Hag. 2:20-23: Zerubbabel will the like a signet ring

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1)     Important background

A)   God’s promise to David

1)     2 Sam. 7:8-16

(a)   v. 11b – “the Lord will make you a house” = dynasty

(b)   v. 13b – “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever”

(c)   v. 15 – God will not take away his kingdom like he took the kingdom away from Saul

(d)   *v. 16 – “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.”

2)     Timeline pic. The northern kingdom of Israel had constantly changing dynasties, but (for the most part) the southern kingdom of Judah was ruled by David’s descendants.

B)    God suspended his promise with Jehoiachin / Coniah

1)     Timeline pic

2)     2 Kgs. 24:6, 8-9 – Jehoiachin (also called Coniah, and Jeconiah)

(a)   v. 17 – Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah king in his place (Josiah’s sons, Jer. 37:1).

(b)   2 Kgs. 25:21-22 – Non-Davidic “governor”

3)     Jer. 22:24-30 – Note 2 important things:

(a)   v. 24 – “though Coniah…were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear your off.”

(i)    NET Notes

(ii)  “The signet ring was the king’s seal by which he verified all his legal and political transactions. To have the signet ring was to exercise authority in the king’s name.”

(iii)          “The Lord is swearing emphatically that Jeconiah will not be the earthly representative of his rule; i.e., not carry the authority of the signet ring bearer.”

(iv) “According to the Davidic covenant the Davidic king sat on God’s throne over God’s kingdom, Israel. As God’s representative he ruled in God’s stead and could even be addressed figuratively as God…Jeconiah is being denied the right to function any longer as the Davidic king and any hopes of ever regaining that right in his lifetime or through the succession of his sons is also denied.”

(b)   v. 30 – “Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling against in Judah.”

(i)    In the context of God’s promise to David, and Judah’s history, this is God altering that promise.

(ii)  From Judah’s perspective, it probably sounds like God is revoking that promise.

(iii)          From our perspective, God just hit pause.

2)     Haggai

A)   The restoration generation rebuilt the altar and started the temple, but then put it on hold for 15 years. Haggai told them to stop forsaking God’s house, and they listened.

B)    2:19b – “But from this day on I will bless you.”

C)    Hag. 2:20-23 – Our text for this lesson.

1)     God reaches into the historical wreckage of the exile, picks up the discarded, disgraced signet ring, cleans it off, and hands it to Zerubbabel.

2)     God’s promise to David is back on!

3)     vv. 21-22 – “I am about to shake the heavens and the earth”

A)   God will destroy his enemies:

1)     NOTE: God is the one who does the action (“I am about to… x2)

2)     Overthrow the throne of kingdoms

3)     Destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations

4)     Overthrow the chariots and their riders

B)    DBL – “Overthrow” (15 options)

1) overthrow, i.e., to cause ruin as an extension of flipping over an object, be destroyed, formally, overturned

2) change, turn into, i.e., change the essential form or nature of something, change, transformed, be turned into,

3) etc.

4) POINT: This is not a simply word that means destroy or conquer, but destroy by turning something over (like a table) and flipping it upside down.

C) POINT: God is going to flip the current order of things upside down.

1)     Imagine living in a tiny, impoverished postage stamp sized province. You are a defeated people. Your capital is a pile of rocks. Your economy is barely functional. You are a geopolitical afterthought who is controlled by the most powerful Empire the world had seen up to that point in history.

2)     You have no military, no true independence, and God announces that he is about to overturn the world order, and you’re about to be thew new global CEO.

4)     v. 23 – “I will take you…and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you”

A)   Zerubbabel means “seed of Babel.” He was the offspring of a cursed line, born in a foreign land.

B)    This language is God telling us that the promise that he made to David is back on!

5)     Fulfilled in Jesus (Kingdom passages)

A)   Jesus’ lineage from David

1)     Matt. 1:1-2, 6, 12, 16

2)     Lk. 3:23, 27, 31, 38

B)    Here are some passages about Jesus’ kingdom. His kingdom is determined by reign (Jesus is King!), not by realm.

1)     (Dan. 2 & 7)

2)     Lk. 1:31-33

3)     Lk. 1:46-55 (esp. vv. 51-52) – Mary’s song

4)     Jn. 18:33, 36-37 – “My kingdom is not of this world”

5)     Rev. 11:15-18 – The scroll has been opened, and THIS is the Gospel (Good News).

C)    Main point of Haggai. If you break it into principle form, it is an outline of the Gospel.

1)     You build my temple.

2)     I will fill it with glory.

3)     And I will set up my king.

4)     And I will overthrow all of my enemies, and he will rule over all of God’s creation.