Haggai 2:1-9: We learn from these few verses that the Temple must have been in really awful shape. After a month of working at rebuilding it the folks in Judah must have been getting just about nowhere in terms of progress and quite discouraged as is indicated by Haggai’s round of questioning. He is commanded by God to do so.”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?”
These questions are to acknowledge that: Yes, the condition of the Temple is poor and it shows that God is quite aware of this fact. God also knows that people of God that draw on the Lord for strength can do all that God empowers them to do. People with enough faith can move mountains. God then exhorts and encourages them, “But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD. 'Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, 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. God is telling them straight that He is with them and when God is with anyone He is an enabling presence. This statement and idea is highly reminiscent of Isaiah 40:31 ~but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
They are encouraged three times in verse 4 to be strong at varying levels of society, at the political leadership level in Zerubbabel, at the spiritual leadership level in Joshua and directly to the people. God is essentially bolstering the entire structure of society so that they act as cooperative support for one another. Focused leadership so all the people do not lose sight of the physical task, focused spiritual leadership so all the people do not lose sight of the most important focus, God himself and the people themselves, to hold the leadership accountable.
Verse 5 warrants special mention due to its use of the phrase “My Spirit remains among you [abides]. It is actually the Hebrew word for standing and is used as a Hebrew participle that denotes a continuous action. This means He has been “standing among them” since they repented, even during apparent disaster. In this case, during their arduous labor and pain of rebuilding the Temple that seemed as if they were running in place. The moment they repented, He was “there”.
God then goes on to make His purposes manifest. He will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. The “desired of all nations” is understood as a Messianic title meaning this is a Messianic prophecy referring to the coming of THE ONE: Jesus Christ. The future temple will be filled with glory...His glory. The was coming a day when the Son of God will minister in its confines (John 1:14). This could also mean Christ in the end of the age at His second coming. The gold and silver that had once been in Solomon’s possession was now transferred to the Persians but in reality all of it was God’s and eventually He would do with it as He wanted. Eventually the true owner would be The One who made it, to His Temple. The coming temple would be greater than the glory of the former.
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