In this second study on the Book of Haggai, let us consider Haggai’s second prophetic message – which we can find in Haggai 2:1-9. (Part 1 is available here.)

Background

Four weeks have elapsed since the people returned to work to rebuild the House of the Lord on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month (Elul). However, the people would not have been working every day. Ordinary work was forbidden on the Sabbath (Lev 23:3). Work was forbidden on the Feast of Trumpets, the first of Tishri (Lev 23:24-25). Work was forbidden at Yom Kippur (10 Tishri) (Lev 23:27-28). Finally, work was also forbidden on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles (15 Tishri) (Lev 23:34-35). Throughout the Feast of Tabernacles (15-21 Tishri), the people were commanded to dwell in booths (Lev 23:42-43). It was on this last day of dwelling in temporary shelters (booths), the twenty-first day of the seventh month (Hag 2:1), that Haggai received his second word from the Lord for the children of Israel.

The Second Oracle

In Haggai 2:3, God asks: “Who is left among you who saw this House [the Temple] in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it [before], is it not [now] in your eyes as nothing?” Next (Hag 2:4), God urges all the people to be strong, and he stirs them up to continue their work on the House of the Lord.

This first part of Haggai’s second prophetic message must have resonated so much more with the people at the end of a week spent living in temporary shelters. The people were probably looking forward to returning to the comfort of their own homes, and God chooses this time to remind them that his House is still “as nothing”. God’s timing is always perfect!

Recalling the time spent living in booths after the children of Israel had departed from Egypt, God then says: “I am with you … According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear!” God wants to encourage his people, and he reminds them of the promise of the presence of his Spirit.

The final part of Haggai’s word from the Lord relates to the end of the age and the millennial reign of Messiah, and we will consider this shortly. Before looking at these End Times matters, however, let us concentrate a little more on the promise of the Holy Spirit.

Living Water

The final day of the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles (21 Tishri), when Haggai received this word from the LORD, is also known as Hoshanah Rabah, the ‘Great Salvation’. It was on this same day of Hoshanah Rabah, many centuries later, that Jesus stood in the Temple, where he also spoke of the Holy Spirit. We can read the detail in John 7:37-39:

“On the last day [of the Feast of Tabernacles], that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this he spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive...”

Throughout the Feast of Tabernacles there was a daily libation ceremony (a drink offering), but on that final day of Hoshanah Rabah it would have been especially grand. Led by the High Priest, a group of priests would process through the Water Gate, down to the Pool of Siloam, which held ‘living water’. The High Priest would then lead the procession back up the strenuous ascent to the Temple, carrying some of the ‘living water’ in a golden vase. When they were eventually back in the Temple, the ‘living water’ would be poured into a special silver bowl at the corner of the altar. Wine was also poured into another bowl. It was a time of great celebration, and the ceremony included marching around the altar, prayers for rain and fruitfulness, and much singing.

God’s timing is always perfect!

The singing would include the Hallel (Psalms 113-118) and Isaiah 12. This latter hymn of praise includes the words: “The Lord is my strength and song. He has also become my salvation. Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” The Hebrew word for 'salvation', as it occurs in Isaiah 12, is Yeshua – the Hebrew name for Jesus. And so, at a great event in the Temple, when many people were singing about drawing water from the wells of Yeshua, the Lord Yeshua (Jesus) himself spoke about rivers of living water (the Holy Spirit) flowing out of the hearts of believers. Yet again, God’s timing is absolutely perfect.

The Millennial Temple

In the final part of Haggai’s second prophetic message, God says that “in a little while,” (an understated reference to the end of the age) “I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this House with glory” (Hag2:6-7). There will be a time of great shaking, also described in Isaiah 24:1, which I equate with the days of God’s wrath in Revelation 16. After this time, during the millennial reign of Messiah, the House of the Lord will truly be filled with God’s glory – and all nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord at the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech 14:16).

Haggai’s second word concludes with God’s promise that “the glory of this latter House shall be greater than the former.” The LORD adds: “In this place I will give peace” (Hag 2:9).

Where God refers to “the former [House]”, he means Solomon’s Temple, which was destroyed by the Babylonians. However, “this latter House”, which “shall be greater than the former”, is not actually the Temple that Haggai’s audience were building. The second Temple, which was eventually completed circa 516 BC, was never more glorious than Solomon’s magnificent structure. No, these verses are looking ahead to a future Temple, which Jesus himself will build after the great shaking (Hag 2:6-7) and after his return at the end of the age – as foretold in Zechariah 6:12-13.

The House of the Lord will truly be filled with God’s glory – and all nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.

These verses are a great promise and comfort to us. The second Temple, which was vastly improved by Herod, was destroyed by Roman armies in AD 70; but there will be an amazingly superior Temple built in the near future when Jesus has returned.

A Point to Ponder

Throughout Haggai 2:1-9, the Temple is consistently called the House (of the Lord). A house is a dwelling-place, and it was always God’s intention to dwell with His people.

In the New Testament, there are two Greek words that are translated into English as ‘temple’ – and we encounter both of these words in John 2.

In John 2:14, where we can read that Jesus found merchants and money-changers in the Temple, the Greek word for ‘temple’ is ‘hieron’ – which means a physical temple, indeed the whole temple complex of buildings, courtyards, colonnades, etc.

After Jesus drove the traders and money-changers out of the Temple, he was asked by what authority He did this. Jesus replied: “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Greek word used here for ‘temple’ is ‘naos’. This word ‘naos’ is derived from the verb ‘naio’, which means to dwell or inhabit. Thus ‘naos’ is literally a divine dwelling-place. If ‘naos’ is ever used in respect of the physical Temple on the Temple Mount, it would only refer to the inner sanctuary, especially the Holy of Holies, because it refers specifically to a place where God would dwell or manifest himself.

Since the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has not dwelt in a temple of stone (hieron). Paul said: “God, who made the world and everything in it … does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 17:24). Nowadays, the Spirit of God dwells in the bodies of born-again believers, the ‘living stones’ of the new Temple of God on earth.

This present Temple is expressed by the Greek word ‘naos’. When Paul described the body of a believer as a “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19), he used the word ‘naos’.

Finally, consider this. In 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Paul wrote of the antichrist sitting “like God, in the temple of God.” The word used here for 'temple' is ‘naos’. If Paul were referring to a physical temple of stone, why did he not use the word ‘hieron’? Clearly Paul wanted to indicate a dwelling-place of God, which cannot be a temple made with hands. Many Christians use this verse to justify their expectation that a third Temple will be built before Jesus returns, but I do not think that Paul was writing about a temple of stone.

I am aware that people hold firmly-entrenched views on this, and I hope to stimulate further thought and debate. If we accept that Paul was not writing about a physical temple of stone, then what are the other options?

The first option is actually God’s temple in heaven! The antichrist is generally presumed to be possessed or somehow controlled by Satan, and sometimes it is difficult to consider the antichrist separately from Satan. For example, in Daniel 8:10-11, it appears that an antichrist called “little horn” actually “grew up to the host of heaven”, where “it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground and trampled them. He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host.” I cannot see a mere man being able to defile God’s temple in heaven like this, but Revelation 12:7-9 implies that Satan did just that. Parallel to this, the angel Gabriel explains that the antichrist ‘little horn’ exalted himself “in his heart” (Daniel 8:25).

The second option is that Paul was writing about the Body of Christ, and that the antichrist would lord himself over those Christians who were unfortunate enough to fall into his clutches.

Personally, I suspect it is both of these options. What do you think?