In our last blog, we covered chapter 1 of the book of Haggai. And if you remember, the big, clear message was that the Jewish people needed to stop delaying the project to rebuild the Temple!
We saw that HaShem directed His prophecy through Haggai to Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest. And thankfully, the people responded positively to Haggai’s message. And they got to work!
So let’s pick up the story in chapter 2.
Haggai 2:1 tells us that the next prophecy came on the twenty-first day of the seventh month. Now, once again, Haggai tells us precisely when this prophecy came to him. And interestingly, this date falls on the seventh day of Sukkot.
Personally, I don’t see any clear thematic links between the seventh day of Sukkot and what this prophecy reveals. But it’s interesting that Haggai gives us such a specific date. Well, in verses 2-3, HaShem tells Haggai to speak to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the people:
“Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?”
So it seems that HaShem sympathizes with those who remember the glory of the First Temple as they begin building the Second Temple. In other words, God acknowledges their despair. And this sets the stage for what He says next.
In verses 4-5, HaShem tells Zerubbabel, Joshua, and all the people to be strong and work, because He is with them. And then He says:
“According to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.”
Now, this is quite a statement of encouragement!
If this didn’t inspire them to start building the Temple, nothing would! But I’m particularly interested in verse 5.
Why does HaShem mention the covenant He made with Israel when He brought them out of Egypt?
And what does that have to do with rebuilding the Temple?
Well, fundamental to God’s covenant promises when He redeemed Israel from Egypt was His promise to dwell in their midst. And that’s what the Temple was all about!
So I think HaShem is saying here that He is covenantally bound to support them in the project of building a house for His presence. Because He promised to do so!
This scene is a great reminder that there are certain things we can be sure HaShem will do when we are walking in faithfulness. Simply put, God blesses obedience. And I think that’s what He’s saying here.
Now, in the next few verses, there is a shift that takes place in Haggai. And things get pretty grand (and perhaps Messianic) in a hurry! Let’s look at Haggai 2:6-9:
“For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.”
And then in verse 9:
“The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.”
So this is a fascinating text. In verse 6, the Jewish medieval commentator Rashi understands the shaking of the nations as a reference to the rise of Greece after Persia. But then, in verses 7-9, Haggai’s vision seems to indicate that the glory of the rebuilt Temple will somehow be greater than the glory of Solomon’s Temple.
And in my opinion, this is a difficult text to interpret.
What does it mean that the later glory of the Second Temple would be greater than the First Temple, which was quite glorious?
Well, as you can imagine, there are many opinions about this.
One opinion found in the Babylonian Talmud is that this refers to the number of years the Second Temple stood, which was a little longer than the First Temple.
Another opinion is that Herod’s famous improvements to the Second Temple created a level of physical glory that may have exceeded the First. But Messianic Jewish scholar Dr. Michael Brown puts forward a theory that I think is worth considering.
Dr. Brown notes that later Jewish sources report that some of the most important elements found in the First Temple never returned to the Second Temple. Namely, the Ark of the Covenant, the Urim and Thummim, and the Shekinah, or the manifest glory of God. None of these were present in the Second Temple.
So how could the glory of the Second Temple exceed that of the First, given that these elements were present in Solomon’s Temple but not the rebuilt Temple?
Well, Dr. Brown suggests that this has everything to do with Yeshua. In Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 3, Dr. Brown argues that the Messiah’s presence in the Second Temple explains Haggai’s prophecy. In other words, Yeshua Himself came to that Temple. He taught there, performed miracles, and revealed the presence and power of God in ways that exceeded what had taken place in Solomon’s Temple.
So, what do you think about Dr. Brown’s reading here? Could this prophecy about the “later glory” of the Temple be referring to Yeshua? Personally, out of the options that exist, I like Dr. Brown’s the best.
I just can’t identify any other features of the Second Temple period that would clearly make its glory exceed that of the First Temple.
Perhaps Haggai’s prophecy was conditional on the people’s obedience?
That’s possible. But the statement in Haggai 2:7-9 seems to be a sure promise.
So I think Dr. Brown may be on to something here.
Well, we need to move on.
In verses 10-19, we come to a section of Haggai that really stumps commentators. Here, Haggai asks the priests some questions about the Torah’s purity laws. For example, if someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and that garment touches other food, does the food become holy? The priests answer no.
But if someone who is ritually unclean because of contact with a dead body touches food, does that food become unclean?
The priests answer yes.
Now, what’s going on here? Why would Haggai be asking the priests about purity laws?
Well, there is probably a practical side to this.
The priesthood had not been serving in the Temple for quite some time. And many of these priests had probably never served in a Temple and sacrificial context. So Haggai seems to be drilling them a bit to see if they know some basics. And they seem to pass the test! But clearly, this is about more than halacha (Jewish law).
Apparently, these questions were a lead-in to highlight that the efforts of the people were “unclean,” as it were, and unblessed because of their unwillingness to rebuild the Temple up to that point.
Well, let’s finish by looking at the final verses of Haggai.
The book ends with a very interesting and deep statement that seems to look beyond Haggai’s day.
In Haggai 2:21-23, HaShem tells Zerubbabel that He is about to shake the heavens and the earth and overthrow the kingdoms of the nations. And then He says: “On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”
Now, I think this could be a reference to the downfall of the Persian Empire, which happened some time after this prophecy was delivered. Or perhaps there is a view here to things even beyond the immediate time period? It’s hard to say.
But the final verse of Haggai is fascinating, and Rashi has an important comment on it.
Rashi connects the promise to Zerubbabel with an earlier judgment pronounced against his ancestor Jeconiah in Jeremiah 22.
In that passage, HaShem declares that even if Jeconiah were a signet ring on His hand, He would remove him. But Rashi understands Haggai’s promise to Zerubbabel as evidence that Jeconiah’s repentance was effective and that the earlier judgment had been reversed. And that’s important because both Jeconiah and Zerubbabel appear in Yeshua’s genealogy in Matthew 1. So this is significant when we consider the Messianic implications of the Davidic line. And here’s another powerful example of the power of teshuvah!
Repentance can bring restoration even when the consequences of past sins have affected generations.
So Haggai is a deep, powerful book.
And I think one of its most important messages is that we can trust HaShem to be with us when we do the right thing, even if (and especially if) that involves starting over and rebuilding.
That’s what the Jewish people discovered in Haggai’s day.
And it’s something we can take to heart today.
