Haggai 2:1–9

Less than a month after the people began work on the temple, disillusionment began to creep in. Some people were old enough to remember the “former glory” of the temple, and the pitiful ruins before them now seemed “as nothing in [their] eyes” (2:3). This oracle speaks a word of hope to encourage the builders to be strong, do the work, and not be afraid.

The basis for this encouragement is that the Lord is now present with them by his Spirit, as he was when he established the nation through covenant at Sinai. In the same way that he shook the nation of Egypt, he will again shake the nations and cause their treasure to come in. As a result, he will fill his house with glory. The place where his glory will again dwell among his people will be matched by a manifestation of glory exceeding the glory of Solomon’s temple and its splendor. This will happen “in a little while.”

1. II. The Coming Glory of the Temple (2:1–9)
   1. A. Date and Addressees (2:1–2)
   2. B. Is This Temple as Nothing in Your Eyes? (2:3)
   3. C. Be Strong, for I Am with You (2:4–5)
   4. D. Shaking the Nations to Fill This House with Glory (2:6–8)
   5. E. The Latter Glory Will Be Greater Than the Former (2:9)

This oracle is an encouragement to Haggai’s generation to persevere in the work of temple building because of the glory ultimately to be revealed. Whereas the appropriate response for the original hearers involved building the physical temple (as in ch. 1), for us the appropriate response involves building God’s kingdom.

The work of building God’s kingdom can often seem “as nothing” in our eyes. Periods of difficult and apparently unfruitful ministry might cause those with long memories to hark back to the “glory days” of old, de-energizing ministry in the present.

This oracle reminds us that the glory of God’s work is not always manifest, at least not initially. For Haggai’s generation, the pathetic ruins before them bore none of the manifestations of glory. And yet, as they persevered in rebuilding the temple, God would return to dwell there among his people (cf. Zech. 2:5; 8:3). And, once God’s glory dwells in the temple, there must inevitably be an outward manifestation of that glory. But, as this oracle reminds us, there can be a gap—a “little while”—until we see that outward manifestation. We find this in the life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus is the “radiance of the glory of God” (Heb. 1:3), in whom the full glory of God is manifest (John 1:14, 18). However, apart from momentary glimpses like his transfiguration (Matt. 17:1–8), people did not perceive this glory. Indeed, at the hour when Jesus was “glorified” (John 17:1–5), he appeared anything but glorious. As we see Christ on the cross, we don’t see “glory”; all we see is shame and suffering—it looks “as nothing” in our eyes. Yet, because of that shame-filled death on the cross, he was crowned with glory and honor (Heb. 2:9). Although Jesus has already been glorified, we still await the day of the “appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13), when his kingdom will be manifest for all to see. Hebrews 12:18–29 tells us this final day will be the ultimate fulfillment of Haggai 2:6, when the Lord will once more shake all things so that what remains will be a kingdom that cannot be shaken. On that day, the glory of God’s “dwelling place” among us will indeed exceed the “former glory” (Rev. 21:1–3, 10–23). Indeed, “the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it” (Rev. 21:24).

That the fulfillment of Haggai 2:1–9 is still to come means the “little while” of verse 6 has stretched thousands of years. This ought not surprise us, given that “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet. 3:8). Like Haggai’s generation, we too need to persevere in hope, waiting for the day when the glory of Christ’s kingdom will be fully manifest. As Hebrews 10:37 reminds us, it is only “yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay.” Until then, we must respond as Haggai’s generation was exhorted: fear not, be strong, and keep doing the work of building God’s kingdom, boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations.

We persevere in the knowledge that God is with us; his Spirit remains in our midst (Hag. 2:5). Haggai’s generation knew this because of the promises of the Sinai covenant. This verse takes on special significance for us because of the promise of the new covenant. In the time of the old covenant, God’s Spirit could be with his people, but since the dawning of the new covenant God’s Spirit is in us, indwelling each believer personally (John 14:17), because God himself pours his Spirit into our hearts (Jer. 31:31–33; Ezek. 36:26–27; Joel 2:28). It is by the indwelling Spirit that both Father and Son come and make their “home” (“dwelling place”) in the believer (John 14:23). Because of this, what Haggai 2:1–9 tells us about building the house of the Lord applies not only to Jesus (as the ultimate dwelling place) and to the heavenly Jerusalem (as the final dwelling place) but also to each believer, who is God’s dwelling-place under construction, a “temple of the Holy Spirit within you” (1 Cor. 6:19).

In the same way that the glory of Jesus and his coming kingdom remains partially hidden from our eyes, so also his glory in us is somewhat obscured. Although we are those who “behold the glory of the Lord” and are “being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18), and although God has shone his glorious light “in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God” (2 Cor. 4:6), nevertheless, “We have this treasure in jars of clay” (4:7). In our eyes, God’s work in us (e.g., sanctification) and through us (e.g., evangelism) does not always look “glorious”—at times it may appear as nothing. We must look beyond our present circumstances to see what God is going to do “in a little while.” Like Paul, we need to remember that our “light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (4:17)—a final glory that will far outstrip any “former glory.”

In response we need to fear not, be strong, and persevere in God’s work, knowing that this work—despite all appearances—is glorious, and that one day the glory presently hidden in weak and fragile jars of clay will be fully revealed to the whole creation (Rom. 8:18).