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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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Haggai 2:14
Comments
Haggai applies this to the people: ‘So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD.’ They are unclean. They must get their forgiveness directly from heaven. They must be sincere. Their trouble was that they were thinking, ‘Oh, the temple is a wonderful place. From the temple we obtain grace; from the ceremonial in the temple we obtain cleansing, a relationship with God. We must build the temple, yes, we agree with that, and the sacrifices must be offered there, because our spiritual benefits come from that.’ ‘No’, Haggai is saying, ‘they do not. They are only pictured in that. They are pointing you to go to heaven, to go to God. You must go to him for the blessings of forgiveness, cleansing, holiness, and a walk with him. You have made too much of the temple. Your eyes are upon earth.’ This was God’s rebuke of a largely unconverted people, who nevertheless were involved in building him a temple on earth. It is also about the inadequacy of any temple built with human hands, and therefore with sinful hands. They were commanded to build the temple, but any temple built with human hands must suffer from a lack of efficacy. The pious among them would have longed for these limitations to be transcended, and that would only take place when Christ came into the world.
Application
Some people today are so keen on the temple. They imagine that when Christ comes, there is going to be a new temple built on earth. Go back to the symbols? Why would they want to do that? Why build a new temple on earth with human hands? That is foolishness. Christ, who is the fulfilment of the temple, has come; we have him. That is what the prophecy of Haggai is saying. Lift up your eyes to what all these things mean, and then God will bless you.
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