Haggai 2:6 Commentary and Bible Study

Now these are such important words in this prophecy. There was temple after temple in the Old Testament period. Zerubbabel’s temple may have been the least of them all in size, but they all had the same symbolism and the same significance. Grace did not come through the temple ritual and ceremonies, but these things depicted the grace of God in divine pictures. Within 30 years of this prophecy, the Medo-Persian empire would begin to be shaken, and it would be attacked by the Greeks, and everybody would realise it could quite conceivably fall. These attacks were considerable, and ten years after the first attacks, the Medo-Persian empire did fall, and the Greek empire came in. That too fragmented and fell to the Roman empire, and the Roman empire also decayed and crumbled as the one true spiritual empire, the church of Jesus Christ, grew and prospered. So the process of seemingly impregnable nations being shaken would start only three decades after this prophecy, and everything would be turbulent and insecure and empires would all seem fragile, and in the course of time the last world empire, the Roman Empire, would fall, and Christ would be establishing his kingdom through the world in the hearts of saved individuals. So the meaning of the prophecy here is, ‘Do not be discouraged that the temple you are building is less glorious than the one before it; it is only intended to last for a relatively short time and then will come something much more enduring, which will take over in importance from all these symbolic buildings.’ It is a prophecy of the Messiah. Maybe they would have found it enigmatic but looking back this should be clear to us. The dramatic language might make our minds go to the biggest shaking we can imagine and to think this speaks of the shaking of the world at the second coming and the Day of Judgment when the elements will melt with fervent heat. But this prophecy is to encourage the Jews in the building work, and the objection raised – that the reconstructed temple is too small – is answered not by speaking of the final judgment, but by explaining how a greater and more permanent temple is coming. Haggai says, ‘Fix your eyes on the distant future when people from all nations will come into that true spiritual temple, and the work of God will be on such a grand scale, and the gospel will be sent into all the earth.’ This verse is quoted in Hebrews 12:26, and the writer draws attention to the words ‘Yet once more’. He has just been speaking of the fearful portents that took place at the giving of the law on Sinai (Hebrews 12:18), when the Lord’s voice shook the earth. But a greater shaking is spoken of by Haggai, says the writer to the Hebrews. The shaking of Sinai resulted from God speaking on earth (at the giving of the law), but now there is a voice speaking from heaven (at the coming of Christ into the world). In case we are in any doubt about this, the writer uses the same phrase – ‘How shall we escape’ – which he used before in Hebrews 2:3 – ‘How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?’ This is all about the gospel coming into the world, not about the final judgment. He explains that this shaking signifies the removal of things that are shaken so that what remains is what cannot be shaken. What is shaken is the earthly temple, the physical temple, and all the types and shadows that go with it – the temple, the priesthood, the sacrificial system – as well as earthly empires. Seventy years after Christ’s birth, there were no more sacrifices and no more temple. What cannot be shaken is the truth of the gospel, the work of Jesus Christ, the church which he is building for eternity. When therefore Haggai promises a new order, it will happen ‘yet once more’; it will be the last order. It is true that the earth itself will be shaken at the end of time, but the incarnation marked the beginning of the kingdom of Christ which cannot be moved.