Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

2:6 Lord of hosts occurs five times in vv. 6-9, emphasizing the Lord's sovereign authority over all things, including the adornment of his house (see note on 1:2). I will shake. The same verb form is translated "about to shake" in 2:21 (see note on Joel 2:10; cf. Heb. 12:26-27). In the present context, "shaking" does not primarily involve future judgment but God's immediate intervention in providing for the work at hand (cf. Hag. 2:7-8).

2:7 God promises to shake all nations (as well as "the heavens and the earth," v. 6). The result of this shaking will be that the treasures of all nations will be yielded by the nations to adorn the temple; but the result will also be more than this, for the Lord will fill his house with glory--that is, with his own presence. The focus of Haggai's oracle in its context is specifically on the immediate fulfillment of this prophecy. In addition, from a NT vantage point, many would see a foreshadowing of events unfolding in the incarnation of Christ and ultimately in his second coming at the end of the age (e.g., when Jesus spoke of his body as "this temple" in John 2:20-21; and when the book of Revelation speaks of the day when the whole city of Jerusalem will be filled with the presence of God, "for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb . . . and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it," Rev. 21:22, 24).

2:8 God ultimately owns all the wealth of all nations: the silver is mine, and the gold is mine. Therefore it should be used in obedience to him.

2:9 The latter glory of this house. The ultimate fulfillment of this passage demands a still wider view of redemptive history. The possessions of Jew and Gentile are enlisted in restoring the temple as a place of shalom (peace, well-being). Likewise, Ezekiel envisions the temple as a source of healing (Ezek. 47:1, 12; cf. Rev. 22:2). The NT "mystery" is a new spiritual temple composed of people from all nations (1 Cor. 3:9, 16-17), a new community that is the focal point of God's saving work in the world (Eph. 3:8-10). Ultimately, the temple as a sign of God's presence with his people is eclipsed by the presence of the Lord of hosts and the Lamb (Rev. 21:22-26).