seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Haggai 2:1 1 on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak,[a] the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
6 “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. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘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.”
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai: 11 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: 12 If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’”
The priests answered, “No.”
13 Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”
“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.”
14 Then Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.
15 “‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on[b]—consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. 16 When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. 17 I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me,’ declares the Lord. 18 ‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.
“‘From this day on I will bless you.’”
20 The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: 21 “Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.
23 “‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
a. Haggai 2:2 Hebrew Jehozadak, a variant of Jozadak; also in verse 4
b. Haggai 2:15 Or to the days past
Warning! Warning will robinson...... God's going to shake the heavens and the earth.... and overthrow royal thrones and shatter the power of foreign kingdoms..... but wait.... He says He's going to bless me?
This is from the easy English site.
On 17 October the LORD spoke to Haggai the prophet. He said, ‘Speak now to:
- Zerubbabel; he is leader of Judah and son of Shealtiel
- Joshua; he is the High Priest and the son of Jehozadak
- the remnant of the people also.
Say this to them. Some of you remember this house in its first glory. (I know) how you see it now. You say, “It is not as good.” ’ But the LORD says, ‘Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Joshua, the High Priest and son of Jehozadak. Everybody must be strong.’ The LORD says: ‘Work, because I am with you. My spirit is still with you. Do not be afraid. This is what we agreed when you came out of Egypt.’
The LORD of everything says, ‘Soon I will shake the skies and the earth. I will shake the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations. Everything that I love will come. It will come from all the nations. My house will fill with glory.’ The LORD of everything says this. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine’, says the LORD of everything. ‘You are building me a house. The glory of it will be great. It will be greater than the glory of the old house.’ This is what the LORD of everything says. ‘In this place I will give peace’, says the LORD of everything.
On 18 December Darius was in his second year as king. The LORD spoke to Haggai the prophet. He said, ‘The LORD of everything says, “Ask the priests this. If somebody:
- has holy food for God in his bag
- then he touches bread, meat, wine, oil or any other food
- will the bread, meat, wine or oil become holy?” ’
The priests answered, ‘No’. Then Haggai said, ‘What happens if he touches a dead body? If he (then) touches something else, will that become unholy?’ The *priests said ‘Yes’.
Then Haggai said, ‘This country and this nation were like that to me, says the LORD. Also everything that their hands made was like that. What they offer is not holy. Now, think again about this. Think, before you build one stone on another in the temple of the LORD. When you came for 20 (buckets of corn) there were only 10. And when you came for 50 (buckets) of wine there were only 20. I hit you with blight, mildew and hail. I did this to all your work, but you did not turn to me. This is what the LORD says. Think about what you are doing. Think from today, 18 December, to the future. Today we put down the foundation of the temple of the LORD. Think about it. The corn is not in the barn. The grapes, figs, pomegranates and the olives have not given fruit. But from today I will be good to you.’
Again on 18 December the LORD spoke to Haggai. He said, ‘Tell Zerubbabel the leader of Judah, I will shake the skies and the earth. I will knock down the kings of the earth. I will destroy the strong kingdoms of the world. I will destroy their arms and those that use them. Their soldiers will fall from their horses. They will fight each other. In that day, says the LORD of everything, I will make my servant like a special finger ring. My servant is Zerubbabel. He is the son of Shealtiel. The LORD of everything says, “I chose you.” ’
This is from bibletrack.org.
This second prophecy (October, 520 B.C.) is one of encouragement to the people regarding this rebuilt temple. Apparently there were some who had seen Solomon's temple prior to it's destruction 66 years earlier. It just won't be the same. These exiles didn't have the resources to build it back with the same extravagance of the original structure. Haggai concludes his word of encouragement on this issue in Haggai 2:9, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts." God's glory filling the temple is all that matters.
This third prophecy (December, 520 B.C.) is short and to the point. You suffered chastisement for your disobedience before, but now that your rebuilding the temple, blessings from God will come. If you're looking for direct evidence that God rewards faithfulness and chastises his people when they aren't faithful, Haggai's prophecy is for you.
This fourth prophecy (December, 520 B.C.) is directed toward Zerubbabel himself. Let's get right to the point. Is Zerubbabel the Messiah? No! However, the lineage of the kings of Judah have once again been established with Zerubbabel, though he was not technically a king. Zerubbabel was only a governor under the Persians, but was from Davidic descent. The "signet" mentioned here puts it into perspective. A king's signet was the official king stamp. The Messiah would come from David's lineage through Zerubbabel. In fact, though spelled "Zorobabel," there he is in the lineage of Jesus himself (Matthew 1:12-13,). This is a Messianic prophecy looking to the millennium when Zerubbabel's seed will reign as Messiah.
Back in the days of Haggai.... The king didn't just sign a document.... he sealed it with a glob of hot wax and then jabbed his ring in the wax to show his seal. Everyone knew that document came from the king. It had his seal. God says the leader of Judah..... a relative of king David..... will be like his signet ring.
Now God also said it's not easy to stay in God's good graces. You have to follow the rules. He used the food laws to show them what it means. As long as they follow the rules.... everything is going to be ok.
"Sure" God says..... "this temple is not as beautiful as the one Solomon built for me..... but it's good enough for what you had to work with. I'll stay in this one.... so it will be wonderful because I am here."
There's going to be a horrible horrible earthquake.... the stars will even shake..... government will be meaningless.... the people that make it through all of that..... they will be the fresh start..... they worship the One True Living God.... the one that "will be good to us from that day on".....
When God went in and saved Egypt from their enslavement.... He made a deal with them.... they worship Him and He'll be good to them.... and now He says He's offering the same deal after the earthquake that will reshape the world.
Come to think of it.... as I recall.... when I accepted Jesus as my Savior.... my world got reshaped..... Interesting....
