Haggai 2:6-7 For thus said the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea… The glory of Israel consisted in God's visibly dwelling in their midst. The rabbis remind us that the second temple was inferior to the first in five essential particulars: — 1. The original ark of the covenant, containing the two tables of Sinai, and the Mercy-seat, were lost. 2. The Shechinah, or Divine presence, appeared no more. 3. The Urim and Thummim, connected with the miraculous breastplate of Aaron, had vanished. 4. The holy fire, which God Himself had kindled upon the altar, and which was ever kept burning, and from whence the sacrifices were to be ignited, was extinguished for ever. 5. The Holy Spirit of prophecy spake no longer as in times past; it was silent for four hundred yeasts after Malachi's removal. These causes conspired to damp the fervour of the people in the work of restoration. Haggai was bidden to acknowledge the visible inferiority of the second temple; but he was to say that the deficiencies were only apparent. The true essentials of worship, the veritable consciousness of God's faithful guardianship, the unseen consolations of His Spirit, should more than compensate for the absence of the former tokens of His proximity. And to this, at present, unpretending shrine the Lord of hosts Himself would come; the Prince of peace should adorn it with His own life-giving presence. The dearest aspiration of all nations — for that is the meaning of the Hebrew word translated "the Desire of all nations" — should be realised in the person of Jesus the Messiah. Here, then, was true glory; here was substantial consolation! Here was consolation amply sufficient to counterbalance the absence, not only of material splendour, but also of the gorgeous symbolism, the departed externals of God dwelling in their midst. The consolation offered by Haggai consisted in the assurance that the temple which they were rebuilding should witness the arrival of the promised Saviour of the world, even of Him who should "gather together in one all the children of God that were scattered abroad." Salvation, and not the symbols and types thereof, is the one thing needful. (Joseph B. McCaul.) Parallel Verses KJV: For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; |
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