Haggai 2:8

The Bible says in Haggai 2:8, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.” The Lord is talking to the children of Israel at the time when they had been neglecting the rebuilding of the temple. What made the temple so beautiful was all of the gold and silver that was inlaid on almost every part of the interior. For example, it says about the temple that Solomon built in First Kings 7:48-51, “And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was, And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple. So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.”

Evidently, the Israelites at the time of Haggai knew that the temple they were required to rebuild needed to have a lot of gold and silver in order to be comparable to Solomon’s temple. The gold and silver were important because they symbolized the glory of the Lord. Without the glory of the Lord, the temple has no value. In Haggai 2:7 the Lord promised that after His coming, “I will fill this house with glory.” The children of Israel would not have had much silver and gold because they had recently returned from slavery in Babylon. Probably the reason that God said, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,” was to remind the people that all they needed to do was trust in Him, and He would supply their needs. That is the same promise that Jesus made in Matthew 6:31-34, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

God owns all the money in the world and all the wealth in the world. It is all His. Whatever you have, was given to you from God, whether you have much or little. One day you will give an account for what the Lord has put into your hands. The world’s economic system is not dependent upon what rich men do nor what governments do. It is dependent upon what God does, and what He allows to happen. People ought to spend more time looking to the Lord to straighten out this economic mess of the world. Before the Lord returns, the final state that the world is heading towards does not look good. It says about the Great Tribulation in Revelation 6:6, “And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” Notice the phrase “a measure of wheat for a penney.” The word that is translated “penney” comes form the Greek word for “denarius,” which was one day’s wage. A measure of “wheat” was the amount of wheat it would take to make a loaf of bread. In other words the value of money will be so bad that it will take one day’s wage to be able to buy just one loaf of bread. It appears that the deficit spending and debt problems of the nations of the world are taking the world to this terrible financial breakdown. It too will be repaired when Jesus returns.

The Lord makes a great promise to the children of Israel in Haggai 2:9, “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.” Even though the children of Israel were stumbling along in their attempt to build another temple, wondering if they would ever be able to equal the temple built by Solomon, God says that He will build a temple greater than Solomon’s temple. We can see a similarity to our lives on this earth in this day of grace. We also stumble along trying and hoping to create a Christian life that would please the Lord; and yet we fall so far short of the example that Jesus gave us. And then as in First Corinthians 15:51-54 the Lord tells us, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” It also says in Second Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” What we fail to do and we cannot do, the Lord Himself will eventually do for us. That is what it means in Matthew 17:11, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.” The Lord Jesus will day make everything the way it should be.

The Bible says in Haggai 2:10-14, “In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.” There are several important truths that we can say concerning this Old Testament requirement to be “clean.” We have an old saying, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” There is a certain truth to that that. Filth certainly symbolizes sinfulness. Christians should be the cleanest people in the world. There is nothing good about being dirty, but there is something good about being clean. We must also point out that God said in Leviticus 7:45, “For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” Evidently God gave all these requirements in the law to not touch this and to not touch that in order to be constant reminders to the children of Israel that He demands holiness. Of course, the children of Israel did not attain unto holiness or unto righteousness. Thanks be to God that Jesus Christ gives us holiness as a free gift. The righteousness of Christ is credited to our account when we believe in Him. As the Old Testament law shows, it is so easy to get “dirty” when we live in this flesh and in this world. You are either every bit clean, or you are every bit filthy. That is why it says in Romans 4:6-8, “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

The Bible says in Haggai 2:15-19, “And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD: Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD. Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider it. Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.” This passage of scripture teaches a very important lesson about the reason for God’s chastisement on His people. When we do not do what He wants us to do, He chastises us. Notice carefully that it says in Haggai 2:17, “I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.” God wanted His children to turn to Him.

It says in Hebrews 12:5-6, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” The key word in this passage from Hebrews is the word “loveth.” If you believe in Jesus, God brings chastisements for a purpose. He is not punishing you just for the sake of punishment. God knows what He is doing when He allows certain negative events to take place in your life as chastisements. He is not trying to punish you: He is trying to teach you. Because He loves you, He wants you to learn. Remember that God’s attitude toward you is love. This might be an important lesson for some parents to learn regarding their own children. Only punish them if you have a loving reason for what you are trying to accomplish.

At the end of the book of Haggai, the Lord shifts the subject to what He is going to do in the last times. That is kind of the way life is. Once we become saved through faith in Jesus Christ, we spend our lives with ups and downs spiritually speaking much like the Israelites themselves. We never become everything we ought to be. Sometimes we fail the Lord horribly. But this we can rely on: the Lord will eventually do what we cannot do. He will return and fix all things. It says in Haggai 2:20-23, “And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.” The world and its pull is very strong. It has conquered many, if not all. Yet, the Lord is stronger than all. It will be a wonderful day when the Lord fulfils this promise at His return: “And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen.” Freedom is always under assault because of “the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen.” But the Lord will restore our freedom when He returns. Why will He bestow such a great benefit upon us? Notice the last thing that is said to Shealtiel in the last verse of Haggai 2:23, “for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.” Simply become one of God’s chosen people, and you also will be given all the benefits and all the blessings for every believer in Jesus. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

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