Haggai 2
COMMENTARY:
: 9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, says the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, says the LORD of hosts. (7965 “peace” [shalom] means completeness, soundness, welfare, safety, health, quiet, tranquility, contentment or prosperity.)
DEVOTION: One month after the people were excited about rebuilding the Temple the LORD sent another message to Haggai. In this message HE told the people and leaders to be strong. HE told them not to fear those around them. HE told them that the glory of this SECOND Temple was going to be GREATER THAN the glory of the first Temple that Solomon built. How was that possible?? Who walked into the second Temple?
The LORD is presenting a truth regarding the condition of the Israelites even after HE delivered them from captivity. They were going back to their old ways. They were only thinking of themselves. HE had shaken them up and they still were not learning the lesson HE wanted them to learn. They were unclean. They were not holy. However, HE had chosen one to be HIS representative. This representative is going to bring contentment to the Israelites. This individual was going to be greater than anyone else who was ever in the first temple. This individual was going to be greater than Solomon in wisdom. This individual was going to be greater than David in uniting the kingdom. This individual is JESUS CHRIST.
HE is the only one who can bring contentment into our world. HE is the only one who can give us true prosperity. HE is the only one who can make us complete. In our present state we don’t have all these things. We should be striving for them with the help of the LORD. Are we aware of a tranquility beyond our understanding in our present situation? Are we content with what we have or do we want a little bit more? Do we have the SPIRITUAL health we would like to have? Only Christ can give these things to us. Are we trusting HIM now to give us these things in part now?
When Christ returns the second time there will be world contentment. HE will rule for a thousand years. We will reign with HIM. Praise HIS name!!!
CHALLENGE: There is a third Temple that will be built in the Millennium where sacrifices will be brought in worship of the King of Kings and LORD of LORD. Prepare to worship your King.
: 9 The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” (7965 “peace” [shalom] means prosperity, success, welfare, harmonious relations, freedom form disputes, or completeness.)
DEVOTION: Let us think about this statement. Here we have a rebuilt Temple with just stone and wood. There is not the great abundance of gold and silver that Solomon had when he built the first Temple. All the riches of the first Temple were taken to Babylon. They were used to worship false gods. They were given to the children of Israel when they returned but it was not as much as Solomon first had in his lifetime.
A question was asked if there were any people returning from the captivity that remembered the first Temple. Remember that the captivity was to last seventy years so the ones who remembered the first one were few but they remembered the former Temple in all its glory.
The LORD states that this second Temple would have greater glory than the first. How could this be? The answer of course is that Jesus Christ was going to enter this second Temple and HE was GREATER THAN Solomon on all counts.
HE was the perfect Son of God and the future King of Kings. So HE would bring peace to the world in the form of Salvation first and then in HIS future reign over Jerusalem.
The day is still coming when Christ will return and set up HIS kingdom. We are going to reign with HIM if we are those who are true followers. Not everyone who says to HIM, “Lord, Lord,” is going to enter the kingdom. Many are false Christians.
CHALLENGE: The TRUE Christians are those who are worshipers in “spirit and in truth.
: 12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. (6942 “holy” [qadash] means sanctify, hallow, consecrate, set apart, to be treated sacred, clean or pure.)
DEVOTION: The LORD is testing the priests who were the religious leaders of the day to see if they really understood the Law that was given to Moses regarding worship.
HIS questions dealt with what was clean and what was unclean in the offering of sacrifices to HIM. If there was any cross contamination between the sacrifices they were to be declared unclean even if the priest was carrying them in his garment. The illustration continues with the person being unclean and touching anything. The priests again declare it unclean.
The LORD informs Haggai that the whole nation is unclean. This includes all the people and religious leaders. Also all the work of their hands is unclean in the sight of the LORD.
The LORD wants them to understand that they are coming to HIM unclean and in need of cleansing. There needs to be repentance. There needs to be a renewed commitment to the LORD.
Before they are to rebuild and worship in the temple there needs to be this understanding. There needs to be change.
This is true of us too today. We need to realize that we are unclean because we continue to sin after we become a follower of the LORD. Sometimes we act as if the LORD doesn’t care what we do but that is a lie of the enemy. HE cares that HIS people come to HIM with a clean heart. That again only happens with confession.
We are a holy people that need a continual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving given to the LORD on a daily basis. Our prayer should be that we want forgiveness of our sins like we forgive those around us that sin against us.
CHALLENGE: Are we offering proper sacrifices to the LORD today. These are not animal sacrifices. I Peter 2: 4 instructs us to offer up “spiritual sacrifices” that are acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Study the epistles to find a list of these sacrifices.
:23 ‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the Lord, ‘and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts. (2368 “signet” [chowtham] means seal, a device incised to make an impression, used to secure a closing or to authenticate documents, or an implement used as a sign of one’s personal official identification.)
DEVOTION: Matthew 1: 12 helps us understand what Haggai was saying to Zerubbabel. This is the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Zerubbabel was of the royal family of David. He was the one who should have the signet ring of David. There was a curse on the final kings of Judah because of their sin but it was not a curse that lasted forever. The Davidic throne was going to be reestablished under the rule of Jesus Christ during the Millennium.
Zerrubbabel was chosen by the LORD to lead the people from the captivity into the Promised Land again. He was the one who was to rebuild the temple. He would rule in righteousness.
He would be living in a time of blessing that the LORD promised to the returning remnant if they followed the LORD.
DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org. Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you.
Visit our Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.