Hag. 2:1-9: I Will Fill This House With Glory

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Intro

1)     Recap: God’s people started building the temple 15 years ago, and then stopped. Haggai comes along and tells them to get busy, and they listened.

2)     2:1 = Oct. 17, 520 BC

A)   49 days after Haggai’s initial word in 1:1

B)    26 days from when the work started back up in 1:15

C)    This date was the second-to-last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, when Israel lived in booths for 7 days as a reminder of the forty years of wandering. It was a time to remember that God provided for all their needs in a hopeless situation.

D)   It was also called the Feast of Ingathering (Ex. 23:16; 34:22; Deut. 16:13-17) when Israel celebrated God’s provision during the final harvests of wheat, olives, grapes, and other crops.

1)     This year’s feast probably did not feel much like a celebration (1:6, 10-11)

Text

1)     2:1-3 – Our efforts are disappointing

A)   cf.

1)     Ezra 3:10, 11b-13

2)     Zech. 4:8-10

B)    This is not some kind of silly empty pep speech, but there really is a message of hope and optimism:

1)     “Is it not as nothing in your eyes?”

2)     Don’t despise the day of small things.

2)     2:4-5 – What God says when we are down:

A)   Be strong

B)    Work

C)    I am with you (Ex. 3:11-12; 4:10, 12)

D)   Fear not

E)    Others: Deut. 31:6-8; Josh. 1:5-7; 1 Chron. 28:20 – David to Solomon

F)    POINT: You worry about your work and what you can do, and let God worry about his work and what he does.

3)     2:6-8 – God will shake the nations

A)   Initial fulfillment: Ezra 6:1-5

1)     cf. Hag. 2:7-8 / Ezra 6:4b-5

2)     God “shaking the nations” was him arranging things so that not only COULD Israel rebuild their temple, but also that the wealth of the nations would fund it.

B)    Heb. 12 – Ultimate fulfillment

1)     Hebrews was written to Christians who were on the verge of falling away because they were being persecuted for their faith. The Hebrew author encourages them to stay faithful to Jesus because what they have in Jesus is better than anything else they can possibly imagine.

2)     Heb. 12 uses the language of Haggai to encourage Christians because of what God is going to do in the future.

3)     vv. 18-29

4)     POINT:

(a)   God doesn’t merely have the power for shake the Persian Empire and cause them fulfill his will.

(b)   He’s going to shake the entire Creation, and the only thing that will be left standing is what God wants there to be left standing.

C)    Application: If you are inclined to panic about what’s happening in the world, it’s probably useful to remember that God will WILL be accomplished even if he has to shake up the entire universe to get there.

4)     2:7b, 9 – God will fill the house with glory, and the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.

A)   The builders were discouraged because they could not imagine how their efforts could ever even come close to what Solomon built.

B)    God said he would fill this house with glory, and that this new glory would be better than what was before.

C)    QUESTION: Did that ever happen?

1)     Ex. 40:34-35 – God’s glory filled the tabernacle.

2)     1 Kgs. 8:10-11 – God’s glory filled Solomon’s temple.

3)     When did God’s glory fill this second temple? Most of the time, people say that it didn’t, but we should take seriously what Haggai said about it.

D)   ANSWER: Jesus!

1)     Around 20 BC, King Herod the Great did a massive renovation and expansion of this restoration temple, but that is still considered the Second Temple.

2)     Jesus is the glory of God who came do dwell among us (Jn. 1:14).

3)     There are several places in the New Testament where Jesus is described as going into the temple:

(a)   He was presented there as a baby (Lk. 2:25-32).

(b)   When he was 12 years old (Lk. 2:46-49).

(c)   See Matt. 21:23 / Mk. 11:27 / Lk. 20:1; Jn. 7:14; 8:2; 10:22-23.

(d)   During his Triumphal Entry (Mk. 11:11).

(e)   When he cleansed the temple (Jn. 2:13-17 / Matt. 21:12-17 / Mk. 11:15-19 / Lk. 19:45-48).

E)    I think that when God said that he will fill this house with glory, and that the latter glory shall be greater than he former, he’s saying that he’s not going to fill up the Most Holy Place with the cloud of his glory, but that Jesus, who is God in the flesh, would actually walk into this temple.

F)    Application

1)     The greatness of the temple was not about its size or how much gold you can see. The greatness of the temple was that it was the place where God was.

2)     This is just as true for us today. Our greatness is not determined by visible prestige, profit margins or follower counts, but by how much Jesus is in you.

G)   NOTE: v. 7 – The treasures of the nations coming into the temple has also got to point us to God breaking down the barrier of the OT Law so Gentiles can come in.

5)     2:9 – “And in this place I will give peace”

A)   The story of the Bible is the story of resting in the presence of God.

1)     Gen. 2:1-3

2)     2 Sam. 7:11 – God’s promise to David

3)     1 Kgs. 8:56

B)    Matt. 11:28-29 – Jesus’ great invitation