Haggai 2: 1 – 23
Three promises for obedience
1 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying: 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? 4 Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the LORD; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the LORD, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the LORD of hosts. 5 ‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’6 “For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts. 8 ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts. 9 ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the LORD of hosts.” 10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 11 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Now, ask the priests concerning the law, saying, 12 “If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?”’” Then the priests answered and said, “No.”13 And Haggai said, “If one who is uncleanbecause of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?” So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.”14 Then Haggai answered and said, “‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,’ says the LORD, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is uncle 15 ‘And now, carefully consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the LORD— 16 since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty. 17 I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me,’ says the LORD. 18 ‘Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid—consider it: 19 Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you.’” 20 And again the word of the LORD came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying: I will shake heaven and earth. 22 I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them; The horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. 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.”
Let me ask you a question, ‘would you rather have a million dollar house where you live alone or have a small little house where life and love abound? I’ll take the latter.
“1 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying: 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing?”
Because the people had responded to Haggai’s call to arms, that is, working arms to finish God’s House on earth – The Temple. The Lord Yahweh in His Loving Grace would Bless His chosen people. King Solomon who had built the original Temple had everything given to him by his father David. He had plenty of gold and other precious items. In contrast we now see a group of former slaves who braved the conditions of hostile travel and returned to their homeland. The acting Governor Zerubbabel; the new High Priest – Joshua; and the Lord of Hosts Jehovah Sabbaoth’s spokesperson – Haggai encouraged these settlers to put their skills, goods, and wallets in toward rebuilding the Holy Yahweh a place where He could be worshipped. There were a few who as little children had seen Solomon’s temple in its entire splendor. There was joy and tears being mixed by the workers. They were joyful of their new freedom to build a Temple. Stop and think with me for a while. Do you think the Jews living today in Israel have the right and freedom to build another Temple for the great and Wonderful Living God? No, they do not have the freedom to build a Temple. If they tried it would result in an all out war with all Islamic nations. Many people never realize this fact. The people of Israel can not even do certain things within their own country.
The book of Ezra in chapter 3 teaches us about this condition, “ 1 And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. 4 They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. 5 Afterwards they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the LORD. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, although the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid. 7 They also gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the permission which they had from Cyrus king of Persia. 8 Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the LORD. 9 Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah] arose as one to oversee those working on the house of God: the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brethren the Levites. 10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.”Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.”
“And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing?” shows that even in obedience there was a sense of discouragement among the people. Although they rejoiced in this they also realized that the new Temple that they were building would not match the riches and materials of the original.
“4 Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the LORD; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the LORD, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the LORD of hosts. 5 ‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’
The name Haggai means ‘festival’. The day our Lord wanted Haggai to speak to His people was a special day. It was the Feast of Tabernacles. The people were not too joyous, however. The harvests had been bad due to the lack of proper rain. You can imagine being here with these survivors as they faithfully came to Jerusalem to worship their True and Ever Living God Yahweh. Yet, if you were with these former slaves you would gaze about and see the ruins of the entire city. Taking in the full devastation of this place no doubt would allow them to see the remains of their former Temple.
The Lord would not allow His people to stay in this mood. He wanted them to have a festival where they all could rejoice together. They had an altar. That was good enough to God. Look at what He said about having a building before as the book of 2 Samuel 7 informs us., “1 Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies all around, 2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.”3 Then Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” 4 But it happened that night that the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, 5 “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? 6 For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’
To show the people His desire to spend time together was more important then permanent structures. Guess what the Jews do on the Feast of Tabernacles? They build thatch huts to live in. You talk again about perfect timing. The people are all living during this feast, not in houses, but in temporary shelters as the book of Leviticus chapter 23 teaches us, “33 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. 35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. 36 For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.37 ‘These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— 38 besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD. 39 ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.’” 44 So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.”
Our Holy Father would not allow this mindset to hinder the people from working. For God gave His people Great Words of Encouragement – I would also love to hear these words directed to me from my Lord (1) ‘I AM with you’ and (2) ‘My Spirit abides [actively] among you.’ He still upholds His end of the covenant that was given to the Israelites on Mount Sinai as describe in the book of Exodus chapter 20, “1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. 8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 12 “ Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” 18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” 20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. 22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you. 25 And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. 26 Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’
His Precious Holy Spirit dwelt with their ancestors then and the Holy Ghost would abide with them now. What a priomise! In the book of Zechariah the Majesty of The Holy Spirit is given, “6 So he answered and said to me: “ This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘ Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts.”
When our Holy Lord says something twice it is for emphases to get your attention. If it is said three times our Lord really wants to drive that point home. We read here our Lord’s Words through Haggai ‘be strong’ to the Governor, Joshua, and to the people. This matches the same directions that He gave to Joshua, Moses’ replacement in chapter 1, “1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: 2 “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
6 “For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts.”
Why do you think our Holy Father uses in these verses so many flowing descriptions about blessings. Have you ever been depressed, despondent, or totally defeated? Welcome to the club. If someone came and offered you the moon, you would not receive it too well. Our Precious Maker knew all the hardships His people had been through. He set about in His Beautiful description to assure His children that He would truly make it happen. “For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts.”
We read in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6 these famous words, 5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.”
The Lord Yahweh Will will be done no matter what. He Alone Is Almighty God. He Alone Is Sufficient for all things. In every aspect of creation He can and will exercise His Divine Power in the bringing about everything He Wills. What a Great Awesome God. We see a future action in this prophecy in the book of Hebrews chapter 12, “25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.”
The things that are shaken now are temporary and will be removed. What is left is those things which cannot be shaken and moved. Guess what those things are? I hope you know that it is God’s Eternal Kingdom, which will continue for eternity. This is the kingdom you want to be a citizen of. It’s King Is the King of kings and Lord of Lords – our Master, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Magnificent Holy One Is promising His people that this new Temple will be more Glorious than the one Solomon built. Our Lord Jesus Christ will come again in the future and set up His Throne in the Temple for one thousand years.
The Israelites did not realize what would occur in the future. Let us take a little time to see the unfolding of this promise.
Matthew 24: 1 – 3, “1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” 3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” In the future Herod would expand on this Temple. People from all over the world came and brought gifts of gold and other precious treasures.
Matthew 21: 1 – 13, “ 1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 “ Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘ Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’” 6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “ Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘ Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” 11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” 12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” The Rightful King of Glory entered the Temple
John 2: 19 – 21, “24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.”
Our Lord wanted to share this great news with His restored children. They must not look at what they were building as being inferior but look to the future to picture what was going to happen. It will be marvelous and all nations would flock to it. And these people can feel great that they actually had a part in building it.
“8 ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts. 9 ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the LORD of hosts.” 10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 11 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Now, ask the priests concerning the law, saying, 12 “If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?”’” Then the priests answered and said, “No.”13 And Haggai said, “If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?” So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.”14 Then Haggai answered and said, “‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,’ says the LORD, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean’
Two months have passed since the Lord spoke to Haggai. Anytime a ‘foundation’ to a house or building has been completed joy and enthusiasms results. Our Lord wanted to pass on another promise yet at the same time he was intending to share a significant truth. The Lord utilizes two uniques questions to get His points across. His message dealt with whether purity and holiness could be passed on to others based on contact and whether defilement could be passed on by touch. Our Precious Teacher gave them an easy quiz which was not a true or false but a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ test. The correct answers are [1] ‘No’ and [2] ‘yes’
For the first point our Lord wanted to nip in the bud ‘religion’. With the Temple being completed our Lord wanted the people to understand that the importance is about ‘relationship’ not ‘’religion’ The human sinful condition is to perform rituals without substance. The people before captivity by the Babylonian army would offer their babies in dedication to the Holy Yahweh with the ceremony of circumcision. Then they would go and kill them in sacrifice to Baal or Molech. They would then come back to the Temple as though nothing was wrong. Our Magnificent King wanted them to understand that they would not be guaranteed holiness just because they are Jews God’s elect, or because they go through all the ceremonies. It all would be a matter of their hearts.
Do we not see the same thing going on today? People join a certain denomination and they some how think they are in the ‘right crowd’. You can’t join God’s family; you have to be born into His family.
On the second question from our Lord, an interesting statement was issued in chapter 1 verse 2, 2 “Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.” Our Lord said,’ you are not my people’ in effect was stating that they are not acting like God’s kids. In this case our Lord specifies that the people are unclean, this includes everything they do. This was why they were struggling in their farming and personal lives.
15 ‘And now, carefully consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the LORD— 16 since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty. 17 I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me,’ says the LORD. 18 ‘Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid—consider it: 19 Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you.’”
Not having a Temple rendered them ‘unclean’ because the old desecrated ruins were still around them. They should have the zeal to build God’s house and to have Him ‘first’ in their hearts and lives.
‘and nothing to me’ describes the peoples thoughts toward their Ever Living Holy One. Another way to say this is ‘you gave Me nothing acceptable! It was all ‘unclean’ As a consequence of His argument our Holy Ruler asks them to consider what has happened in the past; what is currently happening to them; and what will happen to them in the future. Their labor has not been very fruitful. They do not have anything extra. They were just getting by. Our Lord gives them now great news – He will bless their labor. He will provide the proper elements of rain and sunshine at the needful time
“0 And again the word of the LORD came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying: I will shake heaven and earth. 22 I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them; The horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. 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.”
Although addressing the leader of the Jews the Lord of Host – Jehovah Sabbaoth is encouraging all the people that He will protect and defend His people. He stated that He will move heaven and earth to help them. Zerubbabel was a descendant of King David. Our Lord gave David a great promise which was reported in the book of 2 Samuel chapter 7, “8 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. 10 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 11 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house.12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”’” 17 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.”
The greatest blessing of this promise was that our Holy Jehovah Nissi, would send His only begotten Son – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be His Anointed Lamb. Look at Matthew chapter 1, “12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.”
Zerubbabel is listed in the Messiah’s lineage. A king would use a ‘signet ring’ as His signature or mark. One day our Lord promised Zerubbabel one of his descendants would be the promised ‘son of God!’ Pretty Awesome, wouldn’t you agree?
