sense of governments. The civil governments have changed out of all recognition since 1914 and rapidly. We have gone from the days of Kings being heads of government and state, world empires have disintegrated and democracies have been a model as well as autocratic governments. The trying of socialism and communism has risen and fallen. Many more countries now exist as the shaking has continued.

The dry land is less obvious but probably relates to all parts and divisions in society. Culture wars seem to be divisive. There have been huge changes to the class system. There will be other stresses in other countries which are equally material. The Seas often meaning chaos and anarchy appears very likely in due time.

Zerubbabel and the kingdom

"‘On that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel…and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you.’" (Hag.2:23 NIV) On what day or period? It would be after the shaking of the heavens and the earth already spoken of God has overthrown the kingdoms in charge of Jerusalem—the Media Persian empire, the Greeks of Alexander’s time and then the Romans. This brought trouble. Jerusalem was destroyed and turned to ruins in AD70. The people dispersed or killed. It needed the return of the Jews which commenced in 1878; the British ruled Jerusalem in the aftermath of the First World War but pulled out in 1948 as Israel was a burdensome stone. (Zech.12:3)

Then a battle is described with men and chariots and horses, not so different from the tanks they still use in wars. The deliverance seems to come with the opponents fighting each other. It reminds one of the event in Judges 7 with Gideon and his 300 soldiers against the multitude of Midianite soldiers with camels and every man’s sword was against his fellow (v.22) like so many battles won by God. Against the Assyrians they invaded Judah and outside Jerusalem 185,000 soldiers were killed overnight by a plague. (Isa.37)

What is in a ring? Zerubbabel was the grandson of one of the last kings of Judah and more significantly of David’s line. This ring could indicate the royal authority, the right to reign and govern. A signet ring can also be a type of stamp used to impress onto a seal, for this ring is a royal seal of approval. Zerubbabel was only ever a governor acting under the authority of the Persians. Haggai talks about someone God had appointed; then we look to someone with more authority. If we work with the concept that Zerubbabel is a type of Christ, then in Haggai it is the Messiah and Saviour was of that Davidic line like Zerubbabel, then we can attribute this time to Jesus’ reign in power and great glory.

Lessons from Haggai

Some of us do or may need to try and rebuild our lives. This account is an encouragement to do so. Israel had to rebuild the Temple and the national life following the 70 years in Babylon.

Time for reflection can be useful in our spiritual lives.

Comfort in knowledge. We are to take encouragement and reassurance in the promises of God leading to peace and not be overly anxious in the "shaking" and trouble–it’s leading to Christ’s kingdom.

Vision. Keep the vision in front of us. Israel neglected the commission to rebuild the temple and perhaps began to re‑interpret it to the building of their own homes in Jerusalem yet that was not in Cyrus’ decree. Watching and waiting, keeping the right vision should keep us looking forward to the kingdom of blessing.

In summary what does this all mean:

For Israel:

There is the reminder of the old law covenant made in Sinai after they escaped slavery in Egypt and showed in Haggai’s day that covenant was still operational. (Hag.2:4,5)

The Promises were mainly in line with the building.

"Peace." Peace has not come to Israel. Israel since 1948 is still governed by largely secular leaders in their own perceived strength and might fighting against their neighbours. The October ’23 attacks renewed the fighting on their borders. But peace will come.

The "desire of all nations" from Hag.2:7 has to be when there is peace with her neighbours and Jerusalem as the world capital.

For the Church:

From Hag 2:9 we know the latter house is filled with greater glory than the former. This is a prophecy about the church as a spiritual Temple, a glorious Temple. The church in glory in the Messianic Age. (Eph.2:19‑22)

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